One day I sold a jeep for $2,500.

Then I bought a 1985 Delta 88 for $1,500.

Rode like a cloud/boat, but velour interior isn't practical for my situation.
So, I bought a jeep for $500.
(Insert picture of a stock 93 4 door Cherokee Country, black in color here)...Did I mention my laptop crashed and I lost most of my before pictures?
Well, the jeep needed a lot of work.
clutch master and slave cylinders
brakes
battery
a bath
suspension
rust removal (only above the catalytic converter on the floor board)
tires
tune-up
and the list goes on.

I did what my budget allowed, starting with the necessities.
I put a 2 inch lift on it (Rustys 2" coils and replace-a-leaf)
and some Gabriel Ultra shocks.
Some 31" Wild tracs
Cut fenders, made some flares out of aluminum angle that I bent on a bench vise, bedlined the roof white, Krylon rattle-canned it Bahama sea blue, bedlined the bottom black and BOOM!


The steel wheels cost me $1 and I just painted them black.
I drove it like that for a while, doing random things here and there...
like a steering wheel...

 

Then I had a dream...

The idea of chopping (or as I call it-chipping) the top occupied my thoughts quite often. I probably spent 6 months planning how I was going to do it. I've never done anything like it before, and the only welding experience I had was building aluminum awnings and racks at work.
But I charged it...

I cut two parallel lines, one on the back of the c-pillar, and one on the front of the d-pillar. I cut into the roof so the ridges on it would end properly and look factory.
Then I filled the space between the bottom of the d-pillar and the rear quarter with sheet metal the best I could and folded where the d-pillar used to be to continue the body line under where the window used to be

When I decided how I was going to do this project, I searched craigslist for parts. I needed a steel liftgate and the tail lights to match. I found a jeep fanatic close by, and traded my labor (cutting/bedlining his fenders) for his liftgate and lights. I then beat the tail light-mounting surface flat and mounted the lights from a 99. Then I cut the liftgate in half, cut and folded where the bottom of the back glass was, and welded it to my fenders. I'll still be able to replace my bulbs, but I'll have to do it from inside where I'll have panels that will remove easily. Here's how it looks now.

 

I've got about 20 hours in the chop-job so far, and I think it'll take another 40 hours to finish it. Not including the 4 point roll cage that I'm paying someone to build for me. My plan with it is to have a hoop that goes over the back seat, and two sport bars that go at an angle down and inward to tie into the "frame". Pretty much like a pre 92 YJ factory roll cage, just with 2" tubing not poop-pipe. It will tie into the c-pillar as well as the roof frame.
I would be about 30 hours into the chop, but I decided that since my jeep is pushing 200,000 miles, and I'm getting some blow-by, I'd pull the head and get a valve job.
I've also never done this before, but I found some real cut-and-dry instructions on ehow.com and went for it. It took me 4 hours to pull the head, and 5 hours to reinstall it and everything else. I brought it to the machine shop the evening I pulled it and they had it finished the end of the next day.


My plan, in all basicness, is to have a cool, functional, practical, daily driver. I live in eastern NC, so the beach is what my jeep represents. I will make a soft top for it like in the drawing above;just white, but I'm waiting on the roll cage for that. Boring words, not enough pictures..I know.

 

 

So my plan for my jeep has changed slightly. I was originally going to enclose the cab with a removable soft top, but since the guy that was supposed to build the cage for me didn't seem to want to have my business, I had to enclose it temporarily with the original liftgate. Once I cut it enough to fit between the wheel wells and put it in place, I decided that I liked the look.

I reinforced/insulated the inside of the liftgate with lumber and expandable foam, then I mounted it back to my jeep. Then I took the expandable foam and shot it in the crack between the liftgate and the pillar that it's mounted to. Next I cut the excess foam and fiberglassed the fiberglass liftgate to the c/d pillar with longstrand glass and will be going over it with some fiberglass mat.

 

I've got quite a bit of labor left to go in the chop job. I'm going to completely fiberglass the lift gate into the bed of my jeep so it's sealed and tight. Right now it's just glassed to the pillar and to the roof. I'm also going to make interior panels for the bed and finish the body work around the top of the rear quarters and bedline it. Then paint and take a break for a while.

 

Gratuitous shot of it parked at the beach. The water was super rough with that crazy storm coming in.

 

Great job, im not a fan of chopping, but your's look great.

 

I really like how you installed the later model tail lights! cool build!

 

Thanks! I didn't realize when I was in the planning process how much of an undertaking swapping the tail lights was going to be... But you gotta do, what you gotta do.

 

your right about that .... have you done any more work on the chop? ....did you get a chance to put those injectors in? i finally got my motor .im in the process of tearing it down to send to the machine shop....i can wait to get it put together

 

that looks amazing, goof work with the design. also that's a very pretty engine shot

 

I haven't put the injectors in yet. I just got a 94 saturn coupe (for free) that I'm trying to flip and sell real quick for some extra money. I looked at your build thread and that magnum v8 is going to be bad **** in your jeep. Can't wait to see it. I hope you have a friend that's an inspector though, If you plan on driving to the trails still.

 

Looks awesome, I'd be worried the glass wood crack and break if you flex alot.

sent from sweet iPhone app

 

Looks nice, and found a use of the old liftgate as the back panel. You could put a tonneau cover on and it look like a 4 door comanche.

Looks nice with the newer model taillights too, witch this is what mine will look like when I get the later model taillights and "Full Hatch" on.