2X4 frame for my CJ2A

+1 on the fuel tank access panel. I kept the one out of the fuel pump donor car specifically to (possibly...) re-use.

+1 on the strips in the bed. For a clean look (and reduce cargo snags), mark where they will go, then drill a ~3/8" hole every few inches in the floor and plug weld from underneath.

+1 on the good job. I wish I were that far along on my project.

 

ITLKSEZ - You may have misread what I said. I said if room is available, place the flat bar strips on the bottom side of the floor. If Chris wants to do this and drills holes and plug welds, that's fine too but I would do the welding from the top of the floor panel and grind smooth.

 

Ha! yup. I sure did. That works too!

 

Thanks Ed,
What I have plenty of is some polished stainless angle that is just dying to be welded to the bottom of that bed. i also have to make a mount to support the bed about halfway. It will be made of some 1/8 thick, or so, angle that is 2" wide. I hate the weight that this is adding, but its free stuff I have kicking around. The thinnest sheet material I can get locally is 16 gauge anyway, so weight savings would be minimal at some monitory cost.

In addition to all that need to make hard points to mount my brand new back seat to for the boys to ride on.

I am definitely going to make a fuel access panel. The more I though about this the more it seems like a great idea and at this point stupid to not add that in.

Another idea I had while driving to Philly for a job was the idea of making my own version of tool boxes like on an MB or GPW in the wheel houses. It will add a week of work, maybe less..

what do you guys think?

 

Thanks Ryan!
I will probably just stitch weld on either side on the polished stainless 1" angle to the bottom of the bed. Free junk i happen to have laying around. I bet it was really expensive new. Still has the protective stuff on it.

 

Do it now, or wish you had later!

 

I vote " Yes" on the wheelhouse type tool boxes....

 

I was going to fab up some wheelhouse type tool boxes on my CJ5 but couldn't figure how to make it work with the roll cage

 

I warped my bed. I am very irritated. I TIG welded a piece of angle to the back where it connects to the rear panel. I kept heat down and did short runs. warped the angle and the sheet. Its not terrible, but it will be difficult for me to fix with my abilities. Some of the problem I have with my steel supplier is that not all of the material I get from him is straight. In fact this piece of angle ,before I cut it to size, I tried to use as a straight edge and it is bowed. This is brand new stuff. The piece I used was straight, but maybe the heat exacerbated the problem in this particular material. I kept heat down on the bulk of the piece to be able to take a gloved hand, Tig gloves, and put it on the weld comfortably before I welded anything near it.

It was bound to happen now or later for sure. Bowed up 1/4 on both sides from middle and now the sheet is slightly oil canned.

 

ive seen warped by welding buckets fixed by welding the oppisite side of the warp.

 

Well this is the warped bed. It has the access panels cut because I will be using it anyway. The warped parts are under the seat and are concentrated by the tank sender panel. I used a really thin cut off wheel and will use the cut out for the inset panel. I decided to make access panels for both the filler hose area and the sender/siphon area.

 

Yeah.... I certainly would not recommend tig welding on flat sheet.
Tig welding in particular produce a tremendous amount of shrinkage as the weld cools.

 

Chris, sounds like you have bigger fish to fry right now without worrying about wheel house tool boxes, but I put one into my DJ project. The passenger side has the fuel filler so I only did it on the driver side.

But I didn't have it open from the top as the MB/GPW does. I could have since the DJ won't have a roll bar, but wanted the flat surface free to stack stuff on when using the DJ for camping, etc. I got the idea from somebody else's project, but I cut a hole into the vertical surface of the wheel well, not far from the tailgate and that is how the toolbox is accessed. I have the type of backseat that folds forward so that the toolbox door can be reached. Slightly awkward, but it works. With the seat in normal position, the toolbox is pretty secure as nobody would ever know it's there. Also, I used the front cowl vent off the DJ as the door, so it's hinged. No lock on it as the seat nudges up against it and keeps it securely closed- I didn't design it that way- it just worked out well. While I'm taking pics of more stuff to sell I'll get a picture or two of the toolbox and post it here.

 

I was thinking about doing the tool box just as you did. I am also thinking that it might drive me nuts trying to make these for little to no gain and as Chuck states below. It might not really be worth it considering how much of a PITA this is. I will see how it comes along. Thanks for posting this great idea.

I am concerned about water in the tool box. I do realize that sheet steel is always going to warp, its just a question of how much. I did stupid last night, knew it was stupid and did it anyway. In the end its not gonna matter one bit. Its just going to irritate me, but a whole lot less than my last version of this for sure. In addition to this I am NOT fixing the dented fenders or other stuff. I like some dents. Its a JEEP, not a camaro.

 

I finished the access panels. They got some "UnBrako" 8-32 button head screws i had laying around. They even came with a cert of conformance for my my QC program on my jeep The support is some 1/8x1"x20 feet strap I bought for 7.50$ I just framed the inside and split the difference of the hole.

you can see the warp of the angle on the table. Its not real bad. I got what I deserve since I TIG welded the whole back piece of that sheet/angle last night.

I bought some BNIB Omix seats both front and rear on C/L. got a great deal, but this is the hardware it came with.

This stuff is trash and If i paid more than half price for this stuff I would be very unhappy.

This latch and bracket doesn't even work. The seat is fully down against the bed and the latch isn't able to engage the hook . The seat swings up, but the back does not fold. I don't think I would recommend this seat. It looks cheap too.


I pulled this seat out of the box so I can weld reinforcement under the bed with welded nuts for mounts and seat belt points.

 

I belive it is Duffer that built some tool boxes in the rear fenders of his 3B. The doors were in the seat side of the fenders, one side was filled with his fuel system and the other was a somewhat smaller version of a MB tool box. I alyays wondered why they were never continued in the Cj versions.

 

Moving along on the bed. Welded in the stiffeners and the mid bed to frame mount.

 

All the welded nuts with welded washers on the back side of the bed for seats and seat belts are in place.
This is the POS bracket that came with this new seat. Obviously will not work.

I fixed the issue. Took some 3/16 scrap, cut a 1/4 wide slot in it and made it happen. The latch is just pushed a bit to the side. Works great.

 

Couldn't the floor/angle be bent back to straight before welding it into the body? Lay some 2x4s down. Lay the floor, face down, with the 2x4s at the edges and jump on center. Or something to this effect but maybe not so crude? Or, once it's warped, can it not be straightened? I'd have to try something.