Grand Willys Project

[Tassie Jeeper]

the weekend is here time to work

expecting an update monday

[Gojeep]

Worked out well that the next cross member also supports the upper control arm bracket and will stop any twisting of the rail from the lower arms as well.

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The brackets to support the rear and centre tank straps have been added. The front tank strap will bolt up under the floor into the original mount as I will be using that and the firewall from the donor.


Doesn't look like it, but made the closest new cross member sit level with the rear part of the frame so it will support the bed floor as well. Next photo shows it better.


Extended the cross member all the way down to the bottom of the frame rail. Improves its appearance and and adds further strength and weld area. I checked before welding across the top of the frame and found several frames like the Holden Rodeo, Dodge 1500 etc, which have the same cross member arrangement sitting on top of the chassis, where they had fully welded it the same as shown. Not always recommended to do this, especially if you have a frame with flex in it, so do your own research first.


Can see how the original cross members look very similar. They are the same dimensionally and have the same bend angle and radius. The bends are just closer together on the originals which meant they wouldn't clear the tank.


The new ones are stronger being fully boxed rather than channel and are rust free. Poured some lanolin oil down inside and rotated them to coat all the sides before welding them in to prevent rusting.


Only one more cross member to add now which is the very front one. It goes under the grille and radiator area so can't add that until I know the exact placement of those.


The frame has ended up remarkably similar to the new 2013 Dodge Ram 1500 frame which even has an option of the same 5.7 HEMI.

[kyro]

nice work as always mate well done

[Tassie Jeeper]

DAMMIT!! i should have checked last night

Originally Posted by Gojeep

Hope early is alright.


The new ones are stronger being fully boxed rather than channel and are rust free. Poured some lanolin oil down inside and rotated them to coat all the sides before welding them in to prevent rusting.

looks great extended down like this and will be super strong like u said.
i had to weld in all new sill panels on and old Austin A-30/A-40 England cant remember how old mid 40's i believe.
It had all rusted away i cut it away in sections as i figure if u had cut it off all the way along the body could distort and i used zinc alumed sheet steel to clad it all back in and sprayed all inside with fish oil god damn is stunk when i welded it haha but no more rust for at least 60 years

Originally Posted by Gojeep

Only one more cross member to add now which is the very front one. It goes under the grille and radiator area so can't add that until I know the exact placement of those.

looks massive in this photo but at the same time has 4 crossmembers at the rear and will only have 1 at the front i realize the dodge chassis u posted is very similar it too looks weird to me but i spose the engine and trans will act like a crossmember plus the shock struts running over the engine will stiffen it

great stuff mate its really coming together cant wait to see the body work comence not long now what u gonna do when u finish it...? (drive it obviously) but then u will miss playing with it and have to start another

[Gojeep]

I scored a full set of Eibach SRT lowering springs off eBay for only $100. They were only used for a few months and are like new. Also came with shorter bump stops and upper wishbones with a camber adjustable ball joints.


Can see the difference next to the stock spring. They normally lower a SRT version 1.5" and they are 1" lower than the standard Grand Cherokee. So looking at a combined drop of 2.5" if mine weighed the same.


Can clearly see the difference in the front coils too. They have an extra coil too and are variable rate coils which the stock ones aren't.


Thought I might as well put together the front suspension.


All assembled and went together smoothly.


Rear coils in.


Threw on a wheel and turned it to full lock to make sure there was plenty of clearance to the frame. I will be running taller tyres and wheels with less offset which will give even more clearance. Going to run the same offset all round as the 6.1 Hemi SRT front stock wheels have.

[Tassie Jeeper]

Originally Posted by Gojeep

Great to hear about the fish oil working so well for so long. I like the lanolin as no smell.
Don't forget there are more cross members in already including the one under the transmission, the cradle effectively is other two under the engine and across the front as well.
My wife is already prepared for me to start another project one day when this is done as knows I always need to be working on some thing. She got me this project to stop me working all the time on the XJ after I got it to a point that it was suiting our needs perfectly.

lanolin sounds the go is it about the same price...?

yer i thought the front sub sub assembly would stiffen the front end up it, just when i looked at it with the engine sitting in there it looks like all the structural stuff is at the rear.

great news on the wifey giving u free reign on the jeeps

oh and the progressive rate springs will make for a nice ride too

[ryanmcsh]

Where do you get the lanolin oil from? Is it just some inox or something special?

I am currently restoring a mini and just use a light coat of etch primer, but i like the idea of the lanolin oil...

And the weld through primer?? where do you get that from???

Cheers,

Ryan