Troth

Hey guys, so I have removed my carpet (rhino lined floor), headliner (painted inside of roof). in the rear of the xj near the wheel wells the trim is more flimsy without the carpet under and backing it. and its just taking up useless space. im thinking about removing all of the interior trim (little projects at a time, and finning in with heavy guage sheet metal in spots that look bad or have holes ( like in the weird cubby notch in the rear.

so has anyone done this? I think my sheet metal skills are pretty good and I have access to a bunch of tools except grinder torch and welder. I would plan on drilling holes and screwing the metal plates to the body on the interior and painting it. I know it would look good, just looking for opinions

I think I can reclaim some good extra space and I was even hinking about puting the metal cover for the cubby hole on hinges so its like a secret trap door. maybe put a locking system in so if I go back packing I can put my headunit and stuff in there

Ritter4.0

I dont have any ideas to add, but you just gave me another project to do lol.

Since the interior trim really doesnt add any sound deadening, and little peices of thin sheet metal might weigh less, you could knock off a few pounds. (I know a few pounds doesnt matter much anyway, but every .0001 mpg gained is greatly appreciated to us jeepers)

The only thing I would suggest is leaving the door panels. You need to keep atleast a little astectic appeal, and they do add a little sound deadening

projectmayhem

let me know how how this goes im interested to see this

sgtskid

same, I think this is a great idea, throw stuff in the back and not have to worry about dirt or damage. I haven't yet because mine is a dd and the panels DO add a bit of sounds dampening (at least the padding on the backside) I know I drove around for a week with all the interior panels gone while looking for an electrical gremlin. Couldn't hear myself think. They also add insulation in the winter no so chilly..

p.s. Post some pics

builtnotbought89'

I've thought about doin this for a while now as mine is a trail rig only! But I was also thinking of stuffing insulationin the side pannels for warmth, & sound dampining!

FlyingLow

sound deadening mat inside the holes and on the back side of the panel.

JeepsterXJ89

would love to see/hear about this project, have been thinking about rebuilding the hatch area using mdf, then herc-ing the whole thing...

huntingman2706217

ive been planning on doing this now that my tops chopped on my door... everything sits flat and im running aluminum diamondplate to cover the 4 big holes... then the rubber seal with the metal in it that goes around the doors im gonna pull from another XJ in a JY and run that around the diamondplate so seal it up... with my black herculined floor it should look pretty good... problem is one sheet (all ill need) is $135... and makes me nervous cutting up $135... lol... as for the doors i have vynle gray with no added fancy stuff so im leaving them as they are... looks good anyway...

rodknocker

Not to take away from this board,but if you need help with sheet metal fab, making your own tools, goto www.metalmeet.com they have some great info there.

Brett

might i suggest using diamond plate rather than sheetmetal? if you shot it with some duplicolor bedliner that would look really sweet!
if ya need a hand with it Im in the area and Im out of work and have a lot of free time these days

Troth

I would love to use diamond plate but its just too expensive, but ya brett I may take you up on that. this is probably going to be a stay tuned thread. Im down in corvallis going to school and im away from my tools and stuff up by portland, so I may try to get crackin next weekend, maybe Ill start the rear cargo area

I will definetly leave the door pannels on, there are holes sealed by plastic otherwise. its gunna look good guys!

ya im thinking about stuffing in insulation in the voids and I would like to hear your thoughts of pros and cons

huntingman2706217

if you fill with insulation its gotta be water tight... itll mold... and u will die... lol

Troth

I hate that soo much!!! haha

I dont think I will, just cuz of that. every time I have looked in the rear quarter pannels with the interior off its as dry as a barren desert

but its a jeep, who needs tempeture insulation or sound dampening, thats why we all have loud speakers. and if you do need those things, you probably drive a honda or toyota

builtnotbought89'

Idk I already have a hard time hearing the radio over the swampers! Lol I think when I'm ready I'll save up for diamond plate!

U might think about using that sticky sided foam that's used for sealing door frames in ur house! Not to seal it, but to quite the chatering u might get driving down the road?!?!

5-90

I'm thinking about doing something similar as part of the "utility refit" I want to start on my 88, probably using sheet aluminum and using Dzus fasteners to retain (and to allow me to get more storage for stuff I don't need very often.) I'd love to see pix of your approach!

And yes, when I finally do start my refit (after I get about a bazillion other things finished...) I plan to document the project...