Resbum's 1970 Jeep Gladiator 1 Ton 6BT 12V Cummins Build

[j20owner]

Excuse the long-winded intro. I need to give credit where it’s due. If you want to get to the meat and potato’s jump to the next post. I waited until now to start the thread because I wanted to be sure I could actually pull this off before embarrassing myself.

First off I need to give some well deserved credit to BJ’s Offroad. http://www.bjsoffroad.com I got lucky enough that I can easily drive to BJ’s from where I live and bug Brent on a moment’s notice. Seriously, without all the help, knowledge, willingness to price match, and willingness to get non-FSJ parts from Brent this project NEVER would have made it this far. If anyone is doing any kind of project they should seriously consider contacting BJ’s.

Some other notable mentions:
Clover Park Technical College rebuilt both differentials, transmission and transfer case. A lot of the time schools won’t install aftermarket parts. Wayne, the instructor in the Drivetrain Program, jumped right onboard when he heard where I wanted to go with the project. Kurt and Greg, in the Auto Body Program. They painted the frame and did the sheet metal work on the cab. Note- This is an academic institution and the students needs come first and foremost. If you approach them don’t be surprised if they turn down your work. I got VERY LUCKY.

Neil at Arm & Hammer Fabrication, in Tacoma, for all the welding of critical components (things that can kill you) and other work. Neil is also an old time Jeep fan with a few neat rides of his own.

Justin and Dennis at Metal Supermarket on 100th , in Lakewood.

Ron at Hi-Strength Bolt on 100th , in Lakewood.

Also, some others that have treated me right:
4 Wheel Parts, Tacoma and Portland
Discount/America’s Tire, Tacoma and Portland
RE Electric, Tacoma
Tacoma Speedometer
All the craigslister’s that bought, sold, and swapped with me
And others I’m sure I’m forgetting at this time

A Special Note:
Ballistic Fabrication- After placing my first order in November, 2011, I learned that Ballistic had developed a bad reputation. After learning this I basically thought if I get screwed I just won’t use them again. Let me tell you that they’ve been making huge efforts to correct the problems they were having. I’ve now ordered from them 5 times. Every order has been correct and shipped immediately. The one snafu I did have(minor) I sent an email on a Sunday about getting it corrected. Dave replied within 1 hour from his iphone saying it would be fixed. The little replacement part was in the mail before 10AM the next morning. I’ve spoke with several of them on the phone. They openly admit that they did have troubles and are doing everything they can to “earn customers trust back” (their words, notice earn). I’m a pretty good read of people and I believe each one of them are sincere in this desire. Just my take on them so far.

[Resbum]

Thanks j20owner. I've tried the suggested ways to get into IFSJA without luck. I can always repost pictures but couldn't have duplicated the first post of my thread. Thanks for bringing it over here.

Regardless of what happens with IFSJA, I'll keep this thread going.

Resbum

[j20owner]

Well, ifsja should be back on. I thought about doing them all, but decided against it.

Easy to do really, especially if you can get back onto ifsja. Just 'quote' your posts, copy the text from the quote and paste it into the reply field. That's all I did.

[Resbum]

Thanks again. I'm in IFSJA now. Now the long process of mirroring the thread over to here.

I may even edit it some as I import it so it doesn't jump from topic to topic so much. Depends on how motivated I get.

[REDONE]

So, where's the progress? I wanna see greasy hands and clean paint!

[Resbum]

To be honest, I completely forgot about this thread. However, I have been updating the thread over at IFSJA.

[REDONE]

ok, I'll go check over there...

[ross80truck]

Resbum,
Where are you at!? I need some updates from my fellow oil burning buddy. I am sure that you lost your whole build thread like I did over on IFSJA. I started to rebuild my thread here, but I am only part way through. I did not have near the in-depth thread over there as you had though. Also, I hope you make it over here because there was some information in your old thread that I needed for my build. I am sure you know what I need off the top your head. Hope to hear from you soon.

[Resbum]

Hi ross, I made it over here. I also managed to recover all 25 pages/500 posts of information from my build thread. I started a thread in General Chat on how I did it titled, "Another IFSJA thread recovery thread". You may be able to recover your whole thread doing what I did.

I also have every intention of bringing my build thread back to life here. Since I have to do that I'm taking the opportunity to clean it up, leave some useless posts out and move some posts around so the info isn't so random, and posts of the same topic are together. I'm going to leave the posts of my mistakes and people questioning what I've done in because I feel they're an important part of the thread. Just edit it for readability.

J20owner started this thread(thank you) when it looked like IFSJA had died once before. When the editing is done I'll start a new thread and either post a redirect link in this thread or ask Stuka to delete this thread.

Glad you made it over here. Resbum

PS- In recovering my thread info I also got a snapshot of the IFSJA Diesel Swap index page showing the most recent threads. I've been trying to figure out how to get word to those members to move over here.

[ross80truck]

Glad you made it. I will check out your thread on how to get information off IFSJA. There is some stuff I would like to save off there. I look forward to catching back up on your build.

[Resbum]

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Here's a brief update while I reconstruct/edit my build thread for upload to FSJN.

Recently, in my IFSJA thread, I posted this pic. I mentioned that my two grills were both so beat up it would have been extremely difficult to return them to like new condition. Plus, I'm not planning on having any shiny stuff on the truck, so the grill is getting paint. Primered waiting for paint.



This is some of what I was doing while IFSJA was down. This is the point of the build thread where I will resume when I move it over here.


Taping off is another skill set I've never given credit to accomplished bodywork guys for having. I took me the better part of a day to do it, and it still wasn't perfect. It's good enough for the working truck this is going to be, but probably not for an asphalt queen.


This is the first black Raptor Bedliner I sprayed and I found it's actually easier to spray through my gun than the tintable Raptor I've been using for the Cummins Beige. I wasn't expecting there to be any difference in how they sprayed.

I've been working on my thread in the AM and a little in the PM. When I upload it here this is where it will pick back up on the build.

Resbum

[Resbum]

I’ll throw these two posts up to show some of what’s been done over the last couple weeks. I should be ready to post my thread soon; I’m going to go on a dedicated push tonight to get ‘er done.

Here’s the final outcome of the front end paint job.




With the tinted marker lenses propped in place

[Resbum]

I’ve been planning on leaving the chrome strip off the front of the hood and having my air filter/turbo intake air come in through the grill and up & over the radiator, to the airbox. To accommodate more air I modified the top of the core support with this scoop. It pretty much doubles the size of the opening.


All the air from the top of the grill line to the bottom of the hood line should make it to the engine air filter.

[Wagn Man]

Love that look. You've got yourself quite a project there.

[66stepside]

That does look pretty sharp!

[Mudbull]

Beautiful work on the grille Resbum!

...Mind if I pick your brain a bit? I looked through your other thread to try and see where you put your batteries, are they inside the cab? Im thinking of doing one in the stock location and one behind the seats where the stock fuel tank went..

[Resbum]

Thanks guys. I've been wondering how the FSJ community was going to react to a painted grill.

Mudball, I'm on my phone now. When I get on my computer I'll post in your thread about my batteries. By tomorrow AM.

Resbum

[Resbum]

.
.
This thread officially has a new home now. It took a little more time and effort than I expected, but it's done.

I took 502 posts and edited them down to 310 posts. I tried like heck not to change content, just remove non-information posts, combine posts, and move some posts around so that posts of the same topic are together.

Please come visit this threads new home at:
http://www.fsjnetwork.com/forum/viewtop ... 290#p18290

Thanks. Resbum

[Resbum]

Hi All,

I've now got my build thread debugged and going pretty good now. If you've subscribed to this thread, but not the build thread you may want to change that, if you feel like it. If j20owner doesn't mind, I'm going to ask Stuka to delete this thread soon to avoid confusion.

Resbum

[Stuka]

I locked this post as the full build thread is available here:

http://fsjnetwork.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=1651