Jeep Nathan and Tanja's 99 XJ Build up

[thenag]

Before I do my big update, I want to show two products that I love.
First is a piece of safety equipment
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/...S4gs_N06VD59BJL_N2RL3FHWVK_GPD0K8BC31gv)&rt=d


The 3m Ultimate FX full face respirator.

This thing is awesome, it is light it is comfortable and works really friggen well.

The story on this is that my wife would come out and I would have been grinding etc, and she would say "you really should where a dust mask when grinding" my response was, "well a good dusk mask will make my safety glasses not sit right, or fog up my safety glasses"

She didn't like that answer and told me to find something. I found this 3m mask and one other that I can't remember anymore. I chose the 3m since we used 3m 1/2 masks at work and I figured that since I wore a medium 1/2 mask I would be ok with a medium full mask. (and it does fit great) (I said "I think I found something but it is like $200" she said "well order it")

This mask is so light and comfortable I frequently forget I have it on and say "doh" when I try to scratch my nose.

You can get just dust filters or chemical filters for it, I guess you can even set it up with outside air (like for painting). Nothing is finer than taking it off and realizing how stinky it is in the garage (because with the mask on the air seems fine)

It has a tear off lens, but I haven't even scratched up the 1st tear off yet (after a couple of years)
So anyway if you care about your lungs and eyes I highly recommend one of these. (it isn't cheap but should keep you from carrying around an oxygen tank later in life)

and my new favorite thing;


Ever-glass by Ever-coat
http://www.evercoat.com/productDetail.aspx?pID=36



It is a kevlar re-enforced body filler, it was brought to my attention by the guys at Notch Customs, they use it to attach the bolts to their fiberglass flares. They also said it would be great for me to modify their flares to fit my cut rear quarter panels.

The stuff is super tough, I don't know how well it sticks to metal (like a body filler) It doesn't smooth as well as bondo but it is as hard as fiberglass.

It is a cool product and something you should keep in mind, especially if you do anything with fiberglass.

Nathan

 

[thenag]

Ok so in another thread someone commented that most built xj's have some "half-assed" things on them. I commented that I am trying to take care of the half-assed things on my xj.

So way back in 2011 when this thing was put together I put some "temporary" fender flares on it.


The rear was the plastic part from the top of a step bumper and the front was a tread-mill belt. They were just sheet metal screwed to the bent over tabs of the body and would tear off from time to time and I would have to re-attach them.

Part of the issue was that any fender flare made for an xj would not come close to covering our tires. Also I had the idea that I would just build a cage and would run a piece of tube from the bumpers to the sliders and just fill in that space with sheet metal. (so yeah the cage is not going to happen anytime soon)

So I called up Notch Customs just down in Lindon (or where ever, somewhere south of SL) and picked up these;

(Russ helped me out, super nice guy, he also showed me some really nice xj rock sliders, actually more of body armor for the rocker, they are sweet if you are in the market for some sliders give them a call)

So as I said the tires on our xj stick out really really far. I thought that the notch flares would just about cover them...


Doh! about 2 inches sticking out past the flare...

So I needed to get some more coverage.

I also had a quart of Everglass sitting on my workbench. I thought that it would be worth a shot to add an inch to inside of the flares. Once I got working with the Everglass I actually got more confident in this modification.

I got some nut couplers (note the Everglass goobers on the bolts, Notch did that)


Bolted the flare up with an inch gap. (adjusted and re-adjusted)


The time between the previous picture and this one was a lot. I held cardboard in place under the flare as I worked. I used bakers parchment paper on the fender. (it was taped in place, not sure why I pulled the tape off, I learned that tape barley sticks to parchment paper...)


Then several hours later


And several hours later


I have one done, I have about 8 hours into that one flare, so yeah leave it to me, spend $500 on flares, another $100 on Ever-glass and 40 hours to get flares that actually cover the tires.

This one looks good, the guys at Notch say that if they were to do what I did they would use Everglass, so I guess that is something.

I thought I would throw in this picture for fun. (nothing says amateur fabricator like slotted holes...)

 

[dash]

I love following your build thread. Some may say that the cherokee is not worth building into a good crawler... they just dont't have the love. I love mine. I beat it up and it just keeps taking it, hardly ever lets me down. I like to see what you do so I can get more ideas of things to do to mine. Keep up the good work.

 

[idahoyj]

In my experience with everglass/bondo/fiberglass, I would just use masking tape on the body instead of the parchment paper. It always separated from the glass/bondo really well. Plus it stays tight to the shape of the body and doesnt pucker like the paper. I used to make the cheap Ebay body kits fit riced-out Hondas on a regular basis. For what people would save getting the cheap kit, they ended up paying me double to make the "fit".

Does the everglass overlap the fiberglass quite a bit on the top and bottom? One thing that might help would be a layer of fiberglass mat/resin under the additional material.
Also, I learned to just smear a coat of bondo right on to the masking tape where the fender meets the new part. Then just install the part and wait for it to dry. Makes it easy to get the joint between the fender and flare really smooth.

 

[idahoyj]

Also, you will learn when the bondo/everglass is easiest to work. It has phase just before it gets really hard that it will sand to rough shape fairly easy. Then once it is fully hardened you can final sand.

 

[Herzog]

I love following your build thread. Some may say that the cherokee is not worth building into a good crawler... they just dont't have the love. I love mine. I beat it up and it just keeps taking it, hardly ever lets me down. I like to see what you do so I can get more ideas of things to do to mine. Keep up the good work.

I agree. One of the things I loved about building my old xj was shutting down the "xj's can't do that" argument. It was a constant push to see what else I could do to it and how far I could take it. They are interesting rigs and do have quirks, but so do all rigs.

Love the fenders, Nathan. Post up more!

 

[thenag]

In my experience with everglass/bondo/fiberglass, I would just use masking tape on the body instead of the parchment paper. It always separated from the glass/bondo really well. Plus it stays tight to the shape of the body and doesnt pucker like the paper. I used to make the cheap Ebay body kits fit riced-out Hondas on a regular basis. For what people would save getting the cheap kit, they ended up paying me double to make the "fit".

Does the everglass overlap the fiberglass quite a bit on the top and bottom? One thing that might help would be a layer of fiberglass mat/resin under the additional material.
Also, I learned to just smear a coat of bondo right on to the masking tape where the fender meets the new part. Then just install the part and wait for it to dry. Makes it easy to get the joint between the fender and flare really smooth.

On the next one I am going to try a little different technique, I am going to do it off the vehicle. I am going to tape a piece of cardboard (lined with tape or parchment paper) on the top of the flare, then I will be able to fill in from inside so I can really build up the inside much better in one coat. The down side is that I will spend much more time sanding it to fit the fender, maybe I will mount the flare then fill in gaps with it mounted.

I am a little concerned about getting a crack right where the fiberglass meets the everglass, I know it will happen eventually but it is more of a matter of when. I keep seeing this 97-ish f150 that had all the body lines filled in, like the lines between the grill and bumper and it cracked, I bet it looked really cool 5 years ago but now it just looks like it is cracking apart all over.

Thanks

(woo-hoo 12 pages!)

 

[Greanbeans]

I like the flares you got but I don't think I could be able to cut up my body like that on the rear of my jeep but I like how big they are

 

[thenag]

Alright more work on the flares;

I got the other front one done.
This time I did the initial big coat of everglass on the bench, not on the jeep. Using cardboard and parchment paper I made ghetto mold.


I was plesently surprized that my marker marks on the parchment paper transferred to the everglass.


Before paint;


The rear flare has 2 parts, one on the rear door and then one on the quarter panel.

I did the two small pieces at once, I am getting pretty comfortable with Everglass. I put a first huge coat of everglass on without putting the flare on the jeep, I used cardboard and parchment paper and tape to give me a surface to work with and I added 1.25 inches of everglass, then I trimmed the everglass, my marker mark transferred from the parchment paper to the everglass. Then I mounted the flare, with tape on the body and filled in parts that needed to be filled in.




So one of the reasons I went with the Notch flares is that "welding is required" which I read as "more tire clearance" So you cut through the pinch seem, bring the inner fender up and tack weld it up higher. Then you fill in your slits etc. This gained ME about 3/4 of an inch all the way around. (from stock you would gain a lot more than that 3/4)
This is what I had before I started with the Notch flares(the tabs were bent in)


cut cut cut


Daylight from the inside (this is one of those things you want to remove your interior just so you don't set it on fire while welding.. (also remember that there may be some blocks of plastic wrapped insulation in the rear... go ahead guess what happened to one of mine...)


some ugly welding


I used everglass to smooth out the fender, sealed the seem from the inside. (no pictures sorry)

Then a repeat, everglass on the flare, mount the flare, more everglass. I had to stop for now at this point. I need to figure out what to do with the bottom of the rear flare, I will have to get jiggy with some scrap fiberglass and some everglass. Hopefully I can get it finished this weekend. "All" I need to do is finish sanding the rear most flares and do something with rear tip of the flare (tapper it in or something)

 

[Herzog]

You have far too much patience. Nice work!

 

[idahoyj]

Looks great!

 

[thenag]

You have far too much patience. Nice work!

Yeah I guess it would have been a hell of a lot easier to shop for a trailer and go with an OHV registration...

I didn't have any intention of spending 40 hours getting these flares to reasonably cover the tires, but once I had them, had cut them and put holes in the fenders, I had to make them work, so Everglass became my new friend.

Nathan

 

[RockChucker]

Did you make them quickly removable so you don't wreck your works of art on the rocks?

They look great

 

[thenag]

Did you make them quickly removable so you don't wreck your works of art on the rocks?

They look great

I saw your comment and thought damn I should have made them quickly removable, then I thought about it some more;

Lets say they are removable, so I drive to the trail head pull them off and then what? It's not like the xj has a ton of cargo space.

I think even if I drove around a little bit with the flares off I would get pulled over, my tires stick our almost 6 inches in the front

Also the front fenders on the xj are so flimsy that without the flares on it would be easy to bend one in such a way that the flare would not easily go back on.

I don't beat this vehicle as much as I beat the bronco and the tires still stick out a bit past the flares so hopefully they won't get torn up.

These flares are really tough, much tougher than the fenders, I am more likely to tear a flare off the fender than beat it up too much.

Plus I can repair the flares pretty easy.

We will see how bad they get beat up on the trail, I still have plenty of Everglass for repairs.

Nathan

 

[thenag]

Final post of fender flare work. (I have soooo much everglass dust in my shop...)

Here is a picture of the rear wheel well after welding, filling and painting


So Notch put a "N" on this one flare, at first I thought I could tell everyone it was for my name, but then I remembered that I don't advertise for things that I have paid full price for. (except for Ridgidco bumpers, those are the bomb-diggity) So I sanded this "N" off (Sorry Russ)


As for what I did to the rear of the rear flares;






Here you can see how much of the rear flare I cut off, also how much you gain by cutting the quarter panel


All done and mounted




The jeep registration is do in March so we will see how the inspector likes them. (last year he didn't like what I had)

Nathan

 

[blznnp]

looks good, I need to make some fender flares for my rig so I can be able to drive it on the road. How are you liking those MTR's?

 

[thenag]

looks good, I need to make some fender flares for my rig so I can be able to drive it on the road. How are you liking those MTR's?

I am a bit of a Goodyear fan boy. I think I might actually prefer the Duratracs but they don't make them in 37's. I have wheeled with people with the duratracs and they seem to work really well in Moab.

About 10 years ago I had a set of original bfg, mud terrains and tore through 8 side walls in 2 years, I changed to the (original) mtrs and the next 2 years only went through 3 side walls. I know that since then bfg has improved their sidewalls and a lot of other things have been improved, but, among other things, that made me a goodyear fanboy.

It seems like if you want a tire that you can wheel hard and run at 75 mph on the highway I think it is pretty hard to beat the kevlar mtr.

The kevlar mtr's (as shown a few pages back) are true to size, at least mine are actually 37 inches. The old mtr's were more like 36.25.

Nathan

 

[blznnp]

I am a bit of a Goodyear fan boy. I think I might actually prefer the Duratracs but they don't make them in 37's. I have wheeled with people with the duratracs and they seem to work really well in Moab.

About 10 years ago I had a set of original bfg, mud terrains and tore through 8 side walls in 2 years, I changed to the (original) mtrs and the next 2 years only went through 3 side walls. I know that since then bfg has improved their sidewalls and a lot of other things have been improved, but, among other things, that made me a goodyear fanboy.

It seems like if you want a tire that you can wheel hard and run at 75 mph on the highway I think it is pretty hard to beat the kevlar mtr.

The kevlar mtr's (as shown a few pages back) are true to size, at least mine are actually 37 inches. The old mtr's were more like 36.25.

Natrhan

good to know, I am looking for something in the 38"-40" range, still need to try on a set to see how big I want to go. I also think my wheelbase is a little long so I need a little bigger tire. MTR's are what I am leaning towards though. Mainly offroad and some road but not much.

 

[thenag]

So since I haven't used my plasma cutter for quite a while I figured I would finish plating the "frame"

This picture shows that I really don't have too much to plate between the Ruff Stuff Stiffener and the RidgidCo bumper plate. Although the bumper plate is not welded on so I will have weld that on as I go. Also on the driver side I have the Clayton drop down track bar bracket, so the driver side really didn't need much plating.



mmmmm cardboard template



mmmmm plasma cutter





Here you can see the single passenger side piece and the two pieces for the driver side


I tack welded the small plate to the bumper mount plate


I used the plasma cutter to put some holes in the plate(s) cleaned the paint off the frame, bolted the plate back up and did some welding


I have the bigger plate on the driver side and the plate on the passenger side still to weld on. This will give me a little more confidence that my track bar mount won't rip off. I am sort of planing on doing a cross member from the passenger side to help spread the load on the drop down track bar mount.

Has anyone bothered to try to add some re-enforcement to the coil mounts? I know that whole area is really strong so long as it stays in shape, I am just wondering if anyone has re-enforced it?

Depending on when my father-in-laws Behemoth case comes in I may get the rest of this welded up this week/weekend
http://www.behemothdrivetrain.com/STRONG_BOX_UNDERDRIVE_KITS.html

Nathan

 

[Lifelong Jeeper]

How long ago did he order his strong box, out of curiosity?