The Rumbler : Project

[blakdot]

Ok so this project has finally gotten started... This build gets its name from my older brother who has been consistently calling it the "Red Rumbler" since i brought it home and rumbled into the driveway. Since i'm not sure if its going to stay Red, i shortened it to The Rumbler.

I originally bought this '85 CJ-7 from a guy on Jeepforum (chaoticbastard) from around the Scranton area in Pennsylvania. It wasnt in the greatest of shape but i felt it was worth the $1400 i paid for it. Looking back now it probably wasnt but i dont regret bringing it home. Its a 4.2L I6 with a 2 barrel Weber 34/34 Carb, T-176 tranny, Dana300 T-case, Dana 30 front, AMC 20 Rear.

The day i brought it home it looked like this:



I was given two generic mud tires for free and i put those on the rear and did some wheeling with it.



Then I had my way with it and put a 4" SUA lift on and 34"x10.50" Interco Super Swamper LTB's:


Then i removed the chrome grill cover and replaced the rotted out grill with a brand new one, and i also built a bumper for it:



I proceeded to daily drive the CJ for about a year, and after a REALLY cold winter with no heat and a Top and doors that didnt seal at all i decided to buy my Cherokee. So it sat and was robbed of its brake lines and tires.



Which leads us into current events...

[blakdot]

So basically this is the start of multi year project that i can have at home and tinker with when i have time. No real deadlines or even a budget at this point. The goal is to build a rig to get my feet wet in competition rock crawling but at the same time build it so that it will do well and lead myself and my teammate to bigger and better things later in life.

Since my build begins at Wyotech I'm limited to what i have time and money for. So i'm not going to get into what i want for a finished rig because with as drawn out as i think this might be, plans will most definitely change.

Lets get right into what i'm doing now. Some of you may have already seen my disassembly but lets take a picture recap.











I'm starting off with a new frame completely from scratch. I'm using 2"x4"x.120" Rectangular tubing. The Tub situation is kind of up in the air right now. Its in rough shape and it may possibly go over to Street Rod's Shop for repair unless i can find a Tub in decent shape. Right now its sitting in our compound awaiting a decision.

So anyway I started off by drawing out a complete mechanical Drawing, I pulled all my measurements off another CJ-7 frame that a student in Day class had completely stripped down already so that was very convenient.


Then I started laying out the side and top views full scale on the floor with masking tape. Which made thing incredibly easy to figure out all the angles for my miter cuts.


Then once i had those laid out i went and bought my tubing and began cutting.



My helper Kevin at our Band Saws.





That about where i got to tonight, there will be more to come tomorrow...

[#DEZERTDAD]

Sweet!!!

[ninetysix-ex-jay]

Can't wait to see more of this build!

[crosbike]

wow i really wish i went to wyotech. cool build dood

[blakdot]

more progress today...


Got the drivers side rail done


laid it out on the frame bench


Then i got right to work on the passenger side rail, which went a lot quicker




Actually starting to look like a frame




Laid it back out on my full size template and double checked all the angles. Then burned in a few tacks to get it back up onto the frame bench.


ON the frame bench I got it clamped down tight to make sure everything was straight and flat before burning in some more permanent tacks.


I got most of the drivers side tacked together and thats it for the night.


stay tuned...

[OWEN]

stay tuned...

Will do, looks like a good start. And definately not a bad jeep for 1400

[blakdot]

Started out the day by getting the front and rear Kick ups on each side square and lined up for some tack welds



then laid the 4 main pieces out and mocked up the center kickout



Then marked the center line of the bench and began the long process of squaring everything up to the proper dimensions so i could finish tacking the kickouts on each frame rail




kickouts are tacked in


Time for some welding


I got a majority of the welding done, got cleaned up and thats how she sits for the weekend. Not bad for 2 1/2 days work...

[robs02tj]

sweet build

[blakdot]

Just bought $155 worth of replacement panels for the CJ Tub, so Street Rod can have their way with it.

[Chaos]

Awesome build

Can't wait to see where this goes

[blakdot]

So Monday was a pretty uneventful day with the frame so i figured i would skip a post yesterday.

The majority of Monday was spent metal finishing all the seams making them look all pretty. The outside seams will be getting Fish plated.



a LOT of grinding dust, so glad i had helpers.


once that was all done the rest of monday and part of tuesday was spent checking everything was straight and lined up nicely. Here we had it back on the floor checking everything over and transfered some lines across the top of the rail to make some symmetrical points for cross measuring.


everythings straight...


then back on the frame bench to square everything up and set the final width dimensions, so we could start building the front and rear crossmember.



once that was all done and everything was double and triple checked we put in this rear crossmember. I decided to set it in at a 60° angle for departure angle purposes, If it doesnt help any at least it looks cool.



my pretty welds


I decided to reuse the bumper i had originally made for the CJ in my friends garage as my front bumper/crossmember. I had another guy that was looking for something to do cut out a bunch of welds that didnt penetrate with my friends 110v Hobart and reweld with the Lincoln 220, then clean it all up make it look nice. For now its butt welded to the end of the frame rail but i will be getting gusseted.




did a little more metal finishing then called it a night.

[Capt. Crunch]

sweet dude, this is a great build already, looking foqard to seeing more progress.

[grundlepunch]

dope!

[justtorchit]