Bradywgn Build - Grand Cherokee Overland 2002

[Bradywgn71 1,008]

Also buffed the scratches and haze out of the headlights!

[Bradywgn71 1,008]

All grown up

[Avis 2]

Awesome build thread, love it! 

 

[theksmith 5,778]

very nice job on those seat brackets!

[jgaz 750]

You did a fantastic job on the seat brackets!

Too many people hack something like this together never thinking about what could happen in an accident.

 

What did you use to polish the headlights?  They look good.

 Will you please report how long it lasts?

 

My experience with my daily driver Dakota in Michigan was that I could get the lens looking good but they never really lasted more than 6 or 7 months.

[Bradywgn71 1,008]

So Chris has been busy.  Our Jeep interior is still undergoing a major overhaul.   Finally adding a large water storage system, sleep platform, installing refrigerators, installing an inverter and a drawer system.  Also, installing the extra Kicker speakers, sub-woofers, and redoing all the stereo wiring. This all started with chasing an emission leak and Chris cutting a hole in the back of the jeep to try to find a leak.  Yeah no leak found but we did get super lucky and for some weird reason AZ MVD let us register the jeep for 5 years without emissions testing.  so we have 5 years to figure that issue out or move out of the valley!  Then Covid19 hit, health issues for both of us and his parents, and so no jeeping for most of 2020 for us.  Instead we decided to keep the big girl down and get some projects done. 

 

Stay tuned for the developments.  Thanks to @theksmith for all the idea planning and assistance!

 

Thought the emissions leak was coming from on top of the fuel tank.  So cut a hole and smoke test....no leak.  

 

Had to take the rear bumper off to get the fuel tank off.  I was thankful for that engine hoist David R. gave us!!

 

Chris took out the entire interior so we could do at first what was just a project to relocate our onboard air system, install heat shielding on the entire floor, and rework some issues.  But as projects go this one keeps going!

 

Here is the former air tank sitting in the new hole and Chris plotting the new onboard air setup.

 

He decided to create a square box instead of the old round tire area above the fuel tank.  Check out the height without the bumper and fuel tank!!

 

Chris redid the entire rear tire well area.  Cut it all out, created  all new wheel wells to allow for more clearance, and welded it all back in.   Here is the cut photos:

 

First Cut is the deepest!!

 

Had to remove the whole wheel well area and remove a ton of body filler/insulation so it didn't catch on fire when he went to weld in the future:

 

While he was busy welding Chris installed the Trail Forged Frame Stiffeners as well:https://trailforged.com/product/wj-frame-stiffeners/

 

 

New plates for the rear bumper area

 

[Bradywgn71 1,008]

Then had to do a bunch of sealing, bodywork, and painting to make the rear end look good.  Rear tires still not on it but will post before and after clearance photos.

This is the new wheel well area before sealer:

 

all that foam had to come out:

 

Then Chris started making the box above the fuel tank.  This required a ton of cuts and angles because nothing is easy for a WJ!

 

 

 

First test fit:

 

Cardboard was our friend to cut the floor portion out:

 

Getting closer.  The thin metal kept wanting to warp so it was a fight to get it right:

 

 

Moved the compressor to the new box.  Have a marine fan to provide air to it under the floor.   The @theksmithsmith helped us get the auto-fill tire device installed as well.

 

Air vent:

 

 

[Bradywgn71 1,008]

We will be adding heat shielding over the entire floor of the jeep.  We are getting a lot of heat up from the exhaust and other various cranky WJ areas when wheeling.  Besides being uncomfortable it actually melted some wiring inside.  Chris found this product on Amazon that is affordable, super sticky, and will hopefully help our heat and noise issues.  More pictures once this is installed.  We are holding off for now due to all of the welding that is ongoing.

 

Noico RED 150 mil 36 sqft Сar Sound Insulation, Heat and Cool Liner, Self-Adhesive Closed Cell Deadening Material (PE Foam Sound Deadener)
by StP Atlantic LLC  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TKXMPH7/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_eWGkFb9F11AYF

 

We then turned our attention to planning a sleep platform that would accommodate two fridges under it and allow us enough height to sleep in it if necessary.  I will have to get to sleep platform from the front seats but we'll make it work.  Our plan is to use the sleep platform mainly for bad weather only.  

 

Test fitting the mockup fridge.  We needed enough room for the two fridges and a water tank behind it.  Also, had to figure out enough room for the PRP seats

 

We then had a funny scam experience trying to go cheap on buying some fridges for the project.  China was kind enough to take my money and send me two cheap N95 masks instead of two refrigerators!  So we instead ordered from a legit company and got two "GoPlus" 37 quart fridges with a 5 year warranty.  When these arrived to Walmart they turned out to actually be Costway refrigerators.   I know it's a gamble but feel good with the no questions asked Walmart warranty and friends who have had very positive Costway experiences.  We shall see.   We decided to go with two fridges to have one as a freezer and one as a normal drink cooler.  These fit just next to each other behind the front seats.  They are lower than the normal fridges so we can still build a sleep platform over them.

 

Price appears a lot higher now than when we bought: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Goplus-37-Quart-Portable-Electric-Car-Cooler-Refrigerator-Compressor-Freezer-Camping/852050900

 

[Bradywgn71 1,008]

While we waited on parts and with significant delays due to a tough year Chris finished the body work on the rear:

 

 

Then off to the IMS for more steel and a refill on the welding gas was needed.  Chris started building the platform to support the fridges.  The inverter, and stereo amps will go under this:

 

 

Finally getting house power

[Bradywgn71 1,008]

For the water system we purchased a 16 gallon RV storage tank from eBay from RecPro. https://www.recpro.com/16-gallon-rv-water-tank-24-x-15-x-10-nsf-certified-and-bpa-free/

 

This will go behind the fridges and in front of the drawer system.  We got a whole bunch of accessories so I can get a pressurized shower, filter the skanky Phoenix water, and refills ports planned to be added.

 

Going to use a locking gas cap for our water fill.  

 

Planning on having the water come out the rear of the vehicle to stay away from our new tent set-up.

 

For the wood we followed @theksmith suggestion to use the Woodworker's Source in North Phoenix to get quality plywood.  Really impressed with their selection.  We also got two heavy duty drawer slides from Orr and Orr.  These were only $111!