Can we paint a 54 somewhere on your Jeep? This is so we can call over the radio, "Car 54 where are you?"

No, but thanks for asking... :-)

Nobody likes my suggestions. Bob shot down patina and you 54. Gonna go eat worms. :~(

defibvt wrote:Gonna go eat worms. :~(

See, you make a statement like that and you force us to agree with your next suggestion. :)

defibvt wrote:Nobody likes my suggestions. Bob shot down patina and you 54. Gonna go eat worms. :~(

I like car 54 idea!

fatbob309 wrote:I like car 54 idea!

Thank you Bob.

Alright, the build is crusin' along... finish line is actually in sight now!

Here are some more shots of the spare tire mount and how it's tied to everything. I really like the additional reinforcement to the B pillar. I'll secure the spare with a Y strap.







The next big challenge was up travel. Basically, I had NONE the way my rig was previously set up. In fact, the back had 3" more up travel than the front. It was OK for crawling with the ORI struts (which were 16" front and 18" back and now everything is a 14" Radflo coilover), but with the move to coilovers and the type of racing KOH is, the team had to get creative. The plan is a balanced travel of 6" - 7" up travel and the same for down travel.

The first thing that was done was to re-purpose the original trac bar mount. For reference, here is a shot of how it was before modification. It dropped several inches below the frame.





Part of the solution was to reuse the elements of the mount, but bring it up tigher and closer to the frame.

and here is the "new" mount at full up travel.








They also flipped my steering box and tucked it up out of the way for protection and to create additional room for up travel on the driver side. We'll put a skid beneath it, but I like how it's tucked away now.




On the passenger side, they had to create a new mount and also notch the frame to achieve the desired up travel. Of course they'll plate it and reinforce the notched area, but you can see where they are going with these shots:








I'm very pleased with the solution and the quality work Andrew and Matt do at the shop. Once everything is tightened up and buttoned up, I'm anxious to see how different the ride is.

the next major elements that's almost wrapped up was new front and rear arms to replace the old Alumi-flex stuff Troy was so fond of. Part of the issue was also how the arms tied into the belly skid, so if you needed to access the tranny or the transfer case, you had to drop the entire bell and all the control arms.

The rear is wishbone with the mounts tied into the frame:












Everything at full up travel:




Also a new cross memeber for the transfer case and tranny that will also be getting a skid and some additional protection this week.




In addition to the 14" Radflo coilovers, we've also added 4 Raflo hydraulic bumpstops... it's almost like buying my butt a Christmas present. Here are the rear stops in their cans.






We also put some 90 degree fittings on the rear shocks to allow the reservoir to tuck up neatly under one of the rear bars of the cage out of harm's way.

Finally, on some other notes to wrap up the week, Bill pulled the "pics or it didn't happen card" on my new rims, so here is a shot of the new to me WE's.




And, as some of you know, I killed my 2nd Jaguar in 3 years last week. Short version is my right front tire came off (all 5 lug nuts stripped0 and it messed up the fender but really took out a lot of stuff underneath the front and radiator area when it hit the ground, so they totalled it.)

Here is a video of Geoff saying goodbye to her with a proper burnout before the insurance guys take it away...

http://www.facebook.com/v/326943014002062


Since I had to get a new rig anyway, I picked up an 05 Suburban with tow package as my camping/towing/general use car and tow rig.

There will be no spooning on the lakebed, however.

Wow great updates. The fab going on the on front end is tremendous.

Alan, that thing is looking amazing! Those wheels are the ones I have wanted to a while. Although I would get the polished ones! Can't wait to see that beast on the trail

Very cool Alan, looking awesome!

Dec 23, 2012

Wow... time is moving SO FAST! We're 3 weeks and 2 holidays away from the Dirt Riot race in Tucson, then adustments, then the Hammers. Holy Crikey Batman!

Eventful week this week: drove to Vegas with Bob, picked up my new shoes (Pitbull Rocker 37 x 17's) that still had the stickers on 'em, stopped at the Hoover Dam, and came home.

LetzRoll is off next week (and so am I), so it seemed like a good idea to move to phase 2.5 (you know, those awkward teenage years for a build.. not quite done, not quite getting started, all elbows and knees). This week will be eventful with transmission being completed by next Friday and Geoff, Avis, and I knocking out as much as we can when we can. After the 1st of the year, back to LetzRoll for buttoning up! Anyway, it's good to have the 'ol girl home for a bit!

So, this morning we put the new shoes on the new Walker Evans...

Andrew busting out some beadlocks (with supervision by my boy who couldn't wait to use an air tool!)




Jim getting in on the action.




and Matt just cranking away!




Matt built the mounts for the fuel cell and secured it in place today.






then we loaded her up and took her home for the holidays...




the suspension and coilover are complete, but still need to be dialed in. She's setting 6 - 7 inches lower than final ride height in all these pics since it's basically resting on the axles with no nitrogen in the Radflo's and no coils on the coilovers, but you can get an idea of wheelbase (went from 99" to 105")












Big ticket items completed:
Cage, Full Suspension redo, Coilovers, Air Bumps, Rims, Tires, Rear Axle Stretch, and Fuel Cell plus mount.

Items for this week:
Tranmission completion, catch cans, safety equipment (nets, extinguishers, tools, harness mount, etc...), comp cut cleanup, paint, lights and electrical.

Items for the following week:
Fuel system completion, roof and skins, rear firewall, coils for the coilover, dial in the suspension, button up for Dirt Riot.

Man I can't wait!!!

Looks good Alan! Did some of the height come out of it, it doesn't look as high?

Bill read this. It is from Alan's post.

"the suspension and coilover are complete, but still need to be dialed in. She's setting 6 - 7 inches lower than final ride height in all these pics since it's basically resting on the axles with no nitrogen in the Radflo's and no coils on the coilovers, but you can get an idea of wheelbase (went from 99" to 105")

LOL what he said I said. :-).

But even then, I went from 40's down to 37's and from 16" and 18" struts to 14" coil overs so it will intentionally have a lower center of gravity and sit about 4" total lower into the center of the wheels. Going to be long, low, and lean! Racing baby!

On a side note, I got about 1/2 the cage painted today. I am using the brush on hammered finish black paint... Man it looks good! I also redid the bedliner in the whole tub (since all the seats and everything else is pulled) plus bedlinered the fuel cell mount so it looks built into the floor.

i like it nice and low and long going to be stable

Aw that makes sense! I look at this post for the pictures not for the articles! Reading is for them there smart people!

Can't just look at the pictures. Ya gotta read the articles too, Bill.

looking good Alan. let me know if you need any help this week. I have some time off too.