ZMotorsports Shop Projects 2.0

[bggrnchvy]

There was a builder of 4130 links for rock racing and then Ultra 4 that had a series of failures because the perimeter fillet welds broke and the bungs pulled out destroying 4 shocks at a time and taking out racers.

Adding rosettes solved the issue.

I won't build a welded link without.

 

[customh]

I think that sounds like an awesome idea Travis. I think between the three of us we could knock out most issues in a relatively short timeframe.



Although Pat would have to mop up behind me as I wandered around his shop drooling, hell I don't think I would leave.

You might not leave. I know there's room to park the coach but can't remember what he's got for hookups. But hey who am I to invite you to a shop I have zero part in owning?!


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[4 FN 27]

Looking good Mike. I think you should come to MN sometime. All go to Pat's place and really solve the world's problems.

I think that sounds like an awesome idea Travis. I think between the three of us we could knock out most issues in a relatively short timeframe.

Although Pat would have to mop up behind me as I wandered around his shop drooling, hell I don't think I would leave.

You might not leave. I know there's room to park the coach but can't remember what he's got for hookups. But hey who am I to invite you to a shop I have zero part in owning?!

Come on down...all "Garage Journalites" are welcome...

Mike I have 50 Amp Hook-ups (2 extra), Water, Dump Station and you can park inside...full service RV stop...LOL...

No mop. We have Drool Cups.

 

[zmotorsports]

Come on down...all "Garage Journalites" are welcome...



Mike I have 50 Amp Hook-ups (2 extra), Water, Dump Station and you can park inside...full service RV stop...LOL...



No mop. We have Drool Cups.

That’s awesome Pat. Inside RV parking with full hook-ups AND drool cups? That’s too good of an offer to refuse, I may have to take you up on it. [emoji12]


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[zmotorsports]

Today was quite productive. My son and I finished up the rear suspension links on his WJ and completed the frame mounts for the front suspension.

Started off by cutting the upper Link material once the length was determined.


Fishmouthed the axle end @ 5-degrees.


I then realized one link was about 1/8” longer than the other. Had to trim the long one. I sure do like this Baileigh BS210 band saw. Nice clean and consistent cuts every time.




Then I chucked the frame ends of the links in the lathe and removed about .100” so the tube adapter would press in.




Cross drilling the tube for rosette welds.


After wiping everything down with acetone the parts are ready to weld together.


Upper links welded.




All rear links ready to mock into position.


Rear links installed.


Underneath shot.

 

[Nlped]

Looks fantastic! That’s going to be a nice rig!

What’s the scoop on the “BoX”?


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[fnieto]

Nice work Mike, she's coming together nicely.

 

[Boosted1]

Nice work as usual.

 

[zmotorsports]

Looks fantastic! That’s going to be a nice rig!

What’s the scoop on the “BoX”?


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You’ll just have to wait and see. [emoji12]

As soon as my son’s WJ is back on the road I will unveil the big brown box.




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[zmotorsports]

Nice work Mike, she's coming together nicely.

Thanks Paco. I appreciate you following along.


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[zmotorsports]

Nice work as usual.

Thank you.


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[zmotorsports]

Next up was fabricating the front suspension mounts.

I cut the four side plates then bolted them together for grinding to ensure they are all symmetrical.


Base plates, side plates and bolt hole reinforcement washers cut and ready for welding










Mocked up, bolted together and ready for final welding.


Welded.














Completed and ready to weld onto the frame.


Thanks for looking.

 

[LXCam]

Fantastic job as always Mike. How much longer do you think you two will need to wrap this up. I'm sure the boy is as anxious to get it dirty as we are to see what's in the box.

 

[zmotorsports]

Thanks Cam. I’m not gonna lie, this WJ project is dragging out longer than I expected it to. Only getting a couple of hours a night a few nights a week isn’t cutting it.

Trust me, I’m as ready to move on to my project as you are to see it but I want to get my son’s Jeep on the road first and not rush through the fabrication.

I appreciate you following along bud.


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[Firstram]

Nice welding vise!

 

[zmotorsports]

Nice welding vise!

Thanks. It’s just an old Dayton that I picked up at an estate sale about ten years ago. Works very well for welding.

The one in the picture is a 6” one and I now have a smaller 4” version also for welding that I used on my drill press until I purchased my new Wilton quick release vise that I bought recently.

 

[zmotorsports]

A few pictures from tonight’s work on my son’s WJ.

We relocated the spring buckets on the axle inboard 1-7/16” on each side as the JK frame is slightly wider than the WJ’s frame rails. Rather than use the aftermarket flat spring mounts my son wanted to keep the OEM front buckets so we merely cut them off, cleaned up the radius then welded them back on just closer to the center of the axle.

We also welded the Artec Industries track bar mount together and onto the axle. They sure make some nice components, excellent quality and fitment.















Lastly before closing up shop we welded the front suspension mounts onto the frame rails that we built a few nights ago.






Thanks for looking.

 

[GRN96WS6]

Surprised you didn't clean up the buckets and re powdercoat.

 

[shortykorte]

Mike, I was wondering what method are you using to cut this plate?

Also, I think I’m hearing a voice that keeps yelling “Let me out of this box”


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[dirt_dobber]

you know how some people have nice artwork hanging in their house...
well - I have printed pics of Mike's welding on my wall!

 

[zmotorsports]

Surprised you didn't clean up the buckets and re powdercoat.

It’s just a little surface rust and it will get coated with POR-15 before going under the Jeep. POR-15 actually adheres better to surface rust than it does bare steel.

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, I was wondering what method are you using to cut this plate?

Also, I think I’m hearing a voice that keeps yelling “Let me out of this box”


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I’m cutting the lengths in my Baileigh BS210 horizontal bandsaw then cutting the contours out in my Birmingham 20" vertical bandsaw. All cuts are merely be hand, no water jet or laser like Pat has. [emoji41]

As for the voices, I’ve been hearing them as well. [emoji12]

Thanks for following along Shorty.

 

[zmotorsports]

you know how some people have nice artwork hanging in their house...
well - I have printed pics of Mike's welding on my wall!

Thank you. I appreciate the kind words. Unfortunately my welds are one of those things I never seem to be quite pleased with. I don’t fabricate enough to really be able to get consistent looking welds. I know they are structurally sound but they just don’t have that uniformity and consistency that I try for.

Thank you for stopping by my projects thread and I commenting.

 

[GRN96WS6]

It’s just a little surface rust and it will get coated with POR-15 before going under the Jeep. POR-15 actually adheres better to surface rust than it does bare steel.

I guess I'm just used to you overdoing it! Haha POR15 is good stuff.

 

[yaidunno]

Nice progress on the WJ Mike! It looks to be moving right along now. Keep up the good work.

 

[zmotorsports]

I guess I'm just used to you overdoing it! Haha POR15 is good stuff.

Thanks. I guess at some point ya just have to ask yourself if there is value added in a process or not. I didn't see any value added in beadblasting or grinding the buckets to accept the POR-15. My bad. I'll work on that.

On a side note, Duplicolor came out with a rust converter that is "supposed" to be the same as POR-15 but less costly. Do NOT believe it and do NOT use it. My son tried it on his rear axle and it flat *****. He spent more time mechanically removing it than if he would have just spent a few bucks more on the POR-15 in the first place. I guess that's what we get for trying to save a few bucks. Lessen learned, stick with what we know works.

 

[zmotorsports]

Nice progress on the WJ Mike! It looks to be moving right along now. Keep up the good work.

Thank you. I appreciate you following along and the comments.

 

[Ohmthis]

Mike the Jeep parts are looking great! I understand about the weld appearance, I only weld a few times a month here at work and although they don’t look terrible (kinda like riding a bike, just clumsy) I wish they looked better. I’m really wishing to get my chores done at the new house (waiting on contractors *****!!!) so I can get the shop setup and play. Thanks for letting me live vicariously!

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike the Jeep parts are looking great! I understand about the weld appearance, I only weld a few times a month here at work and although they don’t look terrible (kinda like riding a bike, just clumsy) I wish they looked better. I’m really wishing to get my chores done at the new house (waiting on contractors *****!!!) so I can get the shop setup and play. Thanks for letting me live vicariously!

Thanks for following along. Trust me I completely understand about waiting on contractors and getting a shop setup. I also know what it's like to have gaps in my welding. Sometimes like this project I weld/fabricate for a few weeks straight and other times I may go 4+ months before ever turning on a welder as most of the projects are wrenching. It takes me a little bit behind the hood before I get back into a rhythm of welding again.

 

[zmotorsports]

Another great Saturday hanging out in the shop with my son working on his WJ.



We beefed up the frame mounted trac bar bracket.




Then finished welding the front suspension mounts to the frame rails.




While we had the room we removed the pitman arm to drill it out to accept a slightly larger drag link end. Set it up in the mill and drilled to accept the new tapered sleeve.






Lastly before closing up shop we welded and machined the tube adapters in preparation for building the front suspension links.






Before turning the lights out for the night we positioned the front axle under the Jeep and mocked the tires into place.




Thanks for looking.

 

[cbacres]

Nice welding for being in the position that it is, I'm sure the lift helps tons with that. I find when welding on a vehicle, I need a third arm to support me

 

[zmotorsports]

Nice welding for being in the position that it is, I'm sure the lift helps tons with that. I find when welding on a vehicle, I need a third arm to support me

Thanks. Out of position welding can be fun at times. I find placing a C-clamp aids in giving me something or someplace to brace myself to help as a steady rest.

Thanks for following along.

 

[fnieto]

Nice work Mike, getting close...
Working along side your son is special. I miss this deeply as my son lives two (large) states away.
Comfort is king when welding in any position. It shows you where comfy as those beads are consistently purdy. Oh and those tube adaptors, I bet you used you positioner to TIG those. They also look great. Again, nice work amigo.

 

[zmotorsports]

Nice work Mike, getting close...
Working along side your son is special. I miss this deeply as my son lives two (large) states away.
Comfort is king when welding in any position. It shows you where comfy as those beads are consistently purdy. Oh and those tube adaptors, I bet you used you positioner to TIG those. They also look great. Again, nice work amigo.

Thanks Paco. Yep, working in the shop with our kids is special. I figured I had better treasure it while it lasts as I have a feeling this next year is going to bring some major changes the zmotorsports household members.

As for the TIG welds on the tube adapters, yes, those were done with my M-K Products aircraft positioner. I'm still getting used to having both hands and both feet going while welding, not as easy as it looks, but they are getting better looking all the time. I just don't seem to get as much use out of it as I would have when building sand toys.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my projects Paco.

 

[zmotorsports]

On Friday afternoon my son sold his 2012 Harley Davidson Street Bob so we gained a small amount of space in the RV/storage bay as well as the mezzanine in the third bay of the attached garage from his accessories that went with it. After meeting the guy at the bank and the weather being somewhat better than it had been during the week I had my son help me blow the sprinkler system out for the season and then I went downstairs and blew/vacuumed the furnace out in preparation for the colder temps coming our way.

I love fall but I get depressed because I know winter is right around the corner and I HATE that white **** that falls on the ground and makes such a mess. I wish it would merely stay in the mountains and not on the valley floor where we have to shovel, plow and drive in it.

 

[LXCam]

The Jeep's turning out great Mike.

 

[zmotorsports]

The Jeep's turning out great Mike.

Thanks Cam. This thing is turning out pretty sweet so far. My son's being pretty particular about this build. He's seen a couple of JK axle swaps into WJ's but they have been put together very crudely. Items such as not relocating the axle spring buckets and merely allowing the coil springs to flex over to seat into the buckets, having the axle not centered and the sway bar links that are too short are very common oversights on the axle swaps that he has seen on some of the Jeep sites. We're going for the total sleeper effect where it won't look as built as it really is and looks too nice to take off-road.

As it is, no one offers a track bar that is the correct length we need to connect the WJ frame mount to the raised JK axle point. He is running Reid knuckles with the high steer feature so that complicates things a bit as well. We will have to fabricate the track bar and sway bar links in house to get the correct length and geometry but I think we can manage that.

Thanks for checking in and commenting Cam.

 

[C_F]

I love fall but I get depressed because I know winter is right around the corner and I HATE that white **** that falls on the ground and makes such a mess. I wish it would merely stay in the mountains and not on the valley floor where we have to shovel, plow and drive in it.

I feel the exact same way about the white ****, I wouldn't mind it nearly as much if it just stayed in the mountains & rained down here.

The mods you guys are doing on the Jeep suspension are really looking great! I haven't commented in your thread much lately, mostly because I don't have much to say that these other guys haven't already said. But I do check in almost daily to see how your progress is going, and really appreciate how much detail you show and subsequent narration given, as always.
Looking forward to seeing how this project turns out!

 

[zmotorsports]

I feel the exact same way about the white ****, I wouldn't mind it nearly as much if it just stayed in the mountains & rained down here.

The mods you guys are doing on the Jeep suspension are really looking great! I haven't commented in your thread much lately, mostly because I don't have much to say that these other guys haven't already said. But I do check in almost daily to see how your progress is going, and really appreciate how much detail you show and subsequent narration given, as always.
Looking forward to seeing how this project turns out!

Thank you. I appreciate the comments and thanks for following along. I am glad you find the content worth while.

 

[zmotorsports]

Last night I was able to get the lower links bent, cut and fishmouthed for the front suspension. Hopefully tonight I can get them welded and work on the front uppers.