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SJScrambler - Getting Started

Cb - You need to drop a V8, side pipes and "Retro Graphics" on that pig, put 'er up on Ebay and start counting your money!
 
I had a lot of cutting/trimming/relocation and the end product still looks the same, but I am 1 body mount away from being done...
Turns out 4 of the body mounts needed relocation.
I started at the front 2 body mounts and set the fenders, side to side, hood, etc. and got it where I wanted.
Then the aftermarket floor would not line up with the next 2 body mounts, they were about 3/4" off front to back and 1/2" off from the frame rail.

Now that said, this is an aftermarket frame, with an aftermarket floor, so that isn't "that bad", but I couldn't get a bolt up there... so I want it to be correct... so cutting/trimming was needed.

The rear body mounts had been relocated for the YJ body that had been on there and when I went to the CJ floor, I had to put the mounts back almost to where they were.... getting there, hope to be done and onto the seat risers next... they are quite a bit off where they mount to the floor... they need some relief holes and elongation.

cb

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By the time you get this truck finished, it'll be famous to everyone on this site. You're creating a celebrity truck. Nice that you keep fitting and checking and changing until it fits properly. Definitely a Special Edition CJ.
 
Yea looking forward to the finished product. People will be wondering what it is when they see it in person.
 
No pictures as it looks exactly the same, but I now have 17 body mounts all with bolts in them and all into the body and it is straight and squared up on the frame... took a lot of doing, but that part is done.

The seat brackets are going to be modified next and put some seats in there to see how the back panels are with the cage.

I also have a lot of trimming/cutting to do for the transmission tunnel, it is not formed right and it is too small.

cb
 
As with all things I take apart, I tend to keep things as I am sure that I will need them later.
This was definitely one of those times.
I said that the tranny tunnel was small, but man o man was it much smaller and in the wrong place than I had thought.

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Gonna have to do some trimming tonight, I wanted a day to think about it... but this is really way off and has to be fixed.

cb
 
Next up were the seat brackets... which were better than I had feared... passenger side just needed a little hogging out on one of them... driver side needed a little hogging out and one tab cut off and re-welded, but they are in there now... and I got to sit in the seat... makes it feel like a real Jeep.

The half hard cab doesn't allow the seat to go all the way back without rubbing, so I think I will need a slider on the passenger side as well to move it forward an inch.

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I did tack weld that bracket on and now it is a firm bond... at least I got the seats sorted... next up is the tranny tunnel as well as the rear hoop trials for the roll cage.

cb
 
Playing with the top after the snow cleanup... got another 6 inches.
We have had 2.5 feet and Winter isn't officially here... go figure.
It should be a white Christmas though, which is nice... cold though, next 3-4 days are single digits.

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I also cleaned out the bed "mostly"... I had a lot of parts/pieces in there for the other tub and that is pending sale at the moment and wanted to get all the stuff together for the new owner.

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cb
 
Tried some half doors last night... definitely not in love with the squared off / hard lines, vs. the softer lines of the CJ style.
Not sure if I would ever run them, but had to check it out.

I got the rollbar for the rear... the rock hard one will not work, so I will have to do something more custom if I am going to use the top from the CJ10a... if not, I would have to use a Scrambler top, but that doesn't fit so well... decisions decisions.

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Half doors look good with no top at all, for kind of a roadster look... but you're right, they don't seem to have the right look for a pickup cab.
 
That top, to me, is a World Cab hard door or nothing (meaning no other good option.) With the full World Cab, that hard upper corner on the door is "softened" by all of the top sheet metal and lines that extend horizontally rearward past the door opening. Then there's the fact that the next "vertical" line on the top moving rearward is all the way at the back of the Jeep. Even then, that corner visually draws the eye in a bad way, it's just "muted". I still always notice it when I run the top and my tube doors on the trail.

I guess it's kind of like seeing a non-radiused corner on a metal part and cringing a little knowing that it's a stress riser that could cause a crack. It just doesn't look quite right and bugs you.

With the half cab having the back edge of the top RIGHT there next to that corner, the way that the "side" of the top tapers down to that corner is like a giant neon arrow pointing to that odd corner :shrug:

With the full doors filing the opening and mating up to that corner, it immediately "fixes" the look because you then add the hard corners of the window frame in that area and it's not just the one corner hanging out there in space.

Not sure if I'm explaining that well enough, but it's just to say that the World Cab door opening empty just doesn't look right on the half cab to me and even bugs me on the full World Cab.

I agree that the half door further emphasizes it in a less than flattering way.
 
That top, to me, is a World Cab hard door or nothing (meaning no other good option.) With the full World Cab, that hard upper corner on the door is "softened" by all of the top sheet metal and lines that extend horizontally rearward past the door opening. Then there's the fact that the next "vertical" line on the top moving rearward is all the way at the back of the Jeep. Even then, that corner visually draws the eye in a bad way, it's just "muted". I still always notice it when I run the top and my tube doors on the trail.

I guess it's kind of like seeing a non-radiused corner on a metal part and cringing a little knowing that it's a stress riser that could cause a crack. It just doesn't look quite right and bugs you.

With the half cab having the back edge of the top RIGHT there next to that corner, the way that the "side" of the top tapers down to that corner is like a giant neon arrow pointing to that odd corner :shrug:

With the full doors filing the opening and mating up to that corner, it immediately "fixes" the look because you then add the hard corners of the window frame in that area and it's not just the one corner hanging out there in space.

Not sure if I'm explaining that well enough, but it's just to say that the World Cab door opening empty just doesn't look right on the half cab to me and even bugs me on the full World Cab.

I agree that the half door further emphasizes it in a less than flattering way.

You explained it mostly like what I have in my head.
I think a Scrambler half cab probably belongs on there, but to make that happen, the CJ10a needs mods to the rear so you don't have air gaps in the corners as it is a different shape completely.

Full doors alleviates a lot of the hard edges as it will blend it all in.
I really don't know the use cases yet for it... taking this top on/off is going to be very difficult with the rollcage in side.
It would have to be removed in pieces and that is like 20-25 bolts.

It is going to have A/C, so might not ever have the top off, especially with the rear window opening and rolling down the windows...

I will give it more thought over the holidays.

cb
 
I’ve always thought of this as a hard top only rig. I know exactly what you mean about removing it in pieces, that is a PITA and you really need to make a nut plate for the screws because the sheet metal screws just aren’t meant to go in and out often. That’s something I’ve always wanted to do for my top, it makes me cringe every time I put those in/out.
 
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