"Looking forward to this build, Aaron. Of course, I'm a tad partial to red TJs..."
Thanks Jason! I will take it even if your opinion is biased
Waiting on the new wiring harness to arrive so we start on the new tube work. The cage will be integrated into the body and frame in many places, effectively making the entire structure one piece much like most buggies and race chassis are.
Start off with bending up the main hoop, or B pillar hoop, and tack weld it into position. You will notice that it is not too far off the factory's positioning, but the new tube is completely vertical instead of raked rearward. This provides the most possible strength, and given that this area being the "backbone" of the entire cage structure, we believe it's needed.
Bent, notched and tacked two side bars to connect the main hoop to the original cage plates (cage feet) that are still welded into place. Then made a shoulder bar tying all together.
From there we added in each side floor bar, connecting the front hoop's cage mounting plate to the main hoop. Then made up the lower crossbar to tie the two sides together again.
Next addition was a center tube from the shoulder bar to the rectangular tubing.
Then another tube was added in the same line that continued to the lower crossbar. This tying the entire structure together in the center of the rig.
Next we will add some gusseting to the fresh tube work and hopefully start diving into the electrical demons!
Nice work! I like the cage design and attention to detail.
Brucker (January 7th, 2015)
Got a little more accomplished but not much. The shop workload is absolutely insane at the moment. But fabricated a couple of gussets to bridge the distances between the center tube structure and the body where the tubes have the longest spans. Again, doing all this to reinforce the center of the rig since everything builds outwards from there.
First gusset get set into position between the center down bar and the freshly fabricated back panel. Then made another one and tack welded it into position directly below the first. This one spans the gap between the lower crossbar and the transfer hump in the floor.
The new to us wiring harness finally arrived! Now we can finally tear into the dash and hopefully solve the wiring nightmare. We start by removing the glove box, air bags, steering wheel, and the dash trim pieces. Then we removed the dash once we were able to untangle what seemed to be 20 different balls of wiring that kept it connected to the firewall.
Immediately we could spot some major damage done to the original harness. Both from the fire and because of all the improperly installed wiring. Don't recall ever seeing so many cheap splice connectors in one vehicle. You will also notice many bare wires and wires that were just cut and left exposed. And also the fuse that melted as a result. It's no wonder why it caught fire anymore. Just happy it wasn't worse and that it was contained to just the harness itself.
Then its out with the old.
And in with the new.
We install the new under dash harness following the original factory routing. The only different being that we use zip ties to hold the harness into place instead of tape. This will allow for easier access when needed and a cleaner look.
https://scontent-a-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/...9a&oe=5522D144
Then we turn our attention to the dash harnesses. We route the wiring back to factory positioning, again using zip ties instead of tape as our fasteners. It is amazing how clean factory wiring really is.
With all the faulty wiring finally swapped out and replaced, we reassemble the components in order to test everything before moving forward. Once reattached we turn the key to the on position and immediately hear the fuel pump kick on and pressurize the system. Good news! So we turn the ignition to start and get... NOTHING. Absolutely nothing. So we double check all connections and try again. Same result, nothing. Time to start trouble shooting.
After some time, we realized that the harness that was sent to us had a remote start system installed into it at some point. Once found and removed the TJ quickly sprung back to life. GREAT news! Knowing that we conquered this Jeep's electrical demons by completely replacing the entire harness lets us continue with the fabrication.
This thing is progressing nicely. Love the attention to detail and pride in quality. Very nice work.
___________
We do not remember days, we remember moments.
Cesare Pavese
Brucker (January 9th, 2015)
Very nice work Aaron
Brucker (January 9th, 2015)
Knowing that the Jeep runs well once again and is rid of it's electrical demons, we can start back up with the cage work. Not being big fans of the angle iron A pillar style cages (ie poison Spyder, BTF, etc) we opt to use DOM tubing all the way to the floor/base plates.
Ie angle iron legs:
But as everyone knows, round tubing can take up a lot of precious space. So we decide to run the tube work behind the dash. This will not only allow for the most possible clearances, but will allow us to weld the body to the tube work providing the greatest strength achievable. Having done this multiple times before we know that it's quite simple and will not effect anything behind the dash and will keep the dash completely removable. It will require a small amount of trimming to both sides of the dash.
We layout a section of the sheet metal supporting the windshield frame to remove so the new a pillar can sit as close to the firewall as possible.
Then the piece is removed from both sides.
Once complete we cut, bent, notch the driver side bar.
Then we make a mirror image out of a fresh stick for the passenger side and tack weld both new bars into place.
We make a front spreader bar between the two new front legs and tack weld it into position. And with the rigidity the it provides, we are finally able to test fit the dash. It will need a little more finish trimming, but it quickly and easily slides into place without being impeded.
With the dash in place, we then make and place the windshield bar as tight to the dash as we can get it while still allowing for easy accessibility.
Looks good
Brucker (January 14th, 2015)
Next tube gets tacked welded into position between the front spreader and the main, or B pillar, hoop. We then continue this line down from the front spreader to the windshield bar. We fit this tube as close to the windshield as possible.
Moving right along we cut, bend, and notch two more bars to be used as spreaders from front to back. Each will tie it's respected side from the front leg and spreader back to the center of the main hoop. Once fitted perfectly we tack weld each tube into position.
After a day of work'n on the project, photos and write-up might seem like a bit more work that need not be tended - though I'll say thanks (to you and the other craftsmen and the projects). I appreciate seeing things come together.
Brucker (January 12th, 2015)
If I was in a position to get back into a wheeling rig, this would be it. Your work is incredible. I need to stop by your shop sometime.
Brucker (January 13th, 2015)
I have about 50 of those overwhelming questions, but I'll stick to one. What are you going to do about a top? Obviously this isn't going to be daily driven, but it will need something to keep the sun/hail off the driver's head.
Brucker (January 14th, 2015)