Completely topless

So after having so much fun Easter weekend cutting the fender of my 89 the cutting bug has hit me and hit me hard. Since my original dream wheeler was a FJ (I know sacrilege but go drive one they drive like sh*t no matter how many upgrades.

Anyway the Idea of top down wheeling hit me hard this last summer and after cutting my way to fender freedom I started thinking about top down wheeling with the XJ.

Here's my thoughts. Feel free to flame on these I want the Ideas. I want to remove the whole top, Keep the doors, Loose the liftgate and replace it with a MJ Tailgate. Then Get a Canback for a full length truck bed And modify it to fit the top and behind the c pillar. Keeping the appearence of the d pillar using the canback but allowing for the freedom to remove. And with the MJ tailgate I get a bed too!

How you say. My thought was to first sleeve the pseudo's and run new cross bracing or a flat belly between. Once the sleeves and belly were done I would then attach an interior cage to the sleeves and the floor (yes the floor with Large Mounting plates to spread out the weight and twisting); running new A, B, C, and Half D pillars. After the interior cage was installed (And for all of those mourning or spreading rumors about Bezil I would triagulate the whole thing) I would then attach the interior cage to the original a, b, c and half of the D. Lastly I would cut the top off and start working on the liftgate/tailgate switch.

What Do y'all think? Doable?

any things doable send lots of pics and good luck, i cant say i havent thought of it myself.

ALL HAIL THE ALL MIGHTY SAW-ZALL AND CUTTING WHEELS.....HAIL...HAIL...HAIL!!!!!!!!

Do it!!! :guitar: :cheers: :yelclap:

go for it and post lots of pics... good luck


and by the way, i was disappointed by the false advertisment of the thread title!!!:laugh3:

Cage it. Think about it for a while. Then do it.

Rev

Ohh...just in case you are curious...
https://home.comcast.net/~revden/Chop.zip

if you have any questions, ask rev. his set up is awesome and looks really slick. He helped me quite a bit

There was also that yellow one sitting on a big rock a few years ago that had done the top removal and had a pretty nice looking cage. Maybe someone saved the pic somewhere...

IntrepidXJ said:

http://www.gljt.org/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=4438

Click to expand...

That XJ looks sick!!!!

Nice work.

Brian T.

OOC's kinda looks like a troop carrier now...

Not bad

Rev ever since I started lurking here I thought your xj was great. it was what started me thinking about the cuts. Thanx so much to the pic's.

Putting the cage in first was the goal. I thought that I would attach everything first to keep it square to the body as it is. Also I have thoughts of salvaging the top in one piece creating a Hardtop.

againstherwill said:

I have thoughts of salvaging the top in one piece creating a Hardtop.

Click to expand...

I had those thoughts....IF you are going to try that...re-enforce the top BEFORE cutting it off...it gets real flimsy when it is removed, mine bent instantlly.

Rev

againstherwill said:

Also I have thoughts of salvaging the top in one piece creating a Hardtop.

Click to expand...

I've been thinking the same thing. I want to cut a big rectangle out of the top and turn that into a removeable hard top. Im just trying to figure out how i will clamp it down when its in place and how to seal it to keep water out without creating any low points where water could collect and start another rust problem.

I would suggest getting rid of the top, and find another salvage jeep and cut the hell out of it to get a lot of the roof. This way you would have more than enough material to use...

what does everyone think of this cage? I think it looks slick but dont know how strong it would be.

you might look up Chris Laseter (sp?) "CagedXJ" on the board here... he's got one of the sickest XJ's around. although, he's gone slightly more than topless lately.

Question
Where do you get the soft top to modify, or just make one

jsut modify. I thought of getting a canback for a toyota longbed and mod it.

algeroth79 said:

Question
Where do you get the soft top to modify, or just make one

Click to expand...

Had one made.

$$$$


Rev

how much if you don't mind me asking?

Jay