Another YJ unlimited build

[YJLOPES]

I did the stretch on this when the `rona first took off. This is just a copy/paste of the thread I put up on colorado4x4.org, which used to be a great resource, but has been killed by modern social media. I cut the rig in April of 2020 and drove it in June, so that went fairly quickly. Since then I've continued to add and modify. I'm currently in the middle of building some new axles for it but I figured I'd try to bring the whole build over here.


I've been wanting an LJ for a year or 2 now. I even made an offer on a few in the last few months, but nothing came together. I've had my YJ for 19 yrs now and it does 99% of what I want, except haul the family of 4 and the dog. Being stuck at home for a few weeks AND questions about the future of my industry (airline) has me rethinking spending the money to build another rig so I started shopping around. I found an LJ hardtop for $1100 and here I am.

IMG_6001

I wanted to maximize space inside, so I wanted to move the wheel wells back rather than stretch in the middle of them. I decided to cut up here on the aft side of the B pillar posts.



I drew this line by drilling a hole from the inside out where I wanted the cut. Then connecting the dots on the outside.

[URL='https://flic.kr/p/2iMbgx1'] IMG_6140 IMG_6138

Hopefully this thread will be useful to some other yahoo down the road. More pics to come...

 

[YJLOPES]

Lots of spot welds to drill out. I should have ordered a spot weld cutter, but I dove in before it would have been here.







These buggers were hiding at the front end of the wheel well, securing the inside wheel well to the floor.



Before I did the final cut, I made some marks on the top of the bedrail on both sides 10" apart, so when I stretch I have a reference. I also did the same thing down at the rocker. I hope these will help me get the tub close enough to squared up when its all said and done. I thought I had pics but they vaporized in my phone.

 

[YJLOPES]

Then this happened

 

[YJLOPES]

4 lines running to the rear end, fuel pressure, fuel return, evap, and brake. Just putting these here for my own reference since I'm liable to lose these later.

 

[YJLOPES]

Lots of grinding today. Cut the spring hangars off of the frame and cleaned that up.

Measured and marked the location of the parking brake cable bracket. I did this so I can move it aft 15", and hopefully just extend the threaded rod at the yoke rather than get new custom cables.



Here's the twist on my project. Rather than plug in 15" of frame, I'm splicing the back half of another frame on the the one under the jeep. I'm using a TJ frame I got for a case of beer. The rear suspension will be a TJ long arm kit. I spent a fair amount of time cleaning up the back end of the donor frame as well today.

When I got them both about ready to cut, I decided to weld a temporary crossmember in place to hold the rails in position relative to each other. Probably not necessary, but pretty easy to do to keep things lined up.

TJ frame with temp x-member just behind where it will be cut



The frame under the jeep with temp x-member just ahead of the pending cut.



Sold the stock YJ hard top today, so that put a few bucks back in the budget. Fedex brought the new floor, so I've got a few things to do before I run out of parts.

 

[YJLOPES]

I started today intending to dive right in to cutting the frame and the donor frame. I wasn't happy with the temp x-member I welded in last night because it would be in the way of fixturing the two frames together, so I decided to weld in a new one. My bride was using the dryer and I'm ashamed to admit I've been in this house for almost 4 yrs and still no 220 in the garage. The only 110 welder I have is a TIG, so I got to do a little TIG work in the driveway. No big deal except for the constant 3-5 kts of wind and the occasional 8-10 kt gust. Not real pretty, but not too bad. My 5 yr old watched and he approved.

I've been researching this dumb idea for a long time and thought I had every angle covered. Right before I was about to cut the TJ frame, I stepped back and looked it over and thought there's no good reason to no test fit the tub and fuel tank now. So that's what I did. I have a Genright Stretch tank for a YJ, which ALMOST fits. The studs for the 2 straps were interfering with the crossmember in front of the tank.



So I notched the crossmember for clearance.





Now no problems fitting, but I had to match drill a few new holes in the gas tank skid that didn't match. I think 3 out of 7 lined up.





I was able to reuse 6 out of 7 of the bolts. The 7th was off on the flange for the skid altogether, so I drilled a new one. I have to remember to weld the bolt in place from above because I can't get to the head with the tub in place.

After I got the tank to fit, I tried the back half of the tub I cut off.






No problems with that fit. I had some concerns with the upper coil mounts based on my bad memory working on a bunch of TJs in the past, but no problems.

Then I moved on to getting the last measurements I wanted, maybe even needed before I cut the frames. I wanted to verify the distance above a known point, with the frame level, to the aft-most body mount point on the frame. I figured that the fore-aft position, and even the left-right were fairly easy to dial in, but the vertical position of the aft body mounts could be problematic.

To do this I first leveled the belly section of the frame.



Then I took a laser level and drew a line through the top of the body mounts at the middle of the door and the next one aft.




Once I had established this line, I measured from the top on the aft body mount down to the line.



I also put a couple pieces of tape with a mark where the laser line was for reference later.



The figure I came up with is about 3/16" off from the YJ frame drawings available all over the web, but I'm hoping it will be useful.

My plan is to duplicate this with the new frame section in place to keep the aft crossmember properly aligned vertically. The reality is that this may be picking fly shit out of pepper, but worry about the ounces, and the pounds will take care of themselves.

After I'd recorded all of this nonsense, I got to cutting. No pics of that because who cares? It's just a cut up frame.

Here are a few pics where I left it with the section of TJ frame roughly in place where it will end up.



Time for beer...good night

 

[YJLOPES]

Mid-day photo dump.

I've got the rear section of frame pretty well locked in to position, so I set the tub on to see how close it was to where it needs to be.




Then just to verify all my measurements are close, I set the top on it. I've been operating on the assumption that the length difference of 14 7/8" I read about all over the net in all the other build threads is correct. I suspect that it is off and the Jeep advertising of 15" is probably dead nuts on. I've going to move everything back 1/8" and try again. I'm pretty pleased with how it's all fitting though.



Side benefit of this pic is that it is very motivating.

 

[YJLOPES]

I had time to knock out tonight was to fit the 2 slugs where I was lacking frame. 2 7/8" missing on both sides, so I trimmed that much out of the donor frame and whittled it down to fit nice and snug. It's interesting how the corner radius differs from YJ to TJ as seen in the second pic below.







You can see in the last one where I'm mapping out the fish plate a little.

Tomorrow I'll tear all of this down, clean up the weld areas with a flap disc, and bevel the edges a bit. The burn it home!

 

[YJLOPES]

Today's progress. I pulled it all apart so I could clean up all the areas that would be welded, then I beveled the edges so I could get good penetration. Once I got that done I put it all back together and started measuring. I measured the distance from the back edge of the YJ body mounts. I measured the relative height of the aft most body mount using the laser level as described above in post 12. Then I measured that the new donor frame was level left/right compared to the frame under the Jeep. I did this by clamping a straightedge under the belly of the jeep and setting the digital level on it like so.



Then I set a straight edge on the donor frame just behind the splice to the new frame and measured there.




After those matched I set the level on the rear crossmember to make sure it matched.




Once all of those matched up, I went back and measured everything else again. I tacked everything in place and then measured again. Then I burned it home and measured again. Everything stayed where I wanted it to.

I made these fish plates to go on the inboard and outboard sides of the splice.



Then brown santa showed up with the next step.

 

[YJLOPES]

Then I punched a few more holes in my fish plates for more weld.



I was able to burn one in. I don't think it's going anywhere.

[URL='https://flic.kr/p/2iPpLLS']

I've loosened all of the body mounts to get a little better access so I can do a better job welding the next 3. I've also got some strap to weld on top and bottom over the splice.

I'm starting to read a bit about coilovers, just for packaging reasons up front. Does anyone have any good reading on them? Not sure if I'll go that route, but it may simplify a few things.

 

[YJLOPES]

Today was productive! I got up thinking that a cold garage might be just the excuse I needed to not get shit done. Fortunately, I was smart enough to buy the Husky digital level/thermometer which verified that the temp in the garage was indeed workable.



I always thought this was a ridiculous combination of functions, but now I get it.

On to the Jeep! It had been too long since I welded in a cold garage and I forgot how pleasant it is.

I walked out of the garage last night knowing I was tired because my welds and standards went to shit. About the 3rd time I thought "that's good enough" I realized it was time to quit. Today I took the grinder to the bad welds and fixed them.

Then I made these straps to weld on top and bottom of the frame rails at the splice.



I welded the lower ones on and then moved on to the top. I had to lift the tub off of the frame one side at a time, then wedge a 4x4 in there to hold it up. I did one side at a time and had almost enough room to get my angle grinder in there with a flap disc to strip the dirt/paint off so I could get a decent weld.

My dad taught me years ago if you have a tool that almost works, you don't have a tool. If you need to modify a tool to make it work, start cutting!

I have no idea why harbor freight put these 2 ears on top of the grinder.



For future reference, they are unnecessary.



It's lighter now too, much less fatiguing to operate all day.

So now I could wedge it under the tub and clean off the top of the frame rail. I clamped the strap in there and started welding .

I got the strap done and all that was left was the fish plate on the outside. The problem was the body mount was in the way, so I took some measurements, cut the aft weld on the body mount and tweaked it out enough to slip the plate in there and then some.




Then I welded the plate to the frame. When I pushed the body mount back up again the plate, I remeasured. It turns out between the cut and what I ground off of the frame, everything was where it needed to be, so I put a few stitches on the mount and called it good.



I repeated for the other side and everything came together nicely.



By the end of the day my welds were starting to look okay.





While that was cooling off I cleaned up a bit. I stared at it for a few minutes and finally worked up the nerve to put he jack under the rear crossmember. I lifted it up, removed the jack stands from ahead of the splice, put a couple jack stands under the tail end of the frame and it hasn't collapsed yet.





Here's a random pic my wife took today of me trying to burn down the house.



Tomorrow I'm torn whether I should start on the suspension or splicing the tub back together. I guess I'll see what strikes me in the morning.

 

[YJLOPES]

Today was spent at my shop on the lathe. 19 years ago I didn't have any money, so I did a body lift with hockey pucks. They have served me well, but I think they have reached the end of their useful life.

My son and I spent a few hours turning one big piece of aluminum in to lots of little pieces.









And the final result...



I started mapping out some suspension ideas and measuring a few things. Hopefully have a better idea how all of that will fit tomorrow.

 

[YJLOPES]

It has been a slow couple of days sorting how things will fit. I had stretched the wheelbase previously around 3-3.5" on both ends using Rancho 44044 springs which are Waggy fronts. They have similar dimensions to YJ springs, but with a 2" offset center pin and offer around 4-4.5" of lift. I also used offset perches to get the other 1-1.5". When I added the 15" of this stretch, I thought I'd just add it to the stretch that was already there which when I measure put me around 114.25" wheelbase. Packaging concerns mostly centered around the coil spring perch relationship required my to rethink that and give up about 1 11/16". I was scratching my head trying to keep the axle back and it occurred to me, Why? I was after every last inch before, but now I'm covered up in wheelbase, no need to get greedy if if makes life so much easier to go this way. I finally settled on a rear axle location that allowed me to sort out the coil spring perch issue and makes the track bar fit well, so I welded in the upper spring perches and tacked the truss on the axle for fitting everything else.

I had to cut out the long ends of the spring brackets and swap them left/right to get them far enough back against the track bar bracket.





I had a bunch of these little wedges left over from hanging doors in my old basement, they have proven invaluable for fine tuning like this. I was trying to hold this perch against the frame at just the right angle.



Dialing in the left side...


And finally worked up the nerve to weld it.





One thing that Artec warns you about is potential interference between the truss and the vent. The vent is a 7/16x20 thread so I used an old ring gear bolt to make a plug.



[url=https://flic.kr/p/2iRsd4M]

I welded it home and ground it smooth.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2iRsdk3]

Once that was done I found a new home for the vent inboard a few inches and clocked up a bit on the tube. I drilled and tapped it so that's done.

[URL='https://flic.kr/p/2iRsd9w']

Not much excitement from a build thread this round, but lots of parts in Brown Santa's hands that should be here early next week. I'm putting off the tub splice until the suspension is close to done since it is so easy to get at all of the important stuff. I think the suspension will be interesting since I'm off the reservation a bit on what I'm doing and it will either be awesome or a train wreck, both of which are entertaining from a spectator perspective.

 

[YJLOPES]

Today was spent cleaning up the windshield frame. I had to trim the corners to fit the LJ top. Here I have marked it for the initial cut I did 3 weeks ago.



I don't know what happened to the pics I had of it after the cut, but it was ugly. Several layers of sheetmetal all pressed together at the edges and spot welded. Today I cleaned it up a bit with the flap disc and started tacking it back to a smooth edge. The first pass looked like this, I suppose because there were so many impurities in the weld that I couldn't clean out with the grinder.



I ground that smooth and then tacked in all the holes and ground that and on and on for about 15 minutes on each side to get this.













Once I was happy with that, I had to remove the double-sided tape that was on the new gasket because it was sticking so far out in front of the windshield frame that it wasn't going to stick to anything.



Scraping that off ate up 30 minutes. The gasket has fits over the top edge of the windshield frame pretty snug, so I think I'll just let that hold it in place for now. If I need to add some weatherstrip adhesive down the road I can do that.

After that was all done I was hunting for things to do while I'm waiting for parts. I need to do a bit of welding to the center section of the the rear axle, and when I was playing with the drive flange the pinion felt a little loose, so I decided it was as good a time as any to strip down the axle and give it a once over. I found that the pinion nut was a hair loose and the pinion bearings could probably stand to be replaced. On the plus side, the repair I did in this thread http://www.colorado4x4.org/vbb/showt...ighlight=ected seems to be holding up.

Tomorrow the USPS is supposed to bring me the parts to weld to the center section. Tuesday or wednesday I should see my Johnny joints and brackets. With any luck I hope to have a roller by the end of the week.

 

[YJLOPES]

Brown santa has had me waiting for parts all week. Still waiting on 2# of NI55 welding wire, a summit order, and bump stops form 4WP.

In the mean time I cut some bushings to use as dummy spacers for welding together the brackets so I didn't have to worry about the high dollar joints getting spattered. Here are the Barnes 3 link brackets that I am using for LCA brackets going together.





Here is the LH UCA bracket with a bushing in it and the track bar the way that Artec wants you to put it together.





Since I am pushing the axle back I wanted to relocate the track bar forward a bit. I cut up the back half of the artec bracket and made it fit in front. I can do this because I won't have any upper control arms. I used another bushing that a made to get this spacing right.







Everything is tacked on the truss, so I decided to mock it up and see how everything fit. The torque arm is the only suspension link that is missing at this point, but hopefully I'll get it in there in the next few days.



I love the bend in the LCAs, gets them up high out of the way.



The track bar looks all kinds of wonky in this pic but it actually is reasonably flat.



Hopefully get the rest of the stuff I need to fab the torque arm by the weekend. In the meantime I hope to fine tune the fit of the LCA brackets tomorrow. They landed right where the frame bends inboard, so I need to make them fit in that corner a bit better.

 

[YJLOPES]

One of the problems I had to deal with was attaching the torque arm to the center section of the diff. The 8.8 swap has gotten pretty popular amongst the drag racing crowd and the F-body Camaros happen to use a torque arm. There are a few options for installing a torque arm but the only one that doesn't compromise ground clearance is the Hiltsy mount. It shows up in a small USPS flat rate box and you have to weld it together before putting it on the diff.

Here it is partially assembled sitting on my axle.



And another pic of it being assembled and fitted.



The way it fits covers up the fill plug on the axle, so you need to relocate it. I have an ARB cover with drain and fill plugs so that's handled. You need to grind the rib/plug for the Hiltsy mount to clear like this.





Hiltsy is pretty adamant about using NI55 wire to weld the mount to the diff. I've welded to cast before with plain old ER70 but never anything that would take this load so I ordered 2# for $73 and started preheating. I also stole the 100% argon tank from my TIG. Most guys you read about just use a torch and maybe an IR thermometer. Since I was welding over such a large area on the diff and I'm a control freak, I wanted a little finer control. Here is my method.



I set the propane heater close and let it set for 30-40 minutes. It's amazing how much material there is and how long it takes to soak up the heat. Once I'd reached 300ish I started welding. I only welded an inch or 2 and then moved to another location. Once I had a few spots welded I put the heat back on it for 3-5 minutes to put some heat back in it. I'd weld another couple inches here and there and then put the heat back. I repeated this until the mount was welded and the tubes were welded to the center section. After everything was done IO put the heat back on it. After 10 minutes or so I moved the heater away 3-6". I repeated the process of moving the heater 3-6" further away every 10-20 minutes until the majority of the material was down to 100-120 degrees and then shut down the heat. It took about 60-75 minutes IIRC.

I thought I had pics of the TA mount all welded on the axle, but I guess I was so excited that it seemed to be done that I must have forgotten.

I bolted it all back in and started cycling the suspension. The frame side LCA mounts are clamped in place and the torque arm crossmember is very temporary, but it allowed me to see how everything would fit throughout the travel.

Full stuff



Flexing





I did have little interference with the bend in the control arm hitting the frame during flex on both sides. I moved the axle side LCA mounts inboard around 1 5/16" and they clear by 1/2-5/8" now. I think that will be adequate.

Full droop



Once I was satisfied with the fit of everything. I started to do the final weld on the Artec Truss. To avoid causing problems warping the axle, I'd weld a little on ons side, then the opposite side, then wait for it to cool a bit, and repeat. That took a while but while I was waiting I cleaned up the frame where the LCA mounts will weld and prepped the LCA mounts as well.





Still waiting on a summit order for a proper TA mount to bolt to the axle mount I welded on. I hope to have most of the rest of the suspension in place in the next day or 2.

 

[YJLOPES]

The last couple of days have been a mixed bag but I did get a few things done.

The torque arm mount that I welded to the diff was designed for swapping an 8.8 in to an F-body Camaro. I ordered a beefed up torque arm mount for a camaro to match it so I'd have something substantial to mount it to and waited patiently for it to show up. No reply from Summit on shipping inquiries so I contacted the manufacturer. It turns out it won't ship until May 6th. I asked for a drawing so I could make a mock up in the mean time and they actually came through. I used the drawing and a stock torque arm from a mid 90s camaro to move forward.

I started with this.





I cut off what I needed and was left with this.



Then I welded on some square tubing.



The square tubing is 1.5", .125" wall, so ID is 1.25". I whittled a couple holes in the side to slide in short sections of 1.25" OD tubing, and then slid the tube adapters for the rod ends in to them. I also drilled a couple of holes alongside the round tubing so I could rosette weld through the sides of the square.





I tacked all of this together for test fitting and moved on to the crossmember.



The crossmember is 1.25" .125" wall. I cut a couple of short sections of 1.5" .125 wall to slide over the crossmember. These short sections will be mounts and will be welded to the frame and drilled for bolts to secure the crossmember. I sliced one side out of these short sections like this.



The slid them over the ends of the crossmember like this.



I fitted this under the jeep, then tack welded the big tubes on the little and removed them to drill mounting holes. No pics of that fun but you'll see the final result in a minute.

I also cut out some triangular gussets for the crossmember mounts as well.





Once everything was made and fitted, I started welding.





I figured the load on this crossmember would be mostly twisting it since the torque arm will be pulling up on the bushing mounted behind the crossmember. To turn that force in to more of a lifting force, I decided to tie it in to the transmission crossmember. I drilled the forward crossmember to accept a couple of bolts and made a flange to bolt on to it. Then I cut a section of tubing to bridge the gap from the torque arm crossmember to the transmission crossmember. The final result looks like this.





And once installed looks like this.



Once I verified everything fit like I wanted, I finished welding the torque arm mount and installed it on the diff. I reinstalled the torque arm and the rest of the suspension and I'll be damned everything fits.





THe suspension is all done except for a sway bar which I am still sorting and the shocks which were previously outboard and tie in to the cage so that will happen with the body in place.

Since I was so excited to have it all working, I put some springs in place and tested it.

 

[YJLOPES]

Yesterday I went to work on some detail stuff that isn't fun at all but I suppose I'll be happy to have it.

The parking brake cable in stock form is nicely routed down the inside of the frame rail. Since I put those giant Barnes 4X4 link brackets on the frame, the nice routing by DC is no longer feasible. I decided to move it to the top of the frame rail since the 1" body lift leaves plenty of room. I started with this little bracket.



I welded it to the top of the frame like so.



I used the measurements from prior to the cut to locate the rear cable bracket in the same place in relation to the rear axle and tacked in this piece.



In the airplane biz, when we are fabbing a bracket, we say you haven't made a bracket until you've made it three times. This one followed that lead and I only took pics of the one that worked.

I added a couple of gussets and here is the final result.









As you can see in those last few pics I painted the frame. I hate painting, but I scrubbed it down and primed and painted and it was awful, so I hope it was worth it.

I've got the goodies to run the plumbing. Once I get that done I can finally focus on the body. Pushing for driving in a week or so but lots of side business stuff to take care of between now and then, plus I wasted today doing this.



I was morally obligated to go fly, because fuel in Walsenburg was only $2.40/gal for 100LL.

Back to plumbing tomorrow...

 

[YJLOPES]

I was stuck working on an annual inspection on a customer's bird today, so that ate up a good chunk of the day. After that I was able to start working on the plumbing. There are 4 lines that run along the frame rail from the engine bay, fuel, fuel return, fuel vent to canister, and brake line.

This is what they looked like on the YJ frame.





I don't have to maneuver around the upper shock mount anymore, so that obstacle is no longer a concern. I do have do get around the LCA mount though. This is how I did that.





And up over the axle



[url=https://flic.kr/p/2iYrvMX]

Once I get the fuel filter mounted on the frame I can wrap up the rest. I think I'll recycle a couple of the old plastic clips that held the lines to the frame and be good to go.

 

[YJLOPES]

Damn near everything is done underneath except the sway bar. I tried to make a stock bar fit, but it was creating too many compromises. When I finally got it close to fitting around all the stuff on the axle, it didn't leave much room at all for the exhaust to get through. I finally decided to break open my moldy wallet and ordered an Anti-rock for the rear end of a TJ. It won't fit where currie wants it because I have some cage tie-ins in the way, but I'd read a few write-ups on putting it in front of the axle. I was going down that path and I saw the the body not being intact was making the installation a guess. It seems it is time to get the tub dialed in so I can finalize the swayer and start driving again.

I started by making this crossmember. I drilled the spot welds that tie the rear floor in to the bulkhead behind the front seats. I figured the long span of floor could use a crossmember to maintain some strength at the splice, so I made this up out of 3/4" square tube and topped it with some strap to spot weld to the old floor behind and the new section ahead.







I made the outboard sections a little wider because the spot welds on those sections of the old floor were a long way from the edge.

After it cooled off I fitted it in place and welded it in.



Then I started on the new section of floor. I read today that the LJ has 2" more legroom in the back seat than a TJ. My seat mounts moved 15" aft with the rear floor. I decided some options would be nice. The bolts for the mounts are 5" on center, so I went forward 5, 10, and 15" handmade new holes. This will give me 4 options for seat location although I suspect I will give the kids 5" more and leave it be until they can kick my seat again. The factory seat mounts have a stiffener underneath the floor so I decided I'd make one too.

I started with some flat 22 gauge.



I ran it through the brake and made them look like this.



[url=https://flic.kr/p/2iZs1my]

Then I drilled a ton of holes in them to spot weld to the floor. The floor is a replacement panel that I cut off the forward 15" to splice in.

[URL='https://flic.kr/p/2iZpfsH']

I marked out and drilled the holes for the seat, then welded nuts underneath so it will be easy to move if I want to. I fitted the new section in the jeep and measured every which way 2-300 times until I was convinced it was right and welded it in. I even installed the new LJ hardtop to help locate everything.



I had to drill a ton of holes on all the sides I was welding in place, but it is in there for good now.

That left a big hole on either side in front of the wheel well.





I cut out another section of the replacement floor panel to fill this area and welded it in.



The left side is cut and fitted, might weld it in for real tomorrow.

 

[YJLOPES]

I've been distracted with other nonsense so haven't gotten much done. My birds are too big for the brooder so I've been hustling to get the coop done, I'm calling it the Ritz Cluckerton. Last weekend my mom asked me to fly her to PHX so that ate up a day and a half. Another friend also needed an inspection done on his airplane so I knocked that out this week too.

I did get the last section of floor welded in and I cut out and fitted the sides of the tub. Today I welded in the passenger side and it turned out okay.





It has a bit of a speed bend to it but I think I'll be able to massage it out. I left the bottom long because my neither of my brakes would touch 16 gauge so I have other plans to add a bit of strength to the lower edge, even though I'm hoping to cut it off for boat sides down the road. This thing is definitely intended to be more go than show, so a bit of homebuilt character doesn't bother me too much.

I may also have a line on slightly bigger tires, so that will complicate life.

 

[YJLOPES]

It's been a busy few weeks but I think I'm back to focusing on this project.

The skin that I welded in the other day had a pretty nice speed bend it it. I think half of it was in the sheet before I welded and I probably got a little hot welding it in place to add to the problem. I do a ton of aluminum sheet metal on airplanes, but this was a different challenge. If I was riveting, I'd be done by now.

Bottom of the tub



Floor level



I cut out this strip of 22 gauge



Put a bend in it with the brake.



Marked it for holes to spot weld through.



Drilled it


And then spot welded it to the bottom of the new panel to give the edge some strength and straighten it out. It helped a bit, but there was still a curve.

I made another angle to tie the floor in to the side of the tub out of 1" angle. I drilled it on one side to spot weld to the side. The floor was already drilled to weld from the top. I had a dozen clamps and straight square tubing holding everything straight while I welded but I didn't get any pics of it. Afterwards it looked like this.

Inside



Underneath



Outside is WAY better, plenty good to be covered up by corner armor.



With all of that done, I moved on to the top edge. I pulled the top and marked out what I needed from the donor panel.



Dad and I whittled it down to size and clamped it in place.



It didn't fit worth a damn. The bends in it aren't parallel and the profile doesn't match the factory tub. I found a donor tub locally that the guy will let me cut some out of so I'm heading over there in a bit with my dad. I started tacking in the LH side piece in the mean time. Maybe I'll post that up later.

 

[YJLOPES]

Yesterday was a big day mentally. I started by spot welding an angle at the top of the big patch panel on both sides. This took out most of the speed bend which I believe was mostly from the slight curve in the metal prior to installation rather than excess heat from welding it in. Here's a pic of the angle in place.



Once that straightened things out, I cut up the section of tub rail I bought that other day and fit it in to place. I was making good progress and the phone died so no pics in progress but here is the final result.

Right side



Left



There are a few WOWs here and there and it definitely isn't Chip goose show quality, but when I cover up the sins with corner armor it is pretty good. The top rail is straight and should seal to the hard top well.

I was so excited I had to try on the hard top.





It feels YUGE back here now.

 

[YJLOPES]

Since I got the body about locked in as far as location, I could get back to where I left off with the suspension. I was using a bolt in rear Antirock from currie, but since there isn't much bolt it about this rig, I couldn't make it fit where Currie wanted it. My cage tie-ins were in the way and even if they weren't, the fuel filler line would have interfered. I would have preferred it behind the axle like it was designed to be, and it may end up there down the road, but for now I'm happy with this spot.



The axle mounts for the sway bar links ended up on the outside of the LCA brackets. In stock form, this probably wouldn't be strong enough, but both the LCA bracket and the Link mount are 1/4", so I think they'll be okay.



I was trying to reuse the upper shock mounts which were on the bottom of the cage tie-in plates.



They worked well and allowed for 14" Bilsteins. The lower mounts are from Low Range Offroad and are super compact and have a replaceable stud if you ever break it. It was a balancing act getting them located. Too far inboard and the shock would hit the frame under droop conditions, too far out and the tire would rub when stuffed and the shock would hit the parking brake bracket. I think I found the 1/8" wide sweet spot where all problems are mitigated but we'll see. I have a Yukon Ultimate 88 kit which eliminates the C-clips and is basically bolt on big bearing 9" outers if I'm not mistaken. I had to flip the one bolt for the axle retainer so the head was outboard or it would have been trapped by the shock mount.





Once all of that was fitted, I did one more mock up with everything installed. I bought a set of OME 2" heavy load springs. According to a lot of digging and research, I think these will give me around 4" of lift on my lighter rig. When installed now they give me around 5 3/4", but I don't have a fuel tank, bumper, spare tire, and rear seat installed, so I think they'll be close to where I want to be. If necessary I'll adjust with a spacer.



It all fits well, so I pulled the axle and welded the shock mounts and sway bar link mounts in for good. I'll take the axle out to my shop for final assembly this week.

Once that was done I decided to start fitting the cage.





I'd read various things about this, but it dropped right and and looked pretty close right off the bat. My buddy Cam stopped by with his TJ, so I took some measurements and we think we got it pretty close. I was planning on cutting off the front feet and welding the main hoop on to a set of YJ builder feet, but with a little trimming, I think everything will line up and be just fine with the LJ feet. More details today as I hope to have this dialed in and done later.

 

[YJLOPES]

Today has been all about the LJ roll bar. I was expecting A LOT more fab to be required on this, but it damn near fell in to place.

The first challenge was locating it. It is difficult to identify a datum from which to measure. After studying it for a bit I came up with this.



This was very repeatable between fittings, and easy to get off of the jeep I had handy to copy. We set the string even with the lower edge of the hardtop and measured square to the roll bar tube and came up with 2 9/16" to 2 5/8". Anything within 1/16" on a jeep is success I've discovered. The roll bar is an anchor for the soft top so I wanted it to be close and I think this will get it there.

I set the LJ bar in my tub and eyeballed it where it looked about right and then measured and it was damn near perfect. There are 2 pimples on the YJ tub where the body mount is underneath so I had to trim the LJ feet like this.



Once I did this it fell in to place quite nicely. There was some seam seal down in the corners that I had to clean out and then it got even better. I worked up the nerve to start drilling and now it is bolted down like this.





When I bolted it down there was a little gap between the floor and the foot on the forward bolt, so I slid a washer in there to take up the slack like this.





That tightened it up nicely.

The feet also covered up where the YJ front seat belts attached to the floor so I am planning on using the forward bolt holding the roll bar down. I installed a grade 8, 1/2" bolt fastened through a the floor, a doubler underneath, and the roll bar foot, so I think it will be plenty strong.

The bolts going outboard in to the box section at the rear door post had poor access to the backside to install a nut. The lower hole in the following picture is original and I added the upper hole.



Then I connected the dots like this.



It's still tight, but I can get the hardware in place and get a wrench in there to tighten those 2 bolts.

Once that was fastened down I moved on to the C pillar mounts. I trimmed off the inboard edge like I marked in the previous post. The outboard bolt hole was so close I just pushed it until I could get a bolt through it and fastened it down. The LJ bolt holes are 5" on center and the YJ is 4". I just tightened down the outboard bolt on both sides and match drilled the inboard holes from underneath. I put a bolt in the inboard side, installed the cage tie-ins underneath, and now it looks like this.



Now that is anchored and I can weld the tie-ins to the frame, but that's probably tomorrow's project.

I moved forward to the spreader bars. I attached them to the B-pillar hoop and then used the inboard hole on the spreader and the windshield and put a bolt in it.



They seem happy but the measurements between the 2 sides seems so wonky that I think I measured something wrong. It looks awesome though.



I'll have to do some digging or find a rig to measure so I can see how screwed up it it. In the mean time I moved on to the RH windshield hinge. The pin was seized when I started this project and when I folded down the windshield it bent the leaf of the hinge. I ordered new Kentrol hinges because I got suckered in by their youtube video. Dad stopped by today and we dug through a ton of seam seal underneath so I could get to the nuts in the tub. I cleaned up the outside with a wire brush and hit it with some primer and now I'm waiting for it to dry so I can install the new hinge.

 

[YJLOPES]

The axle is sitting in the back of my truck waiting to go to the hangar for reassembly, but I rolled a tire over to it tonight just to see...

 

[YJLOPES]

I've been head down trying to power through this thing and making good progress, but not much in the way of pics.

I took the axle out to the hangar last friday to install new pinion bearings and make sure the ring and pinion were still happy. I had to tweak the pinion preload a touch but it's dialed in now. everything else seemed happy so I bolted it together and brough it home.

I spent the weekend doing all the boring stuff that I've been putting off. I seam sealed everything inside the tub and underneath. I'm sure this thing may rot away someday, but it won't be from the stretch. I primed and painted the inside of the tub and underneath. I'm not sure what I'm going to do on the outside yet. I think some savvy corner blanks may be in my future but not sure yet. I got the C-pillar cage tie-ins welded to the frame. I added a seat belt anchor for the back seat 10" ahead of the stock one since I'm assuming that's where I'll end up putting the seat. It looked like this before I spot welded it in place. I primed and painted it underneath as well.



I finally extended all of the wires (8 of them) to the back of the tub. I need to finish routing them underneath, but inside is all good.

I reinstalled my brake master and booster that were removed for other reasons not related to the stretch. I also adjusted the booster rod so it should take some slop out of the system for me.

I repaired a crack under the passenger seat mount. They seem to be common on yj front seats and I'd done the drivers seat a few years ago.

I primed and painted the rear axle and the last of the parts I needed to finish putting it together showed up today, so I finished assembling it. I wanted to know what it weighed so I could keep track of my unsprung weight for suspension tuning purposes so once it was together I put it on my scale.



A fully dressed, trussed 8.8 weighs in a 287#.



That has me pretty excited. One of the things that always turned me off of TJs and LJs was how much heavier they are than a YJ. I'm hopeful this thing will be a fair bit lighter than a comparable LJ.

After I'd weighed the LCAs (18# each) and the torque arm (16#), I reinstalled the axle, hopefully for the last time. It is now sitting on the suspension with the jack stands relocated from the frame to under the axle! Pretty motivating to see it there.





I'm hoping to get the new hard lines on the axle sorted tomorrow, route the wiring under the tub, and reinstall the fuel tank. I've got new soft lines for the calipers coming that were initially scheduled for delivery today and now I'm not sure I'll see them until wednesday. Maybe I'll get to the exhaust tomorrow too.

 

[YJLOPES]

The brake lines I was waiting for showed up, so I made some brackets to hold it all on the rear axle.

I started with this





Welded it to the front of the coil spring perch



Welded a tab to the axle for the line coming down from the frame.



And welded one to the LH upper spring bucket for the other end.



I swear I took more pics of it all done, but now I can't find them. The brakes are all hooked up and my dad stopped by and helped me bleed them. All good to go.



One thing that I'm not a fan of the is lines I bought are -3 AN, which is a 37 degree flare, while the standard automotive is a 45 degree flare. One end of both hard lines on the axle is 37, and the other is 45. That sucks if I need to do a repair in the field. Not sure I need to worry too much about it though.

I also got the spreader bars temporarily mounted to the windshield. I'm not a fan of how it turned out, so I'm working on another solution but for now it's okay.

I got to drive it around the block yesterday. No weird noises or rattles. I had to run off to work and totally forgot to take pics of it outside, but I'll probably get some tomorrow.

 

[YJLOPES]

Today I wanted to get the back seat in. I think this is the last bit if work to do before I can put the interior back together.

I measured 10" ahead of the stock location for the rear seat anchors and marked it on the fenderwells



I had to lower them a bit compared to where they were in the stock location. I don't know why but the feet on the bottom wouldn't touch the floor otherwise, so I lowered them to make everything happy.

I made a couple plates to weld in place to give the anchors a solid place to bolt to as well as to weld the nuts to so they could be removed from inside without needing to hold the nuts outside.





I drilled out this pattern so I had a few good places to spot weld the plates to



Then I burned them in



I ground the welds smooth so the anchor could still sit flush against the fender well.



I called my old buddy @YJ Dave I think was his screen name here, and he went out to his 92 YJ and measured for me so I could get the lap belt anchor for the rear seat shoulder harness in the proper location. The 91 and earlier YJ with the fastback style cage only had lap belts in the back seat, and outboard anchor is different than the family style cage shoulder harness type belts. The 92+ lap belt attaches to the fender well just aft of the seat anchor. I wanted to get this location close to where Jeep so everything would fit like I want and I assume there may have been a bit of thought put in to the relationship of the seat and the belt. Once I located where it would go, I basically repeated the process I used for the seat anchors.

Drilled a hole for a bolt as well as holes for spot welds.

left


Right


Made some plates to bolt to...



And welded them in place



Tomorrow I'll squirt some primer and paint on both inside and out and then I'll put the interior back together.

My buddy Cam stopped by to see my disaster and we decided we should throughly check the suspension out.





Looks like a bit of room for 37's, maybe even 38s, but I'll get to that down the road a bit.

 

[YJLOPES]

I've got around 200 miles on it. No weird noises or rattles or vibes.

Today I installed my old flat skid.



What I thought would be a quick install turned in to more work due to this interference.





I marked it out and drilled the corners



Then cut it out.







I bolted it back in and everything fits



Last week I called to make an appointment at Bud's muffler to fix the exhaust. The call was forwarded to Chuck at Discount Muffler. It turns out Bud retired. I've been taking exhaust work to Bud for 30+ yrs. Chuck took care of me though and set me up with this small glass pack sized muffler that is baffled so it doesn't sound too loud and suggested I dump the tailpipe in front of the right rear tire. I'm not 100% sure I like it yet. The routing is clean and I don't get fumes in the cab, but it is louder than I'd like.







I reinstalled the Genright stretch rockers I had on before the stretch to cover up the rotten rocker panels and provide some protection until I boat side it. I reinstalled the rear flares as well. Everybody makes fun of these bestop flares. I can't say I love them but they don't bother me too much and the are wider to help out with the wider axles.





I suspect they are just temporary until I get the corners I ordered and will probably end up with a tube flare, but they'll keep the windows a bit cleaner until then.

Now the Jeep is 95% to where I want it for now so I thought I'd weigh it.





I am pretty pleased with the weight. 4370# with 14ish gallons of gas. No corners but I ordered aluminum ones so hopefully they'll be 18-20# per side. No tools or recovery gear. Hardtop obviously, stock rear seat, and kid's ejection seats.

I think I'm going to wheel it like this until fall/winter. My truss for the front shipped today, but I just want to enjoy the jeep this summer, so I think I'll be leaf sprung up front for a few more months. I think I'll get it on a trail this weekend so I can report back with some pics.