Project: Tetanus Shot - 1948 Willys

[YJJPWrangler]

Time for some updates and pictures. Long but productive weekend. New radiator is installed and looks good. Slightly bigger than the old one but it fits in there snugly.

Got the steering box back together but I didn't get the snap ring set all the way on the adjuster plug. Ended up blowing the snap ring and some seals out. I had replacements on hand and was able to swap everything out and get it all sealed up. Bled the steering and decided that today was the day.

Drove it out on a 5 gal bucket. Brakes suck(booster isn't hooked up), steering needs to be bled some more, and the clutch is stiff as hell. But this is the first time its been out of the garage in 3 years.

I did manage to shred the serpentine belt. Inspected all my pulleys and I had to replace the AC delete pulley as it was chewed up in the middle, don't know how that happened bc it was a brand new pulley. I will probably also need a new power steering pump pulley as it has a slight shimmy in it.

Steel is on site for the cage. Went through Race City Steel in Denver, cheapest price I could find. Got some ideas for a cage and how I want to tie everything together

 

[R Q]

Ugly as hell and beautiful all at the same time! I love it! Can't wait for the maiden voyage which I WILL be going on!

 

[YJJPWrangler]

Ugly as hell and beautiful all at the same time! I love it! Can't wait for the maiden voyage which I WILL be going on!

After everything, I'll let you drive the damn thing!

Started work on the cage design. Been pulling a lot of ideas from other Willys builds(mostly on Pirate). I am partial to this design.

However, I found a halo design for the rear that I really like and will keep multiple bends on the same pipe way down. Something like this

Planning on an X across the back of the seats to prevent racking as well as door bars etc.

In order for this cage to be secure, I need to build some supports for the A, B, and C pillars. I am planning on connecting the A pillar to the rock slider/body mount. If you look back a few pages, Ive already built the sliders with this in mind. My idea is to sandwich the body between frame mounts and the cage mounts with plate. This will make the body way more rigid as its pretty thin in a lot of places. It will also help me be able to remove the cage for final welding(plates are bolted together with 4 bolts).

Started on the passenger side with the B pillar. When @Jeff B had this jeep, he welded in some wings for the B pillar off the frame rail. These turned out to be the perfect height/size for my new B pillars. I also got the C pillar support tacked into place. It mounts to the framerail and secures the right rear body panel. It will also give me a space to hard mount the fuel filler neck and protect it. I still have @rockcity manual bender and this didn't take to long at all.

You can see the B and C pillar in the pic below.

C pillar is just tacked into place on the frame rail. I've already got the driver side C pillar bent up, just need to finish grinding it and tack it into place. After the supports are done, I'm gonna bribe @getstucksome with lots of beer to get his experience and more importantly his powered bender over here to start building the actual cage.

In other news, my power steering pulley is screwed. The serpentine belt has walked about 1/4" off and it is way out of line with the other pulleys. I'm thinking I need a new power steering pulley so I'll have to remove the radiator etc to gain access to it. Not a hard thing to do, just more of a pain in the ass

 

[YJJPWrangler]

B and C supports are fully welded.

Tied the B pillars together through the body for the mounting of the seats.

Seats are now mocked in. The rear mounting brackets for the seats are bolted to tabs that are tacked onto the seat bar currently. THe front brackets are supported by some blocks of wood right now.

A couple of things I've noticed with the seat placement: I'm going to need to rebend the shifter but I was planning on doing it anyway. I'm also going to look at a removable steering wheel to make it easier to get in and out. The center of the steering wheel is out of line with the center of the seat about 1" due to the width of the seats and the small space I'm working with.

Started bending some tube the other day. A powered bender sure is nice...

Still need to order a bunch of tabs and brackets but the cage should start taking shape soon.

 

[YJJPWrangler]

Cage is coming along but no pictures yet. With all the rain we have had, its hard to get outside and bend some tube so I decided to work on the power steering pump since the pulley had walked. Turns out, I was able to pull the entire shaft out of the pump pretty easily.

The end of the shaft is pretty mangled and now I know why it was hard as hell to steer when I pulled it out of the garage. Ill get a new pump this weekend.

 

[YJJPWrangler]

More progress. Got the new power steering pump and pulley back on and cleaned up some more wiring in the engine bay. @getstucksome came over yesterday evening and we finished bending the two main hoops. We debated on making the hoops out of two pieces of pipe and slugging them together because of 4 bends in a 10 foot piece. However, we were able to do all four bends. We also cut the B support pillars and they will mimic the dash bend which should look really good. The main hoops are tacked in place now. I still need to cut some plates for the C pillars to attach to.

Still planning to do a halo for the rear. Still bumping ideas around for the roof bracing and behind the seats.

 

[YJJPWrangler]

B pillars are tacked in. They match the same angle as the dash bend in the A pillar.

Next up will be the spreader bar, windshield bar, and dash bar.

 

[YJJPWrangler]

B spreader bar is in as is the dash bar. B spreader bar was a pain to notch though. Getting a lot better at notching with a flap wheel which is nice.

Going to work on the windshield bar as well as the door bars today.

 

[thecj3man]

Maybe I missed it, but did you say what size tube you are using? I really like the way the cage is coming along. I am hopeful that I will get to order the materials pretty soon to put a cage in my 3A.

 

[YJJPWrangler]

@thecj3man I'm using 1.75x.120 wall DOM. I also have some 1.5x.120 and 1x.120. Appreciate it, first time building one too.

I think I have the roof figured out as well. Should look really good when its all said and done.

 

[thecj3man]

Thanks. I was thinking of using 1 3/4 tube. Your pictures reinforce what I thought it would look like.

 

[YJJPWrangler]

This is what I've settled on for the roof lines.

Windshield bar is in.

My windshield support bars will mirror the bend of the A pillars. I will need to space them a bit at the bottom to clear the windshield vent.

Here is where I'm at now. Still need to tie in the passenger side angled brace and then its onto the windshield bars.

 

[ghost]

Will the roof get a skin?

 

[YJJPWrangler]

Will the roof get a skin?

As of right now, I'm not planning on skinning the roof. I do want to get some kind of bikini top etc for it. I might end up making my own for it if I can't find one that fits.

 

[ghost]

As of right now, I'm not planning on skinning the roof. I do want to get some kind of bikini top etc for it. I might end up making my own for it if I can't find one that fits.

I have left my roof on the beater xj over my head for a couple reasons. One being rocks seem to come in where I never expect them to. Just food for thought. We never plan on rolling over but in what we do things happen.

 

[YJJPWrangler]

@ghost thats a good idea, I will revisit it in the future for sure.

Roof is pretty much done. Gussets on the B pillar are in. Pulled a late night in the garage. Worked till about 12:30AM.

Going to start bending the Windshield bars today. My pile of tube is shrinking at a good rate but it looks like I'll have just enough to do everything. Also I'll be placing an order from AA mfg for some pre-made gussets and tabs today. Starting to really come together now

 

[YJJPWrangler]

I'm gonna need more tube...

I wasted two pieces for the windshield bars yesterday. Got the first one mounted up on the first try and decided since I had cut a few inches of it off, I could reduce my length needed for the second one. Obviously not the case. Lessons learned though. Got the windshield bars tied in yesterday. They match the A-C hoops, clear the windshield vent door, and even have enough room for the rearview mirror. I still need to make front seat bracket, door bars, harness bar, and halo/halo support. I really like the feel and look of the cage currently and can't wait to see it completely finished.

 

[NCJeeplover]

I do want to get some kind of bikini top etc for it.

I've always wanted to get one of those canvas tarps and make a bikini top out of it. I think you can get a kit to put snaps on the tarp and the male end rivets to the tube. Wouldn't super seal, but would be better than nothing.

 

[YJJPWrangler]

Door bars are in. All thats left for the front part of the cage is the front seat bracket and the harness bar. Really digging how these turned out.

Definitely going to need to order some more tube for the harness bar and X as well as the halo.

 

[YJJPWrangler]

Tabs showed up today from AA MFG. Seats are tacked in and are solid. Also picked up another stick of 20' of tube for the remainder of the cage. Also bought a set of RJS harnesses, should be here Monday. Not a big update, but things are happening.

 

[YJJPWrangler]

Once again, I need more tube. Harness bar is bent up and tacked in thanks to @getstucksome. Had to redo the passenger seat mount to clear it. Halo bar is bent up and just needs to be notched into the B pillars. I need about 9LF more of tube to finish the cage, so by my math I'm just going to buy a 20lf stick again. I still need to build the C uprights to connect to the halo bar, and the X behind the seats. Harnesses arrived and look really good. I'm planning on redoing my Dana 300 shifters so that I can actually shift them while strapped in. Should be easy enough to do since I have the cable shifters. Getting closer to being done with the cage though.

 

[ghost]

You have a lot more tube over your head than I thought was going there. Looking good!

 

[Scooter402]

Daaaaamn, Gina! I'm digging the cage.

I also saw some tube hanging from the ceiling over (I assume) where you were welding. Could you shed some insight on that if you have a smoke evac system? What did you use? I've been considering doing one myself for my garage. It just caught my attention as I was drooling over the cage work.

 

[YJJPWrangler]

You have a lot more tube over your head than I thought was going there. Looking good!

Thanks bud. The overhead tube is spaced just right for head room. It should work well.

@Scooter402 the tube hanging from the ceiling is part of my incomplete sawdust/dust system for woodworking. So its not for welding fumes at all. . For welding fumes, I have two big oscillating fans in the rear of the garage that I keep running. Appreciate the comments on the cage!

20lf of tube is waiting for me at Race City Steel, Ill be picking it up tomorrow

 

[YJJPWrangler]

Tube picked up yesterday and started to get to work. Got two braces in for the X behind the seats. There will be another two braces going to the B spreader from the main X node. There will also be another tube coming down from the X node to the seat bar. Only other tubework left will be the two C pillar uprights to connect to the halo. Hoping to finish the tube work by this weekend and then its on to prep work for final welding.

Picture is off center a tad, the X brace lines up with the front windshield V.