Body Modifications
if you just want to see the pictures, click here
Couldn't Leave It Alone :-)
I parked the Wagoneer in the garage in November 1999 to do some modifications on the suspension. When I finally decided to do a coil-spring conversion the project turned out to take much longer time than I expected (big surprise – huh). This was partly because almost everything had to be custom built and I got tired of working on the Jeep from time to time. When I after some weeks without doing anything in the garage returned to the Wag project, I often started on something different from the original project. |
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This was also the reason why I did some body modifications. One thing that I obviously had to do was make room for the 38,5” swampers I intended to run. I did not want the Wagoneer to sit too high so cutting the wheel openings seemed to be the best solution. In the front, it was an easy operation. I made myself a mockup from some cardboard to simulate the tire size. I did this with size of a 40” tire to have some slack. I then circulated the front axle based on the shock movement and marked the front fender where I had to cut it. The new opening looks very much like the opening on the M-715. I also welded a 1” wide steel plate in the opening to make the fender a little more stable and to make a place to fasten the M-715 style flares I planned to make
Rear Solution
The rear was a little more involved because the Wagoneer is a four door. Cutting out the same amount in the rear would mean cutting into the rear door and continuing to use it would mean a lot of work. I had also toyed around with a plan to make the Wag topless or at least cut the roof behind the drivers' seat to simulate a pickup. After some quality time sitting on a chair in the garage staring at the wags bodylines, drawing various body styles on my computer I decided to cut the roof behind the drivers' seat and keep the roof over the front part.
I started with making it a two door. I welded the rear door closed and after I did this, I cut of the roof. I did this to keep the body from twisting when I removed the roof. Now I could use my cardboards mockup wheel to mark where to cut the rear wheel openings. Here I made new housings looking like the housing the pro street guys use.
While working on this I realized that I easily could make the rear overhang much shorter if I cut out a section of the body and frame behind the wheel opening. I cut about 8 inches of the frame right in front of the cross member and a similar section of the body. Then I could weld the frame peaces together. Moving the rear part of the body towards the front made the process very easy to do, keeping the bodylines.
Roll Cage
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Building a full roll cage was the next thing to do. I had to do this before making the new rear wall so I got a company called Aker Cold Bending to make the bends necessary. This company usually makes tubing constructions for the oil industry so making a roll cage for an off-road vehicle was easy for them. The most difficult thing was getting tubing small enough!
I made the cage with to legs running from the front floor
towards the center loop. Then I put a bar between the front legs at top
and one at top of the dash. I ran a bar across the main loop so that I
could fasten a safety harness there, and crossbars at both the main
loop and the roof. In the rear, I run bars front the main loop down
towards rear of the floor. To support the cage I welded bars from the
frame to the underside of the floor with plates that meets the plates
on the cage.
I then took the rear part of the body and moved this towards the place
where I cut the roof. I did this to make the bodyline a little more
“friendly” and make a little more legroom in the
drivers' seat. I also cut out the inner parts of the rear doors after
it was welded shut.
I modified the front bumper so that there is no part off it sticking out on the sides. This makes me able to get the tires to grip directly on a 90 degrees wall if I attack it at an angle. Some cutting was also done on the rear bumper. Like the front, I cut some off the parts that sticks out on the sides so that the Wag does not get hanging on the bumpers. I also made a new spare tire carrier that has supports for the tire on the rear bumper and with a tube between the down legs. I do not use the rear door so it is like a pickup without the hatch. I covered the inner sides of the bed with aluminium plates and extended them to cover the top of the bedsides. The rear quarter panels are cut above the frame line and have square tubing on the bottom to make them sturdy.
Other Mods
I also painted the Wagoneer, but it is only a cheap LGAD rattle-can job so it's nothing to get fancy about. It won't last long but I don't want to use a lot of money on a truck that I'm gonna use off-road and when I scratch it, it will be easy to fix…..
Questions ?
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