["T"]

So,I started this project 4 1/2 yrs ago! My plan is to cut my CJ7 tub and frame in half and add 14" to both, adding more wheel base and more room as I now have two more additions to the family. I plan on putting in a 2004 Chevy 5.3L, chevy 4x4 NV4500, atlas 4.3 that I already have. I'm putting a full width ford hp dana 60 ball joint frnt and a GM14 bolt rear both stuffed with arb air lockers and 5.38's and both with ballistic shave kits.
I'll be running 14"x2" king coilovers, 3 link frnt and 4 link rear with 17x9 8 lug walker evens beadlocks on 40" bfg krawlers and boat sides.
I just wanted to post some pic's of this time consuming project so that maybe someone out there can use some of this info to help them out!
I will post more pics and info soon of my progress!

So loaded up the frame and took it to my work so I had more room to work and a welding table to tack it to to keep it square!
I plated the front part of the frame with Mountain Offroad frame plates,cut the fame in half and installed 2x4 x1/4 wall rectangular tubing as far inside the frame as possible,then fish plated both side's.

 

[ltrail]

Why stretch the frame in the middle? You would get better angles by stretching wheelbase and leaving frame about the same. I can relate to the family idea, but I bought 4 doors for that.

 

["T"]

Well, I needed more room in the tub for leg room, gear, co pilot's and my mutt. I have more know how and time than $, so the 4 door was out! But seems now I'm half way there in this project as apposed to buying a 4 door $ wise.
Pops bought this rig new in 85, so it has some sentimental value as well.

 

[geberhard]

Very sweet project!!

 

["T"]

Thanks! A lot of work and a lot of heckling from the wife!!!
I picked up some 16g and started bending and cutting away after cardboard mock up.

Once the tub was welded up, I took it off and started mocking up the mtr,trnny & trnsfrcse. Had to make the tranny mount, get it set in place and tacked in. I'm doing a belly tuck with the whole combo wich means lifting the whole mtr trnny & trnsfrcse up 1 1/2 inches all the while making sure the whole combo sits @ 3 to 5 degrees! I took my intake off the top end of the motor and used my angle finder. Before I did that I leveled the frame! I tacked the mtr mounts in and tranny mount then I put the tub back on to check if I had any issues with accsess to the back of the motor and the top of the hood after it was closed.

Everything worked out!

While I've been working on the tub,mtr and frame stuff, my axles have been getting bounced from one place to the next and getting no where fast!

 

[ltrail]

Nice start then. I'd still push the axles out some for good angles. No sense in doing new links later.

 

["T"]

Way ahead of you, but good two cents! I'll have my 14 bolt as far back as my genright fuel cell will allow, wich should give me a great departure angle and I already moved the frnt axle forward 3". "Long and Low".
Now, My rear axle housing has been a nightmare! I bought the Ballistic shave kit for it and decided that I would farm it out and have a machine shop do it. Well, bad mistake! I got it back and the housing was pulled from over welding the truss and the shave welds where cracked all over the place come to find out after I took it to Sean @River City Diff. Sean is The go to guy in my book for axle set up in the north valley! He has set up axles for me in the past and they where flawless up until I sold them and I beat these things! He pointed out a bunch of things gone wrong on this housing!
The axle shafts hit the outer spindle tubes, the pinion did not line up etc, etc, etc! I took it down and had the tubes straightened, had the pinon housing pilot bearing redone and the pinion gear housing redone! Holy crap! Should have just bought a new housing wich I did after all this was Sean's advise after trying to set it up! Well, being as stubborn and cheap as I am, I bought another housing from Sean and still decided to try and run this P.O.S. only because I did not want to buy another truss, cover, etc. All this time Sean has been biting his tongue and been very patient with me, always happy to help a fellow wheeler no matter how much of a pain in the ass! Thanks Sean!
So after 2 trips to Phil over @ Silly Fab the thing is finally getting put back together and I guess I'll find out if all this $ and headache was worth it. Should have listen to Sean and Phil, would have been a lot cheaper!

 

["T"]

My next part of this project is to take the motor combo out and get to work on the frame grinding, boxing in the motor mounts, finsh welding up the under side of the frame and some other little details. I'm going to have a buddy of mine who is a bitch'n body and paint guy take the tub, 2 sets of doors, fenders, hood and grill and prep them for paint. Before I paint it he will bring it back and I'm going to take it to Phil @ Silly Fab for a cage and mybe some other little sh..t. Phil has been there and done that when it comes to projects like mine, he already built, drove and sold his stretched CJ7 so he knows exactly what I need and don't need plus he's a bad ass fabricator and all around cool cat.
If any body can build what you want I'm pretty sure Phil can do it! If you talk to this guy he'll take care of you!
I'll update when I can,ltr.........

 

["T"]

Scored a sweet welding table recently and put a back splash on it so I won't catch everything on fire!

This will make it easier for me to work on all of my crap! Stoked!

 

["T"]

Started my boat sides and high hood work today.

 

[RANGERROD]

Looking forward to pictures.

 

["T"]

I'll try to have them up for you guys as soon as I can!
Thanks for the look!

 

[NORCALFJ40]

:flipoff2::flipoff2::flipoff2::flipoff2:

 

["T"]

Just got back from Kuaui last sat! I'll be working on my boat sides this weekend. I'll get some pic's coming soon!

 

["T"]

So, I got my boat sides and my floor support for the extra 14" I added to the floor pan bent up while I was on vacation and picked them up a few days ago. Still have to mock them up for cutting. I'm making the boat sides bolt to the frame so I can cover the body mounts.It will be involved and time consuming but I'll try to keep posting more info and pic's as I go along! You can see the under tub floor support/body mount in the tub in this pic.

I got my 14bolt back from Sean @ River City Diff yesterday all set up and ready to be put in! Took it home to mock it up so I could get the tire on to see where the wheel opening would start in relation to fuel cell and the the boat side!

Looks like I will have a nice departure angle in the rear and enough room that I wont have to cut down the boat side to much! Still got some wheel opening trimming to do!

 

["T"]

Been working on this thing for 3 days with more boat side pic's to follow,have them up soon!

 

["T"]

Still working on my boat sides! I think I found a really nice idea that gets rid of the body mounts and taking the boat side right to the frame but still removeable and still act like a body mount! I have a good friend who own's Nor Cal Laser and I'm working closely with him. I'll post pics after I mock them up!

 

[coskinner]

Looking good keep it up

 

[Greg82]

Nice work, looks like you be remove a lot more sheet metal

 

["T"]

Thanks bud!