So, I've been wanting to chop my xj for a while now, and im thinkin about biting the bullet next weekend and doing it, I just need some advice/persuasion. Its a 97 4dr, not rusty, typical trail rig scratches all over it from brushwhacking and trees that jump out of no where, not really many dents tho, but anyways, I want to chop it like everyother 4dr chop ive seen, basically cutting the quarter windows out. For anyone that has done this already, how hard is it? I know the basics obviously, mark where you want to cut, and cut straight, thats the easy part, but how hard is it to enclose the rear of the cab then? I was planning on using the rear hatch and welding it in, but was also trying to think of a way to make it removeable so I can still haul stuff with a decent length to it. Also, roughly how long of a job would you estimate it to be? I have from friday till monday to get it done, think its enough? And before you guys go postin up on my questions, Yes, I can weld, I am pretty smart and good at engineering stuff to make it work, I more or less just want a pre-cut run down so I dont miss anything and so i can try to make it go smoothly.

This is a pic of my buddys jeep that he chopped. If I'm not mistaking he cut the back of of a s-10 and welded it to the jeep. I think it only took him like 2 days. Chopping it doesn't take to long. Just make sure you pop the windows out and take the headliner out before you cut.

if you search there are quite a few different write ups on it

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f58/ho...-your-xj-2365/.... should help a little

I knew atleast one person was going to tell me to search or link me to another thread, but, i've seenem all haha. like the "how to chop the back of your cherokee" that hitalonit refered to, went threw that multiple times, the thread more or less turns into a "heres mine" thread, And everyone does it a little differently, That is why I posted up asking specifically towards what I was curious about. The S10 Idea is pretty cool, but I wouldn't be caught dead merging a jeep with a chevy (dont remind me about chevy parts back in the AMC days, I know) but aside from that, im trying to do it with using what I have, as I am low on money, so I cant afford to be going to the boneyard to get to many parts

I'm in the same boat as you with money. I am thinking about chopping mine also. I live in the north east so I have to re enclose mine if I do chop it. So when you figure out how you are got to close it back up let me know.

when you go to cut you need to also plan a cage as your removing a lot of the intergerty in the rear structure. Most times with a 97+ you can re use the hatch to close it back up just need to really plan your cuts. Also while cutting its a good idea the throw some support between the sides to limit the unibody flex before everything is welded back together.

as far as a cage and integrity goes, I was planning on, since It was going to be re enclosed, more or less just making a "roll bar" like you see in a pickup truck bed, but tied into the unibody, and eventually doing a full cage with the halo outside, but thats down the road along with boatsiding it

Here's mine, I left it open and am in the process of gathering the tubing for my cage. But I just capped everything for the time being. It took about 20 minutes to cut it off. I used a cutting wheel on a grinder and it cut REALLY smooth.