How to chop the back of your XJ....
07-08-2008, 06:09 PM
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Year: 1988 (all of them)
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0, 4.6, and wore-out 4.0
How to chop the back of your XJ....
Okay, this is a little bit older mod of mine, but is still one of my favs. So, here goes:
First things first, remove the headliner board, and the rear trim pieces ( all of them in the back). Now remove the side windows by gently "peeling" the gasket out and working the glass out of place. Remove the hatch. See picture for proper appearance:
Now I trimmed my XJ at the lower rear side window corners, and the front upper corners. A chalkline is handy at this point to make sure that you make a straight cut.
Note: remember to remove wiring harness from the hatch mounting "hoop" BEFORE cutting...
Relocate "hoop" section to remaining roof line, and adjust for best fit, followed by welding to re-brace the roofline:
Now from here, you can do as you wish to "close off" the new rear. I used the hatch off of a Ford Xploder, as the back window OPENS, the brake light, wiper and defroster all work. I will add this in another thread if anyone is interested.
I also made "plates" to fill in the now open sides of my XJ, along with a sparetire carrier (which I still need to get a picture of...).
Oh, and here are acouple of pix. of the installed hatch:
This concludes todays' lesson in do it to yourselfing.
First things first, remove the headliner board, and the rear trim pieces ( all of them in the back). Now remove the side windows by gently "peeling" the gasket out and working the glass out of place. Remove the hatch. See picture for proper appearance:
Now I trimmed my XJ at the lower rear side window corners, and the front upper corners. A chalkline is handy at this point to make sure that you make a straight cut.
Note: remember to remove wiring harness from the hatch mounting "hoop" BEFORE cutting...
Relocate "hoop" section to remaining roof line, and adjust for best fit, followed by welding to re-brace the roofline:
Now from here, you can do as you wish to "close off" the new rear. I used the hatch off of a Ford Xploder, as the back window OPENS, the brake light, wiper and defroster all work. I will add this in another thread if anyone is interested.
I also made "plates" to fill in the now open sides of my XJ, along with a sparetire carrier (which I still need to get a picture of...).
Oh, and here are acouple of pix. of the installed hatch:
This concludes todays' lesson in do it to yourselfing.
07-08-2008, 06:17 PM
#3
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Year: 1988 (all of them)
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0, 4.6, and wore-out 4.0
No prob! I have other stuff that I can add later on ( like armor on a "ain't got none" budget, cheap lifts and so on...). And thanks for the interest. It took about 3-4 hours to chop and re-weld the hoop section, then about 3 DAYS to get the hatch to fit right ( I still don't know why on that, and I did it). The fill plates took about 2 hours to lay out, cut and weld in.
07-08-2008, 11:14 PM
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Year: 1988 (all of them)
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0, 4.6, and wore-out 4.0
Well, if you are asking about a cage for the "when it rolls over" moment, then that has allready passed. She has been on her side a couple of times, and I don't mean leaning against a tree. More like laying on her side, nose downhill with a tree stuck through the hood. A cage is planned on, just not sure when....
07-08-2008, 11:23 PM
#6
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Well, if you are asking about a cage for the "when it rolls over" moment, then that has allready passed. She has been on her side a couple of times, and I don't mean leaning against a tree. More like laying on her side, nose downhill with a tree stuck through the hood. A cage is planned on, just not sure when....
