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What have you done to your HMMWV today/lately

Wire Fox

Well-known member
1,254
158
63
Location
Indianapolis, Indiana
I Wanted to tidy up my 12 volt electrical accessories. I installed a 24/12 DC -DC converter. A 12 volt fuse box and a trickle charger. It really cleaned up the battery box compartment quite well.
I like the shore power plug location. I've been looking around for a good place to drop in an auto-eject plug, as I want it to power a battery maintainer and a block heater for cold months. Rear door panel would be perfect if I didn't already have one of the hinged panels there that would cause some trouble, so I'm still thinking about what to do.
 

3jacks

Active member
153
39
28
Location
Near Jackson, MO
Been wanting to do some fiberglass projects and decided the rear curtain would be as good a place as any to start. Have never worked with fiberglass before so the learning curve was steep. wanted to design something a little different by not having boxes over the rear seatbelts but wanted improved water resistance. Doing it so it fits inside the C pillar made this much more difficult. outer layers are 18 oz weave sandwiched around 4 layers of 1 oz chopped strand mat. first Two attempts doing hand layup were total failures. Bought a cheap vac pump, built a frame around the mold and vacuum bagged 3rd attempt. Much easier. Decided on polyester resin...mistake. 25 min working time and getting those layers in and wet, even with wife helping, was challenging. If I did it again, epoxy with 3hr resin would have resulted in a better part. It’s a stout panel, with some flexibility and about 3/4” gap around panel with Expandable foam seal. Hoping that design choice doesn’t end up with a blown out rear window at some point But if it does...I have $800 in it and a crappy little vac pump to show for it and some experience with fiberglass. Fun project. Lost count of hrs in this because I ended up making 3 of those panels.

decided on a bulb style seal for the bottom. I don’t recommend that...it does not conform perfectly and I have gaps at the bottom. I was diligent in that bottom design on my mold taking into account the recommended size and compression distance for the bulb. Still didn’t work well enough.
 

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TOBASH

Father, Surgeon, Cantankerous Grouch
Steel Soldiers Supporter
3,172
2,799
113
Location
Brooklyn, NY
Been wanting to do some fiberglass projects and decided the rear curtain would be as good a place as any to start. Have never worked with fiberglass before so the learning curve was steep. wanted to design something a little different by not having boxes over the rear seatbelts but wanted improved water resistance. Doing it so it fits inside the C pillar made this much more difficult. outer layers are 18 oz weave sandwiched around 4 layers of 1 oz chopped strand mat. first Two attempts doing hand layup were total failures. Bought a cheap vac pump, built a frame around the mold and vacuum bagged 3rd attempt. Much easier. Decided on polyester resin...mistake. 25 min working time and getting those layers in and wet, even with wife helping, was challenging. If I did it again, epoxy with 3hr resin would have resulted in a better part. It’s a stout panel, with some flexibility and about 3/4” gap around panel with Expandable foam seal. Hoping that design choice doesn’t end up with a blown out rear window at some point But if it does...I have $800 in it and a crappy little vac pump to show for it and some experience with fiberglass. Fun project. Lost count of hrs in this because I ended up making 3 of those panels.

decided on a bulb style seal for the bottom. I don’t recommend that...it does not conform perfectly and I have gaps at the bottom. I was diligent in that bottom design on my mold taking into account the recommended size and compression distance for the bulb. Still didn’t work well enough.
Beautiful product but I would cover the seatbelts to protect from weather.

When you used the chopped mat on the first 2 attempts, did you use a roller between 2 - 3 applications to ensure compaction?

When you sandwiched, did you pull vacuum?
 

3jacks

Active member
153
39
28
Location
Near Jackson, MO
Beautiful product but I would cover the seatbelts to protect from weather.

When you used the chopped mat on the first 2 attempts, did you use a roller between 2 - 3 applications to ensure compaction?

When you sandwiched, did you pull vacuum?
yes I used roller but that wasn’t the issue. It was making the 18oz and then the chopped mat make the radius’ To the flange (there‘s a 1” flange). First go around I had a tighter radius and it was a disaster. Second hand layup I modified the mold radius to a more gentle transition and it still would not “lay down” well. Version 2 was also scrapped. 3.0 was 4 layers of chopped mat between the 18oz weave layers and it was all under vacuum. By weight I had 60% resin 40% fiberglass. maybe a hand layup is possible but I don’t have the technique to make it work. That’s why I went vacuum.
 

ronbosurplus

New member
10
3
3
Location
raleigh, nc
With all this time to work from home to maintain social distancing, I’ve been able to work on my 1986 HMMWV. Some of the things that I’ve accomplished are installing a working military radio that I’ve customized to play Bluetooth audio from my phone. I’m a radio guy in a Comm Squadron. Put a USB charger so I can charge and power devices. Also I’ve installed a new soft top because my original soft top was terrible. Added new LED headlights throughout the entire vehicle, Greased all the fittings with a grease gun, changed the transfer case fluid and replaced the worn out coolant reservoir cap.
 

Attachments

TOBASH

Father, Surgeon, Cantankerous Grouch
Steel Soldiers Supporter
3,172
2,799
113
Location
Brooklyn, NY
I hate TM’s. Reality is they are essential, but who ever likes homework?

Traced out the power steering cooling lines and replaced. The PO cheaped out and spliced a line rather than replace it. The splice blew apart some time ago and I temporarily repaired. Now that weather is warm and with lots of time available, I swapped in the new Kaskar lines.

Next are radiator hoses, and then all power steering lines, and of course new V belts. Then the fun stuff like the high pressure power steering hoses.

Ultimately, if it is rubber I will replace it for peace of mind.

Simple stuff, I know, but nice to spend quality time with TM’s and great to get hands dirty!
 
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Coug

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
2,795
3,973
113
Location
Olympia/WA
I hate TM’s. Reality is they are essential, but who ever likes homework?

Traced out the power steering cooling lines and replaced. The PO cheaped out and spliced a line rather than replace it. The splice blew apart some time ago and I temporarily repaired. Now that weather is warm and with lots of time available, I swapped in the new Kaskar lines.

Next are radiator hoses, and then all power steering lines, and of course new V belts. Then the fun stuff like the high pressure power steering hoses.

Ultimately, if it is rubber I will replace it for peace of mind.

Simple stuff, I know, but nice to spend quality time with TM’s and great to get hands dirty!
Getting your hands a little dirty now when you are prepared for it is a lot less stressful than having to get them really dirty later on when you are somewhere that you aren't prepared for it.
 

Bulldogger

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
1,395
557
113
Location
Quantico VA
How long did your order from Breton take to ship?

I have a top backordered for my (hopefully soon to arrive awaiting EUC) 2000 M1097A2

Thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
It was just over a month. I was thinking it was time to email, having politely waited a bit, and when I emailed they replied in two days with a tracking number.

BDGR
 
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