New project at Ahole Fab

[RAT]

I'll be building some roll cages this holiday season, starting with Daniels CJ. I'm picking it up from his place tomorrow. Got lots to do and I want to try something different this time; I'm going to video the build and post it in clips. I wonder how that is going to work...

Daniel did these renderings. Pretty nice. I'll be copying these as close as I can, depending on a few factors like wider seats and where the B pillar is going to land.

cage_06 by MJR RAT, on Flickr


cage_07 by MJR RAT, on Flickr


cage_05 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

So as soon as I get the Jeep I will start posting progress vids.

[daniel_buck]

I can't wait to have the cage in there! Even still after driving this thing around town for over 1/2 a year now, I still feel I'm driving a death trap with absolutely no cage over head. I'll be glad to get something there.

And I'm also looking forward to getting rid of the flat seats and have the new seats in there, no more sliding around in the seat when off-camber.

It's my daily driver, but will see mild trails if I can ever secure a way of towing it to the trails, or make it drive faster on it's own :-D I've had it on a few mild trails that are close by, but I want to get it out to more. I suspect a Buick V6 will be in my future, that seems to be a very popular swap for these little jeeps. Maybe that'll be next years project.


I'll probably turn the factory flat seats into bar stools or something. And I've saved the "JEEP" stamped logo from the under-seat tool box which I removed, I don't know where I'll use that, but I'll use it somewhere. I may just make another tool box that is behind the seats, and weld in the stamped jeep text into that. I'll weld in some brackets and t hings to mount stuff to the cage when I get it back, and I'm also going to try my hand at making a bikini top for it, if that doesn't work, I know of a guy local to me who made a real sweet bikini top for my friends K5, so that's my backup plan for the top

If Kurt can squeeze the seats down low enough, my hope is that the top of the cage can be flat, without the bulge at the top. I'm not sure if that will be possible within reason, or not. Most of the Willys cages I see have a bulge at the top, but I've seen a good number where the seats were low enough to not need the bulge, but I don't know what type of seats were used. We'll see how it all lines up! I just took rough measurements to get an idea of what shapes I like, but Kurt has my blessing to make it work with whatever changes are needed based on what he sees with the jeep in hand

Enough of my babbling, I'm looking forward to it Kurt! Wish I lived closer to you, so I could hang out while you bend tubes and burn them in

[daniel_buck]

Off it goes! :-)

[6spdYJ]

Don't know what seats you're planning on, but for what it's worth... I ran into a guy with a '45 that used an old D50 Ram bench seat. It fit right in and looked stock. Sure, not much off-camber support, but seatbelts go a long way toward holding you in.

[daniel_buck]

The seats are from twisted stitch, their Apex design (only not in these funky colors, just black haha) with the short bottom cushion

[RAT]

The project is to install a roll cage in this CJ. After digging into it today I found I have a lot of work to do before I can actually build and install the cage. The floor pan is rotted, and on the passenger side is a fiberglass patch. The wheel wells are a bit dodgy as well, so I am replacing rotten metal with good.


Tub reconstruction001 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

Daniel wants the seats moved back as far as possible, so I am fabbing up some new wheel well fronts that will allow the seats to move back 3". I'm killing two birds here: getting rid of the rot and modifying the wheel well for the new seat configuration.


Tub reconstruction003 by MJR RAT, on Flickr


Tub reconstruction004 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

There is actually some good sheet metal in there so I am retaining what I can for structural integrity. That and I'm a lazy bastard...


Tub reconstruction005 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

The new front corner of the wheel well.

Tub reconstruction006 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

Fits real nice. A little tack welding and this side will be done.

Tub reconstruction007 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

Still have to tack in the left side of the relief and grind the tacks a little and this side is ready.

Tub reconstruction008 by MJR RAT, on Flickr

The body to wheel well support had to be cut to fit the new seats, but that will be reinforced with a new H beam after I figure out the location of the B pillar.

Ran out of welding gas and energy tonight. Time for a nice tall glass of... water

[dr.dirty]

I still need to get you that program, sorry i have been slacking

[jonah]

Looking good, can't wait to see the cage go up. It is tough to get enough head room without bumping up the cage. Mine is bumped up a little and it still feels a bit close to my head. I am in the process of lowering my seats a little but I dont' want to go too low and lose visibility.

Water!?! Oh the humanity...

[RAT]

I still need to get you that program, sorry i have been slacking

Yes, yes you have been slacking, slacker

[USMC 0369]

[COLOR="#800000"]Hey, why do you always have these classic Jeeps in your shop? How about something a little more modern? Like something between a 1989 and 1991? [/COLOR]

[aw12345]

[COLOR="#800000"]Hey, why do you always have these classic Jeeps in your shop? How about something a little more modern? Like something between a 1989 and 1991? [/COLOR]

Maybe because there isn't enough time in the day to fix basket cases?

[RAT]

Maybe because there isn't enough time in the day to fix basket cases?

Damn, Nick should be limping after that one...

[USMC 0369]

[COLOR="#800000"] "I am not gonna hi-jack this thread... I am not gonna hi-jack this thread..." [/COLOR]

[RAT]

[COLOR="#800000"] "I am not gonna hi-jack this thread... I am not gonna hi-jack this thread..." [/COLOR]

Why not? You always do...

[USMC 0369]

Why not? You always do...

[COLOR="#800000"]"Cuz I want you to respect me for my mind!!!"



See how dumb that sounds girls?[/COLOR]