My 1982 Scrambler Project

Pepper · #1 11-13-2007, 07:38 PM

Hello! I'm new to your forums and to the Scrambler!

I've loved Jeeps since I could sit up. First Jeep was a CJ7, sort of a temporary arrangement (when I was 19) but still considered it mine, we loved it.

Later we bought a YJ, then a '98 TJ. We had the TJ for almost 10 years, spent the last 5 years building it up with all the goodies, 4:88's, 36" tires on beadlocks, Ford 8.8, lift tires , SYE, Tera 2low, belly up, blah blah blah ! It was a great Jeep a lot of bloody knuckles, welding wire and help from friends got it to where it was when I sold it last month.

Only one reason good enough to sell it, I was offered a great deal on a project CJ8!! Woohoo!! It was in the middle of a massive buildup and the owner was tired of all his projects. This was only one of 3 Scramblers (one is an amazing frame off resto that will be perfect when done). He also has an LJ he's already built and taken to MOAB where he promptly rolled it.

Long story short, he gave me a good deal on it if I agreed I wouldn't finish and sell it quickly for profit . . . that WON'T happen.

Please forgive the three posts in a row. It was necessary for this much text and this many pics. I hope this is in the proper forum and has something in it of interest to others. I am certainly open for suggestions on this project.

Here is a pic of it on jackstands at the moment:

Here are some of the specifics:

1982 Scrambler
Olds 350
Throttle Body Injected by Affordable Fuel Injection
TH 350 Tranny / Recently Rebuilt
Twin Stick Dana 300 Tcase
39.5" IROC's on Allied Rockathon Beadlocks
Poison Spyder Tube Fenders
Poison Spyder Rock Rails
Full Cage by Asshogger
Dana 60 wth ARB and 5:13 gears / Newly rebuilt by Axleboy
14 Bolt 5:13 gears with a Detroit / New rebuilt by Axleboy
14 Bolt has Disk Brake conversion
Offroad design crossover High steer set up
Sams Offroad heavy duty Stearing Arm
Power Master Brake 9 in dual Diaphram power brake booster and master cylinder
Front and Back RE spring over springs

What it is needing:

Finishing outboarding springs / spring brackets
New shocks and mounts
Driveshafts front and rear
Pull Brake Booster to adjust push rod
Install Rear Traction Bar
Repair Rear Crossmembe Fab New Rear Bumper
Buy and install Heavy Duty Diff Covers
Clean up Wiring
Longer Brake Lines
Reroute exhaust for Traction Bar

Pepper · #2 11-13-2007, 07:40 PM

My first update after starting the project (please forgive me, I'm copying in the information from my post on our "home" forums):

I have decided HOW to outboard the front springs and am in the process of cutting and fabbing the bracketry. I'm getting there but it has been slow going thus far. I'm motivated but lacking time when I can get to the shop and not do anything else.

One big step is done / thanks to a buddyfor the help in getting the outlet wired for the AC 225. Bounty, my second weld was MUCH better than the first, lol! I bought a $70 extension cord so I can work on the bench and it was much better! I will probably weld up my own bracketry but have someone else weld it to the frame.

Oh, and my toe is getting better, lol. (I did some research and found that if you drop a wnch plate four feet off the floor and let it fall on its end onto your toes . . . you will break at least one, lol. Didn't go to the doc figuring they couldn't do much, but it was black and blue, swollen, numb and I couldn't bend it much)

I have decided to go with the Sam's Offroad traction bar and crossmember:

It's $300 plus $120 for the crossmember.

There is a lot of expense involved with the parts to fabricate one and I trust they have went through a LOT of trial and error and engineerin figuring the length, angles ,etc. In the end, want one that works and, from the reviews, this one does.

I am still debating on the crossmember. I plan on fabbing up another t-case crossmember and skid and I could tie into that BUT that would mean I need to make that immediately and I was hoping to make the new skid a winter project and get the Jeep on the trails for November / early December.

If I buy the crossmember, I can keep it separate from the skid plate and that will also make it just a little simpler to drop the skid as needed.

M current and immediate list is to finish fabrication on the spring mounts, pick up rims from Campisi (he had a set of 8 lug rockcrawlers for my street tires - Obviously, those aren't NEEDED now but available).

Once that isall done, I'll get the traction bar installed, then repair the rear crossmember and move on from there . . .

Making some progress on the front mounting brackets for the front springs:

Here's where I'm heading with it:

Like this:

There still some trimming to be done but getting close!

The part(s) below will wrap from inside the frame to outside the frame and the outside bracket will rest on top of this one and be welded to it:

This is a pic of that part clamped to the frame. It will be bolted to the frame and welded:

The one large hole is for a bolt. The other holes are for plug welds. I hope the holes are big enough because I'm tired of drilling, lol.

With the outside bracket on it:

The gussets will also be added. It's getting a LOT closer to getting it all welded up and, schedule permitting, all of the spring brackets, front and rear, will get welded into place this week.

Then on to the traction (anti-wrap) bar, shocks, rear body mount / crossmember repair and it will be getting close.

Pepper · #3 11-13-2007, 07:42 PM

Okay, progress continues. All of the brackets are done but 3 of the 4 still need to be welded to the frame. A good friend of mine has been welding for 30 years and I'm waiting on his schedule.

He welded the first one on and it's fantastic. The gussets still need to be welded on but other than that, it's ready to go. I was amazed how long it took to get this welded on . . I'm feeling guilty now and realize, I will owe him more beer, a lot more beer.

I have 3 brackets, one frame repair and the traction bar to be welded up yet.

If anyone is bored and very experienced with stick welding and wants to take a crack at it, just give me a call, lol, and name your beer! It has to be stick because the Jeep is on jackstands and I don't have a 220 mig, just the 110.

Waiting for the welding, I've moved on to the next project and that is removing, repairing, replacing the rear crossmember, body mounts, bumper & hitch.

One of the main things that worries me about the rig is the departure angle. I know the 40's will help but there's still a lot of *** hanging off the back.

The rear crossmember had some significant damage and a body mount missing and one was shot, so I decided to remove everything and start fresh.

Before:

Quite a bit hanging down.

As you can see from the pile underneath, there was quite a bit of work to get this stuff cut off and back down to the frame. This stuff was welded on to stay, that's for sure:

I decided to keep it clean, with a LOT of clearance so, for the trails, I am planning on going without a bumper (on the trails) and I am going to take a section out of the frame, basically, angle up to the back and plate it and box it as below:

I am also going to plate between the frame rails so that I will not damage the tub if I catch a rock on departure.

When done and on the trails, this should give me about 5+ more inches of clearance on the back which will greatly improve the departure angle.

When I am on the street, I am going to bolt on a functionless bumper across the back. I am going to set this up so that it easily bolts on and off with two bolts straight into the back of the frame.

As always, I'm open to criticism and input. Is there any reason I would not want to do that to the frame? When working on projects like this, I'm always afraid of the things I don't know I don't know.

My next project is figuring out where to re-route the exhaust so I can squeeze in the traction bar on the passenger side. I've been told that's where to put it. Sam's Offroad said it wouldn't matter which side I put it on but the vehicle will torque down on the passenger side when "launching" or taking off up a hill, etc. It does make sense that having it on the passenger side will help with stability.

The tow points will be two regular tow hooks bolted through the frame on each frame rail with crush sleeves inside the frame.

Unfortunately, I had just spent $35 on some 4/12 long clevis tabs that were going to be bolted to the frame and welded to the bumper but I decided to go another route.

ben8jamin · #4 11-13-2007, 08:48 PM

damn... i think i just wet myself. seriously.

nice 8 and welcome aboard!!!

mysunnshine · #5 11-13-2007, 09:55 PM

That sure is a lot of metal just for the spring hangers.

John N · #6 11-13-2007, 10:48 PM

Welcome and a great intro. Keep us up to date on the build.

Pepper · #7 11-14-2007, 02:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ben8jamin

damn... i think i just wet myself. seriously.

nice 8 and welcome aboard!!!

I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that, but I'll take it!! lol (That's actually an inside joke with my family, lol. In an interview after a crazy BMX bike jump, an emcee told Brian Foster, the Blue Falcon . . "Dude, you just made me wet myself!!" to which he responded . . . "I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that . . but I'll take it." lol Our middle son competed against Foster that day and we have it all on video . . . pretty cool, lol.

Mysunnshine, I absolutely agree with your point. I've looked out there at what others have done and realize what I've done is overkill:

1) I've never done it before but as was the case with my TJ, I was tired of pushing the limits of everything and finding failure points. I wanted this beefy, stout and punishable . . . I wanted to be able to pound it on rock crawls where necessary without worrying about braking a bracket loose.

2) The 4x6x5/16 angle used to wrap from inside the frame out . . was free. I had it in the shop and it was there. When I approach a fab project, I sadly usually start out not with the design but looking around the shop for what materials I have, then look at the tools I have and figure out a way to make them work.

3) I wanted it a little extra beefy because there is some space where it could not be against or welded to the frame. It is where the bracket to the winch plate will go, more pics later, so I felt I needed to beef it up elsewhere.

4) The total extra weight on the front end is probably only about 5 to 7 pounds more than what I would have used if I were more conservative with it. Once the bumper is on (I'm also tying it into the front bumper with angle and bolts) and the winch plate is on, these will not be that noticeable.

Thanks for the comments guys, I hope to find some Scramber events and wheel with some in this group. There are some FANTASTIC off-road parks in our area (around St. Louis, MO). Let me know if you need info!

I will keep you posted.

Also, before I cut into the frame tomorrow or Thursday, I'd appreciate comments on my idea to section out the rear frame.

Thanks!!

RandyLL · #8 11-15-2007, 06:43 PM

Hey, I live in Highland and I would love to come check it out sometime.

Pepper · #9 11-15-2007, 10:31 PM

Randy, I hope to be working on it Fri evening and Saturday. You are welcome to come down. If not then, I'll be working on it for a while, lol. Drop me an eMail and I can give you directions. It's in town in Waterloo.

Cell is Six One Eight - Five Five Eight - Six Eight One Three

Do you know Rob S? His got a big XJ up that way. Does a lot of his own fab work as a hobby . . Trailer Trash Fabrication!

Pepper · #10 11-19-2007, 10:34 AM

Made some more progress:

Made some corners / skids for the bottom of the tub out of 2x2 angle and plate:

I still have some Poison Spyder trail corners coming from the person I bought the Jeep from. When I get those put on, I will weld the bottom corner/skids together as one piece all the way across the back.

Also got the frame cut:

I also cut most of the plate into strips to box the frame.

The project is slowing down due to getting the brackets welded to the frame. The friend doing the welding for me said the tapped controls on the old stick welder do not give him enough fine adjustment to dial it in right to weld what we (he) are welding. It adjusts in 15amp increments which is a pretty big jump. He said it goes from not burning in properly to blowing holes in the frame.

I found out Home Depot sells Lincoln's new AC/DC stick welder (with a continuous control, more fine adjustment) for only $390. It's about the cheapest anywhere. I may just buy that one and be done with it. It's cheaper than paying someone to weld it I guess.

Also, the question of the day:

What goes here and could someone post up some pics:

I realize it is the brackets for the tailgate but I'd like to see what they look like before I make some. Or if they can be bought cheap somewhere, I'd look into that, too. Thanks!

Anyway, have a great week and Turkey Day.

CBRogers · #11 11-19-2007, 01:20 PM

I think that I have a set on the rust bucket jeep out back that I could send your way if I can get them cut off. I will try to get a picture in the next day or two if you want.

Also Ted Wendel might just have a set in his parts store already off that he is willing to part with.

Carl

bigwalton · #12 11-19-2007, 09:33 PM

Wow... missed this thread until now. This is what intro threads should be like!

I've never seen anyone do that to the rear of the frame... can't wait to see how it turns out. I'd only be worried about the overall strength. If you have a couple pieces of angle to weld under that like you did for the spring hangers, you may want to throw some under there for extra strength.

I like the corner skidders, should be great with the corner armor. I love my PSC stuff.

All that missing bracket does is pick up all three of those pairs of bolts in the photo, has a place to bolt the tailgate cable and catches the pair of bolts on the side of the tailgate opening on the tub to reinforce the whole shebang. Look for any stock tub bed photo.

Great project, looks like it will be an awesome wheeler when you're done.

Pepper · #13 11-20-2007, 01:49 AM

cbrogers, thanks! If you have a set laying around I'd be interested, just let me know what you want for them, it will save some fabrication time. I searched on the forums and found some pics of a set so I know what they look like.

If I can find a set, it will save some fabrication time.

BigWalton, thanks! lol I hope there are a few ideas that might be useful to others. I'm no master at any of this. I've been learning as I'm going. The whole frame idea came from trying to gain on the departure angle due to the length of the tub behind the rear tires.

I'm going to box the frame with plating or angle to add strength. In the end, I just didn't think there was that much weight supported by the end of the frame so I cut it. Time will tell if it is a mistake, I think it will work out okay, if not, it's fixable!!

Thanks again for the replies, I'll keep the thread up to date as this progresses!

bigwalton · #14 11-20-2007, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pepper

I think it will work out okay, if not, it's fixable!!

It certainly looks like you'd be able to fix it.

Keep the build pics coming.

Pepper · #15 11-25-2007, 10:04 AM

Got some more work done over this weekend.

The drivers side front bracket got welded up and got the gussets in:

Now, all that's left with those is to put a small piece of angle on the front of the bracket that will bolt into the bumper. If I'm going this beefy . . . why stop now, lol.

Before I put it all back together, I needed plate over the crack in the front crossmember, I already welded it:

The plate patch:

Finish welding it in and it's done. I also spent about 45 minutes to an hour fishing a nut inside the frame that I forgot to put in there when we welded up the spring bracket . . . oops.

My original schedule was completely unrealistic. I have spent quite a bit of time on it but its amazing how slow its going. I'm not letting it frustrate me at all. I make some progress every time I'm there and I'm enjoying working on it.