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Rusted aftermarket roll cage -> Awesome, painted roll cage!

Discussion in 'Wrangler TJ (1996-2006)' started by UrbanCowboy, Feb 7, 2017.

  1. Feb 7, 2017 at 11:32 PM
    #1
    UrbanCowboy

    UrbanCowboy [OP] Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 8, 2016
    Member:
    #191
    Messages:
    87
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Sean
    Scottsdale AZ
    Vehicle:
    2002 Wrangler... Hulk
    Suspension: 3 1/2" Rubicon Express Super Flex SL, 1" BL, Brown Dog MML, D44/D30 with Chromoly axle shafts, SYE, Teraflex belly up pan, Adams Drive Shafts, Currie heavy duty front end (inner and outer tie rods and draglink), Fox Racing 2.0 Performance Shocks with remote reservoir, 4.56 gears, ARB air lockers front and rear, ARB twin compressor, 37x12.5 Nitto Trail Grapplers on 17" Mickey Thompson Classics Motor: K&N cone filter and Flowmaster Delta 40 Muffler Body: Stout Fabrication Body Armor (all 4 corners), steel flat fenders (enlarged inner aluminum fenders front and 4" flare rear), Quadratec LED Stealth headlights, Pro Comp light bar with 5 6" HID Lamps, Round LED brake and reverse lights, custom front and rear bumpers, custom tire carrier with Hi-Lift mount, rock sliders, CJ style dropdown tailgate, Warn 9.5 Ti Winch, Rigid Industries metal hood latches, Buggywhips LED light whip, Baja Designs Squadron Pro-R amber wide cornering lights, Interior: Corbeau Baja Racing Seats front and rear with 4 point harnesses. Full custom roll cage, LED dome lights, CB radio, ApolloIntech switch system Audio: 2 10" JL W3v2's in a custom bedlined (waterproof) box, Kenwood 600w amp, 2 Kicker 6.5" marine speakers in waterproof SSV Works cans for rear speakers, 2 4x6 Pioneer front speakers, Axios 400w mini 4 channel amp, JL 500w mono amp, Kenwood head unit
    I mentioned a while back that I'd do a full write up of my roll cage rehab, and what better time than a month after I finished it, at midnight when I should be asleep. Anyway, here goes!

    When I purchased my Jeep, it had an aftermarket roll cage in it, but it hadn't been finished and was bare metal. I took it out during some of the summer storms and the surface rust got pretty bad.

    Originally, I was going to pull the cage out to do the work, but that would have been a huge PITA and probably would have required 4 people to remove it, so instead I did it all while still in the Jeep, which was still a PITA.

    IMG_0030.jpg

    First, I took off the bikini top and grab handles. Next, I took took off the doors and detached the seat belts from the roll cage. After that, I folded down the windshield, which wasn't fun with a light bar attached, and took apart the dash so I could acces the A pillar bars behind the dash and have better access to the bar across the top of the dash.

    IMG_0040.jpg

    IMG_0042.jpg

    My dog wasn't much help, but she seemed to be enjoying herself.

    After everything was taken off, I wrapped the seats in plastic so they wouldn't get rust dust on them. Then it was time to break out the angle grinder with a rust remover plate and a drill with a wire wheel and get to work. I used the angle grinder on the large areas of the cage and the drill with wire wheels on the corners and other tough to reach areas. Luckily, I was able to enlist the help of my brother (@Rc Jeep ) and my girlfriend to help speed up the agonizingly slow process.

    IMG_0054.jpg

    By the time we finished sanding, we had gone from rust orange to shiny steel.

    IMG_0067.jpg

    Now it was time for the fun part... or at least the part where the end was in sight! We wrapped the entire Jeep in plastic, inside and out and taped everything off to prep for paint.

    IMG_0068.jpg

    To paint the cage, I used Rustoleum semi-gloss black paint in a rattle can. I used just over 3 cans for the job for a grand total of about $10.

    IMG_0069.jpg

    After a few coats, I moved the Jeep into the sunlight so that I could more easily see spots that I missed or that weren't uniform. Overall, I put on about 5-6 coats. Hopefully, you can see that it turned out really well.

    IMG_0070.jpg

    IMG_0071.jpg

    After the paint dried, I removed all of the plastic and put Humpty Fumpty back together again. All in all, the project took about 20 hours of work over 3 days and cost about $60 ($10 for paint and $50 for wire wheels and rust removal plate for the angle grinder).

    Now, the cage looks great and more importantly, is protected from further rust.

    IMG_0322.jpg
     
    TomTwo, Rc Jeep, chris4x4 and 2 others like this.
  2. Feb 8, 2017 at 5:52 AM
    #2
    OFFGRID

    OFFGRID Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2016
    Member:
    #317
    Messages:
    2,018
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Peter
    Houston
    Vehicle:
    1979 Jeep CJ7, 258, TH350, NP208
    Howell fuel injection, header, HEI distributor, TH350, NP208, SOA lift with YJ springs in the front & GW springs in the Rear. AMC20 with G2 1 piece chromos trussed, Dana 30 with G2 chromos and 760x ujoints and MM Stainless Hubs, Geared 4.56. Tom Woods shafts, Metal cloaks, Caged, 37" Toyo MTs.
    Nice looking jeep!
     
    UrbanCowboy[OP] likes this.
  3. Feb 8, 2017 at 7:18 AM
    #3
    chris4x4

    chris4x4 With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine Moderator

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2016
    Member:
    #2
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    4,068
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    Male
    Looks great! I would have enjoyedhelping.
     
  4. Feb 8, 2017 at 7:40 AM
    #4
    Rc Jeep

    Rc Jeep Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 8, 2016
    Member:
    #190
    Messages:
    465
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Ryan
    Vehicle:
    '16 Rubicon
    Evo mfg front coil overs Evo mfg rear coil overs Jks drag link flip Je reel 1310 front & rear driveshafts 37" Nitto trail grapplers 17x9 atx slabs Evo mfg quarter pounder w/stinger Evo mfg rear fascia w/ d ring mounts
    I kinda helped...I drank beer and watched as they got the rust off. I did help paint tho...
     
    UrbanCowboy[OP] and chris4x4 like this.
  5. Feb 9, 2017 at 10:07 PM
    #5
    UrbanCowboy

    UrbanCowboy [OP] Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 8, 2016
    Member:
    #191
    Messages:
    87
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Sean
    Scottsdale AZ
    Vehicle:
    2002 Wrangler... Hulk
    Suspension: 3 1/2" Rubicon Express Super Flex SL, 1" BL, Brown Dog MML, D44/D30 with Chromoly axle shafts, SYE, Teraflex belly up pan, Adams Drive Shafts, Currie heavy duty front end (inner and outer tie rods and draglink), Fox Racing 2.0 Performance Shocks with remote reservoir, 4.56 gears, ARB air lockers front and rear, ARB twin compressor, 37x12.5 Nitto Trail Grapplers on 17" Mickey Thompson Classics Motor: K&N cone filter and Flowmaster Delta 40 Muffler Body: Stout Fabrication Body Armor (all 4 corners), steel flat fenders (enlarged inner aluminum fenders front and 4" flare rear), Quadratec LED Stealth headlights, Pro Comp light bar with 5 6" HID Lamps, Round LED brake and reverse lights, custom front and rear bumpers, custom tire carrier with Hi-Lift mount, rock sliders, CJ style dropdown tailgate, Warn 9.5 Ti Winch, Rigid Industries metal hood latches, Buggywhips LED light whip, Baja Designs Squadron Pro-R amber wide cornering lights, Interior: Corbeau Baja Racing Seats front and rear with 4 point harnesses. Full custom roll cage, LED dome lights, CB radio, ApolloIntech switch system Audio: 2 10" JL W3v2's in a custom bedlined (waterproof) box, Kenwood 600w amp, 2 Kicker 6.5" marine speakers in waterproof SSV Works cans for rear speakers, 2 4x6 Pioneer front speakers, Axios 400w mini 4 channel amp, JL 500w mono amp, Kenwood head unit
    Chris, next decent size project I do, I'll make sure to reach out. Maybe we can make a mod day out of it.
     
    Rc Jeep likes this.
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