Rear bumper is on!
@Crazyjeeper spent a ton of time finishing up the welds and grinding everything to pretty it up. None of this would have been possible without CJ's and
@Nabster 's skills/time and constant help. Much appreciated, gents.
Getting it into position for the 43rd of 108 times.
OSHA approved lifting method.
After making some modifications to make sure everything fit nicely, we decided to get started on the tire carrier.
The not-a-Punisher skull is from the heat transfer of the gusset and square tube behind the backing plate. Clearance with the tailgate all the way open is tiiiiiight...like 1/16".
Like a glooove!
This ended up being a multi day and many hour ordeal, but it's "painted" and on now. I couldn't be happier with the result.
The swarf near the safety pin is the result of drilling holes in tacky paint at 11pm on a Tuesday night when we have work the next day. Pro tip. Drill first if you're going to slap your bumper on basically right after painting.
I've put some miles on and it hasn't fallen off, nor has the spare tire tried to come through the rear hatch.
Mission accomplished!
Obviously, my license plate is now mostly concealed and I need to rig up a an adapter for the old trailer hitch lights and mount a new bracket with lights for that. Also, my backup camera gives a great view of the spare tire and scaffolding--my plan is to figure out a solution to mount it in/around the rear spoiler. The paint needs to be addressed at some point as well to clean up the runs applied gratuitously by yours truly along with the metal shavings now stuck in parts of it. The old plastic bumper cover sitting on CJ's trailer will get chopped up to fit the current ugly gaps.
Eventually, I'll get some LED cube lights and wire them up inside the cabin. I've got ARB LED fog lights on the way for the front bumper later this month, so I'll be able to finish buttoning that end up for the time being (until I get a winch).