New Tub, How tough is it?

Fred
Check out my web page at
http://members.aol.com/fastflyn31/page1.html
I have A very detailed write up on the fiberglass body swap I did on my 78CJ7. There are also a lot of pictures.
Also, let me know what you think about it.

Alec

I've done several conversions and found it pretty straight forward. The hardest parts are cutting the holes in the firewall for steering column, heater, etc. It's not hard to cut them, just to cut them in the right place. (Keep your old firewall around for a while) The other place to be carefull is where to place the tub (not too far forward or backward) This can cause clearance problems between the fan and radiator and alignment problems with clutch linkage, etc.
I've done 3 with 4WD Hardware bodies and 2 with Shell Valley. I personally liked the 4WD's better for durability. Both of the Shell Valley bodies had gelcoat colors and developed stress cracks in the finish. The 4WD's come in white gelcoat and hold up well. I never painted one. I also don't do much rough off-roading. Mostly just up and down hills and street driving.

Loose nut behind the wheel
Another right-wing conservative.....
Born and raised in Jeep-Town

Am I gonna need any special tools?

As far as tools go, nothing really special is needed. An angle grinder comes in handy for cutting off the old rusty bolts. Another good thing would be to have various sizes of good drill bits and hole saws.

Loose nut behind the wheel
Another right-wing conservative.....
Born and raised in Jeep-Town

It isn't too hard to install the body, just don't get all excited and in a hurry.......If you don't take your time and be
patient you may make a mistake that could cause problems the only area where I had a proble with mine is
when I put my windshield on and that was because I was in a hurry, but it wasn't anything major and don't let it
scare you......I didn't go into detail about the body installation yet, but I have some pictures www.cableone.net/grneggs

I did mine with an AJ's tub. No big problems. The only thing that required any real work, other than
cutting out for the tailgate, was the cowl vent box. With the thicker cowl and firewall the vent box wants
to move down and back. I took care of the back by cutting off most of the front lip where the upper and
lower sections mate. I never did anything about the down because I didn't put the piece back that goes
from the box to the heater. Next time I take it out, I need to trim a little at the bottm here.

Make sure you have a big supply of large washers to use as shims to level the body, the thicknes of
fiberglass is not usually consistant. Lastly, I made cardboard templates for all of the holes in the firewall.
It takes a bit to get everything in the right place. Measure twice and cut once, not the other way around.

You dont have to be a master mechanic to do it, (I'm living proof of that) just take your time, and try to avoid setting "deadlines" for your self, You will find a lot of things to "fix" once you get into the process. Oh ya, you'll probably make a small mistake at some point in the process,,most likely, your going to be the only one who'll know, so don't sweat it. Just go for it.

DrummondCJ

As for the cutting out the firewall holes, just take the old template off of your old Jeep body and bolt it onto the fiberglass body and then cut the holes out. Then you can take it off if you want. I left mine on it helps for grounding and stabilization of the firewall.

YJ with a 6.5L Turbo Diesel
and A.J.'s fiberglass body

I can't add much to what the others have said, just take your time, measure twice, and you should be ok. Check out my web page http://home.off-road.com/~pbaird for some detail and pictures as well.

Phil Baird 83 CJ7
www.off-road.com/~pbaird
[email protected]