Inside-Out Build—2006 LJ

finished the bumper. Lots of learning in this process, as my first real welding project. I've gotten to where my lap joints and T joints are pretty decent, but corner joints are still a bit too ugly to leave unground.






A lot of it is documented in these threads so I won't repeat it here.
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/custom-high-clearance-bumpers.48723/page-3#post-1065177
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/help-with-part-distortion-after-welding.60371/
Before mounting it I cleaned up and sprayed the rear crossmember with Krylon Rust Tough semi-flat black. I also painted the tub flange that hangs down and becomes very apparent with a body lift....I stopped at the line where the inner flange meets the outer because it seemed like a natural stopping point, but looking at it from this angle or below there's still a pretty visible flange there. So it still doesn't look great, but it's way better than when the whole thing was bright red.



Getting rid of the stock bumper overhang and tucking the center up really shows a lot of the gas tank skid. I don't think I really *need* the Savvy skid but it sure would look nicer. I may just clean up (particularly the primer overspray left of center) and/or paint the stocker and see if that does it for me. It looks like it hangs way down, but it's so far forward of the bumper (compared to a TJ) that it's still inches away from influencing the departure angle.

One of my kids had the stomach bug this weekend so I had plenty of time in the garage since we weren't doing anything out of the house as a family.

So I installed the hand throttle that I purchased in December of 2020.

I set the length for having the handle up a bit so it didn't hit the dash. I also just like the idea of having a little extra slack in a throttle pieced together from $40 of bicycle parts. I may regret that because it limits the maximum throttle I can give it, but it's easier to shorten the cable than it is to lengthen it so I'll survive if I have to rework it. It has plenty of range to idle up for winching, I just don't know about crawling until I get on a trail and try it.





Also pictured, my dirty-ass engine and some metal shavings sitting on my intake heat shield before I vacuumed them out.



took care to size my throttle lever loop such that it can't catch on the end of the spring and hold my throttle open avoiding this:
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/teraflex-hand-throttle-adjustments.51924/page-2#post-1025208

Mocephus said:

Nice looking LJ and it seems to me you are expecting a lot from your welding skills if you don't plan to have to use a grinder...I have very reasonable expectations in that regard. Still running the circa 2007 SRC bumpers on mine so no worries with my personally quite light weight wielding skill.

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Oh I definitely ground most of them. It would have been nice to have the long one on top of the angle iron not require grinding but my stops and starts are still way too rough for it to have been presentable. The only ones I didn't grind are the sharp corners at the end, and a couple on the bottom face that are only an inch and a half long and not super visible.

well this weekend took an expensive turn.

Went wheeling over in Arkansas, and as I'd feared but mostly been living in denial about for the past 6 months, reverse in my NSG370 is toast. Since I bought it, it's not liked going into reverse. Only way in is to engage and release the clutch momentarily before yanking the shifter into R without giving it too much time to grind. About once in 10 times using reverse in the driveway or parking lots, it pops out. Unfortunately, when on the trail, it's more like 10 out of 10. If there's any resistance to the rig rolling backward, such as backing uphill, or a rock or a log that a tire has to climb, it will pop out if I'm not pulling HARD backward on the shifter holding it in. Sometimes it'll even jump a tooth or two while I'm holding it. I suspect there's probably some tooth damage, and the shifting style required to access reverse has then probably damaged the fork. It's an 06 so it's *supposed* to have the "updated" reverse parts, but I don't know if there was actually ever any updates or if it's just new parts and tell the customer not to use reverse when moving forward.

There's definitely no external obstructions to the shifter, so I know that's not the problem.

So I just ordered an AX15 bellhousing from AA with the appropriate CKPS location for the 05-06 engine. Delivery is estimated for mid-May. Meanwhile I'm waffling between the new AX15's available or grabbing a junkyard box. The Jeep has accounted for a lot of spending in the last few months (front locker, shafts, Swayloc, belly skid) and I was really wanting to take care of some nice-to-haves like half doors.

ORV park trails are tighter than I'm used to, so it felt a little like I was doing SxS trails and there were a couple times I noticed my turning radius, but it probably wouldn't have bothered me as much if I wasn't so irritated at having to use reverse. My steering pump works fine but I hear that characteristic whine they get when they get old and cranky or have been run underfilled, so I may replace that one of these days. It has a slow leak, and while I've never let it get low, I suspect a previous owner might have.



The rest of the rig did great though. No bad rubbing or contact noises.

I was amazed at how easy it was to negotiate all the steep loose gravel with the Torq locker up front. The front tires pretty much never spun, and I was purposely NOT using my rear locker just to see the front in action. At least for offroad, I'm a big believer in the auto locker, because I never really had to think about it.

The rig felt much less topheavy with the SwayLoc than with the front bar disconnected.

My Coyote tire deflators need some recalibration. I bought them set for 12 and one was still venting a little bit at 8psi. I'd have felt comfortable with 10, though now I'm a little more comfortable with 8 I guess, because I was too lazy to get the compressor out and air it back up.

The next "big" thing I probably end up doing will be hubs. I've been agonizing for a while about what I do with the added width from the hub kit.

My wheels are 5.25" backspacing and I have them on 1.25" spacers to create an effective 4" backspacing. The tires still kiss the swayloc arms at full lock/full stuff, so I definitely don't want to bring them in any tighter, but I also like a tight scrub radius so I don't want them out super wide.

Mounting them without spacers would pull them in 1/4", and using the thinnest bolt-on spacers available would push them out to 3.25" equivalent. So I'd need to get longer lugs and use a ~1/4" spacer sandwiched between the hub and wheel.

When I wear out the STT Pro's I have now, what would be pretty cool is to get some takeoffs from a Rubicon 392, which come in bronze, are 17" and are beadlock capable. They're 6" backspacing so I'd then run a 1" spacer in front and 2" in the rear. I think they're actually one of the best looking factory Wrangler wheels since the Canyon. Unfortunately there must be many that agree with me because I haven't seen any for under $2k/set. Maybe it'll get better after a couple years when they're being sold as wheels only...right now they all have brand new sets of KO2's on them.

jjvw said:

You are describing part of how I couldn't find a better solution than JK wheels to fit a hub kit.

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I (now) understand why it stacks up that way, but I feel like someone designing it from scratch probably could have found a rotor off another vehicle with the same diameter and a shallower hat to maintain something closer to the stock WMS width.

Love seeing my kids just taking it easy and enjoying the Jeep life.

NashvilleTJ said:

She is way cool.

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I'm not offended because it happens all the time, but he's a he. He wanted long hair like his daddy but he doesn't have the beard and the deep voice to give it away.

We cut about 5" off his hair today so it should happen a lot less now.

my power steering pump HATED driving on this stuff with a front auto locker. Basically 25 acres of bare solid limestone.

It's detailed in another (maybe more than 1) thread but I got some half doors.

They were off the beaten path in east Texas or else they would have disappeared before I got to them, but I ended up getting them for $500 which included a TJ soft top with frame. I sold the soft top for $240 and the guy that bought it just happens to do paintless dent repair, so now the half doors are at his shop getting the dings knocked out and I should get them tomorrow. While it sounds like I got them for a steal, in the end it'll be maybe a slightly better than average total because of all the parts I had to gather. They came with no hinges, no screws, a handful of missing actuator rod clips, broken interior door handles, and the driver door had a crack and a failed spot weld that I had to repair...and those little trinkets add up fast.

Meanwhile, I went to the local auto paint place, L M Auto Color, and the guy there was very knowledgeable and helpful. He cautioned me about painting a single panel, red, using aerosol, but let up once I let him know I didn't expect professional results. He also warned me against painting at 5 o clock in the afternoon with this stretch of 100+ days we've been having because of how the paint will spray and dry at that temperature. All basic stuff that most people with any painting experience know, but I appreciated his willingness to offer guidance in a world that's become so antisocial.

Also, little man got a haircut.

Paintless dent repair guy got everything out except the two worst ones. I don't know what caused them, but it's more than a door ding. It almost looks like somebody dropped a 2x8 and the very end of it caught the door.

I didn't get a before photo but this is what it looked like after he'd worked on it a bit. Thought he couldn't get out the sharpest points, he at least flattened them out enough to make them suitable for a thin application of body filler.



I've never used filler before, so it was a learning experience. The first attempt I spent too much time trying to smooth it, and it hardened and got porous and crumbly. I scraped that one off and started again, ended up filling it with 3 layers. Each layer took so little filler that the minimum amount offered by the included mixing guide could have completely filled it 10 times, and since I did it in layers, I mixed that amount 4 total times...so a lot of waste. I have to assume doing it in 100F temperatures accelerated the hardening time because I can't imagine using up a 6" puddle of it before it was hardened.

In the end I had it piled up just a little above flush with the rest of the panel so I could sand it back down.

The yellowish spot in the middle is the filler, the white spot to the left of it is factory primer, the gray and rust are my primers.



After some sanding and topping it with some more filler primer, and then more sanding, I can't tell where it is without feeling for it from the back side.

Doors are now primed, wet sanded to 600 grit, and ready for a final wipe down with tack cloth before laying the flame red base coat. I'm doing that at 6am, when it'll only be 80 degrees outside, to give myself the best chances of the paint spraying and laying as designed. I'll give it 30 minutes to dry, sand out any runs I end up with and clear it with Spraymax 2k clear.

Colored and cleared. I love the way the spraymax cans spray. Good wide pattern that's easy to overlap and get a good wet edge.



Not having much experience, I don't know how perfect of a clear coat finish can be achieved right out of the gate without and buffing and polishing, let alone what can be done with a $25 aerosol can, but I feel pretty good about it.