Smittty9785
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- SE Portland Oregon
damn i chopped the top just like that and thats the cage im looking for.. sweet rig i want the cage...
-
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50/50, 50% XJ and 50% Tube
- Thread starter FiFo
- Start date
vetteboy
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- morganville, nj
jeepnuts311 said:
That's how mine is set up already - runs just fine. :rof: And you need the return line, as well.
I was moreso asking FiFo if he had looked at his for potential clearance issues before commiting to it. I had to move mine for the same reason, but my axle is pushed about 6.5" back, so that was no surprise.
vetteboy said:
I have a D44 with a Crane Diff Cover and at full compression I clear the gas tank just fine. I've never messured how big the gap is, though it's fairly close.
You rig is coming along nicely, it's going to be a fine rig when you get it done.
Oh, and I think you cost me a good bundle of money. The wife is making a list of all the different "J E E P" badges she's going to order from that site.
Not much to report this morning, with winter convention going on last weekend we weren’t able to get back to the XJ Project until yesterday. Tom crafted a matching passenger side upper hoop which we spend the morning making some minor adjustments too so that it would better match the driver side.
With that finished I got to work learning the fine art of cooping. We wanted three horizontal pieces for the roof each 48” wide so that we can later weld on a piece of sheet metal which conveniently is also 48” wide, amazing coincidence hu? Here I have placed the first piece in place to admire my handy work.
Unfortunately while the rear is almost the perfect width we came out a little wider in the front. Where going to have to take a little bit of the bend out of the passenger side upper hoop, to fix this problem, but for now ratchet straps work just fine.
My final piece for the night was to finish the front vertical support. Instead of bending the windshield pillar down to meet the floor, we ran it strait to the wheel well and then added this piece of 2” to connect it to the floor, forming this little triangle. I think this way will be a lot stronger. It’s almost a shame that we plan on coving it with the original front fenders, I think it looks cool.
Oh, and before anyone says it, I need to touch up the cooping job on the top. Hey it was my first non-90 degree coop.
Tom spent most of the day coming up with a plan for installing an 8274-50 on an XJ. He got started on that but I didn’t get any pictures. Hopefully I will have some this afternoon since I know he got a piece of 2” all cut and ready for bending before we had to quit in order to take our respective significant others out to belated valentine day diners.
With that finished I got to work learning the fine art of cooping. We wanted three horizontal pieces for the roof each 48” wide so that we can later weld on a piece of sheet metal which conveniently is also 48” wide, amazing coincidence hu? Here I have placed the first piece in place to admire my handy work.
Unfortunately while the rear is almost the perfect width we came out a little wider in the front. Where going to have to take a little bit of the bend out of the passenger side upper hoop, to fix this problem, but for now ratchet straps work just fine.
My final piece for the night was to finish the front vertical support. Instead of bending the windshield pillar down to meet the floor, we ran it strait to the wheel well and then added this piece of 2” to connect it to the floor, forming this little triangle. I think this way will be a lot stronger. It’s almost a shame that we plan on coving it with the original front fenders, I think it looks cool.
Oh, and before anyone says it, I need to touch up the cooping job on the top. Hey it was my first non-90 degree coop.
Tom spent most of the day coming up with a plan for installing an 8274-50 on an XJ. He got started on that but I didn’t get any pictures. Hopefully I will have some this afternoon since I know he got a piece of 2” all cut and ready for bending before we had to quit in order to take our respective significant others out to belated valentine day diners.
For the record it should be measure twice, cut once, and make sure you cut on the right line! I got to work on the “C” pillar on Sunday. I had the lower coop and the 10 degree bend in when I measured for the final coop. Took it over to the band saw to cut away the excess so that cooping would be a little easier and instead of cutting 1 inch form the coop line I cut at the coop line. Of course that didn’t occur to me, I measured 1 inch from my cut and proceeded to coop it. Naturally when I went to fit it up I was exactly 1 inch short. Anyways here is a picture of the piece after try number two.
While I was attempting to see how many times I could make the same piece, Tom was working on the front bumper. I think he bent this one degree at a time, or at least it seamed like it. It was one of those cases where you bend it a little, see how it comes out, and then bend it a little more, rinse and repeat until everything lines up properly. The process wasn’t really speedup any by the fact that he had to simultaneously see how complicated of a bend he could do. I know the outer bend started at 45 degrees with a 51 degree rotation to make it go up and back on the same bend. What it ended up as is anyone’s guess as it was “adjusted” several times.
And from the side.
Now we come to the money shot, my double coop! The design of the roof calls for all the pieces to come meet at the center of the roof. I’m sure you have all seen the basic design before, I’m shamelessly stealing the idea fro GaryTJ since that is where I saw it first. Well first time out and I hit it dead center!
Now tell me that isn’t a beautiful sight. Only one slight, minor problem, how in the world do measure for the other side! Well, how ever the proper way is, I didn’t do it. This beautiful piece of fine craftsmanship ended up being salvaged for the rear 90 degree bar because I made it to short when I cut the other end. At least I can tell myself that I didn’t waist that much material, but the above picture sure was beautiful while it lasted. Anyways here it is after I fixed my second mistake of the weekend. The lower most tube is what became of the former diagonal. There is eventually going to be a tube piece from each corner into the center, just as soon as I figure out how to do it.
While I was attempting to see how many times I could make the same piece, Tom was working on the front bumper. I think he bent this one degree at a time, or at least it seamed like it. It was one of those cases where you bend it a little, see how it comes out, and then bend it a little more, rinse and repeat until everything lines up properly. The process wasn’t really speedup any by the fact that he had to simultaneously see how complicated of a bend he could do. I know the outer bend started at 45 degrees with a 51 degree rotation to make it go up and back on the same bend. What it ended up as is anyone’s guess as it was “adjusted” several times.
And from the side.
Now we come to the money shot, my double coop! The design of the roof calls for all the pieces to come meet at the center of the roof. I’m sure you have all seen the basic design before, I’m shamelessly stealing the idea fro GaryTJ since that is where I saw it first. Well first time out and I hit it dead center!
Now tell me that isn’t a beautiful sight. Only one slight, minor problem, how in the world do measure for the other side! Well, how ever the proper way is, I didn’t do it. This beautiful piece of fine craftsmanship ended up being salvaged for the rear 90 degree bar because I made it to short when I cut the other end. At least I can tell myself that I didn’t waist that much material, but the above picture sure was beautiful while it lasted. Anyways here it is after I fixed my second mistake of the weekend. The lower most tube is what became of the former diagonal. There is eventually going to be a tube piece from each corner into the center, just as soon as I figure out how to do it.
vetteboy
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- morganville, nj
Looking good!
(And - for the record - it's cope. And coping. )
I fully believe that the art of making a cage like that is 80% in the joint fitment. That was by far the most challenging part of mine, which was my first cage project. Making the B and C pillar hoops, bent dash bar, and A-pillar pieces took a day...and getting all the joints right and welded took another week. I've gotten used to it a bit more now but it still is a challenge.
What are you using for the notches, the hole saw type? I have a JD2 TN-100 and it's a terrific piece of equipment.
I like that you're keeping the fenders on there, one of the biggest things on my build was to try and keep as much original stuff as possible (on the outside) because I've always liked the lines of the XJ.
(And - for the record - it's cope. And coping.
)I fully believe that the art of making a cage like that is 80% in the joint fitment. That was by far the most challenging part of mine, which was my first cage project. Making the B and C pillar hoops, bent dash bar, and A-pillar pieces took a day...and getting all the joints right and welded took another week. I've gotten used to it a bit more now but it still is a challenge.
What are you using for the notches, the hole saw type? I have a JD2 TN-100 and it's a terrific piece of equipment.
I like that you're keeping the fenders on there, one of the biggest things on my build was to try and keep as much original stuff as possible (on the outside
) because I've always liked the lines of the XJ.One Arm Steve
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Michigan
Nice job! Look forward to seeing more pictures.
Begster
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Cape Cod/Boston, Mass
Down at my lab at college with my Baja team, we refer to it as fish mouthing. Its rather a pain at times for us because the jig we use to do it blows.
Looking good though.
Looking good though.
iamModster13
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Oswego, IL
thats soo sick!!!!!!!!!
NXJ said:
Stock HP D30 in the front and D44 in the rear, though I do have gears/lockers and a few other mods, all the basic pieces are stock cherokee parts. My next upgrade will be new axles, but the wife wanted a role cage for safety and what the wife wants the husband is granted money to spend it on.
And yes, those are 33x10.5R15 TSLs, Looks kind of small now with the wheel wells so opened up don't they.
Jump This
Just another minion!
- Location
- Borrego Springs Ca.
FiFo said:..... and what the wife wants the husband is granted money to spend it on.
:roflmao:
How true, how true!!
Rick
- Location
- Bakersfield, CA
Love that front bumper bar......sexy.
I like the original ideas, it should look good when you're finished.
BTW, another great thread with too many blue names, glad we have a membership drive coming up. :wave:
I like the original ideas, it should look good when you're finished.
BTW, another great thread with too many blue names, glad we have a membership drive coming up. :wave:
I got together with Tom on Sunday to get some more work done on the XJ. We played around with the placement for the lower window support, finally deciding that we didn’t like how high it was going to be if we set it on top of the dash, so naturally there was only one thing to do, cut it up! Out came our favorite tool, the saw zaw. Naturally after we started cutting we discovered that the entire inside of the dash is one big air duct in the XJ, and since I still wanted my dash heat vents to work where going to have to make sure there aren’t any leaks. Luckily this is nothing a little care taken with where you cut and a little RTV won’t cure.
Here Tom goes to town with the Saw Zaw, and you though there wasn’t anything left for us to cut!
Here it is with a piece of tube in place for mockup purposes. Visibility of the front end of the vehicle is much better with it hunkered down like this.
And finally from the driver’s seat, pretty sweat!
We have a windshield planned out for later, but that’s as far as Tom got because I had taken over the coping machine and I wasn’t giving it back until I finally concurred the roof! After a few tries I decided that going form corner to corner was just too difficult, and that I would just run from the outside corner to next to the center, making it three easy copes instead of 4 hard ones. Of course after doing the rear I figured out the secret to doing corner-to-corner, do three copes and then do the forth by hand! You’ll notice that the front actually does intersect with both the cross bar and the center bar, the rear however doesn’t. Oh, well nothing is perfect. For reference the rear isn’t really that off center, the tubes just isn’t placed right yet, notice the center bar needs to move to the left a little to be centered. Just didn’t want you to think I do sloppy work!
Yes it took me all day to do those 4 pieces, and if I ever have to cope them again I may have to hurt someone, but it’s done! Only a few more sections left and we are done with the portions that are going to be made out of 2” Tube. I can’t wait since this seam like a major milestone to me. However this just means where about to get to those little detail orientated portions that always take up 90% of the time in projects like this.
Here Tom goes to town with the Saw Zaw, and you though there wasn’t anything left for us to cut!
Here it is with a piece of tube in place for mockup purposes. Visibility of the front end of the vehicle is much better with it hunkered down like this.
And finally from the driver’s seat, pretty sweat!
We have a windshield planned out for later, but that’s as far as Tom got because I had taken over the coping machine and I wasn’t giving it back until I finally concurred the roof! After a few tries I decided that going form corner to corner was just too difficult, and that I would just run from the outside corner to next to the center, making it three easy copes instead of 4 hard ones. Of course after doing the rear I figured out the secret to doing corner-to-corner, do three copes and then do the forth by hand! You’ll notice that the front actually does intersect with both the cross bar and the center bar, the rear however doesn’t. Oh, well nothing is perfect. For reference the rear isn’t really that off center, the tubes just isn’t placed right yet, notice the center bar needs to move to the left a little to be centered. Just didn’t want you to think I do sloppy work!
Yes it took me all day to do those 4 pieces, and if I ever have to cope them again I may have to hurt someone, but it’s done! Only a few more sections left and we are done with the portions that are going to be made out of 2” Tube. I can’t wait since this seam like a major milestone to me. However this just means where about to get to those little detail orientated portions that always take up 90% of the time in projects like this.
I started the day with my first 1.5” pieces of the build, the rear cross on the “C” pillar. After using 2” for so long the 1.5” seemed a little on the puny side, but I’m sure it will be strong enough since these pieces aren’t going to be taking any hits themselves, they just need to help distribute the load in the event of a hit on the 2”.
The next small project was to finish the horizontal support that braces the lower windshield. This was two easy 10 degree copes that I was able to nock out fairly quickly, the biggest problem was getting it in there, but luckily we where able to spread the upper supports just enough to slip it in.
And from the other side, I’m really happy with how well it fit in, doesn’t obstruct the view forward much at all, and we should be able to make the glove box functional again with a little trimming of the door.
Next up was a part I have wanted to make for a few weeks now, but didn’t want to do until the roof was finished, the “B” pillars. These are angled back 12 degrees to make entry and exit of the front and rear seats easier though that will make mounting rear doors a little trickier but well cross that bridge when we get there. But hey, it’s starting to look like an automobile again!
With that done, and since the coper was already set to 12 degrees I decided to finish the lower sides. A wheeler in the area got a ticker a while back for not having a 6” high lip around his tub to stop objects from falling out when he was running door-less. So to keep the local authority figures happy I’m using the inner body panel and some 1.5” tube to make a sill that stands a little over 6” high.
While I was busy getting all this important work done Tom was playing around with the front bumper design. Apparently there is a really good reason no one runs an 8274 on an XJ, it’s a pain! Add to that the desire to strengthen and protect as well as keeping the approach angles as good as possible and you end up with one funky bumper design, but hey, funky is a fairly apt description on the entire vehicle. Since copeing the lower tube body tube to make way for the upper bumper tube wasn’t really an option at this point Tom had to do the cope the old fashioned way, by hand with a grinder. Note the fine quality of the grinder in question, tom wore out the motor in his grinder and had to borrow mine, but hey, it’s a craftsman “professional” series, so I’m sure it will hold up just fine.
Quick plug for Tom, notice all those axles, engines, and assorted other “fine examples of automotive crap” in the background? Toms taking most of it to the swap meet this upcoming weekend so if you want any of it I think most of it’s going to be for sale there. He’s got 2 tables reserved and will be there all weekend. Now if only I could get him to part with that HEMI (old one, not the new one) he’s got stashed away to go into his own personal rig.
Here is the bumper as it sits right now, we had to stop work on it for now since we need the 8274 for mock up before we go any further. Luckily for me my wife ordered one this morning as a present for me, so that should be here soon. Got to love a woman who gives you a $1,000+ winch as a presents! There is just enough room between the front cross member and the lower tube to mount the 8274, which will come up to a height equal to the upper tube, the transmission cooler will be moved over to the side and the A/C coming out to help make room for it. The bumper will of course be tied in to the uni-frame, as well as have a lower piece to protect and tie into the front cross member, but that will come later.
The final two pieces for this weekend where the rear seat supports, and the start of the rear hatch. The only remaining pieces of side body sheet metal are where the rear seats mount. We added a small hoop to the “C” pillar for it to be welded to so that the seat can be mounted securely. This means that the seat is mounted to its stock locations allowing us to retain the ability for it to be easily folded down, or removed as the situation warrants.
Finally after a few minutes talking about how funky the front end was going to look we started on the rear. Probably due to the fact that we had funky on the brain we came up with this design for the rear. Since the 1.5” bends are tighter then the 2” bends and we didn’t want it to stick out any the 1.5” is not coming strait back, its angled 15 degrees inward, and then bent 75 degrees to match up with the rear bumper. This is the first, and hopefully only complicated cope since the upper one is coming off at an angle from an already angled piece of tube, meaning that the two copes are not even remotely on the same plan, or even 90 from the same plan. Anyways a vertical piece will be placed in the corner, and lights mounted in the rear opening. The MJ tailgate I got a month ago will fill the center section so that the “J E E P” logo is prominently displayed.
The next small project was to finish the horizontal support that braces the lower windshield. This was two easy 10 degree copes that I was able to nock out fairly quickly, the biggest problem was getting it in there, but luckily we where able to spread the upper supports just enough to slip it in.
And from the other side, I’m really happy with how well it fit in, doesn’t obstruct the view forward much at all, and we should be able to make the glove box functional again with a little trimming of the door.
Next up was a part I have wanted to make for a few weeks now, but didn’t want to do until the roof was finished, the “B” pillars. These are angled back 12 degrees to make entry and exit of the front and rear seats easier though that will make mounting rear doors a little trickier but well cross that bridge when we get there. But hey, it’s starting to look like an automobile again!
With that done, and since the coper was already set to 12 degrees I decided to finish the lower sides. A wheeler in the area got a ticker a while back for not having a 6” high lip around his tub to stop objects from falling out when he was running door-less. So to keep the local authority figures happy I’m using the inner body panel and some 1.5” tube to make a sill that stands a little over 6” high.
While I was busy getting all this important work done Tom was playing around with the front bumper design. Apparently there is a really good reason no one runs an 8274 on an XJ, it’s a pain! Add to that the desire to strengthen and protect as well as keeping the approach angles as good as possible and you end up with one funky bumper design, but hey, funky is a fairly apt description on the entire vehicle. Since copeing the lower tube body tube to make way for the upper bumper tube wasn’t really an option at this point Tom had to do the cope the old fashioned way, by hand with a grinder. Note the fine quality of the grinder in question, tom wore out the motor in his grinder and had to borrow mine, but hey, it’s a craftsman “professional” series, so I’m sure it will hold up just fine.
Quick plug for Tom, notice all those axles, engines, and assorted other “fine examples of automotive crap” in the background? Toms taking most of it to the swap meet this upcoming weekend so if you want any of it I think most of it’s going to be for sale there. He’s got 2 tables reserved and will be there all weekend. Now if only I could get him to part with that HEMI (old one, not the new one) he’s got stashed away to go into his own personal rig.
Here is the bumper as it sits right now, we had to stop work on it for now since we need the 8274 for mock up before we go any further. Luckily for me my wife ordered one this morning as a present for me, so that should be here soon. Got to love a woman who gives you a $1,000+ winch as a presents! There is just enough room between the front cross member and the lower tube to mount the 8274, which will come up to a height equal to the upper tube, the transmission cooler will be moved over to the side and the A/C coming out to help make room for it. The bumper will of course be tied in to the uni-frame, as well as have a lower piece to protect and tie into the front cross member, but that will come later.
The final two pieces for this weekend where the rear seat supports, and the start of the rear hatch. The only remaining pieces of side body sheet metal are where the rear seats mount. We added a small hoop to the “C” pillar for it to be welded to so that the seat can be mounted securely. This means that the seat is mounted to its stock locations allowing us to retain the ability for it to be easily folded down, or removed as the situation warrants.
Finally after a few minutes talking about how funky the front end was going to look we started on the rear. Probably due to the fact that we had funky on the brain we came up with this design for the rear. Since the 1.5” bends are tighter then the 2” bends and we didn’t want it to stick out any the 1.5” is not coming strait back, its angled 15 degrees inward, and then bent 75 degrees to match up with the rear bumper. This is the first, and hopefully only complicated cope since the upper one is coming off at an angle from an already angled piece of tube, meaning that the two copes are not even remotely on the same plan, or even 90 from the same plan. Anyways a vertical piece will be placed in the corner, and lights mounted in the rear opening. The MJ tailgate I got a month ago will fill the center section so that the “J E E P” logo is prominently displayed.
KarlVP
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Hardcoreville, WA
Mike that is really starting to come together. Glad I could come by this weekend, drink some beers and add my "constructive" critisims.
PS. Stop stealing my cage ideas.
PS. Stop stealing my cage ideas.
KarlVP said:
I didn't steal your cage ideas, my cage isn't crocked!
Besides, I have no problem with the fact that I stole some of my ideas form yours and GaryTJs cages, as well as a few others I found pictures of on the web. Hey if it works why fix it? Though I do think this is turning out to be a very distictive design.
KarlVP
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Hardcoreville, WA
FiFo said:I didn't steal your cage ideas, my cage isn't crocked!
Besides, I have no problem with the fact that I stole some of my ideas form yours and GaryTJs cages, as well as a few others I found pictures of on the web. Hey if it works why fix it? Though I do think this is turning out to be a very distictive design.
Yeah, I'll bet you $10 that you roll your junk before I roll mine again.
