Flatty - The Home Alone Build
Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 11:37 am
This outta teach my wife to leave me at home alone for a couple days… 
So, as the story goes, I used to wheel a flatty. A lot.
Then, I met the aforementioned wife, and life started changing. Still wheeled the flatty, but not as much. The creature comforts of the flatty were, well, not there. After this particular trip, she’d had enough:
So, I put in a heater and slapped on a soft top. Voila…
One fine afternoon, I decided to finally tackle that pesky oil leak from the rear main seal. Well, one thing led to another, and the next thing I knew, the drivetrain was out, the flatty was cut in half, a new front frame section was fabricated, and some new springs were hung under the front end, SRS style. A power steering box was also hung from the new frame section, and a tilt column from an XJ found its way under the dash.
About this time, I came across a raging deal on an XJ… Knowing a batch of kids was not far off, the flatty was parked and work began on the XJ build. Fast forward several years, and I’ve built/wheeled/sold that XJ, a YJ, a TJ, and a JK.
Now, we’ve come full circle. The kids are old enough to brave the elements, can get themselves into the rear seat area, and for the record, really only accompany me on wheeling trips about 10% of the time. So, as of 0600 Tuesday, 12-21-2010, the flatty resurrection is in full swing!
There are a lot of items that need addressed on the old girl. Obviously, there is the matter of reassembly. However, during that process, I will make some modifications/upgrades to my original, several-year-old, plans. There are also some maintenance items that need attention, such as rotten fuel lines, pinched brake lines, disintegrated motor/trans/case mounts, and the list goes on. Anyhow, here is brief look at what I’ve been doing while home alone…
First up was some corner protection/beautification. 10ga sheetmetal and a little time…
Then it was time to address the sides. Years of abuse had left them, ummm, beat. So, more 10ga, some tubing, and…
On to the front. After standing back and looking at it, I just didn’t like the blocky look of the front frame section, and especially the spring hangers. With a little plasma, a little skinny wheel, and a little porta band, it turned out like this…
And before you go mocking all my speed holes, consider this: I have a whopping 58hp at the flywheel… I need EVERY speed hole I can sneak in!!!
Next, I needed a place to hang some shocks. Looking forward to some future mods, I wanted mounts that would allow some decent travel…
So, that brings it up to current, as of about 1am this morning. There is still a formidable list of things to take care of before it’ll move under its own power again, and unfortunately my time alone is dwindling. I’ll be back to my usual, slower pace once the wife and kids are back. However, I am hoping to have it at least semi-functional (think EB at FYBR) for the spring snow run.
So, as the story goes, I used to wheel a flatty. A lot.
Then, I met the aforementioned wife, and life started changing. Still wheeled the flatty, but not as much. The creature comforts of the flatty were, well, not there. After this particular trip, she’d had enough:
So, I put in a heater and slapped on a soft top. Voila…
One fine afternoon, I decided to finally tackle that pesky oil leak from the rear main seal. Well, one thing led to another, and the next thing I knew, the drivetrain was out, the flatty was cut in half, a new front frame section was fabricated, and some new springs were hung under the front end, SRS style. A power steering box was also hung from the new frame section, and a tilt column from an XJ found its way under the dash.
About this time, I came across a raging deal on an XJ… Knowing a batch of kids was not far off, the flatty was parked and work began on the XJ build. Fast forward several years, and I’ve built/wheeled/sold that XJ, a YJ, a TJ, and a JK.
Now, we’ve come full circle. The kids are old enough to brave the elements, can get themselves into the rear seat area, and for the record, really only accompany me on wheeling trips about 10% of the time. So, as of 0600 Tuesday, 12-21-2010, the flatty resurrection is in full swing!
There are a lot of items that need addressed on the old girl. Obviously, there is the matter of reassembly. However, during that process, I will make some modifications/upgrades to my original, several-year-old, plans. There are also some maintenance items that need attention, such as rotten fuel lines, pinched brake lines, disintegrated motor/trans/case mounts, and the list goes on. Anyhow, here is brief look at what I’ve been doing while home alone…
First up was some corner protection/beautification. 10ga sheetmetal and a little time…
Then it was time to address the sides. Years of abuse had left them, ummm, beat. So, more 10ga, some tubing, and…
On to the front. After standing back and looking at it, I just didn’t like the blocky look of the front frame section, and especially the spring hangers. With a little plasma, a little skinny wheel, and a little porta band, it turned out like this…
And before you go mocking all my speed holes, consider this: I have a whopping 58hp at the flywheel… I need EVERY speed hole I can sneak in!!!
Next, I needed a place to hang some shocks. Looking forward to some future mods, I wanted mounts that would allow some decent travel…
So, that brings it up to current, as of about 1am this morning. There is still a formidable list of things to take care of before it’ll move under its own power again, and unfortunately my time alone is dwindling. I’ll be back to my usual, slower pace once the wife and kids are back. However, I am hoping to have it at least semi-functional (think EB at FYBR) for the spring snow run.
