Thanks, I spent a lot of time figuring out how to do it the way AMC would have if they had. (Mimicked the old Wagoneers)
No donor doors. I picked up a spare lift-gate from the yard. Fiber-glassed it down the center, then cut it into halves. and lots of fiber-glassing.

 

That looks really good, lots of work to be sure, but it looks factory. I like how you even used a stock door handle. Little touches like that really set a project apart.

Me personally, that center divider in the rear glass would probably drive me nuts.

I think it'd be really sweet if the entire gate could be hinged on the passenger side, but I don't think there's any way the body would handle that load without some serious modification. I have an '06 CRV and the tailgate hinges this way and I love it.

Anyways, that's a great job on those rear doors!

 

With a fiberglass hatch, it could work. The glass would break before the hinge.

 

One thing that needs to be considered by some are these are off road vehicle's that need to stand too to a lot of very rough trails and roads. These are hard on the rear hatch too begin with as we all know these mods would create additional issue's to be dealt with, for them to stand up too this abuse.

 

Again, excellent and unique mod, McCawley. I agree with Fred and others who express concern about the structural strength of the back of our XJ's especially modified like this. Probably a good excuse to cage the interior and use an extension of the cage as an anchor for the new hinges.

 

I don't think that a one piece swing gate would work at all. As it is I had to do major steel re-enforcing and bracing just for each door. For a one piece gate you would have to get one of those quarter panel plates and some internal bracketing, etc...

As far as standing up off road, I've done some off-roading at Browns camp here in Oregon without issue. Whats scary is that it's been raining pretty hard last couple of days and the thing doesn't leak! I thought for sure I'd have leaks.

 

Actually since there is added steel, brackets, and attachment points I think I have improved the stiffness of the rear deck/doors.

 

Some people have asked for build pictures. I have searched but cannot seem to find the sparse photos I did have. But there are a few.

You can see the hinge design. before and after sandwiching the jeeps thin sheet metal between two 1/32" plates pop riveted on. Hopefully you can make out the parts that were fiber-glassed in the pre-primed photos.

It is hard to see in the photos. but the lamp housing(s) would not fit with the hinge design. I had to cut back and fiberglass the housings. L.E.Ds were needed as there was not enough depth to mount the bulbs. The taillights were a lot of work.

I'm still working on the interior paneling and seals for the taillights.

Hopefully the link works. I didn't want to spam this post with images.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/y5g2wrpr3...hIPP5yRha?dl=0

 

Excellent work!


I can tell, You really put a lot of thought into the design.......


I'd say it came out awesome!

 

Thanks, =D
I'd spend the whole week at work thinking, then spend the weekend working. Not much in planing except for the hinges. I must have went through 5-7 different designs.

 

Omg mcawley those barn doors are sweet i want them on my xj!!

 

Really impressive work Mcawley, the attention to detail was awesome. GREAT WORK!

 

:/

 

Well, several members were concerned about the structural integrity off road. Here she is today. waiting for a tow truck. Beaten to crap but the doors seem fine.

 

I don't see why anyone would worry about the structural integrity frankly. There is nothing about the factory design that is especially well-tailored to strength. Hell, the liftgates were fiberglass until 97 and most experienced off-roaders know that opening and closing the liftgate while on uneven terrain can be difficult or impossible due to how much everything back there flexes.

Seeing the quality of his work, I'd expect that mccawley's gate is STRONGER than factory if I was forced to guess.

If I had my way, I'd have lift glass with a barn door lower half--the glass could be open for long lumber to stick out or to act as a canopy while loading the back in rain, and the split bottom, unlike a tailgate, allows the user to be closer to the cargo area and to actually be under the glass if it is raining. The two-way tailgate design that Caprice and Roadmaster wagon's had was super awesome, though.

I've just never like one-piece gates, and the worst ones in my opinion are the ones with the hinge on the passenger side--that requires you to be more exposed to traffic when opening and closing it if you're on the side of the road and, also at roadsides, the open gate blocks the path of people/cargo from the sidewalk/shoulder. Furthermore, gate-mounted spares create the least blind-spotting when mounted toward the driver's side. Putting the hinge on the driver's side as well would mean the weight of the spare would stress the hinge less.