virginia_jeeper
Craft Beer Explorer
Any work on the frame, I have always loved FC Jeeps... Im surious as to how yours will sit on the frame you have.
My Jeep FC170 (Forward Control) "Patina Rod" project
- Thread starter 1x1_Speed_Craig
- Start date
1x1_Speed_Craig
Active member
Don't hold your breath...I think I mentioned that this build is more "crock pot" than "microwave" dinner.
I decided to keep the cab on the stock frame until next year, as I plan on fixing the floors while it's still square (or close to it) on the original frame. I also need to figure out how to integrate the NPR tilt brackets into the F350 frame design.
I *will* say that a 2005-2007 F350 frame would likely require less modification, but I'm not complaining. My 2008 frame is about as clean as they come for a used frame.
I'm also rebuilding late-model 2-door Cherokees with/for both of my daughters. Between that, a full-time job, school & youth group events for my girls, my wife, etc., it feels like time is pretty scarce. Fortunately, my only "deadline" with the Patina Rod is ~5 years down the road, when we plan to sell the house/property/garages where we currently work on our Jeeps.
oxfordcherokee
New member
This project is amazing and I hope you take it to SEMA or one of those shows. And if you need a wall to mount any cool parts on I could definitely help you with that. I'd love to have an FC grill on my wall at school.
1x1_Speed_Craig
Active member
Thanks, oxfordcherokee. Much appreciated. I don't intend on showing the truck when it's done, unless it's something local and/or something falls in my lap. I'm building it the way I want, to drive & enjoy. Unfortunately, I don't have any extra FC grills (traded my last "extra - besides the one I'm keeping for myself - to a friend for parts for my project.
Here's the grill that will become yard decor at our house.
Not much has been done on the FC over the last couple weeks, as I have been working on tearing down my former boss' '96 Cherokee to get what should eventually be a free 3" lift and some nice BFG KM2 tires for my daughter's XJ 2-door.
I did get the Dana 60 front axle moved under the truck. Unfortunately, the cold weather limits the amount of painting I can do, so I'll have to focus on other work for the winter (likely floor pan repairs on the cab).
I would like to thank my friend, Steve, for my new 21-gallon fresh water tank, which I'll be mounting on the FC170 down the road a bit (perfect for bugging out, or just weekend trips). I traded Steve the "Dan's Snowplowing" FC170 grill to use as a wall hanging for his library...enjoy it, Steve!
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virginia_jeeper
Craft Beer Explorer
I remember putting in new floor pans in an old '68 VW bug. I have very fond memories of the vehicle I learned to drive on, I do not however have fond memories of floor pan installation.
1x1_Speed_Craig
Active member
Fortunately, the FC pans look very straightforward, relatively speaking. I have done more extensive floor pan work previously; of course, they were time consuming because of my perfectionist tendencies.
Here is the driver floor pan patch I did in the first Cherokee that my daughter & I started working on for her (we since switched to a later-model, rust-free 2-door for her).
Hole cut in.
Patch panel cut out of a scrap Cherokee hood, with holes drilled for unibody frame rail plug welds.
(Basically) Finished butt-welded floor pan, with welds ground flush. Nobody would see it, but I wanted it to look relatively "factory".
virginia_jeeper
Craft Beer Explorer
That look's good! Have you decided on steering yet? NPR? Not sure if it's been asked, but what are you planning on doing back of the cab? flat bed or regular bed?
1x1_Speed_Craig
Active member
Thank you. I'll be going with a flatbed set-up that'll likely have accommodations for fresh water, a 5000-watt generator, a welder, and various other expedition-friendly tools. With the 165" wheelbase, it looks like I'll have about a 15-16-foot flatbed length.
I have ideas on steering (not NPR), but will confirm down the road.
I started a wish list of items for the build, along with build ideas, and will be sketching some renderings over the winter (most likely when "cabin fever" hits after several months of mostly unbearable snow).
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virginia_jeeper
Craft Beer Explorer
I can't remember this is going to be singe cab? I think it would be pretty neat to see a double cab FC like the old VW vans....
1x1_Speed_Craig
Active member
While the (rare) quad-cab M677s (miltary FCs) are definitely cool, I have no intention of making mine a quad-cab. I simply don't have a need for 4 doors, nor the desire to cut my perfectly beautiful, patina-rich cab into pieces.
Craig
1x1_Speed_Craig
Active member
Work on the Patina Rod has been slow, as I got a little sidetracked with this good-running, $500 2000 Jeep Cherokee 2-door for my younger daughter, Maeve (almost 12 yrs. old). It's a well-cared-for, 1-owner, female-driven Jeep (2WD, but...). Maeve will be following in her big sister Mira's footsteps with an XJ build for when she turns 16.
Just a couple weeks after finding Maeve's XJ, I found out that my old boss's 1996 XJ 2-door had an engine fire, and we bought it CHEAP to get the Rusty's 3" lift & wheels/beautiful BFG KM2 tires for what will eventually turn out to be free, after selling the remainder of the parts. SO, my time has been spent pulling & selling parts from this XJ rather than working on my own FC project.
I did pull the original Super Hurricane 226 cylinder head, and will be making it into some industrial-looking wall art for my house. I intend to degrease it, then treat it with some boiled linseed oil to enrich the look of the rusty surface. I then want to outfit some vintage-looking "Edison bulbs" (or radio bulbs) into the six (6) spark plug holes, and a vintage industrial switch to make it a decorative accent lighting piece for my living room (which has a very mid-century look to it already).
Just a couple weeks after finding Maeve's XJ, I found out that my old boss's 1996 XJ 2-door had an engine fire, and we bought it CHEAP to get the Rusty's 3" lift & wheels/beautiful BFG KM2 tires for what will eventually turn out to be free, after selling the remainder of the parts. SO, my time has been spent pulling & selling parts from this XJ rather than working on my own FC project.
I did pull the original Super Hurricane 226 cylinder head, and will be making it into some industrial-looking wall art for my house. I intend to degrease it, then treat it with some boiled linseed oil to enrich the look of the rusty surface. I then want to outfit some vintage-looking "Edison bulbs" (or radio bulbs) into the six (6) spark plug holes, and a vintage industrial switch to make it a decorative accent lighting piece for my living room (which has a very mid-century look to it already).
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1x1_Speed_Craig
Active member
Thanks Zeep. The original engine was open up top (carb, spark plugs, etc. removed), and it appears to be locked up. I don't feel it's worth much as-is, and I love the look of the cylinder head for a decor piece. Which leads me to...
I scraped & wire-wheeled decades worth of baked-on carbon, oil and ??? out from the underside of the cylinder head. Degreasing front & back is next, followed by a coating of boiled linseed oil (bought some today).
I also got the grill & bumper removed from the Isuzu NPR, and can now get a better look at the cab front pivot points. I'm not sure if it'll work aesthetically as-is with the FC170 cab, as it would place the bottom of the cab WAY above the frame. I think I can work around it by recessing the mounts vertically into the frame rails. The good news? The brackets that bolt to the front underside NPR cab are 27" C-C, while the stock front FC mounts are 25" C-C. 1" wider on each side is very do-able, and the stock brackets will only need minor modification to work, it appears.
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1x1_Speed_Craig
Active member
Thanks, TerryD. :sombrero:
Well, my Patina Rod "mini project" is coming along nicely. I finished degreasing the Super Hurricane head, and then treated it with a coat of Boiled Linseed Oil (if you do something like this, you must use boiled linseed oil so that it'll dry; otherwise, it'll stay tacky/gummy, from my understanding).
As I mentioned earlier, I plan to use six (6) of these "Edison bulb"-style bulbs in each of the spark plug recesses (I like the shape of the one below, which is actually dubbed a "vintage tube filament bulb").
This cylinder head decor project will look great in my mid-century themed living room, but is also a trial run for an (eventual) external body treatment option on my FC170 cab. So far, I'm very pleased with the results, and love how the oil pulls the reds out from the rust, and enriches the color. I also like what I have seen from some before/after searches of vehicles that have received this treatment on the whole exterior of the car/truck.
Before:
After:
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