Project "YJ Unlimited"

[ChocFlip201]

So I've been goin at my project for a while now, I guess I'll share with you pirates what I have so far...

Just to state up front some design aspects:

Its an '87 YJ with the tub stretched to LJ dimensions, it will be 4-linked front and rear, coilovers on all corners, on 40" tires, GM 14 bolt rear, Ford kingpin D60 front, 4 wheel steering with ram assist in the front, full hydro in the rear, 4.6L stroker I6 engine etc etc... on to the pics. I'll give you guys the summed-up version.

Oh p.s. this build started out being fully outdoors (I had no shop to build it in) which meant I could only work on it when weather, time and temperature permitted but now I have built a small shop at my house and I can work on it anytime.


So $200 bought me this...


which got its ass cut off..


and another ass off another jeep, this one cut a little longer..


Got a borrowed shop to do some weldin' in..




bought a TJ dash off of Jeepforum.com



$850 bought me an unmolested '79 Ford D60..


and $200 bought me a GM 14 bolt with a detroit locker in it.




wait there's more...

[ChocFlip201]

Then bought a good condition frame off of a local classifieds website for $100, cut off all the un-necessary brackets and junk, then sandblasted the part I needed of it to get rid of any surface rust.



and hit it with a shot of rust-preventing primer.. (as you can see, still working outside)



Drove up to Idaho to exchange $300 for this... (1993 stock, complete 4.0)



Tore it down, had the block hot-tanked and checked for cracks, and had the head shot-peened and magnafluxed for cracks too. All good to go!



Marked the ports for gasket-matching and port 'n' polishing..


Mild intake port flow job on left, unmolested intake port on right.


more....

[ChocFlip201]

Now working in the new shop, first task is boat-sides.

Before:


This is where I originally wanted my cut (bottom of masking tape)...


But that wasn't going to work, so I moved it up and then cut..


And out with the old! (don't pay any attention to the frame in this pic, this isn't what you think.)


Expect more updates tomorrow.

[Chrisbuilt]

are you going to trim back the front portion of the inner fender? Body mounts, cage, top?

here is my CJ9

[ChocFlip201]

Honestly I havn't given the wheel wells that thought but I think i'll rattle that idea around in my head, and body mounts are getting reworked next after the boatsides, I stretched a stock YJ top, and yes it's getting a cage.

[ChocFlip201]

Oh and I also have a scrambler half-cab top for it.

[Pirate Joe]

First thoughts after reading:

TJ Dash
LJ length
Not a leaf in sight.

Then I thought, "Wouldn't it just be easier to put a YJ grill on an LJ?"

But that's no fun! Build looks great so far, I'm going to follow this one. Also, working outside sucks. I've had to do that with my Jeep. I live on the coast so I can't leave anything bare metal overnight or else it glazes over in rust.

-Joe

[jpfrk2001]

this could be something nice to watch

[ChocFlip201]

Originally Posted by Pirate Joe

Then I thought, "Wouldn't it just be easier to put a YJ grill on an LJ?"

But that's no fun!

-Joe

When I started this project there would have been no way to afford an LJ or even a wrecked one, so I work with what I can hard to beat the price of a full body of a solid jeep for $200.

[ChocFlip201]

So I got the passenger side pretty much all wrapped up for now. I had to go run some errands this morning and get my 1/8" plate for the boatside skin. (this area is also having the 3/8" skidplate come up and cover this area so 1/8" was plenty enough).. anyways enough talk, here are the pics. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to get the drivers side cut out and welded in all in one day, then onto the body mount alterations..

[wallysheata]

Originally Posted by ChocFlip201

I had to go run some errands this morning and get my 1/8" plate for the boatside skin. (this area is also having the 3/8" skidplate come up and cover this area so 1/8" was plenty enough).. anyways

Not sure I FULLY understand what you're saying. So you have 1/8" boat sides, then you're going to plate them with 3/8" or your skid plate from your belly is going to go up and tie into them? Having run 3/16" boatsides on my old YJ and 1/4" boat sides on my buggy reinforced ever 13" with 2x3-3/16 box, I can tell you that if the 1/8" is exposed at all it will not last. My YJ was so mangled up my doors stopped fitting after a few seasons from multiple rock hits, and even my buggy has dents in the 1/4" boat sides from a few boulders. Just a heads up.

[jpfrk2001]

Putting a Snail in your engine bay would be a cool way to get some ponies from the engine. trust me when I say, the torque curve is UNREAL!

just sayin. .

[ChocFlip201]

Originally Posted by jpfrk2001

Putting a Snail in your engine bay would be a cool way to get some ponies from the engine. trust me when I say, the torque curve is UNREAL!

just sayin. .

I've read your turbo thread a year or so ago and believe me I thought about doin the same thing, but when I opened up some options, this 4.6L will be enough oomph for me.

[ChocFlip201]

Originally Posted by wallysheata

Not sure I FULLY understand what you're saying. So you have 1/8" boat sides, then you're going to plate them with 3/8" or your skid plate from your belly is going to go up and tie into them? Having run 3/16" boatsides on my old YJ and 1/4" boat sides on my buggy reinforced ever 13" with 2x3-3/16 box, I can tell you that if the 1/8" is exposed at all it will not last. My YJ was so mangled up my doors stopped fitting after a few seasons from multiple rock hits, and even my buggy has dents in the 1/4" boat sides from a few boulders. Just a heads up.

Yeah I'm having a 3/8" steel skidplate and it is going to come all the way out and bend up and cover all the exposed 1/8" plate. Yeah ha I knew 1/8" would get mangled up but I chose that for the skin because its thin enough to easily weld to the existing sheet metal of the jeep, and thick enough that I can drill it and bolt my skidplate to it. I'll probably run some UHMW too.

[Canyonmann]

gonna be sick,,,get after it

[ChocFlip201]

Here are the pics of the drivers side boatside. This side turned out a little better than the passenger side, even though the passenger side turned out pretty dang good imho.

[ChocFlip201]

Also these are the rims I'm using. 2008 H2 17" 8x6.5" (purchased and delivered from Wallysheata, Thanks!) also you can see that I still have to finish putting the clear coat on that top right wheel. They are already bored out in the center to fit over a Ford D60 hub.

[jpfrk2001]

Originally Posted by ChocFlip201

Also these are the rims I'm using. 2008 H2 17" 8x6.5" (purchased and delivered from Wallysheata, Thanks!) also you can see that I still have to finish putting the clear coat on that top right wheel. They are already bored out in the center to fit over a Ford D60 hub.

Damn those look nice! Mine are from a earlier model H-2

When you build your stroker, build it for forced induction anyways while your doin it. Im just saying, you will get a stronger foundation, and if you wanna go full retard, you have the ability to do it.

[derteracing]

I love the boat side look and purpose but why didnt you get more of an angle to it like a 45?

[ChocFlip201]

Originally Posted by derteracing

I love the boat side look and purpose but why didnt you get more of an angle to it like a 45?

Ah I was wondering if/when someone would ask that. And my answer is you'll see why I chose this angle here soon. i'll make sure to reference back to this post and point it out when I can show you with pics.

[ChocFlip201]

Originally Posted by jpfrk2001

Damn those look nice! Mine are from a earlier model H-2

Yeah that picture doesn't do them justice, that was taken with my phone, they really look smokin but I have been sorta trying to find one more from a 2008 so I can have a 5th for a matching spare tire but this solid-spoke style is pretty hard to come by.

Originally Posted by jpfrk2001

When you build your stroker, build it for forced induction anyways while your doin it. Im just saying, you will get a stronger foundation, and if you wanna go full retard, you have the ability to do it.

Nope I have somethin else in mind for this stroker, it will get built with high-quality and very reliable parts and I won't be worried about it crappin out on me. Forced induction strokers are usually built with a lower compression ratio than what I'm going with so it would be hard to build one in preparation for some boost psi. I'm not worried about not having enough power for this engine, maybe for a different buggy I'll mess around with some power adders but that's just not in the plans for this one.

[derteracing]

Alright well everything looks good, keep up the good work, ill be following your build for ideas

[sleepsontoilet]

Do you know how much they were bored? (the H2s)

[ChocFlip201]

Originally Posted by sleepsontoilet

Do you know how much they were bored? (the H2s)

I don't remember exactly how much the new opening is, I had some other H2 wheels opened up for the ford d60 hub but that was over 3 years ago and I can't quite remember the measurement on exactly how much it needs.

There is the small recessed spot on the face of the mounting flange around each lug nut (looking at the front of the wheel) and I know that the new opening diameter will come almost all the way to that recessed area, if that makes sense.

[ChocFlip201]

*I take a lot of pictures, sorry 56k interneters!

Well now its time to finish the frame backhalf and the new body mounts, first off I started by cutting off the most rearward body mounts on my frame off.. The black line is the center of the body mount hole (I already wrote down all the dimensions of the location of the body mount hole in relation to the frame)



Then I cut two 20" lengths of 3"x4" rectangle tubing w/ .25" wall thickness



Then I marked out my design, and used an 1.5" diameter hole saw and drilled a hole.



Then I cut out my fishmouth designs.. I did one male fishmouth and one female fishmouth so I can further space out my welding surface and minimize any chance of shear on my frame. In this picture you can see how much of the existing YJ frame will get sleeved with the new frame material. (this is directly above will be placed.



and with some persuasion I coaxed in into its place.. this isn't exactly quite where it will be sitting but it is really close, for illustration purposes anyways.



In this bird's eye picture you can see in the right side of the picture there is a gap between the YJ frame and the male fishmouth, this was done on purpose so that I can pinch that together with a C-clamp and get some welding surface around the corner of the bend.



I'm not quite done with working on this piece, I just wanted to take some pics to show you what I've been working on today. As you can see (in green) I am going to add some more 1.5" holes for rosette welds just for extra strength. (as they say, overkill is underrated.) I will be building the rest of my frame off of these new pieces.