This is something I've always wanted to do as well. My father had a '78 Ramcharger when I was a kid, and I loved it when he'd remove the roof and take us all out on a cruise through town. The Ramcharger's roof was steel, BTW, and it came off right to the windshield, not just over the cargo compartment like K5-s and Broncos. It's memories of that Ramcharger that have had me wanting to do this to an XJ for years. Unfortunately I don't have the bodywork skills it would take to do this. I can fix a rust hole or replace a rocker panel, and I can weld thick metal quite well (I've made a bunch of trailers, roof racks, bumpers, etc), but this is beyond my skills.

If I ever did do it, I'd do it like this: I'd put a cage in it, necessary not only to stop the unibody from folding up, but for rollover safety as well (you don't think I'd go through all this trouble and not lift the little bugger too, and drive it in the woods, do you?). The roll bar would have to fit as close to the windshield header as possible, and as close to the tops of the doors as possible as well - I'd want it to intrude as little as possible on the interior. I would also have a second set of doors with the window frames cut down, or maybe even a set of home made tubular lower doors. I'd have a set of custom made roof racks on the roof that would integrate hooks to connect to a hoist in my garage for removal. The roof racks would also help stiffen the roof to keep it from sagging under its own weight. The tailgate would be made up of an MJ tailgate for the lower half and a cut-down fiberglass Cherokee piece for the upper half. It'd be two-piece, just like the old Ramcharger (come to think of it, this would be a cool mod removable roof or not).

This project is on my bucket list. unfortunately it's a really, really long list, and a big bucket. Probably never happen, but it's fun to dream about...