[92 Green YJ]

Back on it today.

Swung by IMS after dropping my daughter off at summer camp and picked up another 30' of 1.75" DOM tube, another 10' of 1.25" DOM, a quarter sheet of 14 gauge sheet metal, and a half sheet of perforated sheet for the rear rack I'm going to build.

Got home and got unloaded and went to work. I started by cutting, notching, and burning in the rear support bars for the mini halo down to the C pillar.

Then I jumped up top and made the braces for the mini halo. I will be hanging some wake tower speakers off the halo after paint.

Then I went ahead and knocked out the drivers seat harness bar.

After that I decided my goal for today was to knock out all of the tube gussets for the drivers side. Started at the front with the gusset from the windshield spreader to the down bar.

Then I did the tube gussets at the B pillar

Then I decided to add another down bar from the first bend on the B to C spreader down to the C. I kept staring at that space and felt like it needed a little more support so I decided to do this.

Then I jumped up front and knocked out the windshield inverted V bars. I will have a gusset here at the top that my rear view mirror will be mounted to.

And I added some small cut out gussets to the top and bottom corner of the windshield and dash bars.

Next work day I am going to basically do the same on the passenger side of the rig and start on the rear cargo rack mounts.

 

[92 Green YJ]

So today I more or less have finished up the roll cage. All the bars and gussets are in place. I just have to burn a few more tabs in for the overhead fans and the JK bikini top header and do the frame tie ins and it will be ready to be pulled out for finish welding and paint.

First order today was knocking out all of the passenger side gussets and supports.

With that done I turned my attention to the cooler rack. I had originally planned to make a removable basket that would bolt in, but after looking at it for a bit I decided that wasn't really necessary so I went with a hard mount permanent fixture set up instead. I bent up a bar to attach to the back of the rear harness bar and burned it in level with the rear cross bar. Then cut some cross tubes and burned them in.

Then I took some perforated plate I picked up and cut a top plate for it. I then decided to dimple a bunch of the holes for rigidity and looks before burning it in. I also added 4 tabs total (2 per side) for tie down points.

And the cooler in place on the rack.

So my next working day I will get the tabs all burned in, knock out the frame tie ins, and hopefully knock out the rock rails/tube steps with the goal of pulling the roll cage next week.

 

[WSS]

Yaa! Looks great. Dunno if the rotomolded cooler is new to you, they rock. We have a 45qt and a 20qt, the 45 will literally last 6 days, the 20 about 4 days.

 

[92 Green YJ]

Yaa! Looks great. Dunno if the rotomolded cooler is new to you, they rock. We have a 45qt and a 20qt, the 45 will literally last 6 days, the 20 about 4 days.

I've had this cooler for a year or two now. It really is great. Kinda wish it was wider and shorter though. They all seem to be roughly this size though. I do love how long it holds ice though, and the fact I can tie it down and still open it without popping the straps loose.

 

[92 Green YJ]

Well my awesome wife suggested I go spend some more time on the Jeep today even though it's not my day. So I spent some time knocking out some of the little things I still wanted to do on the roll cage.

I started with adding a bit of style as well as additional strength. I made some nice dimpled plate gussets for the down bars from the mini halo out of some 14 gauge sheet steel.

Then I grabbed an old sheet of perforated sheet I had laying around and cut the top insert plates for the overhead mini hoops and burned them in. I will be mounting some round LED dome lights up in here after paint.

And lastly I burned in the mounting tabs for the JK windshield header and the fans in the overhead. I figured I may as well do the tabs for the header even though I'm still not sure about the top option I'm going to go with. But it's easier to do it now than have to come back and deal with it later after I've painted the cage.

 

[92 Green YJ]

So on to today's progress.

I started with the C pillar frame tie ins. Right off the bat I hit a snag. I had planned to use bushings on the frame tie ins rather than had mounting. However I quickly discovered that the small cage foot plates I used on the C pillar were too small to put bushing mount brackets on. So I said to hell with it and just went hard mounts for all of them. Was easier and faster anyway. All the frame tie ins are 1.75" .120 DOM. The C pillar was easy, just angle cuts on the ends and burn it in.

I did both Driver and Passenger side C pillar tie ins, then decided to start with the Passenger side B and A tie ins as that side of the Jeep was in the shade. B pillar tie in.

A pillar tie in

Then I got side tracked and decided to knock out the passenger side rock slider step. The tube on this is 1.25" .250 wall DOM as I tend to use these as a pivot point and they see some rock contact so I wanted them very stout. It's all tacked together for the moment and I will do the finish welding off the Jeep so I don't screw up my paint.

I had a fair bit of that 3/4" perforated plate (hole size not thickness) left over from the cooler rack, so I decided this time around to actually add a step plate area. Cut a chunk to size and then dimpled some of the holes for grip.

And that was the point that my welding gas ran empty on me again. I think this is the fourth or fifth tank I've gone thru on this build. So I called it a day and closed up shop so I could run over to Westair for a fresh tank before they closed.

 

[82JeepCJ7]

I got tired of my gas always running dry. Went out an bought a 150CF bottle. Ends up being cheaper in the long run, and I don't run out of gas in the middle of a weld. What CFM is your regulator set at?

 

[92 Green YJ]

Ok. So I decided I really did not want to have to finish weld and paint the cage in the Jeep. So I decided my best bet was to go ahead and cut the foot plates off of the A and B pillars so I could remove the cage. Plan is to bolt the foot plates back down before the cage goes back in and just weld them back on in the Jeep.

So of course today I had no help so some redneck ingenuity ensued to remove this monster by myself. Kids don't try this at home.

This worked great u til it came time to lower it to the ground. Let's just say the cage has already had its first minor flop. Thankfully nobody (me) was injured in the attempt. I did wind up with a small dent in the tailgate and I have a little paint touch up to do in a couple of spots, but all well.

With the cage out and already upside down I put it on some movers dollies and rolled it into the garage to start welding.

Finished all the welds that would have been overhead had I left it in the Jeep then used my hoist to tip it up onto its side for more easy access.

Then a final flip to get it back upright to finish all the welds.

Then I went ahead and got it up on jack stands and started doing some paint prep.

So my next work day it will be sprayed with color and hopefully I can round up six guys or so to help me put it back in for the last time next week.

 

[92 Green YJ]

Ok. So I decided I really did not want to have to finish weld and paint the cage in the Jeep. So I decided my best bet was to go ahead and cut the foot plates off of the A and B pillars so I could remove the cage. Plan is to bolt the foot plates back down before the cage goes back in and just weld them back on in the Jeep.

So of course today I had no help so some redneck ingenuity ensued to remove this monster by myself. Kids don't try this at home.

This worked great u til it came time to lower it to the ground. Let's just say the cage has already had its first minor flop. Thankfully nobody (me) was injured in the attempt. I did wind up with a small dent in the tailgate and I have a little paint touch up to do in a couple of spots, but all well.

With the cage out and already upside down I put it on some movers dollies and rolled it into the garage to start welding.

Finished all the welds that would have been overhead had I left it in the Jeep then used my hoist to tip it up onto its side for more easy access.

Then a final flip to get it back upright to finish all the welds.

Then I went ahead and got it up on jack stands and started doing some paint prep.

So my next work day it will be sprayed with color and hopefully I can round up six guys or so to help me put it back in for the last time next week.

 

[92 Green YJ]

So I snuck out to the garage for a little bit today to spray my first color on the overhead X bars. I decided to do it today so that by Friday it will be fully cured and I can mask it off to spray the rest of the cage.

Applied several coats of Summit Racing's house brand Royal Blue Pearl.

The pictures don't really do it justice. The rest of the cage will be sprayed Viper Red on Friday.

 

[92 Green YJ]

Paint day today!

I started by masking off the overhead X bars with tape and masking paper to protect them while my air compressor was charging up.

Then I mixed up some Summit Racing house brand single stage acrylic urethane in Viper Red with their activator and started spraying.

This is a pretty popping red. Will definitely see me coming down the trail.

After letting the red cure for a little bit I peeled the mask off the blue.

Then for the final touch I added the 13 white star decals evenly spaced on the top and bottom of the X bars to emulate the confederate battle flag.

Last thing I did for today was to sketch out the overhead and take down the dimensions and send an email to Gearshade to see about getting a custom bikini top made to fit the cage.

 

[92 Green YJ]

Nice productive day today. During the day while I was awaiting the arrival of my help to put the roll cage in I went ahead and started installing some stuff on it.

First order of business was the front and rear dome lights. Picked these little LED units up from Amazon. They have a 3 way switch on them. 1 is white light, the other is red light so it won't affect my night vision at night.

Then I went ahead and mounted the overhead 12V fans. There is one above each seat and they will each be on their own switch so the person in that seat can turn it on or off whenever they want. They are adjustable and can swivel and rotate as well. Again these came from amazon but I modified them to suit my needs.

Then came my refreshed wake tower speakers. They have been repainted and I replaced the old speakers with some marine Kicker 3 way speakers.

Then I installed the cage mount rear view mirror.

And the front cup holders. Gonna wait on the rear ones until I see where the best spot will be for the kids to reach them from their seats. These are just bicycle water bottle holders. They work great for Jeeps and hold well while wheeling.

Then the cavalry arrived and we got the cage dropped back into the Jeep in about 2 minutes. Big thanks to everyone that rolled on over to give me a hand. I'll have to get some better shots tomorrow. By the time it was in the light was fading and the pics didn't come out too great.

 

[FunkSkunk]

Wow, that's some impressive cage work sir! Great job