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Beginning of 1993 Cheromanche build

The roof is going to take the real inspiration to figure out how to incorporate the two seamlessly. I've got plenty extra roof metal to use as i still have the top from the old 92 I chopped up in the back yard as well. So I might cut the skin off it from the drip rails up and all the way to the back then shave down the manche roof and weld the skin on.

Congrats to goblazers for being the first to say it'll fold like a taco was waiting to see who'd say it first.
 
Wow... that's gonna be super long! My ranger has a wheelbase of 127" and I feel like that's too long at times. I would go with the short doors, and then I would bob the bed in the front and the back to shorten it up some. Overall, I think its gonna turn out really cool! But IMHO, that red one looks like it belongs in a circus show out in Vegas. Its terribly long...
 
Just measured the wheel base and if I leave long doors on it then it will have a wheel base of about 150" and if I shorten them it will be about 144". The stock doors are approx. 31" long and I might leave them that short which will put the wheelbase around 140". Still have to slide the old driveshaft in place and get some measurements on it to see how long it's going to be.
 
It's too late now, but you'd have been better off to keep the whole XJ roof intact, then remove the MJ roof at the rub rail and attach the MJ section under the XJ roof. Sometimes, it's better to get ideas ahead of time.......this stuff has been done before. :)

Good luck with the project.
 
Well if I need more roof I've got an entire 92 xj roof still sitting in the backyard from chopping my old one down. I was actually thinking about doing it that way as far as cutting the MJ roof off at the drip rails and shave it down in the back. Then weld the back of the xj roof to the MJ to close it off.
 
Congrats to goblazers for being the first to say it'll fold like a taco was waiting to see who'd say it first.

The term "fold like a taco" should be made into a smiley that automatically changes to hasta.
haha! what's he get a kick in the nuts?

is this thing done yet? :D
 
I honestly think you just destroyed two perfectly good vehicles.

The uni-rails between the XJ and MJ are totally different. You may want to check with your local DMV. It is highly illegal in most states to splice two vehicles together and run them on the public highways.

Kudos to you if you pull this off.
 
The uni-rails between the XJ and MJ are totally different.


Not entirely. The first few feet below the front floor boards, it's all the same. The MJ's floor pan rises and the uni-rails get taller as it goes back under the seats to the rear of the cab.

Kittrell and I did some fairly detailed research into what it'd take to join the front half of a '97+ to an MJ and there is an area where the cut would actually line up between the two perfectly. This required leaving the MJ roof intact and joining the front at the "A" pilars. Blending roof panels would be quite a bit of work.

However, the project in this thread is not going to be attempting to keep just the two stock doors - or so it appears. So, yeah, the cut lines are gonna need some extensive metal work.
 
Yah I'm going to be using the front part of the MJ floor as the frame rails are the same as the XJ. If I have to for strength I'll cut out the floor at the top of the rails and drop a piece of box steel in there and weld it in for strength at the seam between the two as well as the angle on the outside. The floor pan and trans tunnel will be completely cut out of the MJ and remolded with some new metal as well as taking out the metal pieces on the MJ floor that run above the frame so it smooths the floor out more.
 
From there forward, minus the extra bracing you see, the rails are the same.
P101000117-16-21.jpg
 
Thankfully the county I live in the DMV is real lax just like the local law enforcement so getting it titled and registered won't be any problem, there's also no emissions so it give me time to get everything taken care of.
 
I was going to say this looked like a complete waste of an MJ that appears to be mostly rust free.

BUT if you do it well, it'll be awesome. I personally would shorten up those rear doors a bit, it looks goofy long and you're going to end up with all kinds of difficulties making doors that look good on it. If you can find a way to shorten the doors up a bit more and add a sort of mini-window on the body behind the rear door frame (using cut XJ glass maybe? with the body lines set to follow what would have been the C-pillar on the XJ so the rear edge of the door still matches the lines of the rear door window instead of being at a different angle like that red one) I think it will look great.

There's a lot of other stuff changed on the uniframe rails too but it is mostly add-ons. The tranny crossmember has two braces added that it mounts to, they are either bolted or welded to the sides of the frame rails and 4 bolts hold the "extra" 4 holes on the crossmember (which aren't used on an XJ) to the braces. Also the LCA mounts have an extra skid/bracket/brace welded onto the outside of the frame rail. None of this should really affect you much.

I would also say do dual transmissions or dual transfer cases, though I suspect this is going to end up as a street rig not a wheeler.

If I had the time and money I would build one :thumbup: as it is I will live vicariously through you and hope you succeed.
 
Wow! GL! Looking foward to the finished product.
 
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