Ive installed a T-18 and flipped dana 300 with clocking ring and the plan is to run a flat skid. At this point the goal is about 1.5" of drop. The flipkit is kinda screwing me and i need to raise the whole thing up about two inches which requires me cutting up the floor just in front of the driver's seat. i'm concerned that cutting away with sub-frame on the sheet metal will weaken the floor area supporting the seat. Am i worrying needlessly or is theres some how i can fix this. My welding skills need work with sheetmetal, seeing as i constantly burn thru. And help would be appreciated.

on what? a XJ?

Good Call, i'm a dumbass.

87 YJ

Go ahead and cut the floor, then pick up some 16ga sheet metal, and (assuming MIG) some .022 wire and turn the heat down on your welder. Measure and cut pieces to build a taller floor. Tack the corners of the floor patches in place, then go around and tack every 2-3 inches to hold the panel in place. slowly stitch weld the floor into place.

Key thing is the skinny wire. Take your time.

-J

Hmm thats good to know, ive only been using .30 wire and even on low settings it sucks. I will definetly pick up a spool tommorow. So i shouldn't be concerned about the seat fatiguing the metal and falling through the floor?

I dunno about YJ's but on my TJ, that would weaken the overall tub if you cut clean through the doubled area at the front of the seats, worse yet doing it to only one side. It can be done but I wouldn't take it as lightly as the previous guy would.

Whats your cage situation? How is it mounted?


If you look at how a CJ seat is mounted you can tell they didn't do that in modern tubs soley because the seat needed the extra strength.

If you try welding the floor togerther with the small wire and it still burns thru put a piece of copper behing the weld. The copper will pull heat from the steel to help prevent burn thru.

If you can mount your seats to the cage, you can cut at will like sugested above. Here's mine, had to make room for a 205 :D

http://www.lcjs.org/modules/gallery/albums/album05/YJ_Rebuild_040505_001.sized.jpg

Yes, I did repaint everything black

Ok, made some progress, i got the floor and seats squared away, that shouldn't be a problem anymore. I clocked the T-case down as far as it will go to help clear the driveshaft and clutch fork. U cab probly drive it down the road fine, but i'm still concerened about stuffing one of the wheels offroad. Is it possible to bend the fork up a little, approx 45-60 degress and reweld it? The fork is straight right now, i'm not sure if it will function correctly being pushed from a higher point of contact. Also what would be an acceptable distance to keep the T-case from the floor itself? A couple guys said about 1.5 Inchs or more, running a poly mount to help eliminate engine torque. I should have pics later on tonight...

http://img92.imageshack.us/img92/403/driveshaft5ul.jpg

Took a pic using a old camera. Pic quality isn't good but you can see the problem i'm running into. I was wondering if i could cut the clutch fork and angle it up. Would the throwout bearing complain after a while? Sadly I'm considering selling this T-Case and starting over from scratch with a stock 300 and using a passenger side drop HP 44. The 44 was going in sooner or later at some point....