Slow 1/10th scale aluminum ZJ body build.

[Full Throttle Rob]

Window masking removed.
Headlight lenses installed.
Running gear installed.
One taillight assembly is 80% finished, and the other one is 40% complete.
Windshield installed.
Paint scratched already...... UGH!!

I just need to finish the taillights, install the flares, and put on the grille & cladding when it arrives.

Then it will be ready to CRAWL!!!!!!!!

[Itali83]

Hurry up! Reid this weekend. Great place to ruin the paint on the rocks lol.
Ben

[Full Throttle Rob]

Just in time for Reid, indeed!!!

Naturally, my stuff came in the mail this morning and I'm stuck at work.....
LOL

[Full Throttle Rob]

You must be sick of my pic-less posts in the last few days....

So, here ya go:

Headlight lenses glued in!





Windshield glued in.
The glue reacted with the paint in a few places....



Taillight assemblies in the works.



My 3D printed stuff from Looper arrived today!!!
YOU ARE THE MAN!!!!





Now I just need the paint to dry so I can finish the taillight assemblies.
Everything else is DONE!!!!



The cladding looks AWESOME!!!
Looper hit this right on the mark!!
It definitely makes it look like a ZJ!!!
Thanks again sir!!!



The grille came out incredible, considering that it was shrunk dis-proportionally and Looper just worked from a pic!!!





The roof rails!!



Just need taillights, and it will BE READY TO GO!!!!!!

[Metal Masher]

Yep! you gotta Grand Cherokee there! the final details really do seal the deal. Seems like you dog approves as well!

As for the paint no sticking, I always go over the whole body with a scotch bright to scuff the surface to give the paint something to adhere to. The metal you are working with is already painted which is a little worse in my opinion. the paint is smooth and really needs to be scuffed good in order to get other paint to stick to it.

[DonsATV]

Awesome build!!! You ever get a final weigh in since it's all but done?

[Full Throttle Rob]

Thanks guys!!!

DonsATV, I haven't had a weigh-in yet.
My postal scale only goes to 650 grams(roughly 1.5lb), so it doesn't go high enough to weigh it even weighing it one corner at a time.

Metal Masher, the aluminum has a vinyl coating on it.
I scuffed it lightly with 240 grit sandpaper, but apparently it wasn't enough to make it grip good.
Note to self: Next time, sand it down to bare metal before painting!!

Just another of the many lessons I've learned on this 5 month journey to get it here!!!

So..............

It's DONE!!!

I used one of the extra roof rails that Looper sent me and cut it into small blocks for door handles.
I didn't shape them, I just left them square.
I only wanted them to make it easier to open the doors.



Finally the taillights.
Um....

Well.....

Ya know.....



I absolutely hate them.

Plus...

It was "too late" when I realized:

I put the left lens on the right housing and the right lens on the left housing, and THAT'S why they didn't line up for shit....

I think I'm going to take them off and paint the lens colors on the inside like I should have in the first place.....
...and put the lenses in their correct places...

But there they are.



I will take it to the post office and have them give me an official weigh-in for me in the next day or two.

But I weighed myself with and with out the rig on our bathroom scale for a 7lb difference.

[Kaler]

Nice job rob, that looks awesome!! You said next time sand it to bare metal, is that a hint there's another build on the horizon?

[JBcustoms]

I think the taillights look good, coloring the inside of the housing corresponding to the light will help it look better when you do the lenses too!

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[Full Throttle Rob]

Originally Posted by Kaler

Nice job rob, that looks awesome!! You said next time sand it to bare metal, is that a hint there's another build on the horizon?

Thanks Brent!

Yes, I'll be building a YJ-10 next.
Black and purple, of course!!!

P.S. Approximate running weight: 8lb, 1oz

[moondaddy]

X2 on getting to the end of the updates. I must say it's incredibly amazing what you have done with basically no sheet metal tools! Reading this made me remember that i have like 22 sheets of aluminum from the local newspaper printing press. Might have to try my hand at making something, with no curves and nice 90° bends lol

[Full Throttle Rob]

It's official!
The ZJ-10, 100% ready to go....
Weighs 7 pounds, .75 ounces!!!!!!

[JBcustoms]

Video!!!

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[Full Throttle Rob]

Originally Posted by JBcustoms

Video!!!

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Stay tuned, I'm taking it crawling at my fave spot on Saturday!
Many pure rock crawling videos to come!

[Prop Shaft]

This came out pretty good. To my eye it looks like a cherokee with a mild chop top. Pretty cool. Looking forward to seeing some action pics/vid.

[Full Throttle Rob]

So, the ZJ-10 went great!!

Except for some moron didn't think to top off the battery last night....

After about an hour my battery was pooched....

But I did get some gratuitous carnage in that time, as expected!!!

I even broke both of my hood hinges...

https://youtu.be/3thPnw6-Hzc

Before:























After:

[W1ck3d0n3]

Now it's time to give it a rust treatment.

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[Full Throttle Rob]

So, I haven't had any crawling time since the ZJ-10's first run and I had some rocks laying around....

I stacked them up so I could have at least a little something to climb. LOL

[Full Throttle Rob]

So, life has kept me from being able to crawl for the entire summer, but I have dubbed with the ZJ-10 a little bit here and there.

I made some build plates for under the hood.
I cast a lead weight for both front and rear axles, the front weighs 10.2oz and the rear weighs 18.2oz.

My side-hilling capabilities just doubled, if not more!
I really need to get out and crawl soon, or I'll lose what little bit of mind I have left!!! LOL