metal_miner Kubota swap

John, that looks like the pivot for a swing out tire carrier with the clamp on the driver side.
I agree with John, neat project, a small diesel as a power plant in one these is a great idea. Should last for a very long time.
From the looks of it, when you are done, I bet with your pile of torn off items you will have almost enough to put another Jeep together.

Edited by bretto - 30 Nov. 2015 at 1:23pm

bretto wrote: From the looks of it, when you are done, I bet with your pile of torn off items you will have almost enough to put another Jeep together.

I've actually sold many of the parts to a coworker whose son bought two old flatfenders earlier this year. He's happy and I get $ to "reinvest" in my project.

I kept the old frame and fenders for measurement and mock up purposes. I'll eventually get new wheels and tires...

But, yeah, over the past few years I have accumulated a few extra parts while deciding on the the scope (creep) of this project.

Front shackle angle:

I screwed up my measurements I gave Jeremy at Throttle Down Kustoms and found that with the drivetrain weight on new suspension, my front shackle angle was too steep. It would probably only get worse when the springs started wearing in.



I cut these mounts off and made new mounts:

Fuel Tank:

I want to install a rear fuel tank under the tub. The steel postal jeep tanks are not available anymore so I ordered a plastic tank from MTS. I did a test fit - or shall I say attempted a test fit - and it wouldn't fit in the space because the second to last crossmember, which you can see with a TDK logo cut into it from an earlier post of mine from November, was about 2 inches too close. In addition the rear bumper had a flange on it where the fuel tank skid plate bolts to, which stuck about 1.5" inboard. The plastic fuel tank from the molding process is not a shape with right angles. It bulges out at its seams and therefore takes up extra space.

Long story short, I'm going to design a rectangular aluminum tank. I also cut out the TDK crossmember and built a new one out of 0.120 wall 1.5" DOM and moved the new crossmember 3" forward. I installed 3/8 threaded weldwashers from Ruffstuff Specialties in this crossmember as well as in the rear bumper flange for the tank skid plate:

When you look at the following pictures, it's obvious I skipped showing you a few things around the transmission mounting and radiator mounting. I'll explain these in the coming weeks, but the following shows where I am today.

I had  coworker's son come over a do finish welding on  the various mounts I wasn't confident yet in welding. He had just graduated from trade school so I figure I would give him his first paying job in his chosen career. It's amazing what I learned by stepping back and watching. Later on I had new tips and techniques to practice. Anyhow, some pictures - the crappier looking welds are mine:







Degreased / cleaned frame:



Hoping to paint the frame next weekend:



Hoping this is the last time the drivetrain is out:

Shameless plug!

In September and October 2016 I started working on the hanging pedals. First, I had to beef the firewall. Most people on the forums work with old jeep so they plate the outside of the firewall. I messaged all these folks and asked them how they did it and they all said the old jeep sheetmetal sucks to weld. Because of this I decide to plate from the inside. I used 1/8" plate cut to fit and tried to weld the perimeter to the inner firewall as well as used plug welds. Well, the pictures tell the story. I'm not proud of it, but it's solid. I'll clean up and flatten the outer firewall surface with some epoxy filler.

I searched all over EBAY and bought a few different pedal assemblies to see how I could make them work with minimal modifications in terms of bent and short pedals. I bought Cherokee XJ and Geo Storm assemblies, but soon decided I didn't want to fit hydraulic clutch actuation to my L134 bell housing. So after more searching for manual cable clutch activated pedal assemblies I purchased Suzuki Samurai, Ford Mustang, and Honda Civic assemblies to mock up. I eventually settled on the 88 Honda Civic assembly since it required no pedal arm modifications and it only required a 4" spacer off the firewall for clearance. I also wanted manual brakes and low clearance brake MC so after a lot more research I purchased a brake booster delete from a tuner shop and a MC for an 88 Ford Aerostar. The spacer was built from 3/16 plate and small diameter DOM tube. I will tie the pedal assembly to the dash.

In November 2016 I started on the radiator shroud. This is my first version built out of 22 gauge plate using my Harbor Freight brake.

I wasn't happy with the first version, so after 3 more iterations I ended up with this in February 2017. It is made out of 18 gauge plate. I used 2.75" tube I split in half length-wise for the forms around the radiator inlet and outlet as well as the crankshaft snout.

It is looking REALLY good! :)

Any updates?