Jeepster Roller, Part 9

Motor Mounts (finally!)

The first step was to change out the hoist brackets.  The red brackets are great, but they hit the firewall. 

Valley pan bracket installed:

Red brackets removed:

After lots of test fitting and head scratching, I decided to cut out part of the firewall for clearance at the radiator/cooling fan.  

I also made sure to get rid of the ugly wart on the firewall even though it required a larger cut!


Cut done:

After a bunch of measurements and re-measurements, it was in a good position.  It's set over to the passenger side about 1":

Tacking in the mounts...photo courtesy of my trusty sidekick!

Tacked in all around.  I'll add gussets/reinforcement later.

Transfer Case

The NP241c transfer case was manhandled up into position with the help of my trusty sidekick:

I am NOT loving the clocking and how much hangs below the frame:

Driveshaft clearance looks okay (the low pinion front axle helps):

Maybe I'll get used to the hang down...doubtful!

Transmission Crossmember

I was going to fab something up, which would have been time-consuming.  But the Jeepster stock crossmember looked interesting.  

There's not enough room for a driveshaft with the stock crossmember, so I'll have to do another crossmember later.  But for now, this is a quick way to a roller:

I used the stock Chevy, fairly large, transmission isolator.  It even matched up with a set of holes in the stock crossmember.  I didn't do a single mod to the crossmember to make it work with my drivetrain:

Next step...how to mount the stock crossmember to the frame.  The original threaded holes in the frame were damaged and were also in the wrong place.  

The Jeepster came from the factory with loose 3/8" thick spacers between the frame and crossmember - I guess they needed the extra clearance.  
I made use of the original, 3/8" thick, Jeepster crossmember spacers and counterbored them on the mill to recess the bolt heads:

Setup for welding:

Welded...and later were ground smooth:

Finished bolt plates:

Mocked up into position:

Bolt plates tacked into place:

Bolted up and finished:

I am not thrilled with the amount of transfer case hanging below the frame rail.  It would take a bunch of work on the transmission tunnel to move it up further.  But I may address that in the future.  I don't think I'll ever get a flat belly with the Jeepster, but moving it up a couple of inches would be nice.  

Front Tires

After I had the crossmember finished, I re-installed the front tires, and it was a rolling chassis again:



I set the radiator in place to take a quick look at clearance...it'll be VERY tight on the electric fan.

Front Fender Trimming

Since I was on a roll, I moved straight into fender trimming - some big chunks were cut out of the inner fenders to clear the shock hoops:

First clearance cut...this was followed up by several more cuts to get a good fit:

I removed a lot of material, but it was necessary.  I'll repair the inner fenders later.

This is where the front tire ended up relative to the wheel arch.  I'm reasonably happy with the position, as this was the best compromise location for the axle.  

Starting to look like a Jeep again!

I have to chock the wheels, so it doesn't roll out of my garage!

Damn, it took a lot of work to get to this point!

Next Steps...the end is in sight:

  • Remove the grill, and install new LS2 water pump for more radiator/fan clearance
  • Finish front clip installation
    • this is non-trivial, as I have to fab up a grill support and figure out how to mount the hood hinges (this 1973 tub used a different hinge than the 1967 hinges that I'm installing, and there are some angles to figure out and spacers to fab up)
  • Install doors, tailgate, etc
    • I want to store it with all the easy to install parts on it, so they are out of my way!