Ok, things might get a little picture heavy here. Top is off and everything is mostly capped off and ready to go. I still have to get my removable window figured out but i'm getting closer.

Hatch off



Rack off



Ready to start



Did my best to mark a straight line across the top


Hit it with the disc grinder



Its starting to fall off. And I even managed to save both the back windows



I ran out of discs and needed to finish before dark so the cutting torch came out.



still smoking a bit



Bent the rear a little with my high lift



Left me with this



Rear end.



Now time to start the actual hard work



...



The back



I did screw up and cut the wire harness that runs through the roof to the passenger tail lights so I built a new harness to wire in. I'll wire it better down the road but this works for now

 

Day two -
Well there a few parts of this that I didnt get good pictures for. I got caught up in welding and cutting and forgot to snap some pics along the way. You can piece it together easy enough.

I welded in a piece of 1x1 angle across the roof to flatten it out and to give me something solid to work off of to get the top tied into the cage.









Then I took another piece of the angle and welded that right below so that it would match up with the top tube on the cage.



Beads




Then that left me with this.





This did add a slight bubble to the roof but honestly, once I got everything together and got the rack back on you cant really notice it. And its stiff enough that it doesnt rattle or anything either.



Next up is the sides



More angle



Tack tack tack



Same game plan for the sides. Since this has a slight curve to it I had to take some body hammers to it but it worked out pretty well and doesn't look terrible






Welding it all in.



I mainly just focused on that one side for the pictures. Its the same on the other side. Here it is with all of that welded in.



Now time for the corner caps. Used the ol cardboard template that i'm so fond of again for this one.



Which then gave me this.



Threw some primer on it til I can get around to painting it right.



I haven't capped the ends above the tail lights yet. After welding for a day straight to get it to this point I just didn't have it in my to work on it anymore. I'll probably cap that part either this afternoon or tomorrow sometime. All of the angle iron that I used for this came from a small bed frame that was given to me. I was walking around the flea market last month and one of the vendors was walking to the trash with the frame getting ready to trash it so I told him I would take it isn't. I still have enough left over after all of this to build another battery box to mount in the back. Basically, not counting welding supplies, I have about $15 into this project. So all you super budget guys should enjoy it as well. Really just takes some time to get everything boxed up and welded back together.

 

Backup light brackets added. Didn't get much done today cause I was helping a buddy with his sway bars and a few odds and ends on his jeep.

 

Subscribed. Im in the processes of starting my chop top too.

 

one of the cleanest so far! i love the look.

 

Looks good. I took the rear windows out before cutting and just followed the window frame with my cut so I didn't have to cap anything but the top corners and above the tail lights.

 

Thank you. Glad to hear some good things about it.



I thought about doing that but I didn't want to leave the pinch seam exposed across the sides. I like the look of the flush metal better.

 

You plan on doing some sort of soft top for it or anything? Looks sick btw

 

If I'm not mistaken he plans to make a back window for it and leave the back open.

 

I will be setting it up with a removable plexiglass window. When the weather gets cold I can put it in an seal everything up and once things warm up it will come out and I will just have an open back end.



Nailed it.

 

Got my tank installed and a tarp thrown on it before the snow hit again.


Air!



Pre snow cover




Post snow. It really wasn't too bad driving with it covered like this today either.

 

Love it, can't wait too see how you work out the back window, do you have a write up on the roll cage?

 

Thanks. Once things warm up I should have some more progress and get this rear end all finished up.

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f58/ro...-build-133348/

 

Wow, definitely one of the cleanest chops I've seen. Looking forward to the rest.

 

Looking good man!!