jeep rods

the late 40's/early-mid 50's PU cabs i kinda doubt would make great tub fodder. . . would need a shitload of work IMO

however, the cowl/firewall might be a half assed start if you're really achin to cause yourself a headache

 

I was watching Barret Jackson and John McCain's wife bought one of the pink ones for like 50 grand. I guess her dad gave her one for her 16th birthday or something.

 

Actually, I'm not into the whole rounded out, half assed fat fendered roadster thing.

I mean, I already have one rusted out 37' Chevy. I'd like to have something a little bit earlier without paying out my ass. I dunno, Atleast the Jeep cowl would be a better start than a bunch of sheetmetal and a bender. Hell...20.00 also, and comes with a steering column and gauges.

 

I used to have a `56 Willys Jeep DJ-2A (2wd version of CJ),it was built in the early `60`s with a Studebaker V-8 and 3spd! I wish I wasn`t young and stupid when I had that one!!!!

 

im building a 55 willys pick-up it was a 4x4 but im gonna put a solid front axle in it and a 67 327 chevy i have already stolen tinglers pics and a few others for insperation i gotta find a rear end too the stock one has 5.88 gears in it

sorry bout posting to a old thread

 

no appoligies needed... welcome to da HAMB

nice truck BTW

 

hey, at least you didn't bring back a few year old post.

 

just wait im a FNG it may still happen lol


but ill try not too

 

But this is a decent discussion.

At this point...I have a hard time bringing myself to give 20.00 for a Jeep tub. Whereas I'll gladly rent a movie for about a week and pay that much for it.

 

I finally got started on mine. I been collecting (free) parts for the past year or so. My '48 frame is hammered so I'm doing what I can to salvage it. No major rust really, just cracks and wreck damage. Got a nodular Ford 9-inch with a limited slip from a full-size truck (65 inches wide), a Dana 25 front axle with finned FSJ 11-inch drums (about 55 inches wide) and wacky looking locking hubs (that will connect to nothing, 2WD), and an old Chevy inline six. Got a nasty tub for $100 with seats, also have a sweet 60-40 bench from a Willys pickup, not sure which I'll use yet. I'm trying to use mostly old Jeep parts, springs, shackles, hangers... The cool thing is this stuff is still available new and cheap. A Jeep
rod can likely be built for less than 1/3 the cost of a regular old rod...and maybe it'll be 1/3 as cool...who knows. Anyway here are some pics of my build. If you want a link to it lemme know. Not sure how the rules around here work. But since much of my inspiration came from here I figured I'd come back.

Anyway, in order to get the frame closer to the ground I used front CJ springs (they are shorter) out back and mounted them outboard of the frame (stock they are mounted under the frame). I built a post-mount for the front spring mount and the rear utilizes a factory flattie shackle mount adapted to the side of the frame with plate steel. I could lie and tell you the boogery-like welds were on purpose to give the Jeep a nasty look, but the truth is it's been a while since I've welded so my skills are as rusty as my Jeeps frame. All that's important really is that it holds together. Anyway, I also had to modify the leaf spring perch to move the axle back an additional inch. I also built my own U-bolt plates. I know what you're thinking. If I was installing springs on the frame from scratch why didn't I just move them backward and put them where I wanted them in the first place? Easy, the body mounts would have been in the way. I've also ground out and welded up all the cracks in the rear half of the frame. It's really a mess. This frame has been through a lot of trails and two frame-off rebuilds that I did. Who knows what happened to it in the other 50 years before I owned it. Truth is, if I was planning to put in a V-8, flexible suspension, big tires, and use it off-road I would find a better frame. But for the small tires planned and the weak engine, this frame will be fine. I'm just about ready to drop the body tub on and get to work up front. But I need some ideas for a transmission that will bolt to my GM inline-six (same as GM V-8) . I'm leaning toward something more modern but maybe an SM420.

 

I'd do something to reinforce that front spring mount...

 

Thanks for the note! Yeah, ya might think so based on what ya see, however, the boss is piercing the frame all the way through to the other side (it's a boxed frame). The bolt is 9/16 x 6 inches long and the boss is about 3/8-thick. It's pretty heavy hardware for the weight planned and frankly, Jeep used a similar design on it's 40's through early 70s 1/2 and 3/4-ton trucks and wagons. They call 'em post mounts. I doubt there will be an issue, but if there is I will double shear the mount. I agree though, if I were jumping this thing that mount would be crap.

 

Pulled these from one of the Wednesday Art Shows a while back.

 

IMO, the crackerbox wagons and trucks are not as cool as a legit flatfender: MB, GPW, CJ-2A, CJ-3A, or M38. I have seven of them, all purchased under $700. I've been collecting parts for a "Flat Rod" for about a year. Was gonna do a 241 Red Ram, but my core was junk, so we're going to put a tractor turbo on the stock Go-Devil 134ci flat four. They are the same architecture as a Whippet motor intrduced in 1926. They are also the same engine that came in Willys cars (Americars, etc.).

Cappa, you suck for having more time on your hands than I do.

DF

 

flat fender jeeps are such fun cars to drive. hard sprung, under powered, and a complete kick in the pants

 

That Waggy pic is cool as hell!

Hey you magazine humps, we gonna see any of these projects in any of your rags?

 

Why wait until there is an issue? Do it now while it's easy to get to & the body is off.

There's no engineering like over engineering...

 

Here's one that's been heavily modified by a mid-90's F-250. It looked really nice before the crash.

 

Freiburger: Nah, I don't have time, I just pretend to and it all seems to work out. I have a 'zine compared to your workload though. Plus, I own fewer vehicles/projects than you have hidden in other people's yards.

Anyone Wondering: Forgot to mention it is a or was a '48 CJ-2A, but I'm using a 3A tub and an MB grille, and not sure what for the windshield frame yet. I have a hacked up 3A frame that someone screwed up. Maybe one from a boat (home-job duval V-shape maybe). I think the narrow cowl deserves something cool. Something about half as tall as stock.

Flat Ernie: It's a pretty easy to access this area on the frame. The body does not cover it. So with or without the body it will be about the same. Right now I believe it's way beefier than some of the hairpin front setups I've seen which take way more abuse in my opinion...like this single-shear mounted hairpin, and it's one of the better ones I have found (see image) I suspect this one too has a boss that pierces the entire frame (both sides of a boxed frame), not just welded to the side of the frame-rail.

Comet: Not sure if it will make our mag, maybe eventually. We mostly do 4x4 and off-road stuff but we dabble in anything Jeep. So anyone with a cool Jeep-rod... I'd love to see pics. Anyway, this is just kind of a side project for me. For now it's only a few posts in a blog on our magazine website. I totally have to give credit to Freiburger and the graphic guy's MB Jeeprod rendering. I never would have thought of it on my own.

 

Friend has one someone built a zillion years ago. Stock with a 283 adapted to the trans and a Studebaker bed shortened a bit to fit on it. They even recut and worked the fender openings to the same shape as a Willys. That wasn't the best idea. But it runs and goes and has a plow on it, so...


If you catch a Skynyrd concert or on some of the newer DVDs there's some old footage from the '70s of one of the guys driving what is essentially a T-bucket type rod - except it has an early Jeep body instead of the T body on it.

 

The hairpin isn't supporting the weight of the vehicle or absorbing suspension loads. The front spring is - the hairpin is just locating the axle. It does receive some lateral loads, but relatively minor.

Your spring hangar is supporting the weight of the truck, it's the fixed pivot for the spring, so it's getting yanked & pulled in all 3 dimensions, and there's quite a bit of lateral force on it.

I know a lot of Jeeps (my Willys Wagon included) used open-ended shackles, but those were the pivot ends with less fore/aft stress. The fixed ends are all closed & double-shear.

I wouldn't compare your spring perch to a hairpin frame mount...completely different stresses going on there.

 

I was offered a Series 1 Land Rover closed cab pickup for free not long ago, and I did some thinking on a rod design for it. They were introduced in 1948, so they fit into Australia's 'Pre 48' requirement for hot rods. The body, except for maybe the floors, is all aluminium so rust wasn't a problem, and the chassis, while based on the WW2 Jeep chassis, is quite literally like a truck, so it would probably take the torque from anything I could squeeze under the hood.

I thought 2WD, small V8, clean up the alloy but leave the patina, and create something a little 'different' in the way of a hot rod. One of the nice things about it was that the 'closed cab' was just a bolt on aluminium lid for the basic canvas covered pickup body, so I could also have an RPU at the same time!

Might have to go and see if it's still there....

Cheers, Glen.

 

Holy Cow, the Flatty Jeep Wizzard on the HAMB Cool They made some cool aftermarket goodies for the 134ci but haven't seen them for some time. I have been looking for some speed goodies for my Flatfender 134. My problem is I don't want to screw it up,its a original 2200 mile jeep. So how can you mate 241 to the T-90 trans ? or to the flatheads? I have seen many flathead V-8 powered jeeps and have wondered how ?
Tractor turbo? please tell us more?
thanks John

 

Did I hear "toyota" rules? Bite your tongue. I thought you poor boys were into traditional hot rods not traditional rice.

 

Here's my Willys truck...

Though I have scrapped the firetruck body now, looking for a cab, only got doors for it...
Was afraid to post pictures of a jeep here before, but now other people have done it too...

 

Glen, check out the chassie for that's were the rust was the bigest problem on Series Rovers.. The back area under the tailgate and all the spring hanger areas rot from the inside out. They are cool little trucks and the same wheel base as the Early bronco.. We had dropped a 289 in a early series fit like a glove . Early bronco rearend fit too along with a I beam axle!! Hot rod....

 

I have a Jeepster Commando w/ Buick Dauntless mill. It has to wait on the other two projects to its left.

 

You are right. And ya know, I don't really care to get into a web argument over fabrication and bolt strength but here are a few numbers to consider anyway. A 9/16 grade 5 bolt offers in the neighborhood of 18,000 pounds of sheer strength (which is the force that would tear this particular spring off, I can up it to over 22,000 pounds with a Grade 8 but the ductility of the Grade 5 makes it a better choice for this application in my opinion). Anyway, the sprung weight of the rear of my Jeep will likely be less than 300 pounds. This will be spread between two shackle mounts and two of my weak spring mounts. So the actual weight on the mount...maybe 100 pounds max static. I'm not likely to haul anything other than my skinny butt and maybe an ugly chick (the weight of which will forever remain unknown or X if you like). Flesh mass X (way less than 18,000 pounds, ugly girl ain't that big, I'd need a pickup if she were) will be distributed around all four corners in different varying ratios. Especially if me or my ugly girl have not used the rest room. Now, as you mentioned, and I agree, the real worry is the road stress pulling and pushing. Things like hitting pot holes at 50mph create an enormous amount of stress on a suspension mount. Far more than the actual vehicle weight. This is something that pretty much every hairpin set up deals with daily.

Oh, and here's a picture. This '66 Jeep has factory post-mount rear suspension. Both the shackle and spring pivot mount are the post type. After about about 6-7 jumps like this a rear shock broke off, two wheels were flatspotted, and the motor mounts twisted the frame downward. But the rear spring mounts were just fine. How do I know? I built it and I was driving.

Ultimately, I'm not concerned, this is not the first chassis I have built. I do however appreciate and welcome your feedback and input. And, to your point, I am constantly floored by the spindly parts street guys can get away with (compared to an off-road car of course). Thanks.

 

I have a few questions what size jump was this?, exact oil pressure at impact?. was "ugly girl freind " in truck during flight?

 

Back in the early 70's a local state cop had an old Jeep that had the front axle replaced with a chrome straight axle and it had a dual quad 283, 3 speed and a 4.88 out of a '57 Chevy under it. He used to run around popping wheelies until word got back to the station. I guess it was "suggested" to him that this activity might be detrimental to the chances of his getting a full pension so he sold it.

Back then we thought the state cops were real assholes but compared to the little storm troopers they have today they were pretty cool.