Choptop/Crewcab Progress *update 2/3

[youngjeeper]

Figured I'd start a build-up thread, might help some people along the way.

Plan:
I've got an '88 Waggie, bent up roof from a tip over. I made the decision to do a half truck/half cab style with the body. I will be cutting off part of the roof, and using the back piece of a J-truck Cab to box in my "new" Waggie cab. The plan is to keep the stock bench seat in the rear. Once all of the body work is complete I will be putting in a full rollcage inside the cab; also will be removing the stock tailgate and building my own. The carpet side panels in the rear will become removable metal ones; the speakers will be moved into the rear cab doors.

I'm going to try and take many pictures as I go along, some with measurements, to make this easier on anyone who may have a similar idea in the future.

11/11/08
Today I didn't have much planned, mainly wanted to take measurements, sit back and think. I moved the cab piece by the jeep and measured, marked, measured. Went into the back of the Waggie, did the same. Had to make a note of how far back the rear seat leans; that will determine where the cab piece will be welded in. Didn't know what to do next so I cut some carpet and thought for awhile. I realized after awhile, I would get nowhere if I didn't just go ahead and cut the d*** top off.

Here's the damage




This is a measurement from the window frame to the rear of the stock seat


Roof to Floor measurement ~42"


Cut Lines (Rear corner)




Cut Line Roof (Inside of roof support) ~3" out where the cab will weld in.
I will be cutting the J-truck cab so that I can slide it into place and the seam will be under the Waggie roof; I will then cut off the extra 3" sticking out past the cab. (Will be more understandable later)


Cut one


Cut two


Cut three




Pile of junk I had to take off (PM me if you see anything you want)


I had to go into work and didn't get to finish cutting the roof section today. Only have about 4" left on each side of the roof till the portion comes off! Tomorrow I will finish that up and hopefully begin cutting on the Cab piece.

More pics are in my album: http://s202.photobucket.com/albums/a...7/Wag%20Build/

[dajeeps]

are you using the gw frame or the truck frame?sound like you have it planed out well.
good luck.

[youngjeeper]

are you using the gw frame or the truck frame?sound like you have it planed out well.
good luck.

The Waggie frame...I didn't cut the whole body in half like you, just the roof line. The sides of the Waggie will be my "bed sides" up to the "new" boxed cab. The tricky part will be cutting the truck cab rear to fit INSIDE of the Waggie. Hard to explain, you'll have to see!

[youngjeeper]

11/12/08

Well today brought some problems to the table that I should've considered from the beginning. Today I finished cutting the roof, made templates for the wheel well cuts on the J-cab, measured an azzload and cut the J-cab all up...and then realized a big issue. The crushed roof bent up the C-pillar on the driver side pretty bad; clocked inward. Also, the bedsides are kicked outward about an inch (not a huge issue as you get up to where the cab will weld in). After a lot of measuring and cutting I decided to hold up the J-cab piece to see if I measured the height correctly; this was BEFORE cutting the space for the wheel wells. Turns out because of the crooked pillars, the left of the cab (where the two pieces join) is outside of the pillar an inch on the driver side, and inside an inch on the passenger side. :thumbsdow Not cool! Tried to high lift the roof up thinking it MAY bring the pillar out, didn't work. I decided it was time to call it a day, and look at it on Friday. I think I'm going to try and pull the pillar with a come-a-long and see what happens. Anyways, here are the pics from the day!

Go roof!




You can see the crookedness a bit here




Some rags and tape to cover the hole for now


Random measurements, showing where the J-cab will be at under the roof, and where I cut.


This is where we start on the J-cab work..Cab as a whole here


Initial cut (cut lines and measurements are in my photobucket album) Took off cab walls and floor.


Good bit higher after the first cut, but still can't tell have "off" it will be


2nd cut section. Took off remaining roof and gutters


And the problems start showing now...(again this is before the cut that will set it on top of the wheel wells)


That piece on the side of the J-cab once fit up on the ledge before serious cutting.


And the Hi-lift attempt..I was thinking that if the roof lifted it may lift the pillar out?


So Friday, I'll be trying a come-a-long on the pillar to see what I can do. If anyone has ideas/thoughts, post up!

more pics: http://s202.photobucket.com/albums/a...7/Wag%20Build/

[mcjeep80]

maby run the come along from door jam to door jam and pull them together. that should force the c pillar back up. then pry it up like you tried in the last pic with the high lift. pull a bind on it then persuade it with a hammer. or pull the bottom together and use the high lift to spread the top of the doors

hey it worked great in my head!

[Casey]

Did you get some more ink?

Try welding the roof to something to pull it with, the way a body shop would?

[dajeeps]

lokking good so far.on the truck cab you will notice the 1'' differance.this is what i did,cut the 90 degree corner on the truck cab.this way you can pull the cab of the truck to meet up with the door seal lip. i'll post a pic before the night is through.

[youngjeeper]

Did you get some more ink?

Try welding the roof to something to pull it with, the way a body shop would?

Guy from work (actually has 2 wagoneers) said he has a hydraulic puller --10ton I think? I told him my situation and he seems to think it would do the job. I know nothing about this puller, or what it does, but I might wait till this weekend and check into that.


I had to shorten it down to 41.5" from top of J-cab to bottom to fit "within" the Waggie cab


-dajeeps the pic would be nice, I think it will fit right in how I've got it (once I do the cut to fit on the fender wells) when the pillars are straightened out, but I'm not sure yet!

[Dmntxn77]

Guy from work (actually has 2 wagoneers) said he has a hydraulic puller --10ton I think? I told him my situation and he seems to think it would do the job. I know nothing about this puller, or what it does, but I might wait till this weekend and check into that.

My father-in-law has one of them that he got from HF. We were able to re-square an enclosed trailer with it....

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=44900

[youngjeeper]

Well I didn't get a chance to use the hydraulic puller yet..but I went to HF and bought a come-a-long to try out. I hooked the come-a-long up to the top of the c-pillar and a telephone pole. Only result I got was some more negative bend in my driver rear leaf spring. I think it pulled my rear body panels out a bit more too.

[Tad]

Dan,
No body work expert here but I think you are going to need a turnbuckle on the inside from an oposing angle to push that back.
Looks like you are just pulling the jeep in that pic.
I could be wrong and the pic's look great, keep it up.
I'll cut my J2000 as soon as you teach me more about the fitup (I'm also thinking about grafting the brow onto the front).

[youngjeeper]

Dan,
No body work expert here but I think you are going to need a turnbuckle on the inside from an oposing angle to push that back.
Looks like you are just pulling the jeep in that pic.
I could be wrong and the pic's look great, keep it up.
I'll cut my J2000 as soon as you teach me more about the fitup (I'm also thinking about grafting the brow onto the front).

Yeah, I'm going to post up on an auto body work forum and see what is recommended. I am no body work expert by far! I've got a few more ideas that I may try this week..Like you said something from the inside pushing at it..

I think that this would be a MUCH easier job if my body pillars and body were not crooked.

[gotmike]

take a 2x4 and put a bottle jack in the opposite corner from the bent pillar and cut the 2x4 to length... then just push them apart... you might want to re-inforce the corner you're pushing from with a plate of some sort... to spread out the pressure...

[oz J-2000]

Good thread. I want to keep an eye on your progress because I'm planning on mating my J-2000 with a waggy to make a diesel J-truck crew cab. I just have not gotten up the courage to pull out my sawzall and plasma cutter

[dajeeps]

have you thought about heating the pilers up with a torch so it would be more plyable.i'm thinking about doing that on some body parts i have to refab.