TREDSDERT JLU Willys Sport EcoDiesel – Destroying 70+ Years of Advancement, One Mod at a Time

[Tredsdert]

Have you thought about CO buildup in the cabin with the soft top on? With the cut off muffler pipe and giant hole in the rear tub, I would be a little concerned, even with the mesh tailgate.

That is something I regularly think about. I do plan on putting something to cover that up, I will probably place a rubber gasket around it as well. For now, no one rides with me ever, so if I start to smell a little bit too much exhaust in the cabin I just roll down the windows and push more air backwards.

I almost started choking to death earlier today, while out drifting around corners my Wrangler decided to do a regen and I almost choked to death.

It was pretty exciting!

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[Tredsdert]

Hey now! Shelby used chicken wire and it was perfectly fine.



After I spent this whole thread I found today in WTF mode...I think I just got it. Nearly everything is reversible or can be covered up. One day this thing will roll out of the garage on 40s and tons and look mostly like any other Jeep. You are having cheap fun along the way to amuse yourself. Yea?

Also, this could have made youtube bucks entertaining and also pissing off thousands!

Probably could have, yeah. I couldn't do YouTube, I would never edit any of my videos because it's too time-consuming, and I'm too lazy, and editing videos sounds like work. Definitely not up my alley. I used to have a Instagram project page for about 6 months, but I'm not really huge fan of social media. So I ended up getting rid of it.

Yeah that's basically it, cheap fun on the road to expensive things!

 

[Tredsdert]

I put a couple holes in the metal rim underneath where the bucket was. Nothing a little bit of spray paint won't fix.

I put the marine seat in the back of the Jeep today and sat in it in a couple different positions. I think I'm going to kill two birds with one stone and use the diamond plate cover I'm going to put over the hole in the back as a mounting plate for my marine fold-up seat. It'll save me a little bit of time and a little bit of money for now. At least until I put forth the money to buy some square aluminum tubes and pay someone to weld an aluminum plate between them. (Basically make my own seat mount)

On the flip side I might just hold off on putting the marine seat in just yet because I have a rubber horse stall mat I've been using in the backyard for various purposes. I'm thinking about chopping it up and using it as a cover for the now even larger hole in the back trunk space. The horse map back there would be pretty cool because it's like an inch and a quarter thick so it's not really flexible like you would think rubber is. Also because it's rubber you basically don't need a gasket now on the whole. And it'll add some resistance to things sliding around as much. I'LL PROBABLY PUT IN THE MAT AND MESS AROUND WITH THE SEAT LATER.

 

[failsafe306]

 

[Tredsdert]

Cut up my 4 ft by 6 ft horse stall mat I bought at Tractor Supply last summer. Now it is 40 in wide by 4 ft long.

I put a fair amount of clear coat enamel over the exposed metal after cleaning it.

I cleaned out the rest of the rear trunk area up to the floorboards where the rear seats were.

A little later tonight I'm going to map out a paper sheet to see where I need to drill the holes on the floor mat to be able to secure it to the floor with the OEM bolts and nuts.

The toughest part of this now is waiting for the mat to finish drying in this 40° weather here in North Texas.

 

[Tredsdert]

It's so much quieter now driving around without all that sound bouncing up from the road. It looks clean too. There's definitely a fair bit more flex than I feel is safe where the tub was. I will have to reinforce that with some metal at a later point so I can actually put stuff on it.

I figured out how I'm going to do the marine seat. I'm going to put a piece of metal probably aluminum (5"x5") underneath the rubber and take the screws that go into the seat and put them through the metal with the rubber in between and into the seat on top of the rubber. Basically using the rubber mat as a locking mechanism and the metal plate as a way to keep it in place without too much flex. I don't think it will be DOT approved, but what do I care.

I have two more screws I need to put in the trunk area which I will do later today. It was just taking too much time yesterday and I wanted to get a country drive-in before it got dark.

 

[Sublime]

I can't believe Jeep hasn't hired you yet. You have so many great ideas.

 

[Tredsdert]

I've been trying to figure it away to make the tailgate netting look good without being wrinkly. Ever since I put the soft top back on (which I plan on keeping on for a while, Maybe even throughout summer) I've been trying to figure out a way to rig up the top loop so that it's more taut.

I was messing around with it yesterday and figured out a way to do so.

You don't know me by yet, you should know...

This is how it had to be, ANOTHER HOLE BABY!!!!

I should probably note that I have this Walmart bit set then I got for $20, came with I believe like 20 drill bits and 50 other screwdriver style bits and 30 other things that I don't use. I've gotten more use out of this drill set than anything else. Strangely enough I'd much rather go and buy another one of these sets and just keep breaking these drill bits than spending $50 on a good drill set.

Finding new mandrels for this Smittybilt Nutsert Tool nigh impossible. They say it accepts most mandrels, but I find that to be bullshit. Though not this 1/4-20 mandrel which came with the set, I had to make my own 6 mm mandrel last summer with my dad. Technically all we had to do was drill a hole in it which was difficult enough and pray for the best.
That being said I've probably gotten more use out of this one tool for the Jeep then any other tool I've purchased recently.

At this point I probably say I'm a pro at putting these nutserts in. These ones happen to be stainless steel, for all of my exterior holes.

I need to get different screw in there. I'm not normally a fan of flat blade screws, they can be a real b**** to take in and out. I would like to get something with a torx bit center. Probably hit up the local hardware store a little later today.

The outcome is nice though, there is some sag, but there's always going to be some sag, the world isn't perfect you know.

 

[Tredsdert]

I can't believe Jeep hasn't hired you yet. You have so many great ideas.

Thank you, I like to think of myself as a backwoods half-asser! It's a fun project vehicle and it gives me something to do so that I'm not losing my mind bored off my ass. If it wasn't for my Wrangler I'd probably be doing stupid projects around the house. Thanks to the Wrangler I get to destroy my $50,000 vehicle instead, and the wife leaves me alone!

 

[Deleted member 59498]

"What did you do to your Jeep today?"

Uh never mind.

 

[Tredsdert]

I should note that the rubber mat in the back gives the Wrangler a new car smell. Which I think is kind of hilarious and kind of cool too.

We've been letting it breathe on the back porch for the last 5 months. My wife is very sensitive to smells.

We have a large dog kennel I put together in the dining room area technically (we don't really have a dining room area, it just is a dining room table that we never use, It's for looks I guess. Perfect place for a kennel), and it was supposed to go under the kennel to give them something soft to lay on, softer than the tile that is. But the smell was too much and I've been trying to let it breathe to get rid of a lot of the smell for the last 5 months, but ended up deciding to use it for this project instead because I don't think it was going to get any better.

There's a scientific term for the odor that the mat releases and I guess it is technically bad for your health to breathe it in, but so is everything in life. I mean I've been breathing in diesel exhaust for last month. MAN UP OR GET OUT!

 

[Bill_BCNtoNY]

I've been trying to figure it away to make the tailgate netting look good without being wrinkly. Ever since I put the soft top back on (which I plan on keeping on for a while, Maybe even throughout summer) I've been trying to figure out a way to rig up the top loop so that it's more taut.

I was messing around with it yesterday and figured out a way to do so.

You don't know me by yet, you should know...

This is how it had to be, ANOTHER HOLE BABY!!!!

I should probably note that I have this Walmart bit set then I got for $20, came with I believe like 20 drill bits and 50 other screwdriver style bits and 30 other things that I don't use. I've gotten more use out of this drill set than anything else. Strangely enough I'd much rather go and buy another one of these sets and just keep breaking these drill bits than spending $50 on a good drill set.

Finding new mandrels for this Smittybilt Nutsert Tool nigh impossible. They say it accepts most mandrels, but I find that to be bullshit. Though not this 1/4-20 mandrel which came with the set, I had to make my own 6 mm mandrel last summer with my dad. Technically all we had to do was drill a hole in it which was difficult enough and pray for the best.
That being said I've probably gotten more use out of this one tool for the Jeep then any other tool I've purchased recently.

At this point I probably say I'm a pro at putting these nutserts in. These ones happen to be stainless steel, for all of my exterior holes.

I need to get different screw in there. I'm not normally a fan of flat blade screws, they can be a real b**** to take in and out. I would like to get something with a torx bit center. Probably hit up the local hardware store a little later today.

The outcome is nice though, there is some sag, but there's always going to be some sag, the world isn't perfect you know.

If the sag bugs you… I might have an idea for you: how about using a cut curtain rod or similar and attach to the length/across of the top of the net? Could mock it up with zip ties and of you liked it/it worked you can come up with sth more permanent.

Anyway, I commend you on the ingenuity and industriousness of your mod work!

 

[Tredsdert]

If the sag bugs you… I might have an idea for you: how about using a cut curtain rod or similar and attach to the length/across of the top of the net? Could mock it up with zip ties and of you liked it/it worked you can come up with sth more permanent.

Anyway, I commend you on the ingenuity and industriousness of your mod work!

Thank you!

The goal I want to eventually reach with the tailgate is to put a Vented Louvered Tailgate in place of the OEM one, which ideally will never go back on my Jeep.

You can kind of see what I'm getting at with the netting being a Louvered look.

The reason I went with the netting in the first place was because after a couple months of research and looking into it I figured out I would have to do a custom-made tailgate to get the look I wanted to achieve. Also the eventual goal is to have it be a fold down tailgate like on the gladiators, and though I have the parts to do that, I need the tailgate created before I can go any further.

I have other stuff that needs to get done before I can mess with the tailgate which really will just be a looks sort of thing. Stuff which will aid me in off-roading definitely comes first.

I have a guy I will use out in Princeton, TX to make me an aluminum Louvered Tailgate, but he put the price tag somewhere between $300 and $1000 dollars, so it's kind of going on the back burner for now.

 

[laroo]

 

[Matanzas]

This is the best mod thread in the forum. Instead of installing floor mats and calling it a mod, this guy is replacing his floor with mats! That is true modification. Genius!

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