Re: The Heep\'s \"progress\"

oops.

55 M38A1 40% Complete

 

Re: The Heep\'s \"progress\"

AAAAHHHHH!!!!! WHAT IS THAT?

Just kidding. We've all had one that looked like that at one point. Hope everything goes a little better for you.

I know what you mean about the friends. I'll have to let my buddy Nate keep the jeep for 6 months when it's done to pay back what I owe him in time, and welding expertise.

55 M38A1 40% Complete

 

Re: The Heep\'s \"progress\"

Here's the rear ubolt-less rear end held in by two crappy bolts. These plates weren't done very well but I think they'll still work.

So many Jeeps... So little time/wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif

 

Re: The Heep\'s \"progress\"

I know what you mean. I've been doing the Scrambler MYSELF, no help at all, and what a PITA. If I weren't such an addict, I'd have given up the ghost by now. People stop by and ask how I moved the tub around. Then they never believe me when I told them I just grabbed it and moved it. If they'd help more, like I've asked (a lot), I'd have been done by now. Yup, you really find out who your friends are on projects like these.

JEEPN
'81 CJ-8 Scrambled!
GM151/SM465/NP205 twinstick/7"Lift/33"TSL's/IHC D44's 4.10's Lock'd

 

Re: The Heep\'s \"progress\"

A side shot, It'll be a little shorter once the engine's in and I remove another leaf from the rear pack. Right now it's realy tall. Those are 30x9.5 on it.

So many Jeeps... So little time/wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif

 

Re: The Heep\'s \"progress\"

Here's a shot of the front outriggers. They need the gusset redone and welded up. as well as alot of work to the front end plates. there's also a winch plate that ties it all together but I got wait until everything else is done.

So many Jeeps... So little time/wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif

 

Re: The Heep\'s \"progress\"

Here's the height difference.

So many Jeeps... So little time/wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif

 

Re: The Heep\'s \"progress\"

/wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif I find that the work does go a lot faster with some help, even if the help isn't journeyman level. Jeepchick and I are sort of up here in the woods so there isn't a lot of "drop in" (like zero) opportunities like there was when I was living in town, so I often "import" help in the form of a local H.S. kid. I pay him in cash and he learns a lot from helping me./wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif... This CJ SNOJEEP is just about the longest project I have ever worked on, and it has been over 18 months now./wwwthreads_images/icons/blush.gif... I try not to get too anxious about not having it outa here and driving, but Jeepchick is VERY anxious about it./wwwthreads_images/icons/tongue.gif... Being an experienced fabricator, I have learned that jobbing stuff out is not always the best way to go./wwwthreads_images/icons/frown.gif.... So often, what I had in mind is not what I got./wwwthreads_images/icons/mad.gif... What you have there is a BIG project in terms of time and difficulty./wwwthreads_images/icons/shocked.gif... It isn't a casual weekend driveway bolt-in modifacation./wwwthreads_images/icons/wink.gif... Here is some advice for you which may help snap it into perspective for you./wwwthreads_images/icons/tongue.gif... (1) Don't set time constraints; it will drive you nuts and make the project UNfun./wwwthreads_images/icons/tongue.gif... (2) Do as much as you can yourself, even if you have to buy a drill press or some other piece of equipment./wwwthreads_images/icons/tongue.gif... (3)Don't make compromises for the sake of expediency. The ONLY inspector on this job is YOU, and you want to enjoy LOOKING at the stuff when it is all done.....both today and two years from now./wwwthreads_images/icons/tongue.gif... (4) Most people who help out a buddy just want to know two things: that their help was appreciated (so you TELL them ...often); and that they made a DIFFERENCE (TELL THEM that they made a difference) in the way it turned out, or in the time it took to do it./wwwthreads_images/icons/tongue.gif... (5) the time that you take setting up a nice work area pays you back over and over. If space is limited, buy some inexpensive roller dollies from Harbor Freight for 19 bucks and put stuff on them so you can empty out the garage in just a few minutes, and get started working in a nice open area./wwwthreads_images/icons/tongue.gif... (6) Get a medium-sized evaporative cooler on rollaround legs (can be a Harbor Freight Dolly with a toolbox on it then the cooler on top of that.....does TWO jobs!)so you can move your air conditioning to wherever you are working./wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif Just takes a cord....you can add water by using a jug periodically./wwwthreads_images/icons/tongue.gif... Making these really minor alterations will really help and will make this Jeep project the fun activity that it is really supposed to be/wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif......And one more thing. Your Jeepchick...if there IS one....doesn't give a rat's behind about any old Jeep, but if she really loves you, she wants YOU to have your hobby. If you are not openly happy and enthusiastic ALL the time, it will have a negative effect on how SHE views this whole escapade, and you will lose support. So these minor problems are NOT problems, but ISSUES to be dealt with cheerfully as if they were "normal"./wwwthreads_images/icons/tongue.gif

CJDave
Moonguys/wwwthreads_images/icons/wink.gif/wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif/wwwthreads_images/icons/laugh.gif + Insomnia/wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif = Carpal Tunnel /wwwthreads_images/icons/tongue.gif

 

Re: The Heep\'s \"progress\"

I appreciate the advice Dave. I have a drill press but I thought sending out the plates would save me time and leave me with a nicer final product. WRONG! The parts that were done right were nicer then anything I could have made and took less time. As for the garage I'm stuck due to living arrangments. I really need my own shop, right now I'm stuck in my dad's driveway or gravel backyard. Unfortunatley that's the way it is. Maybe I can find a parking lot with a 220 outlet and A/c and take after H8Monday /wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif Hopefully in the next few months my living/working arrangments will change and i can have my very own garage. In the meantime I just gotta make do. It's coming together alright it's just taking a bit too long. I just got rid off one Jeep due too lack of money, time, and motivation and this one won't end up the same way. It's a big project but not out of reach. She'll be belching smoke and annoying the neighbors in no time. I just ran into some hard luck. Well it's bed time. Happy Jeepin'
Travis

So many Jeeps... So little time/wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif

 

Pics all in one post

Juat putting them all in one place to view /wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif

 

Re: The Heep\'s \"progress\"

I feel your pain brother!!!
Im affraid my parking lot doesnt have 220 power though. I have to do the same type of improvs that you are doing, I tack weld what I can in place using a 150' of power cord(my 135 Hobart does not weld well at the end of a lond extenion cord). Then I fire up the 5000w Honda and plug directly into one of the gens receptacles for good clean welds from the clean gen power. However I try to keep the sound of the generator off as much as possible. Ive actually ran into another big problem in my situation, the manager of the apartments has tried to do everything to stop my progress, and with a piss poor attitude I might add. So she hasnt been very successfull in slowing down my projects. A couple of my neighbors however have taken the speak directly to your neighbor aproach, and I must oblige their polite requests to limit my work at certain(productive daytime) hours due to their work and sleep schedules. I will not impose on their very reasonable requests for some sleep.
Dave,
All of your suggestions are true to core to keep the project enjoyable, and moving forward, especialy over any length of time. I would have much more trouble under our present working conditions, if I didnt have the help and support of Jeepchick. She picks things up durring the day and keeps things neat, sometimes to neat, she puts stuff away while Im still using them and such, I just tell her thanks and, imagine what it would be like if I couldnt use ger help to walk back to the apartment( about 150 yrds around the fence) to reset a breaker or bring me a cold beer or glass of water.
Travis,
Keep plugging away, very often you clear a milestone portion of the project that allows it to lurch forward with ease and to your surprise, goals become reattainable. If you maintane a can do attitude through the toughest portions of the project, you may lose a helping hand here or there, but more often your freinds will get swept up into the fact they are becoming a critical member of an epic project and will maintane whatever energy levels that you can. It sounds like your letting the adversity kick your butt mentaly, get a good nights sleep and look at it fresh later, but dont give up the fight yet. In boxing terms,youve just been knocked around pretty hard in the first few rounds, Youll never know what your capable of, if you dont take the fight the distance,(my old boxing training, has held true, in my day to day life for 30 some years). All of us that follow your posts are still hoping that we can see your Heep "ON THE TRAIL, ON SCHEDULE, like you had orriginally planned. You dragged us all into the project, dont give up on it, and yourself, so quickly.

Jeff
89 Wrangler
Chance and luck, favor the well prepared.

 

Re: The Heep\'s \"progress\"

Thanks for the encouragement. After 2 days at my $h!ty job I'm not burned out on the Ol Heep anymore. Even so Moab is definately out. That's not being pessamistic just realistic. Not enough time, money, or work space. However I have some axles being shipped in for my Scout so maybe I can get that wreck going. But I should have the Heep ready to tear it up at the Jamboree in late Oct. That'll leave me with 8 months of good wheelin weather before it's time to hibernate. In the meantime I have 2 friends going to Moab who need their rigs caged, nerfed, and bumpered so that'll keep me busy. Hopefully (fingers crossed) I may be doing some work on a truck that'll be going to Sema and is scheduled to be on the cover of 5 magazines. If that happens my business should get enough of a shot in the arm that I can quit my job and do what I love full time. That'd be nice/wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif But right now I NEED A PLACE TO WORK! things could be worse though, it looks like you have it pretty rough. Your Jeep is very well done and I'm sure that it'll stay that way inspite of your current situation. If you feel like heading to Phoenix we could split the cost of a garage/wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif. Although I guess a roof and doors would take away a lot of the challenge. Best of Luck
Travis

So many Jeeps... So little time/wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif

 

Re: Pics all in one post

DRM,
How did you do that?!? That's a lot nicer then my way. By the way I'm cumpooter stoopid so please no big words./wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif Thanks
Travis

So many Jeeps... So little time/wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif

 

Re: Pics all in one post

No problem /wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif

I opened 2 browsers to make things easier. In one I started a new post, and in the other I went and clicked on the individual pictures you uploaded. Then using the tags for html I made the address for the pictures all in one link.

For example:

[iBage]http://www.whatever.picture.com/it_works.jpg[/iBage]

Now, just replace the "B" in the word "iBage" with an "m" (to spell "image") and put a real address of an image in the middle and you are set /wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif

 

Re: Pics all in one post

I thought i was going to get mine done in one summer too. Here i am two years later, and we're just getting to the point where we build a cage and mount the seats.
It's amzing how things get in the way of what you want to do. ****ty job (yeah, me too) House, lawn, snowmobiling, the list goes on. Hopefully we'll be done for next summer.

That garage thing is huge when you're starting a new project (yeah, yeah I know H8 does it in a parking lot). I share time with my friends landscape company so sometimes we can't work because he has equipment down. You know.

55 M38A1 40% Complete

 

Re: Pics all in one post

Thanks!{smile] Next time I work on the Heep I'll try it out.
Travis

So many Jeeps... So little time/wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif

 

Re: The Heep\'s \"progress\"

Yep, ol'e Dave gave you a whole bunch of real good advice there.
Don't let that deadline to Moab take the fun out of the project and absolutely don't try to Mickey Mouse steps for the sake of speed that you will regret later. My project is going on three years now but the extra time has paid off in a better job with the accompanying satisfaction and eye pleasing detail.
If your Dad gets tired of "Heep" in his driveway, I saw a writeup recently where an axel swap was being done in a barn with a dirt floor.
The guy had put sheets of plywood down on the dirt to give him a stable, flat, clean working floor. Solid enough for a floor jack and jack stands.
This would work fine on gravel, especially if you used some thick, composite tongue and groove sub floor panels.
There may even be a fence or tree back there to give you a little shade.
Dave's portable swamp cooler ideas is a really good one, especially in the Valley of the Sun.
I use to hang with some drag racers in Mesa and they would do all their running around in the daytime and wait until night to work on the cars.
It sure made a lot of difference! Being comfortably cool takes a lot of the stress and strain out already hard work.

JAF
http://www.monsterslayer.com/jeep

 

Re: The Heep\'s \"progress\"

/wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif I've know a few guys who rented the garage portion of a home from a can't-quite-make-ends-meet single mom, and it worked out real good. You just have to be careful about emotional entanglements/wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif, keep it strictly bizness./wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif In one instance the guy picked up the power bill; in another it was a straight rental amount WITH power. You can learn to read an electric meter in about two minutes if you want to keep track of useage./wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif There's ALWAYS a way./wwwthreads_images/icons/tongue.gif.... You know, Travis, the bible is full of advice about dealing with crappy jobs, and even slavery. Basically it says that as long as you HAVE to be there for eight hours, DO YOUR BEST and do it cheerfully. The time goes faster, you make those around you feel better, and it provides for opportunities that may otherwise be nonexistent./wwwthreads_images/icons/tongue.gif.... I worked about 1000 days with a crabby, ornery, negative shop forman who was there when I came on as manager. There were so many days when I made up my mind that I was going to can him as soon as I stepped out of my pickup at the shop. That WOULD be the day that he was cheerful and whistling as he worked/wwwthreads_images/icons/frown.gif and I just couldn't do it./wwwthreads_images/icons/tongue.gif He finally burned ME out and I got outa there/wwwthreads_images/icons/blush.gif

CJDave
Moonguys/wwwthreads_images/icons/wink.gif/wwwthreads_images/icons/smile.gif/wwwthreads_images/icons/laugh.gif + Insomnia/wwwthreads_images/icons/crazy.gif = Carpal Tunnel /wwwthreads_images/icons/tongue.gif

 

Re: The Heep\'s \"progress\"

Friends make a big difference. I've got one that is helping me get started, mostly with knowledge.

I did have a question for you. What axles come stock on a M38A1? Also, what gear ratio does it have in low, all I can tell you is its LOW. Is it as simple as drilling holes and putting bolts in to put body mounts on being it doesn't have any and can you do away with the side bracket that holds the body to the frame?

 

Re: The Heep\'s \"progress\"

Dana 25 front, and Dana 44 rear with two peice shafts. 5.38 gears and i think a 2.42 low range in the t-case. 13.02 to one before transmission reduction and tire size.

Hope that helps.

55 M38A1 40% Complete

 

Re: The Heep\'s \"progress\"

Thanks, that helps alot!

Do you know how the transmission will effect the crawl ratio?

 

Re: The Heep\'s \"progress\"

Well, when you factor in the first gear ratio and the tire size, your final drive ration will go down (increase numerically)

so: Tranny 1st gear=4:1 t-case=2.42:1 axle=5.38:1 or
4x 2.42 x 5.38 = 52.01:1 (i can't remeber how the tires go into it) Anyone?

55 M38A1 40% Complete