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Project "Moab" a.k.a "Just a Tub Swap" - part #3
 
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(05/11/09) I was able to get a few things done today on the Jeep after the long day yesterday. The only downside was I had a lot of stuff to do to other projects, including the yard, so I wasn't able to put as much time in as I would have liked.
 
 
The good news is that the old tub is scavenged and cut up and will go to the recycler at the end of the week. It is sitting in the truck right now, so that frees up some room in the workshop. I have one more project on another Jeep that I hope to do later on in the week, so that too will free up some more room. I have to get rid of some of these projects that don't seem to end!
 
 
The statement I made yesterday about the ALL the bolts being removed wasn't accurate; I still had one in the tailgate lower mount... so I went to work on that today. I removed that and then moved onto the tailgate upper mounts. They had to be separated from the old tub. I then moved onto the pillar that I need to replace the bottom of in the lower foot well on the driver side. After that was separated, I moved onto the rust area in the toe board. I did a rough cut and got all the rust out. Now I can clean up the cuts, and get ready to weld in some new metal. I still have to do the defroster as well and fill the rear filler, but those are great projects to do at night during the week.

(05/11/09)
 
 
(05/15/09) I had a couple hours on Monday night, so I decided to cut out the YJ defroster and put in the CJ defroster. It went smoothly and looks good. I still have some more welding to do and some grinding, but all in all, it was a smooth, quick effort.

I had cut out the CJ defroster the other day, so I took it and scribed a line where I wanted to cut it and then cut it out. I attached the CJ defroster to the mock up dash and then put it in place and kept trimming until it fit. I then secured it with clamps. Once clamped in place, some tack welds and then once it was secure, I removed the dash and started welding some more. In the end, I put the dash back on to make sure it still fit. Everything lined up and I was done for the most part with this piece of the puzzle.

(05/15/09)
 
 
(05/24/09) I took a weekend to get a ton of stuff done around the house and yesterday I jumped back on the tub swap project. It went well. I started with the tailgate and then moved onto the YJ filler and finally I moved onto the fender flares and welding up all the holes in the back of the Jeep that held the YJ tailgate in place. I also welded up some other miscellaneous YJ holes that were there. I am not sure if they were factory or not, but they weren't needed.
 
 
I have the actual Jeep coming up today that this tub will go on, so we can start the disassembly process and see what lies beneath. We hope for the best and go from there. I am looking forward to also getting back on the body and getting the defroster done as well as the repair on the side for where there was some rust. All in all, things are moving along. For those keeping track, not a ton of money has been spent yet, but with all the Internet searching, driving, looking, picking up, towing back and so far fixing bolts and some of the metal work... we are up to 53 hours so far. Time is one of those things that is always severely underestimated. After today it should bring that total up closer to 70 hours... and we aren't anywhere near putting the body on yet. So, those people that say they can do this in a weekend... I believe you can, you just have to have all your parts there, or a ton of people!

(05/24/09)
 
 
(05/25/09) So, the Jeep arrived yesterday... bright and early for its scheduled operation. The hardtop was removed and then it went into the garage to have its body freed from the frame. We started off by removing the very interesting seat mounting on the driver side and then moved onto the seat belts, the roll bar, basically everything on the interior of the Jeep. The floors were trashed, the sides were being held together with bondo and paint, and finally when we couldn't remove the bolts because they were frozen, they either broke off, or we just cut them out... especially in the cage of the driver side lower seatbelt mount. It was great to just cut it out, throw it in the vice and remove it. Usually you aren't that lucky.

The roll bar was missing its feet and what was there was rotted away pretty much. The rear mounts were rusted through as well, so that roll bar was toast, along with the back half of the tub. The rear body mounts were spinning in the rear cross member, the 2 in front of the rears were in there, but one of the bolts was so thin it snapped with little to no pressure and the other one (driver side) was the only one that was in place holding the rear half to the Jeep. The weight of the hard top also held it in place I am sure, but the 2 mounts that need to be relocated when doing a YJ body swap... those were in decent shape in terms of the metal, but the mounts themselves were spinning in the holes.
 
 
So, with the body mounts out, the rear half of the tub folded up on itself and in on itself and we lifted it off and put it aside. The gas tank then came out and then we were able to see the frame. The frame is in excellent shape, but it will need a new rear cross member and one of the rear shackle bolts snapped off in the frame, so that has to be dealt with, but all in all, the truck is loaded up with dead CJ metal and will be brought to the recycler and the garage is once again back to its original shape after a day of thrashing on it.

It was a very good day I have to say. I got a lot of help from the owner and we really made good progress. The seats fit in the YJ tub with the new seat mounts (old one was bent and broken) and we are on the lookout for a new roll bar. I will order up the rear cross member as well as some new brake lines as those were leaking a bit. If you have noticed the shackles, well those will also be lowered a bit to make way for better handling. All in all, a great weekend of work on the Jeep. The YJ tub looks like a CJ now in the rear and the CJ disassembly continues on. More thrashing coming up next weekend.

(05/25/09)
 
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