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OT: Retro Wrangler/Willys Pickup (long)

Awesome. :thumbsup:

I was thinking that the handle would be able to be unbolted and you'd go into the latches from the sides.

I've never been inside a tailgate other than the GW, so I don't know what access is needed. On the GW, there was a big panel in the middle on the inside below the handle that you could get into. It was covered with a carpet panel.

Maybe use some form of wood panel to match the bed? Would also protect the tailgate as a bonus.

With this ride, I couldn't see you using a tonneau, so I wasn't thinking about that. Would just be a matter of undoing one snap though I'd think...
 
I've been playing around a bit with possibilities for the tailgate latch mechanism. The photo on the left below shows the most straightforward way to do it. The Mazda latch/support link would mount in the edge of the tailgate approximately as shown. (This is only the custom tailgate cover, I don't have the actual tailgate yet.) A standard Jeep paddle door handle would be mounted on the outside of the tailgate in the position shown, and the door handle lever would pull the latch pin back (toward the left of the photo). An access hole would be cut in the inside of the tailgate to allow servicing the mechanism and removing the paddle handle. I picked up a couple of access covers at the junkyard the other day out of a Dodge pickup tailgate, one of them is shown at the top of the photo. A second paddle handle would be mounted on the other end of the tailgate to operate the latch on the other end.

The handles could be mounted on the inside of the tailgate in much the same way, except of course you wouldn't put an access panel on the outside of the tailgate, so probably the paddle handle itself would have to be mounted on a removable panel for servicing.

It gets a lot harder when you try to use only one handle to operate both latches. First, because of the Jeep logo panel, the handle can't go in the center of the outside of the tailgate. The handle can't really go in the center of the inside of the tailgate either, because the Jeep logo is recessed into the space you'd need for the handle - you can see this in the second photo. So the handle would need to be at one end of the tailgate (kind of like how the TJ tailgate handle is at one end, except that this tailgate wouldn't swing sideways). Then there's the problem of snaking a pull rod from one end of the tailgate to the other given that the logo panel is taking up a lot of the inside of the tailgate.

Oh and speaking of the TJ tailgate, I'm also playing around with one of those narrow paddle handles too, but when mounted vertically as on the TJ, the mechanism pulls down instead of sideways, so it's harder to use for this situation. I'd rather use the narrow one if I'm putting the paddles on the outside of the tailgate, I think they'd look better than the wider door paddles, but because of the direction of pull I don't think I can.

shawnboy's idea of using hood latches is kind of interesting, but I wonder if those rubber latches could be trusted to keep the tailgate closed if there's a shifting load inside the bed.

I can't actually implement this until I get the actual tailgate, which won't be until the bed is delivered during the build, so I have a few months to ponder the design on this one.

I guess I'm leaning toward the two handle approach, haven't decided on putting the handles on the inside or outside, but if you guys want to put your brains to work on this one I'd love to hear your creative ideas...

Jeff

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A relay rod running along the top edge of the tailgate would be possible- or better yet, a cable. You'd have to make sure the tension would be applied in a pulling fashion, which would either necessitate a bellcrank by the handle, or running the cable off of the opposite side of the current pull lever on the handle and snake it through the tailgate as shown. Yeah, I know...my "paint" skills suck. I think the bellcrank idea is probably the better of the two-

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Randy,
I've only been thinking about rods, not cables... but a cable would solve a bunch of problems. Maybe I could even use the narrow TJ tailgate latch if I used cables. I do have a bellcrank I pulled from the Mazda. Cables are a really good idea, thanks!
Jeff
 
Tailgate cover done for now

Here's the tailgate cover in primer, done for now. Looks like it could have come from the factory this way, what do you think? :)

When I get to the point in the project when the bed arrives this will become the outer skin of the tailgate, and that's also when I'll engineer the latches. Randy, I think cables are going to be the answer, thanks a lot.

Next up: time to order the steel to fabricate the step bumper, taillight brackets and frame fishplates. Step bumper is next to be fabricated. Will post photos when I get there.

Jeff

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jscherb said:
Randy,
I've only been thinking about rods, not cables... but a cable would solve a bunch of problems. Maybe I could even use the narrow TJ tailgate latch if I used cables. I do have a bellcrank I pulled from the Mazda. Cables are a really good idea, thanks!
Jeff
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Glad I could help. That tailgate (and everything else) looks awesome!
 
shawnboy: Oh, now I get it, I thought you meant stock TJ hood latches. The ones you pictured would definitely work.

Randy: I'm going to fabricate a mechanism using a YJ tailgate paddle handle (narrow, made of metal), a bellcrank and some bicycle handbrake cable parts. I've got a design worked out, should be pretty simple to put together. Would only use one paddle handle to operate both sides.

Eric: What I'm talking about above could be mounted inside the tailgate or outside. Not sure which I would want to do, let's see what this looks like when I get the mechanism built.

Stay tuned...
Jeff
 
Have you considered something like these?:
29_1_b_654_1.JPG

http://www.oconeeoffroad.com/servlet/the-654/New-Jeep-CJ-liftgate/Detail
These fit on the original CJ-7 hardtop liftgate, and were operated by the turn-style handle in the middle. The handle had cables running to either latch, which had their own springs to return to position after being released. The latches are tapered, so you can close the liftgate like normal (just close it), rather than having to turn the handle, close it, then turn the handle back to release the latches.
Might be nice in a tailgate- the paddle-handle can have the cables attached to it, and when you lift the paddle, it pulls the cables which retract the latches. Drop the tailgate, load/unload, then slam the tailgate up like a pickup truck. Voila!
 
n9viw said:
Have you considered something like these?:
stuff omitted to keep the thread shorter...
Click to expand...

Yes, I looked at the CJ hardtop parts. The Mazda tailgate latches I picked up have "deadbolts" like that and are also integrated with the tailgate support links, so they'll make for a nice clean install. I considered using the CJ liftgate cable mechanism also, but this morning went to the hardware store and the bike shop and picked up some cables and bike brake parts and some other hardware to build my own... now I'll go down into my mad-scientist's workshop and cook something up using the YJ tailgate narrow paddle handle, a bellcrank and the bike shop parts... give me a day or two to get it fabbed up... will post pictures...
 
That's so sweet...

It's too pretty to do the handle on the outside. INSIDE INSIDE!!

I'll bet you're posting pics of something before the end of the day... "day or two" HAH! :rotfl:

:D
 
OK Eric, really honestly I'm not going to finish this until at least tomorrow, but since you said I will be posting a photo today, here's one.

On the left is an unmodified Mazda tailgate latch. The one on the right has been modified to be cable operated. I've adapted the deadbolt to accept the a standard slug-end of a bicycle brake cable, and attached a bracket with a bicycle cable adjuster. Works great.

I've still got to modify the second one, and also fabricate the handle/bellcrank assembly, but won't get that done today, honest :-)

Now I've got a bunch of other stuff I can't get out of doing today, so I'll have to finish this all tomorrow...

Jeff

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With thanks to Randy...

Here's the completed tailgate latch mechanism. The first photo shows the complete setup. You've already seen a closeup photo of the modified deadbolt mechanism in the previous post.

The second photo is a closeup of the handle assembly. This is based on a stock YJ tailgate paddle handle (also found on TJ tailgates, except my TJ one is plastic, this one is metal). The piece of unpainted sheet metal is simulating the wall of the tailgate. I fabricated a bracket that a) secures the paddle handle into the tailgate and b) provides a mounting location for the bellcrank and cable adjusters. It works very well.

Because of the flexibilty of the cables, this can be mounted anywhere in the tailgate - inside or outside, high or low, with the paddle handle horizontal or vertical. I'll decide that as I'm assembling the bed in a few months.

Thanks again Randy for the cable and bellcrank idea.

Steel for the step bumper should be here in a few days so that's the next project I'll do.

Jeff

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That came out awesome! Glad I could be of help on a small part of what promises to be one of the best looking Jeeps around!
 
This is worthless WITH pictures :-)

Eric always says "This thread is worthless without pictures!" But what will he say if I post a worthless picture?

Was out in the back yard getting a few measurements off the old Willys bed I bought for that purpose and decided to see what the fenders and tailgate would look like with the bed.

No, I'm not using this bed for the project. I bought it and the stock Willys fenders with it to use for measurements and design purposes. It is a pile o' junk and will be scrapped when I'm done with the project.

Anyway, for what it is worth(less), here's the photo, if you squint and turn up your imagination to 11 maybe you can see the future Retro Wrangler...

Jeff

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jscherb said:
No, I'm not using this bed for the project. I bought it and the stock Willys fenders with it to use for measurements and design purposes. It is a pile o' junk and will be scrapped when I'm done with the project.
Click to expand...

Looks good! You've got great vision.

Sometimes when I finish a long project, I need another project... a smaller one with faster gratification.

If you're like me, you could turn that old bed into a nice Jeep trailer... just fab up some more of those fender and tailgate.

Just a thought.
 
CJ-8_Jim said:
Looks good! You've got great vision.

Sometimes when I finish a long project, I need another project... a smaller one with faster gratification.

If you're like me, you could turn that old bed into a nice Jeep trailer... just fab up some more of those fender and tailgate.

Just a thought.
Click to expand...

Jim, I agree with the idea of fast gratification projects, but I'd REALLY need vision to see how this piece of junk bed would ever get restored, let alone be a quick project! I guess it looks better in the photo than in person.

But thanks for the vision compliment!
Jeff
 
Step bumper under construction

Here's a few shots of the step bumper for the pickup under construction. (see post #152 for the design drawing). Don't mind the blue tape (or the dirty LJ!), the tape is to keep the powder coating on the stock bumper parts from getting scratched while I'm working on it and cutting the bumper shorter.

Jeff

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