Resurrecting The Champ

[Fredo]

Thanks guys. I'm pretty happy with it so far.

Speedholes in the counterbalance! Should have dimple died it

Looks good!

I want to see the dimple dies that can dimple 1/4" plate steel!

I know that checker plate is bothering you.

You know me too well man!

Oh my god dude that is rad. Is Robert involved with the rebuilding or is he going to sh1t his pants when you deliver it?

He has no idea. I hope he likes it.

[Fredo]

Nice work Fred! You definitely put some time and thought into it.

Will you be putting any kind of suspension between the axle and box, or will it stay hard mounted? If hard mounted, what are your plans on mounting the granite, any kind of bushings to help absorb the shock?

I thought about redoing all of that, but the frame really isn't built to have suspension. It's just too narrow to make springs work and not look like ****. He doesn't town this thing long distances so I'm not going to worry about it.

fred...the finer the grain of the granite the more durable and less likely to break...something like absolute black would be a good choice...you could also get 3cm. you could make your tops out of some kind of sheet metal or thin plate first and then glue the granite to it down. this would reduce stress spots. I think it would be fine if it is a small pc and 3cm thick.
3cm weighs about 22lbs a sq ft.

Well, the source of granite I have is some pink granite that is left over from some sort of remodel of an office building. It is about an inch thick. I was thinking about building a steel perimeter frame for the piece, with flat steel supports with 1/2" plywood attached to the top of the supports. Then, glue the granite to the plywood. I don't know though, it's probably more trouble than it is worth.

[redcagepatrol]

now I see what you've been working on. Pretty bad ass! It's almost making me head out to the garage and fire up the welder - almost...

[Fredo]

Small update. Ended up putting a 3500lb axle under it to replace the oddball 2000lb 4 lug axle that was under it. Went ahead and put a 57" axle under it to replace the 50" axle that was there to move the tires and tail lights further away from the heat and allow for room for the fenders to be mounted seperate from the box.

Here's a shot of the axle in, and the fenders mounted:


New latch for the front cleanout:


New tongue jack and safety chains that it didn't have previously:



Tail light mounts and heat shields for the lights installed:




I still have to build the rear jack system to get the weight off the tires when it is stationary, build a rain shield for the top of the smoke stack, finish up the worktop, and sandblast and paint the thing. In the home stretch now.

[davido]

That's sick man! I was wondering why you didn't just sell it and start fresh, but it's bad ass looking and you get the keep "the original" stories in tact.

[Seth]

I like the heat shields.

and dave, you on the boards?

[Fredo]

So I ended up taking a few days off from the smoker due to apparently somehow burning my eyes while welding. The only thing that I can figure is that I was welding the wood standoffs inside the firebox and either light was reflecting around the backside of the helmet or the sensor for the autodarken was sheilded from the light in someway and didn't darken the lens right way. Anyway, picked up on it again and I finished the jack system to get the tires off the ground.

Jack in the retracted position:


Jacks in the extended position with the tires off the ground:


Couple pictures of the rain shield for the smokestack:




And a couple of it pulled out of the shop to move it to the side yard for sandblasting:




I got about half of it sandblasted today before a storm rolled in and I had to move it back into the shop. So I need to finish the sandblasting, paint it, wire it, and install the cooktop and it is ready to go home.

[BMFScout]

I'm sure its the mobile connection but the pictures are coming through patchy, looks sick though. he is gonna ****.

[TxCruzr]

Bad ass Fred. Already have a list of idea's i'll be stealing from you

[mudtoy67]

Nice work Fred!

Sucks about burning your eyes...been through that before.

[redcagepatrol]

that is pretty darn sweet. Needs a place to set stuff like plates and sauce?

[Graystroke]

he took that crap off so he can blast it I'm guessing....along w/ the lights and other soft things.

[Fredo]

Forgot to post a picture of the stands for the wood. I basically made angle iron standoffs on each side that pieces of angle iron sit on top of. That way they keep the fire directly off the bottom of the box and are removable to clean the ash out of the box.



I also got the rest of the sandblasting done today and painted it. Still need to finish the wiring and the worktop.

[bcolman]

looks ****ing goode, how much for you to make me one?

[BMFScout]

Best use for a jeep I have ever seen!!

http://www.partygrills.com/jeep.html