jscherb
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Darn tootin' you are
AND very glad Eric knows Verne and convinced him to do the article!!!!
OT: Retro Wrangler/Willys Pickup (long)
- Thread starter jscherb
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AND very glad Eric knows Verne and convinced him to do the article!!!!
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jscherb
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- Elmira
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I was playing around with Jerry cans for the Gaucho last night and also snapped a quick photo of a can on the Retro...
When I built the two spare carriers for the Retro, I always thought if I didn't like the look of having two I could replace the one on the passenger side with a Jerry can. I do like the look of two, and I plan to leave both spares on, but here's a photo of a Jerry can "mounted" on the rear of the bed side.
When I built the two spare carriers for the Retro, I always thought if I didn't like the look of having two I could replace the one on the passenger side with a Jerry can. I do like the look of two, and I plan to leave both spares on, but here's a photo of a Jerry can "mounted" on the rear of the bed side.
jscherb
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I agree... this was just a "for fun" photo, wasn't really considering putting cans on the Retro.
jscherb
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The Vintage Truck magazine article on the Retro is finally out, or so I was told today... it is in the Sept/Oct 2009 issue of the magazine. Of course I always get my subscription magazines about a week late, so I won't see it for a while 
This article is in their Model Maker's Corner; the theme of the article is using models to prove a design concept before committing to building in full scale. Those of you who followed the Retro Wrangler build may recall that the first thing I build was a 1:25 scale model to prove that the concept and proportions of my design were correct... this article is all about that.
There's one more article in the works that I'm aware of, not sure when that one will hit the stands.
.
This article is in their Model Maker's Corner; the theme of the article is using models to prove a design concept before committing to building in full scale. Those of you who followed the Retro Wrangler build may recall that the first thing I build was a 1:25 scale model to prove that the concept and proportions of my design were correct... this article is all about that.
There's one more article in the works that I'm aware of, not sure when that one will hit the stands.
.
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jscherb
CJ-8 Member
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What???? You built a model???
Actually I never built the full size Retro... it was just a really really nice quality scale model. What you think you drove that time I visited you was only a figment of your overactive imagination.
- City
- Dexter
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you know me too well... that's entirely possible!Actually I never built the full size Retro... it was just a really really nice quality scale model. What you think you drove that time I visited you was only a figment of your overactive imagination.
jscherb
CJ-8 Member
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- Elmira
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I wasn't aware of this until Matt pointed it out to me the other day. Way back last October when I drove the Retro to Chicago and back, I stopped at Willys Overland to see if they had some door sill protectors (they did, I bought some). When they asked what kind of Jeep I had, I said "Wrangler pickup", which caused them to run outside with their cameras. They said they wanted some photos for their in-store slide show that runs on a monitor over the counter. I said sure. Never knew the photos would show up in their advertising. Maybe I should ask for royalties...
jscherb
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Goofy Retro photos today...
I'm constantly seeing posts on other boards asking whether CJ or YJ full or half doors will fit TJ's, so today I decided to document the differences.
Here's a couple of shots of the Retro with YJ half and full doors, snapped these shots while I was photographing the differences, like striker positions being wrong, window cranks hitting the TJ dash, etc...
I'm constantly seeing posts on other boards asking whether CJ or YJ full or half doors will fit TJ's, so today I decided to document the differences.
Here's a couple of shots of the Retro with YJ half and full doors, snapped these shots while I was photographing the differences, like striker positions being wrong, window cranks hitting the TJ dash, etc...
jscherb
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I decided that as long as I was getting all geared up to do fiberglass work for the Gaucho project, now is a great time to build new fenders for the Retro as well. One of the few "What would you do differently?" things on the Retro is the rear fenders. The ones I've got on there now look great, but to be 100% perfect, I'd change a few dimensions a little bit. The current fenders are 12" wide, and to perfectly match the tire overhang of the front flares, they should be 11 1/2" wide. The side faces of the current fenders (the part that's parallel to the sidewall of the tire) are 2 1/2" wide, and to be a perfect match for the front flares they should be 3" wide. You might think I'm crazy for going to the trouble to build new fenders just for 1/2" here and there, but also the current fenders have taken some road abuse and will need to be painted someday anyway, so I've decided now's the time to make them perfect.
I'm making a new "mold master fender", which I'm constructing in a similar way to the original fenders I made, but with a few differences I'll point out along the way to make it a better master for a mold (and to avoid unneccesary work not required for a mold master).
Photo 1 below, shows the trailer fender I'm starting with. It's 10" wide, and it needs to be widened to 11 1/2". Also, and it has a 3/4" side face which needs to be widened to 3". And the spread of the "legs" is 36", which needs to be 42" to properly fit the Retro.
Photo 2, I've marked a line down the center of the trailer fender, and I'm cutting it in half on the bandsaw.
Photo 3, I've got a 1 1/4" strip of 16-gauge steel and I'm using intergrip panel clamps to hold it in place for butt welding. First I tack welded the straight center portion, then I worked it around the corner by hand, tacking as I went, then I clamped and tack welded the straight part along the legs.
Photo 4, the strip is tacked to one half of the fender, now it's time to weld the two halves together. In photo 1, and also in photo 6 you can see a line I scribed across the top of the fender to ensure that when I rejoined the two halves I got them lined up properly.
Photos 5 and 6 show the widened fender. If I were building this to be a usable fender, I'd next have to complete the welds all along the seam, but since this is just going to be a "use-once" mold master, I'll just put a few more tack welds in, grind them flush, and finish the seam with filler. This will be a lot quicker, won't risk warping the metal due to shrinkage from welding, and will be plenty strong enough to make the mold from. Also, when I welded the two halves together, I made the seams slightly concave - if you put a straightedge across the width of the fender, you'd see that the center where the strip is welded in is about 1/16" lower than the edges of the fender. This ensures that I'll have no metal high spots on the flat parts of the fender. I can easily fill these areas with filler and use a long board sander across the width of the fender to achive perfectly flat surfaces.
Next up was to widen the legs. First I made a wooden jig with two cleats at the right spacing to hold the fender, shown in photo 7.
In photo 8, I've made two cuts in each corner bend of the fender so I can change the radius to widen the legs.
In photo 9, I'm using a digital angle gauge to check that the top of the fender is level. I zeroed the gauge on the jig, so adjusting the top of the fender to be level ensures all the angles are the same. But just to be sure, I used a carpenter's protractor to check the angles of the legs and they were both the same with the top level, so I tack welded the corner cuts in that position, shown in photo 10.
And photo 11 shows the fender at this point in the process, it's the right width, and the legs are spread the right amount. Next I'll work on widening the face from 3/4" to 3", photos of that tomorrow.
I'm making a new "mold master fender", which I'm constructing in a similar way to the original fenders I made, but with a few differences I'll point out along the way to make it a better master for a mold (and to avoid unneccesary work not required for a mold master).
Photo 1 below, shows the trailer fender I'm starting with. It's 10" wide, and it needs to be widened to 11 1/2". Also, and it has a 3/4" side face which needs to be widened to 3". And the spread of the "legs" is 36", which needs to be 42" to properly fit the Retro.
Photo 2, I've marked a line down the center of the trailer fender, and I'm cutting it in half on the bandsaw.
Photo 3, I've got a 1 1/4" strip of 16-gauge steel and I'm using intergrip panel clamps to hold it in place for butt welding. First I tack welded the straight center portion, then I worked it around the corner by hand, tacking as I went, then I clamped and tack welded the straight part along the legs.
Photo 4, the strip is tacked to one half of the fender, now it's time to weld the two halves together. In photo 1, and also in photo 6 you can see a line I scribed across the top of the fender to ensure that when I rejoined the two halves I got them lined up properly.
Photos 5 and 6 show the widened fender. If I were building this to be a usable fender, I'd next have to complete the welds all along the seam, but since this is just going to be a "use-once" mold master, I'll just put a few more tack welds in, grind them flush, and finish the seam with filler. This will be a lot quicker, won't risk warping the metal due to shrinkage from welding, and will be plenty strong enough to make the mold from. Also, when I welded the two halves together, I made the seams slightly concave - if you put a straightedge across the width of the fender, you'd see that the center where the strip is welded in is about 1/16" lower than the edges of the fender. This ensures that I'll have no metal high spots on the flat parts of the fender. I can easily fill these areas with filler and use a long board sander across the width of the fender to achive perfectly flat surfaces.
Next up was to widen the legs. First I made a wooden jig with two cleats at the right spacing to hold the fender, shown in photo 7.
In photo 8, I've made two cuts in each corner bend of the fender so I can change the radius to widen the legs.
In photo 9, I'm using a digital angle gauge to check that the top of the fender is level. I zeroed the gauge on the jig, so adjusting the top of the fender to be level ensures all the angles are the same. But just to be sure, I used a carpenter's protractor to check the angles of the legs and they were both the same with the top level, so I tack welded the corner cuts in that position, shown in photo 10.
And photo 11 shows the fender at this point in the process, it's the right width, and the legs are spread the right amount. Next I'll work on widening the face from 3/4" to 3", photos of that tomorrow.
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jscherb
CJ-8 Member
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- Elmira
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- NY
Photo 12 shows the back side of the fender, there's a 6" high filler panel welded in here to add strength.
In photo 13, I've tacked in the first piece of the wider side face of the fender. Here's where there's another difference in making a mold master vs making an actual fender - notice in photo 14 how wide the return is behind the face. For a real fender, this would be 1/4" or less, but for the mold master, it's almost 2". When molding a fender in fiberglass, the return will be built wider and trimmed to 1/4" after the fender is removed from the mold.
Photos 15-17 show how I've fabricated the curved corners on the inside of the side faces. On the outside curve, it was a simple matter of cutting the curve out of the sheet metal angle, then bending the other edge to match; on the inside curve the same process was followed but a small filler patch was needed. Again notice the very wide return on the inside lip of the fender.
I still have to add wider lips on the back side of the fender, and a body line detail on the bottom edges of the fenders to match the bottom edges of the TJ fenders.
In photo 13, I've tacked in the first piece of the wider side face of the fender. Here's where there's another difference in making a mold master vs making an actual fender - notice in photo 14 how wide the return is behind the face. For a real fender, this would be 1/4" or less, but for the mold master, it's almost 2". When molding a fender in fiberglass, the return will be built wider and trimmed to 1/4" after the fender is removed from the mold.
Photos 15-17 show how I've fabricated the curved corners on the inside of the side faces. On the outside curve, it was a simple matter of cutting the curve out of the sheet metal angle, then bending the other edge to match; on the inside curve the same process was followed but a small filler patch was needed. Again notice the very wide return on the inside lip of the fender.
I still have to add wider lips on the back side of the fender, and a body line detail on the bottom edges of the fenders to match the bottom edges of the TJ fenders.
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jscherb
CJ-8 Member
- City
- Elmira
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- NY
Photo 18 shows the completed back side, I added extensions to the side edges here as well. Photo 19 shows one of the bottom corners.
The completed fender shell is shown in 20 and 21. The only thing left is the body line detail on the bottom edges of the fenders, I think I'll probably make that from wood, which will be easy to sculpt. Should get to that tomorrow.
The completed fender shell is shown in 20 and 21. The only thing left is the body line detail on the bottom edges of the fenders, I think I'll probably make that from wood, which will be easy to sculpt. Should get to that tomorrow.
jscherb
CJ-8 Member
- City
- Elmira
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- NY
Whiile waiting to for the show field to open at the Jeff Daniels Jeep Show this past weekend, I had to park for a little while in the church lot across the street - I parked next to couple of late 50's/early 60's Willys... which of course were the original design inspiration for the Retro. This is the first time I've actually had the Retro physically in close proximity to an actual Willys, and it was really cool to see how well the family resemblance worked out. 
BTW, the Retro is now over one year old, it was finished last September, and in that year I've put over 25,000 miles on it.
BTW, the Retro is now over one year old, it was finished last September, and in that year I've put over 25,000 miles on it.