Project Scrambled

[bbaCJ8]

Is the size difference really that great? I really considered both, I remember the monster box being an inch or so wider, same length, a little bit taller.....I didn't think it was a HUGE difference. I don't really care either way, I'm damn glad I went with the mini, it's still beefy as hell. I'd love to see a side by side picture of the Monster and Mini 3 speeds!

[6DoF]

Originally Posted by bbaCJ8

i hate you so much ... i just got a boner over that

[bbaCJ8]

Originally Posted by 6DoF

i hate you so much ... i just got a boner over that

That might be a bit much but thanks.

[Lubes]

That hood scoop is sex. :drool:

[CaliJeepinTJ]

Definitely love the scoop. Looks like it was made for that hood

[mcamish01]

Scoop looks ok, but do you need the full height of it? I think it'd look awesome at about half its current height.

[bbaCJ8]

Originally Posted by CaliJeepinTJ

Definitely love the scoop. Looks like it was made for that hood

Yeah it fits pretty well. I had to do some thinking to clear the bulge in the center of the hood. I ended up putting slits at the base of the bulge, then the scoop base slides in the slits and the bulge extends about 1.75” under the inlet portion of the scoop. Turned out pretty cool I think! This is just a mock-up hood anyway, it has a small rust hole by the hinge and some other spots forming. I’ve got another one waiting in the barn for it so no big deal if I change my mind on anything.

Originally Posted by mcamish01

Scoop looks ok, but do you need the full height of it? I think it'd look awesome at about half its current height.

I could probably get away with about half the height but it's definitely not worth the fiberglass work that'd be required. I'll run it for now. Chances are it'll get smashed sooner or later anyway and maybe I'll have some new ideas by then.

[6DoF]

any way to slip the scoop in from teh bottom so that flange is under the hood?? would make the glass work a lot easyer and lower it a good 1/4"

[bbaCJ8]

Originally Posted by 6DoF

any way to slip the scoop in from teh bottom so that flange is under the hood?? would make the glass work a lot easyer and lower it a good 1/4"

Not without removing the rear crossmember in the hood. It’s already flimsy enough, I definitely don’t wanna remove what little support there is. Plus there’s such a large radius around the edges it’d leave very little mounting area if I put it on the underside. I thought about it and I’m not gonna glass this scoop into the hood. Because it’s so flimsy it’d end up cracking and turning out worse in the end. I’m gonna add some support to the underside of the hood but to mount the scoop I’m just gonna use some nice stainless button head bolts. I’ll make the edges and transitions nice and smooth so it doesn’t look like I just slapped it on. It won’t be quite as clean as glassing it in but it’ll certainly look better than a bunch of cracks from flexing.

[bbaCJ8]

As usual not as much progress as I'd like but at least I'm making some. I've been having a lot of fun lately.....good for my mental health, bad for my Jeep progress.

Got the rear suspension back together with the new mounts:

I came up with a pretty cool idea to give a smoother transition once I build the skidplates, should be pretty cool.

Rear shock mounts are coming along too:







For some reason I like doing things that look cool and make it a nightmare to notch. A buddy who does the fab work at the local offroad shop was over last night checking it out.....said he was impressed with the build but I have way too much patience

[6DoF]

you plannin to tie the shock mounts together?

[bbaCJ8]

Originally Posted by 6DoF

you plannin to tie the shock mounts together?

Yeah, there'll be a lot more tube to come back there

[6DoF]

Originally Posted by bbaCJ8

Yeah, there'll be a lot more tube to come back there

figured you had something in mind ... you still puttin the tire back there?

were you wantin a back seat or am i just imagining things?

[bbaCJ8]

Originally Posted by 6DoF

figured you had something in mind ... you still puttin the tire back there?

were you wantin a back seat or am i just imagining things?

Yeah there’ll be a tire mount and supports and all that good stuff.

I’m hoping to be able to run a rear seat when I feel like it, but the cage I have planned will really only allow 1 person to sit in the center. I’ve got a full set of vinyl YJ seats already and with any luck I’ll be able to put the back seat in there for dunes and stuff.

[6DoF]

for the dunes will the cage be over their head so they don't have to wear a helmet?

[bbaCJ8]

No, not really.....more of a truck style than a family roll bar. I love the truck look of the Scramblers and I intend to keep as much of that style as possible. With the way I'll be driving this beast my passengers may want a helmet regardless!
I got both shock hoops and a crossbrace in tonight then heaved the (fukking heavy) spare up into place, PLENTY of room for a seat back there. Pics this weekend sometime.....I really like how it's turning out and my ideas keep growing. I hope it doesn't end up weighing too much with all this tube I'm using. If it's not over 5000lbs I'll be satisfied, if it is it'll be diet time.

[6DoF]

Originally Posted by bbaCJ8

With the way I'll be driving this beast my passengers may want a helmet regardless!

[bbaCJ8]

First, a quick update:

24" rear wheel travel without bottoming or maxing out shock extension.
That's under flex, not the whole axle straight up and down. Probably still 18"+ vertical though. It'll probably be limited to 22" depending how high I wanna take the wheelwells into the tub. Front is about the same, maybe a little more.

And I kept cargo room in mind while designing my shock mounts....




Playing with cage ideas

[bbaCJ8]

Second, playing with ideas for the rear cage. I've got 3 main ideas, not positive yet which to use, that's why I stopped for the night. Excuse the crappy paint sketches, they get the job done.

I love the pickup style of the Scramblers and I intend to keep as much of it as possible, but I am still putting somewhat of a cage back there. It'll still get a halfcab of some sort so a little bit of tube won't be too bad, just don't wanna overdo it.

Idea 1:
Pretty similar to how Timmay did his but I'd add in my own twists:


Idea 1 from side:

Idea 1 from back:


Idea 2 is a short half-halo flowing the same angle as the bends in the A-to-B spreader, with bars angling back from the center spreaders through the halo, basically turning into C-pillar down bars.
Idea 2 from side:

Idea 2 from back:


Idea 3 is the same as idea 2, just an additional tube on each side going from the outer spreaders at the B pillar to the end of the C-pillar down bars
Idea 3 from side:

Idea 3 from back:


I had originally decided on idea 1 and hadn't come up with anything better. I started playing around with ideas after I finished the shock mounts and came up with those. I'm leaning towards idea 2, and it'd be easy to try idea 3 at the same time.

Opinions are very welcome!

Thoughts?

[JEEPJERK]

3

[mcamish01]

Of the three options I like #3 the best, but having the cage drop back far enough to tie into the shock hoops would be a bit more functional and still retain the look you going for. In the end, its the half cab thats going to really round out the truck look.

[bbaCJ8]

Originally Posted by mcamish01

Of the three options I like #3 the best, but having the cage drop back far enough to tie into the shock hoops would be a bit more functional and still retain the look you going for. In the end, its the half cab thats going to really round out the truck look.

I've got some other ideas in mind for tying into the shock mounts, not sure if I'll do it with the downbars or not. It's definitely something I've considered and come up with a few ideas for, just trying to decide on the main cage sections first. I'm open to other ideas if you have em, the 3 shown are just what I came up with.
I'm definitely gonna do some sort of halfcab, just haven't decided if I'm gonna cut up the factory half hardtop, buy and modify a cheap (Rampage) halfcab softtop, or make my own setup work with a bikini top, windjammer, and some cool sheetmetal work. I may just sell the factory hardtop and use the money to do the other 2 options. Bikini/windjammer for summer, halfcab softtop for winter wheelin.

[6DoF]

i like 3 ... but extend it back some more.

[VTJeepCJ84]

I like #3 best. Lookin damn good!

[mcamish01]

Originally Posted by bbaCJ8

I'm definitely gonna do some sort of halfcab, just haven't decided if I'm gonna cut up the factory half hardtop, buy and modify a cheap (Rampage) halfcab softtop, or make my own setup work with a bikini top, windjammer, and some cool sheetmetal work. I may just sell the factory hardtop and use the money to do the other 2 options. Bikini/windjammer for summer, halfcab softtop for winter wheelin.

FWIW, I really like my halfcap soft top for just about everything, winter and summer. If i know i'm gonna be running super tight trails where i don't want the windshield I'll run w/o anything, but otherwise I run with the soft top halfcab with the rear back zipped in and doors for winter, and no doors or back during the summer. Bikini would be nice since you wouldn't have to run the framework, but mines been through two flops and numerous rock beatings and is still functionally intact. Just somthing to think about, one top may fit all your needs.

[bbaCJ8]

Well I got some more work done today, I like how it turned out.

First I tried running the downbar back to the shock mount, not a fan of that look


I tried a few variations and ended up going with idea 3. The halo isn't quite as horizontal as I originally pictured cuz I wanted it to follow the lines from the front spreaders, which turned out pretty clean I think. One side's together, now I just need to duplicate it on the other side.




The halo isn't in the greatest position for the rear seat passenger but it's still got decent clearance. I only plan to have a seat back there for dunes or the occasional road trip, not very often at all. The halo bar will make a great "oh sh1t" handle too.

[awheelterd]

[CaliJeepinTJ]

The 3/4 view looks a little weird to me. Makes it look too blocky since the angles match up with the A-pillar. That's just my opinion, though. I think it looks great otherwise.

[myjeepsbigger]

Maybe I missed this in the 51 pages, but I guess you aren't gonna run the half cab at all now?

[VTJeepCJ84]

Originally Posted by myjeepsbigger

Maybe I missed this in the 51 pages, but I guess you aren't gonna run the half cab at all now?

He still wants to do some sort of half cab, but it's obviously going to have to be custom now. You know Sean, always changing his mind and making more work for himself.

[bbaCJ8]

Originally Posted by VTJeepCJ84

He still wants to do some sort of half cab, but it's obviously going to have to be custom now. You know Sean, always changing his mind and making more work for himself.

Nah this was the plan all along, just didn’t have the details all worked out yet…..Full cage with some sort of halfcab. The halfcab/pickup style look is my favorite part about Scramblers and I fully intend to keep it. Whether I do a removable back half on the hardtop, a modified halfcab softtop, a bikini top/windjammer setup, or all of the above, it WILL have a halfcab. I have a cool idea in mind for some blingin TJ-style door surrounds too so that it’ll have the halfcab look even when there’s no top on it.

[6DoF]

bump ... going to keep this on top to keep updates more frequent

[xj4life]

Originally Posted by awheelterd

x2

looks really strong as well.

[Cobound]

I love the half cab...but I just ordered a full soft top so I can accomodate the fam or friends during inclimate weather. I have to get my seat back there now. Should be useful for Moab this year. Gawd knows it was a cold beyotch for the poor fugger sitting in the back of my TJ w/out the top last year

Only problem I'm going to run into is how the peeps will get back there. I have a bar that runs across the back of the front seats on the interior cage. And my pass seat doesn't slide forward...I'll figure it out when I get my cab and divider off of it.

I don't see running the top all the time, but it'll be nice to have. Definitely didn't need the full hard top, too heavy and overkill for the time it'd be used. Besides, got a decent deal on the soft top.

My rear cage will have to be full, so I can't use anything you're doing. Looks pimp tho, very nice!!

B

[79 CJ-5]

Great find.