1993 Kawasaki Mule UTV project

[jpmillermatic]

With the new battery all charged and ready to go, it was time to get the battery tray area ready. It had deteriorated pretty badly over the years from battery acid spills and being exposed to the elements, ect.

Here is the area in question: There was no battery tray left at all.....



The new battery got a custom made tray from galvanized sheet. I gave the end walls double thickness as I wanted a mounting flange built in along the bottom. (no welding or fasteners challenge)



Even the thick steel from the leading edge piece along the door opening was pretty compromised on one end and a section had to be replaced.



First, cut out the affected area. If I have learned anything, its to cut back to clean metal.



Then find some donor metal to let in. I knew I had some thicker stuff down in the shed...



I cut it out with a grinder, then cleaned it up and clamped it in place



I welded up both sides



and dressed it back



then I cut a piece for the floor area. Getting the bolts out from the cab unit proved difficult, and I ran out of time and energy.....so until tomorrow.....



thanks for lookin!

JP

 

[Exuptoy]

Nice project dude.

 

[jpmillermatic]

Nice project dude.

thanks, man. I think I might be on the other side of it now as I have taken just about everything off it that I can...though the cab might be in the way of fixing that floor!



JP

 

[slim_boy_fat]

@jpmillermatic I enjoy your updates, keep 'em coming please.

 

[jpmillermatic]

thanks, guys

Yes, the cab was definitely in the way! SWMBO helped me move the rear roll bar out of the way, which highlighted the fact that I now have 2 added items to refurbish...the seat back upholstery and backer board and the rear screen.....

So heres the progress: I got the floor cut away to expose the frame and its not too bad under there...



and the old rusted section:



measured twice and cut several times:

"Ive cut it 3 times and its still too short!"



The rear of the piece is cut to shape and left flat. This is edge-welded every so often around the curvature. It looks like this allows the cab to slide in place and mount to the frame. The front half of the piece and leading edge is welded the same way along a folded edge. The battery tray is put in place for effect. it did a great job of holding the hardware while i was removing all the bolts.



So now the back of the Mule looks like this! Something's is definitely missing!)





I have to remove the gas tank to see what the other side is really like...hopefully its not quite this bad...

thanks for lookin

JP

 

[slim_boy_fat]

"Ive cut it 3 times and its still too short!"

 

[jpmillermatic]

Just a bit more done today....

measured and drilled the holes for spot welds and mounting plates, and got the frame in that area cleaned up...



and extended the "shelf" for the leading edge corner of the new patch piece...



more later.....keeping busy is a real focus...family home, managing well....keep up the good work, guys....

JP

 

[jpmillermatic]

and to finish the day, I was able to get the floor piece buzzed in. welding around the perimeter really stiffened things up...I also seam welded the leading edge for strength.



then I thought I would put the cab support piece in place to see how that fit. I was hoping that the battery tray did not interfere with it, and there was plenty of room



and for a bit of fun, I cleaned and painted one of the rear shocks.



and that truly is it for the day!

thanks for lookin

JP

 

[jpmillermatic]

Today I was able to get a few things bolted back in place as well as put the finishing touches on.....

here is the cab support/sill bolted in place. Its painted and undercoated underneath:



I patched up the gas pedal support and welded it back onto the central tunnel cover. This got a few coats of satin black and test fits nicely:



I popped the back wheel off and cleaned up the axle housing and frame. This all got a few coats of satin black before I reinstalled the shock....Its starting to look like I envisioned.




Ive got a few holes to patch in the front floor section and inner fenders...that will be next before I turn this beast around and start on the other side.

thanks for lookin

JP

 

[jpmillermatic]

clean up and progress continue, but a bit slowly today. Ever have one of the those days where everything seems to fight you? well, that was today. I call it mid-project blues....
anyway, I did, with a fight, manage to get the drive cover back in place, but ended up removing the shock and hand brake cables to get it to slide in place. I dont remember having that much trouble getting it out!



And I got the "go-pedal" painted with truck bedliner material and bolted back on....



Not much more to show for my efforts today...

ah well. These things have a way of turning back around.

stay well

JP

 

[jpmillermatic]

Still plugging away at the mule. a few bits here, a few bits there. SWMBO has other ideas on how I prioritize my time now that the weather is getting nicer, so I may have to shelve my projects for a while...or be more stealth....

I wanted to finish up the storage box and am nearly there. A bit more bondo went on and then the smoothing commenced:



followed by an all in one primer slash guide coat for what is hopefully the last coat of that....



And I have been looking for a new heat shield for the exhaust, but they are a bit pricey even old and tired and rusty used ones. So, I made one from some old shelving. The nice thing about the shelving is that it already has a swage line built into it. bonus! cardboard template: (kinda looks like an old sock)



I bend the sides down all around and located the 3 mounting holes from the welded and, Im assuming, once threaded mounting tabs on the exhaust pipes. I had to drill out the old busted remains of the bolts and tapped a 6mx1 threaded hole in each one. luckily, I also had 3 of those bolts in the parts bin.





That cleans up the appearance in there too, and should keep direct heat from scorching the bed floor.

And Ive been wanting to get the foam fixed for the seat and tackled that today too...the patch pieces temporarily put into place



and a trial stretch fit of the cushion cover....The material is nice, it actually stretches. Ill let it sit overnight and staple the underside tomorrow.....



Lastly, I painted a few of the components on and around the engine. Heres a coolant pipe that needed some attention:



and thats all for today. I did start it up yesterday and listened in a few spots around the engine with a wooden handled screw driver as I was hearing some valve noise I didnt like. it was coming from the front bank and was under the valve cover... The noise did go away after a few minutes of running, so Ill keep and eye on it...Im sure it has not run in a long time on a regular basis...so hopefully and oil change and a valve adjustment will sort things out.....

thanks for lookin!

Jp

 

[Woody.v8]

Nice job so far, keep at it !

 

[jpmillermatic]

Thanks, Woody.v8

I tackled the other side of the Mule today. The gas tank is covering up most of that running board so I had no idea what was under there. It was not as bad but looks atrocious!



and brushed off a bit:



So it looks like I will need to replace the rear section just aft of the running board to frame support and another spot up near the front of the panel:



Heres the area cut out:



and I found a bracket for the fuel tank underneath the section I cut out...easy enough to replace.....



manilla folders to the rescue:



and heres the tank and floor edge piece just like the other side. Except this one is salvageable.



Finally, I got the storage box basically done. I painted the bottom with truck bed liner paint, and the sides and top with a dark grey.



more tomorrow, thanks for lookin!

JP

 

[jpmillermatic]

Today was a fairly good day. It feels like the parts Im fixing now are not as bad as dealing with all the serious rust and rot that I was finding on the other side. There are a few more spots on the inner front fenders that will need some welding, but Ill save that for later on. Im excited to get this thing running and moving around at this point.

The storage box is done and the paint cured nice and smooth, though it does not look like it in the picture above.



I was happy with the results on the seat cover and got that stapled together and fitted back on the Mule.



Got the frame piece under the gas tank cut and drilled, ready for welding. Ill have to touch up the frame a bit, then buzz it in there.



The tank straps, though readily available, were considered a project worthy of spending too much time on...mostly fixing rot at the bolting points. So I put the welder on nearly its lowest setting and played with the wire speed until I was adding material in little tacks until I had built up the missing metal again. Sort of like tig welding with a lot of sparks...and less control....





I added bolt threads and smoothed out the join nice and solid to one end on the front strap...I had to cut this one as the nut had changed sizes due to rust...and I didnt have 11.5mm, nor did I have 14/32 sae. but I did have a hack saw. (though I did briefly contemplate the grinder.....but logic reared its ugly head as I WAS working on the gas tank afterall...)



I employed the lift to help me hold the rear roll bar assembly and it worked great. It has minor rusty areas and rub throughs which I took care of with a knot wheel on my grinder, then gave those spots a couple of coats of satin black. Ill sand this back and paint it a few times until most of the spots are level, then it can go back on the mule.




I should have the floors welded, cleaned up and painted by then......

thanks for lookin

JP

 

[jpmillermatic]

Continuing on the rear roll bar, I decided to take the cage apart as it was rusty inside and behind one of the two frames. The frames themselves are not particularly heavy duty, but bolted and bonded to the cage mesh, it becomes pretty solid.



This is the lighter one of the two, and is made from just flat stock, which is not very heavy, slightly more that tack welded together and was pretty rusty.



The roll bar without the cage. Now I can prep and paint the roll bar and get to all the brackets and whatnot....



The neat thing is the fact that the air intake is plumbed through the roll bar. The intake snorkel is actually at the top of the bar. kinda neat.

thanks for lookin

jP

 

[eddie49]

Interesting "plastic surgery" on the ends of the gas tank straps! How many gallons / how heavy is the tank?

The neat thing is the fact that the air intake is plumbed through the roll bar. The intake snorkel is actually at the top of the bar.

So you can drive though a 7 foot deep flood without choking the engine....

 

[jpmillermatic]

Hi, Eddie

I think the tank holds at least 5 gallons. its metal, and by itself is not heavy. the straps will hold it snug. It has 4 rubber "plates" between the tank and floor to help with vibrations as well as rub through, I would imagine.

Yeah, ironically, you can drive through a 7 foot deep flood and keep going...however, you would probably need scuba equipment. It is a bit like a military application there, and I know there are versions of these things made for the military. they are pretty rugged, 4 wheel drive, flood resistant and should...umm, plow my driveway and move things around the yard too....



JP

 

[jpmillermatic]

I did manage to get the patch fit and welded in tonight for under the fuel tank.....



and buzzed in place with the welds dressed back:



I decided to take the seat back off as I was welding pretty close to it and it being brand new and all......what the heck. Heres a table full of parts ready to go back on the Mule:



The plastic cover that fits under the seat was really faded and tired looking, so that got soaked in some Armorall along with the hand brake gator:



I did end up re-routing the wiring harness and cleaning up the off shoots from the main loom. It just looked kind of sloppy and unfinished. new tape, zip ties and some solder here and there did the trick....

thanks for lookin

JP

 

[jpmillermatic]

Not much to report today. I did cut and bend a piece for the rear edge of the drivers side floor. the original was rotted beyond repair....



I did have to restock my paint supplies today and ventured out hesitantly to quickly stop and get a few cans. more this weekend.

thanks for lookin

JP

 

[jpmillermatic]

Just about finished with the major welding on this thing....

there are more pieces going back on. The handbrake mechanism was taken apart, cleaned up, adjusted and greased. the gator came out pretty good too....




the fuel tank area was patched and is nearly finished.



and with a quick coat of black primer....Ive still got some grinding to do, but its getting there.



I cleaned up the wiring harness with some tape and loom wraps...and made a couple of brackets to hold it in. These brackets are for electrical conduit in a house but work perfectly here....



and thats about it for today. progress continues on the rear window frame and roll bar....

thanks for lookin!

JP