Mr. Green's Surgery

[aw12345]

I was thinking the same thing yesterday, the sleeping bag and pillow better move under that thing, so more time gets spend working under it

[Mike]

Yeah, Yeah, It would be different if I had a plan and knew what I was doing.:dunno:

[Mike]

Well, ....
I finally think that I know what I want to do and I have a plan. I'm sure it will evolve as I go, but I at least I think I have a pretty clear vision of the final version at this point.

A huge thanks for helping me do research goes out to Chuck(Dirtman13), Kurt(RAT), Scott(Dr.Dirty), Fred(Flatout), and Art(aw12345). You guys have helped to cut many hours of research and trial-and-error out of the project.

At this point (yep, a caveat phrase, because everything is subject to change), I would like to keep the creature comforts like AC, doors, and standard soft top intact and try to keep the interior as similar to the stock version as possible.

The body will not be comp cut, but I am going to try to push the axle as far back as I can with that in mind.
I think that I will end up somewhere between 106" and 108" wheelbase when all is said and done.
I have the rear wheel wells cut. I may reduce the size of the opening when I put the corner guards on:


I still plan to go with high steer. I don't think that I have much of an option to get around this big ass diff cover that I welded up from DIY4x.com:


I measured the ride height of the axles with the tires in place and then stripped the front axle of the hubs and knuckles. I am going to try to have these knuckles milled for the high steer arms. I dropped them off with a shop today:


I played with the articulation position of the front axle as best that I could to see what was going to be in the way. Based on the 14" King springs that I have, this pic shows where the full droop should be, but the bump side is a little over an inch low:


The front frame will clearly need to be cut and reshaped for this to work:


From the research, I now know that I will most likely need to place the Frame cross-member for the rear 4-link somewhere partially below the Atlas. This means that I will need to have room to slide the Atlas back and then tilt forward to remove it in the future.

I didn't cut the floor for that motion. I had been thinking that I would be able to drop the Atlas straight down by lowering the transmission and then pull the unit. I didn't leave room in the floor for this:


So I cut the space behind the Atlas just enough to pull it back and tilt. Even so, I will still need to remove the transmission brace and the transmission mount to do the drop:


Since I have the front knuckles out for milling, I am going to work on the rear suspension first. But based on the fact that dropping the Atlas and transmission will be tougher after it is in place, I really should put the floor back into place before I start. That way I can reach the welding points easier.

It's sheet metal time!

[aw12345]

To get the Atlas out all you need is enough room to clear the studs, then rotate it, slip it of the trans output, tilt forward and she 's out.
Bad part is the sucker is heavy!
The wheel well cut looks good

[daniel_buck]

Yea, that cut does look good


Those diff covers, was it difficult to keep the flat surface from warping? I've been thinking about getting one of those DIY weld up type covers for the rear of my TJ.

[Mike]

To get the Atlas out all you need is enough room to clear the studs, then rotate it, slip it of the trans output, tilt forward and she 's out.
Bad part is the sucker is heavy!
The wheel well cut looks good

They are heavy! The 4-speed is 128 lbs dry. The way I did my transmission mount wasn't the best plan for getting the Atlas out easily. It hangs out under the junction point of the T/C and Trans. I'll have to show you sometime. Regardless, I'm pretty sure that I can get it out.

Thanks for the suggestion on using the jig saw. It is slower, but it makes a nice cut.

Yea, that cut does look good


Those diff covers, was it difficult to keep the flat surface from warping? I've been thinking about getting one of those DIY weld up type covers for the rear of my TJ.

Well, I didn't think about that aspect, so I just went to check and I think that I do have a small amount of warp on both of them. I doubt that I will pull it out of 1/4" plate with the diff bolts, so I hope that a little floating on RTV will get me by. I wish that I had checked the face plate before I welded to compare.

[aw12345]

A lot of the covers get machined flat after welding, take them to a auto machine shop that surfaces cyl heads and see if they are willing to surface them. As far as your trans mount goes it can still be redesigned, you aren't that far along that you cannot make something that helps removal

[4xfiend]

X3 on the wheel well cut. Looks like you're having fun!

[Toolman]

inspiring me to finish what I started and cut the rest of my junk up finally. I may bug you for your methods on cutting the wheel wells.

[Mike]

inspiring me to finish what I started and cut the rest of my junk up finally. I may bug you for your methods on cutting the wheel wells.

Nothing too fancy. I measured the radius that i wanted and then marked it out on a piece of cardboard box that was big enough for most of the arc. Cut the cardboard and taped into place, then marked the arc with a marker.

The metal cut was made with a jig saw. I started the cuts with a thin angle grinder wheel and again when I got to the frame attachment. A little slow, but it turned out well.

[Mike]

I didn't have much time to work on things the last few days, but I am pretty happy with the results that I have achieved. I am going to reuse the stock panel that I cut out for the Atlas to be lifted. It will need to be reshaped in places and some of the double layers cut away.

To reinforce the remaining parts, there are parts of the plates that needed to be welded together for strength. MAN! I forgot what a pain it is to weld very thin sheet metal. I haven't worked with less than 16 gauge in a long time. It took some rework, but I got my groove back a little bit, at least enough to feel comfortable with the welds.

I spent lots of time placing, measuring and experimenting, but I think that I have a plan that will let me reuse the stock console from the dash back to the cup holders ('cause those are important damn it!). A new console bin and arm rest will need to be fab'ed.

Using 16 Gauge, I added a 1-1/2" tall strip to the plate to raise it up to make room for the Atlas lift. The atlas came up 3.5" from stock. With the 1" body lift and the 1.5" lift to the plate, the net result is a tub surface that is 1" closer than stock.

I still have a lot of stuff to do to make this work like I want, but it really felt good tonight when I got the first two extensions attached and the fit turned out perfect so far:

[Mike]

Online Discount Codes

I need to try to save some cash where ever I can on this project. Can you folks help me out with some working Promotion or Discount Codes for some of the online vendors?

RWK Haus is always great about giving a 10% discount to MJR folks (and it is truly appreciated Robert!)
Saavy gives a 9% discount when "Pirate" is used as the code. The MJR code doesn't seem to work on that site any more.

I need a few things and I have found stuff on the following sites that I might decide to go for. Can you guys tell me if there is a Discount Code that you know of for any of these sites, and other sites are welcome:

Barnes4x4
Artec
Ballistic Fab
Blue Torch Fab
DIY4x.com
PSC Motorsports
SoCal Supertrucks
Kartek
(Any other suggestions?)

[4xfiend]

Almost all of those have codes on Pirate. Usually PIRATE or PIRATE4X4. Check some of their threads in the vendor section on there.

For Savvy, just email Gerald. I know that when I ordered my stuff from him he applied the discount and he won't charge you tax if you pick it up in person and pay cash. They're building a storefront in Corona right now, not sure when it will be complete.

[aw12345]

Try to stay aw2ay from Ballistic fab

Ruffstuff 12.5% discount till Monday night BUILTSTRONG

[6spdYJ]

Don't know of any discounts, but www.aa-mfg.com has good prices on tabs and what-not.

I really like your re-use of the floor pan metal and keeping the interior. Extremely capable, yet retaining the creature comforts. There's almost a "sleeper" cool to it.