Way to persevere, I usually have extra cut off wheels so give me a jingle if you need a couple or 5 in the future.

Tuesday 3/13: Made the run to Glendale Powdercoat and picked up my frame and pieces. I'm still tickled that the total cost was just $135.





Also stopped by Arizona Axle Products and picked up the bearings, seals, and races to rebuild the hubs. I'm planning on using Marine Grade grease, as it suppose to repel water better than the regular stuff.

My dad i started reassembling the frame. The new C-shacles from the 50' series CJ-3A Willy was a perfect fit. I fought with one of the shock towers when I disassembled the frame. Now that it's powercoated, it was impossible to fit in. I compared it with the other one and this one was just a bit big. So, I broke out the angle grinder and took off 1.5cm of metal from the top. Now, it's a perfect fit.

The new NAPA/Monroe shocks were great, but the bushing was thicker than the original. They are held in place by a thick washer and a cotter pin. I ended having to replace the washer with a M16 washer. A bit thinner but still had trouble getting the cotter pin in place. To smoosh everything down, I put an open end wrench against the washer and compressed it with a large C-clamp. This provided me the room to drop the cotter pin in place. Worked like a charm!

I had seen that someone on an Expedition Forum had flipped their axle for better clearance. I decided to do this too, as I may choose to go with matching 17" tires later. This would prove to be a mistake....





Once the axle was flipped, I ran into issues with the manual brake cables. They were too short. After all that, we had to take it all apart and start over, putting the axle back to the original spot.




The rest of the night involved reinstalling the manual and hydraulic brakes, the surge system for the lunette, and prepping the drums for the install of the new bearings.

The replacement master cylinder (which is from a 50's series CJ-3A Willy, worked perfectly. So did the flex brake line. The replacment wheel cylinders worked also. One of them needed to be "fitted" so the angle grinder came in handy.




This morning as I went to work, I noticed that I left some junk on my front lawn. Good thing I don't have a HOA. :)

James, excellent work. That trailer looks fantastic.

The trailer is looking great James!

Wednesday 3/14: We have a rolling frame!

Tonight was suppose to be final electrical, hubs & bearings, and surge brakes. We ended up having to redo the brakes because the hubs were binding. I swapped some parts from each side and it all fit back together.

The surge brake proved to be a challenge. The goal was to bleed the air out of the lines but it was harder than anticipated. With a traditional car all you have to do is loosen the bleed valve, pump the brake pedal and push the air out. Since there was no pedal I was at a bit off a loss. I purchased a brake vaccum pump but it didn't work. After 2 hours of brain-racking ideas and failed attempts I ended up removing the master cylinder and pumped it by hand with a screwdriver. It worked.

I didn't get to the electrical but did manage to grease up all the zirks and now all the mechanicals are finally done.

I will try to get to the electrical this weekend. Then, my attention will turn to finishing tue tub.



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Sweet! I'd love to have one of those trailers

Thursday 3/15: Today was my son's b-day. Adding a full day at work, made for a short couple of hours of Trailer Restoration.

I was able to get all the wiring done. I reused the original wire harness brackets. I wanted to have them on the trailer, in case I sell it down the road and the new owner wants to restore it back to a full military trailer.

I like things to be neat, so I put everything an a wiring loom, shrunk wrapped all solder jobs, and used insulated wire connectors. It took 2 hours, but it looks sweet, I won't have to worry about it getting wet, and it looks pretty bad-ass!

Once wired, I took the frame out for a drive just to make sure the lights worked and it's rolling straight and smooth.









Now, it's time to refocus on the tub. There are a couple of areas I need to clean up before installing the replacement floor. I have a new timeline. I have a camping trip coming up with my boys. It's on April 6th. I need the trailer to haul camp gear!

Aw, crap. I just snoozed off on my keyboard again... it's time for bed. I'm so freakin tired.

Friday 3/16: After work I raced to Southwest Steel on 22201 North 23rd Ave, Phoenix. I purchased a 10ga steel sheet for the bottom tub of the trailer and the angle brackets for the cross member supports.

It was interesting to watch them cut the stuff. He would not let me in the back to watch the big plasma cutter do it's thing on the sheet steel. It was a safety concern, I guess.





When I got home, I finished prepping the tub by removing all the burrs from the cuts, straightening up the sides, cleaning the surfaces that will be welded, and marking any holes that need to be filled in.

Then, I deburred the new steel.




At this point, all work has come to a standstill. Rain is in the forcast and I don't want to risk getting any of the raw metal wet. I already accidentally sprayed the newly sandblasted tub with the garden hose when I was washing my Jeep. My wife opened the garage door and I wasn't paying attention. :(

Work will continue on Tuesday. The only thing left is to put the tub back on the trailer and wheel it down to my neighbor's FAB shop. He graciously offered to weld it for me.

By putting the tub back on the trailer, the frame will hold the tub "true" and allow the new floor to be seated properly for welding. Thus, eliminating unnecessary flex in the tub. Will it work? Eh, who knows. It's rare to find a M416 tub that is even straight, though. Years of use (or mis-use) kinda funks up the tub. :)

Next update will be on Tuesday.

Absolutely amazing and outstanding, both work and write up!

Monday 3/19: Lucky me! The weather dried up and when I got home everybody was gone! I had the night to myself so I decided to try to get the tub onto the trailer.

When I wheeled the frame into the garage, I noticed something! RUST. The master cylinder, which I received in a painted condition had surface rust on it! WTF, man!?! So, I pulled it off the frame, cleaned it, and painted it.



The tub was heavier than I remembered. Either that, or I was just feeling tired and sore from the previous days of work and the weather. I had to go ask two of my neighbors for a little muscle and got the tub in place. Some of the mounting ears got a little bent from all the previous moving around so I wailed on it with a hammer and block of wood.



Now that the tub was on tight and the box was as square as it could be, we slid the steel sheet in place. A perfect fit! Almost too perfect. I hope I left enough room for my FAB guy to seam-weld. The cross members are also ready to go, so I placed them in the tub.



All set for Wednesday! Once the welding and hole patching is complete, I will need to pull the tub back off the frame, flip it, and start the painting process. Tomorrow, it's off to Home Depot to pick an exterior color for the tub. I'm thinking of a dark pewter. My thought is, give it some contrast but make it a paint that I can buy and "touch up" when it gets some trail rash.

Next update will be on Wednesday!

Hey, did you welder guys know about the "copper" method for filling in holes? This is what my FAB guy is going to do with all the little holes on the tub. I never heard of this, so I found it interesting. Here's a video I found on this method.

I'm really diggin that trailer jimmy, great work!

Wednesday 3/21: I dropped off the trailer to my fab guy. He's spending the next two days patching rust holes, sandblasting the new tub bottom, and welding the tub back together. During this time I finished painting the fenders in Hammered Black.

I finally decided to go with a Matte Black for the trailer tub. There is enough hammered black to give it contrast and being the frame is also a textured matte black, it should all tie in well.

With luck, I will get the trailer back Friday night and start painting it. I think 4 coats of paint should be good. Going to rattle can it. Will rattle can the bedliner, too. I still have some from my last trailer.

The next pics and post should be of the final project.

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Tuesday 3/27: Well, I was hoping that this would be my last post and the big "reveal" would happen... but I ran into a few snags.

1. If you think it's all going well, it ain't: I dropped it off on Wednesday. Was suppose to get it back on Friday. Was delayed til Monday. I marked the holes that needed to be filled. I circled it with a Magic Marker. He went a bit nuts and darn near sealed up EVERY hole... even the ones I didn't want him to. LOL.



2. Bigger is not always better: The original tub floor was 16ga steel. I replaced it with 10ga steel. When it came down to welding, we ran into issues. The amount of heat needed to weld the 10ga steel was too hot for the rest of the 16ga tub. It kept blowing holes through it!



3. Double check the the checklist : I did a cursory once-over on the tub, found a few areas that needed some attention. Did a 2nd look and gave it a thumbs up. Got it home and noticed I missed a BIG thing... we forgot to weld back in the drain plug mounts!



4. Both tires now have BIG HUGE cracks on them. They're holding air because of the tube. I need to start shopping for some tires.

5. I ran out of grinding/cut-off wheels. :( Need to make a run to Harbor Freight.



Well, it's back in my possession. It took a fork lift to install the tub on the frame. It took 4 guys to lift it off the frame and set it back up in my garage. For now, it's going to be 2 days of cleaning up the welds, then Thursday it goes to Tempe DMV for Title and Registration then back home for it's first coat of paint.

Last night, I totaled up my spreadsheet to see how much I spent so far. Everything is on the spreadsheet.

My wife made me include my initial cost of air tools, air hoses, sockets. I told her that those tools will be used for other projects, too! Well, if I back out the tools, my cost so far is only $1,300. Tires will set me back an additional $300. Ug.. may need to revisit the bolt pattern conversion.

Wednesday 3/28/12: Last night was not good. The die cutter got away from me and got my nuckle. It got through the skin and nicked my nuckle. No nerves or tendons were touched (thank God). Sitting at the doctors office now. I sealed it up good with liquid bandage. My doctor hates that stuff.
Hes going to have to cut through it to examine it. Ouch... Again!



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Bummer. Glad it wasnt bad.

Doctor said, "Ew, you're going to need stitches and a Tdap shot". I'm now waiting at urgent care.

Sent using Tapatalk from Advantage Urgent Care. :eek:

How come you had to go Urgent Care? Your primary doctor should be able stitch that up.

Because they suck.

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Well, the tub is going back to the fab shop. They are going to weld in the drain plugs. I'm out of commission for a week anyways until my hand heals up.

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Chicks dig scars.