CALAMITY JANE - STRAIGHTENED out the SkiD

wayoflife

wayoflife

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Among the many dents, dings and deformed pieces that made up the Calamity of Jane, her transfer case skid plate was certainly one and one that was given no mercy over the years. In some ways, it was so misshapen that parts of it almost looked as though it were made that way from the factory. Needless to say, pulling the skid to straighten it out and the cross member and clean things up while I was there had been on my to do list for quite some time.

Here are a couple of shots of what it looked like on the day we brought her home.
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Here's a shot of the nasty grime encrusted transfer case after pulling the skid.
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Between what was on the transfer case and on top of the skid, I think I scraped off about of 2 lbs. of crud!
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Too thick to be hammered out, I had to spend some creative time behind the shop press to straighten things out but I think it came out okay. Here's what it looks like now after being cleaned up and hit up with some frame paint.
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:cool:
 
not gonna lie if I hadn't read the story I would have thought you just bought a new one....:thumb:
 
I'm assuming you just power washer underneath to get it all clean or did you actually use some sort of degreaser cause it is stupid clean lol
 
JeepFan said:
Nice work! It's about time... [emoji6]
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:cheesy: I know I know - probably would have been the first thing you did if only to clean the crap off the t-case :crazyeyes:

GraniteCrystal said:
Nice! Any rhyme or reason to frame paint vs Rustoleum bed liner?
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It's a skid plate and one that will get beat up again. I just saw no need to spend as much time and effort to bed line something that'll just need to be touched up again and again and again.
 
cozdude said:
I'm assuming you just power washer underneath to get it all clean or did you actually use some sort of degreaser cause it is stupid clean lol
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I tried a power washer first but the grime was so caked on and in places, baked on that it literally did nothing. I used a combination of a scraper, screw driver and brush along with Purple Power to get off most of the crud and then came back with some brake clean and a rag to work on spots that I missed. I have to say that it's still not Tony clean but probably 80-90% there. :crazyeyes: :D

aTX427 said:
Had to do a couple retakes. How did you get it so flat?
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It took some time but I used a shop press and arbor plates as well as a steel rod I had to help recreate the bends.
 
Good for you. Anyone with enough money can buy new parts, but there is something to be said about restoring original.
 
Thanks guys! In truth, it's nowhere near as straight as new and under closer scrutiny, you'd see as much. That being said, I think it came out pretty well :cool:
 
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