Jeep Project

Im taking the body off this 53' Willys CJ-3B






here's the truck used to pull the body off the frame




heres how the body fits before i hacked in 2




Cut it in half and spaced em back about 40"... then squared up and level the 2 pieces..



I was able to use the Blazer's steering column and Brake master cylinder



Filled the gap with some 14ga. sheetmetal

if anybody knows somethin about a good cage design that works well and would save a good bit of the body while wheelin let me know..

Great progress! wish I could of made it up there!

I got a pipe bender, not sure if you got one!!

i dont.. maybe when i get to that point i'll get some pipe and your way..

just let me know im alright with it me and my pops made tube fenders this weekend ive made a roll bar before for a 66 bronco, kinda a pain though

thanks... the only thing more of a pain would be having no bender and doing ALOT of notching or using 90's and 45's for the bends.. LOL

or even worse having a bender bending everything then realizing the bender cant bend one bend and having to splice together to bends!!! it sucks, we had to do it this weekend..... all is well now and cant even tell!!!

damn that looks good. keep us posted.

got it all stitch welded.. got some bracing in. some temporary and some permanent.... made the body mounts for all but the fenders... fenders will need a bit of sheet metal work since i had to trim a bit to make em fit... and.. welded the steering column bracket solid to the dash..





i decided to turn the angle around at the floor on the sides to use as place to run wires..

That is looking good. Couldn't make it this weekend, had some stuff to do on mine. Post up when you are working again.

I try not to ask for help since im 1.5 hours from S.A. .. but the next time that i might ask will be when i get to the reinstalling TBI stage... hopefully in about late march - early april..

DO NOT USE A PIPE BENDER!!!!!!!! this will only kink the tubing and cause a weak spot, you must get a tube bender

true or you can shim it i here... or use pipe but for a roll bar that might not be the best choice.

I got my fenders off today.. Im gonna build some custom fenders since the one that were on there were ate up with rustification... plus i need to build a battery box on the passenger side.. im about to get some seats and my wiring harness.... i got a fuel cell on the way..

where can i find a set of harness seats that mount fairly easy? i dont want none of that fancy crap just something functional that'll keep my ass in the seat WHEN im flopped over like a turtle...

I got quite a bit done friday night... I built the new home for my battery..rerouted my transmission coolant lines to the rear.. secured the body to the mounts.. then tossed in the seats im gonna use and sat in em so i could drink beer and pretend i was driving it...





dont they make just a harness that secures to the cage?... that would allow me to use a standard seat

ALSO speaking of harnesses i ordered my wiring harness for the TBI from Painless wiring.. it'll be here tuesday


so if any of you folks that are handy with that sort of thing and wanna drink some beer next weekend just pm me

dang man thats things gonna be unreal!!

i hope so... all im shooting for is durability and clearance.. just trying to make something that can purdy much go anywhere and is durable enough to load back up when the wheelin's done

I got my wiring harness in from "painless wiring" Wednesday .. It's better than I thought since it's the COMPLETE harness.. Which means it'll plug right back into my steering column and all them other odds and ends I was wonderin about.. I should be ready to start installing it next week sometime.. I still need to install my bracket to relocate my radiator

That's friggin cool, man. Keep the updates coming

I got my harness on.. Now it's time to get the fuel cell and radiator in place so I can make the 1st attempt at firing it up.. Lol, I had a minor setback though.. Some little furry critter thought it would be a good idea to hide some deer corn and acorns in every little hole it could find in my engine area.. Breather, radiator hoses, etc.. I think I got it all out..

DEATH to the little furry critters!!!

looking great!

Happy day.. It's alive! I totally went a different way on the fuel.. It's breathin straight propane now..

I got an HEI distributor and gutted my throttle body.. Yanked all the crap off the motor I don't need and just wired up my ignition system to my steering column..

I went with the Impco straight propane setup ..

Made good progress today.. I just hope it's ready when Moab time gets here..

any pics? haven't seen any since you cut the body in half & did the stretch.

The hood is kicked up a little from my blazer radiator.. I need to find a slightly smaller one that'll keep a 350 cool and fit a little better under the hood..

Once it's drivable I'll finish the sheet metal work then I would like to have a cage/rock fenders/stinger put in