I've been working an making some space in the shop for body work and painting. The frame went in the barn (minus the trans so it can be sent out for rebuild)
The roll bar, kid cage, and all the small brackets and parts that I've cleaning and painting. Went to the garage.
Now I started working on the steel parts to get ready for painting.
The grill was new so it didn't need much. I welded in so tabs for a trans cooler. (no pics of that)
The bulkhead is a different story. As some of you may know, The steel bulkhead doesn't fit a fiberglass body. It is too tall, the top is too wide for the lip on the body, and the bottom is too narrow because the original body has a stampede piece in it that the panel screws to.
For the top issue I notched the bulkhead and put a "filler/Gusset" in the cutout.
For the height I cut off the bottom, lapped the pieces 3/8", and tigged the pieces inside and out. And yes there is still lots of grinding and cleanup.
And for the narrow, tapered side problem. I machined a tapered, wedge shaped chunk of aluminum for each. Them glued and riveted them to the body.
Them it was on to the tailgate.
Since the factory cable brackets don't fit the glass body I ordered a Kentrol #30666 cable and latch kit. The web site said it fit a cj5,7,8.
I couldn't figure out how the brackets fit, so back to the web. After searching and finding pics of cj5's and cj7's. I soon figured out the problem. the 5's and 7's wheel well go's all the way to the rear bulkhead. Which gives the bracket a shelf to sit on. After talking to Kentrol on the phone, and relizing no one makes the bracket I needed. I decided to modify the brackets they sent. It took a little cutting, drilling, bending and polishing, but they are going to work good. ( I was not impressed with quality and detail of the Kentrol kit.)