SNJ's Rig (full build progress thread)

[SuRrEaLNJ]

nah, boozin and hockey tomorow

 

[IZwack]

OMG you're "one of those" - kidding, no idea what I'm talking about

 

[95exploderboy]

Wait, you'll be done today? Congrats!!!!

 

[SuRrEaLNJ]

itll be a today, just not a today in january

 

[IZwack]

Well now you're just playing with words... :

 

[SuRrEaLNJ]

atleast i get to play with somethin

 

[SuRrEaLNJ]

ignore the customer's honda in the pic.

disasembled both drive shafts, cleaned up the 10 pounds of mud and rust on em and hit em with a coat of paint. Just for the record double cardan joints are a pain in the but...

note the high tech drying rack. whats not visible in the pic is the ceiling mounted shop heater by the wall thats blowing on the parts

 

[Spas]

Cardans are the spawn of Satan, I'm convinced of that! Like the high tech drying rack, sure beats painting on a floormat on the floor

 

[SuRrEaLNJ]

started the night by puting in the drive shafts.

im puting up those last 2 pics not as much for showing the drive shafts as i asume you knw what they look like, but note that theres no jack stands under the frame in the pics... wich in my book after this long is freakin awsome

I then went and swaped the spedo gear. for anyone who didnt see i used the ford racing method with an asumed 7 tooth drive gear. this was because i honestly have no idea how off the spedo was, and wanted to swap before i found out how off it is

7 teeth on drive (assumed)
4.88 ratio
35x12.5x15 = 598 revs/mile

(Drive Gear Teeth x Axle Ratio x Tire Rev. Per Mile) / 1000.

(7 x 4.88 x 598)/1000
(20427.68)/1000
20.42768

i rounded that up and went with the red 21 tooth gear. well see how close i am once shes rolling

Im suprised no one has called me on this, but with all these pictures theres been no bolts through a rubber bushing that have been tightened. now with it on its weight i went through and tightened all the suspension bolts that were left, this way theyre natural state is at ride height, and gave the rest of em a once over just incase

I painted the skidplate, as i aparently forgot about that, so ill throw that on tomorow maby.

i also think im gonna go out and hack the fenders up a bit tomorow. i want to trim em before i test the rub, well because i know im gonna rub, esp since i have a half ass hack job on the pass side already, so i might as well make em all nicey-nice

i was going back through some stuff and i noticed that the interior work i had done never made it into the tread. i did a bit of reconfiguring in the ****pit a while back so i figure ill sum it up here while im thinking of it. if theres one think i hate about this truck its the damn cupholders and how my beverages of choice all seem to run away, esp while wheeling. i went and got a pair of bike water bottle mounts and mounted them to the left of the glove box. fits soda and water bottles like a glove. theres a new cb at the bottom of the dash as i wrecked the old one in the lake. i got tired of the one cig lighter in my broken ashtray, so under the dash is a tripple 12v power point block. i also threw a mount for the ipod on the dash. the setup i have in my car is way sweeter, but i already had this headunit and a fm transmitter lying around, so thats what its gonna be. incase anyone notices the red wire hanging down on the left thats for the set of lights that i had in the stock bumper. i havent cut it out yet as i dont know if im gonna replace em or just run with the 2 i have on it now.

and this is for anyone who has ever wheeled with me
(or gone anywhere with me for that matter)

 

[SuRrEaLNJ]

today started with throwin the skidplate on. then i started work on the fenders.
the old man came own and bled the brakes with me, so the brakes are all good to go.

as i had said i had a bad hack job from the 31s rubbing on the right and really wanted somethin that looked decent. i kinda took inspiration from foaders trim.

i got out the big vise grips and a pair of bfh's and bent and beat the pinchwelds all as flush as i could get them to the firewall a made a tape line where i wanted the ege of the fender, and another one about 1 1/2" from it as a cut line, this way i could bend part of it over to hold the fender liner in.

this shot shows the 2 tape lines as well as the bad hack job

heres the before and after for the left

had to hack the liner a bit, and used some self tapers to pull it back

and for the first time a tire found its way on the truck

i forgot i had bondoed a hole in the left fender, ad the hamering broke alot of it away, so ill have to fix the hole. im thinking of geting the pacer flares tohelp cover up some of the imperfections in my body work.

pleased with the results i then moved over to the right. that didnt go so well and put me in the hospital. i started another thread on that for a psa on shop safety
you canead all about my opps here

but hey i got to hang a 35 on my truck, so today was pretty sweet

 

[FROADER]

Trim looks good!

 

[Spas]

Good job with the hand there, dingleberry : Glad you're okay! Fender trimming looks a lot nicer than the crap job I pulled on Morgan, I admit to being a little jealous. Seeing the tire finally on your truck reminded me of what I totally forgot to bring with me when we went to D&B though... your spare 35! Eh, we'll work something out and get it to ya before Carlisle, I promise

 

[SuRrEaLNJ]

honestly probably wouldnt have been as good shaped without you hacking yours first, so thanks for that.

im not to worried about the spare. you were nice enough to send it my way, i cant bust balls about you storing it for all this time too.

 

[SuRrEaLNJ]

alright, so since im laid up and not allowed to finish my fenders this week, and were not going to the shelter today i find myself stuck here.

figure ill get some of the other odds and ends ordered.

i had thought about throwing some pacer flares on her to cover up the fact that the work i did yestarday isnt 100% straight. figured the surface mount would cover up any of the wave in the part i folded over.

unfortunately the back lip is only like 7/8 thick, so surface mounts are out in the back unless i cut em and mount part to the door or somethin, as i think theres about 2 1/4 or contact area on a 2 1/4 flare, or atleast thats my understanding of it

i have a lip and could use the lip mount onesbut im not sure if thatd defeat the purpose of what im going for.

any thoughts?

 

[V8BoatBuilder]

I just put on the Pacers to get through inspection, they look OK. I'll snap some photos for ya.

 

[SuRrEaLNJ]

well fed ex shows up with this long white tapered box today at work.

my boss (and he should know better then that) asked if it was flowers, but its better:

sorry, i couldnt pass the oportunity to be that lame

i finally go back in the garage tonight, and got the right fender finished

since im kinda at an odds and ending point, i aplied some fiberglass reinforced bondo to the part of the left fender that... well... fell off, leaving a hole, got some lube in the front diffy before i forgot, and put the rest of the cb antenna mount back on.

rear diff cover is suposed to be on the way, so then i can get that butoned up. once that comes ill see about throwin the wheels on it, replacing the batery thats sat for way to long, and getin her actually running

un the meantime i amused myself for a few minutes. shes still on stands under both axles, but shes on her suspension, and the tires are just barely off the ground so this is pretty much what its winding up like

question for anyone with 35s, do these things actually fit in the rear wheel well or should i go beat around with the hammer back there too?

 

[cybergasm]

Nahhhh you'll be fine with the Fender clearance in the rear. only thing u might have is some rubbing on the inside when you flex out the rear axle.


Is that a Bll tire rack on the rear there?

 

[explornj]

hey i know that front bumper, glad to see that its still on a truck somewhere

 

[SuRrEaLNJ]

cool. rubing on the inside dun bother me none, i just figured id ask before i brought my bigger hammers back to work

actually thats a FSB tire carier that got cut down and reworked.

its comin off though, i dont think the hatch is gonna hold up to the 35.

if you want some better shots of it that was back on page 9

and you should know that bumper, and im glad its on a truck somewhere as well. had to tweak it and throw my lights and offset plate from my old stock one on it though.

 

[SuRrEaLNJ]

deided to mess around a little tonight. finished my half arsed bodywork where the left fender rotted out. hit it with the flap wheel sprayed some paint on it, looks good to me.