The last three weeks have been tedious. Mostly mundane tasks but a few new parts got in which is always fun to open. I've posted pics but nothing too exciting.
A lot of wet/color sanding to get rid of orange peel in the clear.
Cleaning parts, spraying bit pieces, mounts, mounting HW, cover plates etc. The more I clean, the more parts i seem to find. I forgot how much I pulled off when stripping it down. Will be glad when this phase is done! Haven't gotten to trim yet either
Drivetrain is still with the tuner as they work getting the electronic t-case controls fully figured out. No firm date on when it will be ready and shipped.
A week plus of long days to get all color sanding done but worth it.
I will buff and polish everything over the winter months but that's lowest priority now. I couldn't resist polishing the hood though just to see how it was going to look. I did final sand with 2000 grit paper but still nice. I could go to 3000 grit or higher and get a more mirror like finish but I'm happy ... and tired of sanding !
Cut out the old cradle motor mount for the LS and prepped for new Gen V mounts from Novak. Then moved the chassis to it's new temporary home until the drivetrain is here. No room at the house to keep it inside and with weather turning and HOA no place to keep it outside either so a nearby storage facility was the only choice
Engine mounts arrived and are now ready to set in place but won't get mounted til drivetrain is here
With body and panels all painted and done, I've turned my attention to all the brackets and mounts....this is first of many rounds of parts that have to get done.
First, fixing stress/vibration fractures in passenger side inner fender support bracket i found while cleaning them. The metal width to the outer edge of the bracket was so thin I'm surprised it didn't break off. It's was less than half the width of the side that didn't crack. Both ends needed repair. I wanted to add strength so decided to weld a new piece of metal spanning the length of the opening to the outer edge and then ground to fit.
Now on to prep and paint
For mounting HW I had a few options. One, buy new black steel which is more expensive. Two, buy standard bolts and paint heads black. Three, recondition what I pulled off the jeep. I chose the latter. For the most part it was all in good shape and much less painting needed. A good soak in carb cleaner / de-greaser for an hour and half, wipe clean, spray with a good penetrating oil and back in the bag till I start mounting parts. I'd say 85% is reusable. Now just about 30 more baggies and I'll be done.
I found the courage to dig out the body harness and start thinking about cutting and prepping all the factory connectors for things I'll re-use. Not ready to tackle that quite yet...a little scared to be honest and still more brackets and parts to get ready first .
"New" refurbhished power window assemblies from an 84 wagoneer arrived as did my Dakota Digital cluster. Stock piling parts now but will be fun to start assembling ....some day.
New gauge set..yay! I love the lines. They almost mirror some of the hard body lines so I think it will look right at home. Also got their CAN bus module so no need to mount sensors on the motor, can just pull everything I need directly from OBDII port.
I did some pre-measuring and should be able to make it fit nicely with a few mods but it's going to be a tight fit.
I wanted to make a mounting template but can't find sheet metal anywhere. No 18 or 20 gauge scrap at the metal yard and no smaller sheets in retail anywhere. A local body shop gave me a leftover piece of a new quarter panel they cut up for a job. I found a mostly flat spot, cut out what I needed and hammered it flat. When the template is cut and ready, I plan to measure everything 3 or 4 more times at least before I make any cuts in the dash.