'78 AM General DJ5

[altec]

Take a large tree, or build an A-frame. Use a come-along/chain hoist to lift the body off the frame with cloth straps. Roll the chassis out, and slide a table, or 2x4 frame under. My only tip is to just cut the bolts off on the body side. I'd be willing to bet they are froze up. Cut the heads, then deal with the rest when you get the body out of the way. I'm sure somewhere like Energy Suspension sells a bushing/hardware kit.

Anything can be fixed!

My bed on a picnic table. We used to pull motors out of boats using a tree, and a rope "back in the day."

On Topic:

It would seem my poser-shot came back to bite me... Snapping the main leaf on the driver front... Now I'm just going to see about some different springs... To the junk yard!

[altec]

Got home today and the Fedex man left me a present! Sorry about the crappy picture. Best angle/lighting I could get in the shop. It may not look that great, but it is perfect! The angle of the flare follows the door opening perfect, and with my plans of as little lift as possible the larger opening will be great! Just gotta measure everything out, make some marks and start cutting! th-smile

[altec]

Cut, and roughly on. I used a jig saw, and a cut off wheel to make the cuts. My only jig saw blade broke in the old trusty B&D, so I had to make a run to the hardware store to get more. Only one real problem spot I'll need to handle. No big deal.

I'm happy how it turned out. Taking that door off, and adding the flare really makes it look more like it's Jeep kin. Which is cool. You'll notice the tire sits in a lot. When I get some new axles, they should be wider, and fill them out. Right now, it does look a little silly.

Hopefully tomorrow I can get the other flare hung, and my other two tires mounted so it sits right... Then pull it out for some better pictures.

[altec]

Driver side done (Wink).

Take the door off. I don't know how you should get the back bottom slide off, but I just ripped it out... Then unbolt the door latch mechanism.

After the door is off, I take the bottom slide off. All but the bolt inside the cab shear off... When that is done I mark out my cuts. First I figure out where the inner fender well is. Drop that down a hair more, then mark a line. From there, I add another line above that one the thickness of the top of the flare. That is where I line the top edge of my flare for marking the cut out. Front-to-back is eye balled, and positioning on the line is the same.

And cut! This time I left the area that goes into the floor pan. More on that later!

Two hang the flare I use two top holes already drilled in it. marking a line straight up, and slightly over the top edge on both holes. Then I hold the flare where I want, and put a little dot on the body in the same place. It just so happens the center of the hole to the top of the flare is 1". So I measure one inch down on the mark I already have on the body and put a second. Drill a pilot hole, and hang with self-tapping screws. Piece of cake! The rest of the mounting holes will be drilled from the back side.

A step back.

It is now 8:30, I'm tired, and need a shower. So the tires will have to hold until tomorrow!

[altec]

All my tires now match...

How does a posi work? It just does!

Immediate things to do?

Body:
-Trim ends of flares/Add a few more bolts
-Make half-doors
-Make tube fenders
-Add mirrors (TJ mirrors?)

Chassis:
-Repack rear leaf springs
-Replace front leaf springs

Powertrain:
-Add new overflow bottle
-Replace radiator

[AmEv]

Going to adjust the speedometer to compensate for different tire size?

[altec]

Nah, I'm used to off speedos. Plus since the powertrain ain't staying, there is no real need to bother with new gears for the speedo. I'll get it taken care of when I get the transfer case in it. Or get a GPS speedo!