General Tech Honcho Build, "Desert Edition"

[ChrisO]

To hide the factory ugly, I made sheet metal covers then applied carbon fiber looking vinyl.



I hired a friend who is a fantastic upholstering artist, and he did the padded headliner and covered the steel dash. Cant hardly see it, but he used the same color thread as the paint!





Time to jump into electrical. For starters, I'm a fabricator, not an electrical engineer! I "tried" to adapt the stock J-10 harness into the Autometer dash, but it just didn't work right. Lucky for me, another friend jumped in to help out. A Painless harness was acquired and we started from scratch. The gauge panels were wired with their own pig tails so access would be easy. Then, it was just one wire at a time!





More later...

 

[ChrisO]

I ran some temporary wires to test drive it, and to see if the truck was playing friendly before I got too far.





I got pulled over by a local cop, and as he came walking up to me, I asked him, "gee officer, what could possibly be wrong?" He promptly told me to get it back to the garage or he'd have it impounded! No more test drives, till it's done!

It is time to pull the bed off and get it ready for paint.





I sprayed the underside, and inside with paintable undercoating, then painted the whole thing to match the truck.





When the bed was off, I mounted the battery, fuel tank and finished the 3" single exhaust system.







Woops, wrong picture above, that's the front bumper getting built!

Back to the fuel tank... !



More later...

 

[ChrisO]

LOVE IT! Where did you find a wrapped steering wheel, or did you spend 10 hours doing it yourself?

Actually, it came from the factory that way!. I don't know what year or any other details. I found it on E-bay. I did clean it and painted it black with vinyl dye.

 

[Bart]

The attention to detail is amazing. Incredible build.

 

[ChrisO]

The doors got completely disassembled, cleaned, undercoated (inside) and painted inside and out. I then glued sound deadening foam inside the outer shell.



I built aluminum panels for the doors, then covered them with vinyl that look like carbon fiber.




Yes, I did paint the white speaker covers black!

Finished off the dash and center console with carbon fiber vinyl too.



Getting closer......

 

[Greg]

Loved the carbon fiber look of the interior!

 

[ChrisO]

Here is pics of the bed back on, bed cage powder coated and installed, rear shocks installed (2.5 FOX, IBP, piggyback remotes).



The light cage houses five LightForce 170's. I was going for the old-school look, and decided to not install a LED bar on top. The light cage can be raised and lowered with a 12V actuator.



it was time to build a bracket for the tool box. I didn't want to bolt it to the floor, so I could stuff long objects under it if needed, and to be able to power wash the bed. I build a frame that hung from the cage.

 

[Tan Comanche]

Fantastic job! I really enjoy this build. Keep the updates coming!

 

[ChrisO]

I didn't like the stock inner fenders, or the battery under the hood.



so, I decided to locate the battery under the bed, and build new inner fenders.


The exhaust ran close, so I built a heat shield. Also, installed a short cable connector for jump-starts or (?). Note the 00 welding cable for leads (BIG orange cable)!

The fiberglass fenders needed support, so here is the under structure for them. Also the attachment for the inner fenders.



Here is the start for the inner fenders. Cardboard templates were mocked up, then transferred to .050 sheet metal.





After the fab was done, several coats of Evercoat brand spray undercoating were applied.





BTW, thanks for all the complements!
Keep on Jeepin'

 

[Bart]

Very nice.

 

[_Auzzy_]

I always wanted to slam a 12v Cummins in one of these with newer one ton ford axles and use I to tow my jeep. Still want to. This is an awesome build!

 

[ChrisO]

I always wanted to slam a 12v Cummins in one of these with newer one ton ford axles and use I to tow my jeep. Still want to. This is an awesome build!

If you do that, consider making it a "extra cab" like this one I found on a Jeep Truck forum:


Is that way-cool, or what!!!

 

[ChrisO]

Time to start on bumpers. I wanted a tube bumper with a retro-80's look. Old school pre-runner.





However, I just had to have high-tech LED's !



The rear bumper needed to be more functional, in that I needed to have a step in the center, and some protection for the glass fear fenders. Plus, I'm going to build a swing-out tire rack. So, 2" x 4" box tubing is the material used. Below are the mounting plates that bolt to the frame.





More to come soon...

 

[mesha]

such a cool build.

 

[Bart]

If you do that, consider making it a "extra cab" like this one I found on a Jeep Truck forum:

View attachment 99797
Is that way-cool, or what!!!

That is just sexy.

 

[Deleted member 12904]

I really love this build! Please don't stop sharing progress.

 

[ChrisO]

I didn't want the stock J-truck mirrors that hang way out (and are chrome, yuk!), so I got some XJ side mirrors and had to build mounts to install them on the doors.







I used DayStar JK hood louvers to let some of the heat escape.



And here is the "almost" finished project.



I'm still working on the rear bumper/tire rack, side bars, and misc. stuff. I'll keep posting as it progresses.





And to think, three and a half years ago, it looked like this:



Thanks for all the kind words, Keep on Jeepin'
Chris

 

[Bart]

Amazing build and really has me thinking about a build I shouldn't be thinking about. Thanks for sharing this.

 

[Deweyxj]

Clean & neat! I really like the interior work!

 

[ChrisO]

I have the rear bumper finished, and had been thinking about a swing-out tire rack for a while. I wanted the look of a race-truck / pre-runner with the tire hanging out the back, but needed bed access too. Here is what I came up with:







Works great and no rattles! Now it goes to powder coating.