Fin. Pt. 2

The one thing(who am I kidding with this) that I wasn't finished with was the rear turn signal bar that I had powder coated black early in my bike's transformation.

As it was "finished" before



But in really needed more cowbell, I mean chrome. Hence the search was on for a replacement in chrome instead of evil black. The last several weeks proved unfruitful whether Craigslist or eBay but yesterday was my day which goes to show even a blind pig finds an acorn now and then, Craigslist FTW! 

New chrome in back, old blacked out in front.



And after the exchange




And in the true fashion of "while I'm there" I might as well upgrade the tunes. I ordered up a new MB Quart NA1-400.2 2-channel amplifier of the 100x2 class D fashion for a little more output.

8 more hours

Another day in the coal mine chipping away at the needed work to approach a finish line for the Jeep, this time with my partner in crime. 

High hopes were had for the day:
1.Prime and paint the front bumper, plus mount it
2.Finish cut front fenders for the 2x6 rockers 
3.Cut out passenger rocker, install new 2x6, finish welding drivers side, seam seal and prime
4.Re-install front clip
5.Measure, cut, and install hood vents
5. Sand entire vehicle, tape up all windows and get at least one coat of paint on entire vehicle

The Start of the morning


Mock up


Let the cutting begin




Front end bolted back together and taping started





Front bumper mounted


Entire body coated, just need to pull that roof rack and finish the top


Aw hell, we have time


And a new decal


Only a few things left to finish, the driver's quarter repair in the rear door area, repaint all the windshield wipers in fresh black, new set of flares, a fresh windshield, and a new light bar. 

More cutting, not the Emo type

I'm beat, most of today spent welding and grinding on the front bumper kit plus patching the frame rail.

Old and busted

New hotness

In preparation for this

Fab work and Welding

My welding to better as the day progressed

And quick mock up before some paint 

Back to the cutting or spot weld cutting, also being anal retentive about the way it looks, really, the deer will appreciate my work

Just have to line it up and weld it back together

New rear brakes/drums/hardware also finished but that's boring, zero pics taken, just have to replace the brake line with the longer 96' Dakota line to compensate for the lift and new brakes plus fluid all around.

Of Jeeps, cutting, and...

If you don't strive to make any car or bike look stock while being modified, it's a travesty. Well, that may be an overstatement for most without OCD. That wish/want/clinically defined disorder can lead you to do things that make no sense.

The start


If you have a rock crawler Jeep XJ the common mod is the  2x6 rocker to keep the factory rockers from being bashed in while climbing large rocks. If you have a pre-bashed Jeep you do it to get it to look somewhat normal or at least that's my thought process.





Just a little damage


And after judicious application on a cut-off wheel



First mock-up of the overkill rocker replacements



Better but not close so let's break out the spot weld cutter


And after a little massaging we get......





Certainly moving in the right direction?

Fin.

Despite 80* temps yesterday, both days were spent putting the finishing touches on the Road King eternal project. The last piece of the puzzle showed up Wednesday, the fender tie bar, apparently one-off to the CVO Road King fender.

Yesterday it was mounted up and the rear end is complete.





Also what is not seen is the new 2" Fulsac baffles that were installed in the CVO cans. Install was easy and effortless but my original fiberglass mat was shot so I picked up new FMF mat from the local Cycle Gear for $20.

I say complete, it's as complete as it needs to be to ride, I'm still on the search for a chrome turn signal bar to complete the transformation.





And that fat 170/17 rear tire, so much better than a stock 130/15




Other than a few parts and pieces I think this may be the end of the Road King project. Now to finish the Jeep so I can get back to the Malibu extreme long term project.

More Jeep, even taller

After lifting it with new 2" springs and the added lift I received free with what I thought would be only 2" in the rear I was off to Amazon for 2" spacers for the front to even it out a bit, even with 300lbs of deer corn in the hatch it was still ass high.

Before
 

After
 


Also seen in the after is the dentless replacement door picked up at Pik N Pul along with a replacement header panel. 



Of course once you have spray painted a car you get other ideas




But on to more important things, with a new Dirtbound OffRoad front bumper on the way I need to fix the front frame rails from the prior accident. The passenger side just needed a little tweak to the mount, the driver's side though....ouch.




And after some cutting and massaging



After some metal replacement and welding it'll be good as new and ready for a much stronger bumper.