Myaffordaplane

Here is a catalogue of pictures of building my 73 four door Jeep

I started with two 73 CJ5s and two CJ5 rolling chassis.

I cut the sides off of the two bodies and away from the firewall.   I then pieced the body sides together on the bench and welded them to the shape I was looking for.

The front doors are square like a CJ7 and the rear doors have cut outs like a CJ5.  The front doors are made from the front half of CJ5 doors where it meets the firewall.  I only had 5 of the 90 degree turns so I had to make one from the bottom half of the rear of a CJ5 door.

I used my trailer as a work bench and welded the sides to the firewall.  I then started adding the floors.

I made the floors, trans tunnel, and wheel tubs from scratch.  They are all made from 18 gauge sheet steel.

 I borowed a bead roller from a friend to do the bead rolls in the bed and tubs.  It was the $200 one from Herbor Freight.  I would not recommend it to anyone else.  

I made all of the floor supports from sheet metal and made hat channel with it and then welded it to the floor.  This was a most tedious task.

 The underside and floors all got two coats of Tractor Supply implement paint before going to the body shop.

While the body was away.  I cut two frames in the middle and welded the center of one frame into the center of the other.

Jim Markum in Ennis, TX did the body work and paint.  He was adamant that we test fit the body before painting in case it was twisted or something.

This was my first chance to see the body on the frame and it was pretty exiting. 

 After this we boxed in the frame from the front to back.

 Here is the body after paint.  The color is Rescue Green.  It is a factory Jeep color for 07-08 Wranglers.  I couldn't be more happy with the color.

The way that I had the body tied down caused it to bend just above the LR fender well and put a big wrinkle in the body and paint.  That will make you want to puke when you get home and see that. 

My friends John and Chris helped me set the body in place.  I just stared at it and measured it with a tape for a week before I started to really bolt it in place.  The way it was bent on the ride home really tweaked it and I still can't get a good grasp on how to fix it.  I finally just put the body bushings where they go and sucked it down with the bolts.

 The roll cage is made from schedule 40 steel tubing.  We bent it with a cheap hydraulic pipe bender.  It actually turned out pretty good. 

I finish welded it out of the Jeep and added OS handles and the same paint that I used on the floors.

Here it is with the cage installed.

Thanks Due

I have to add a special thanks to my Dad, brother in law Brent, and nephew Tyler who helped with the heavy frame and roll cage work.  I also have to thank Jim Markum for his work on the body and paint.