TJ Frame Swap

kvesi122 wrote:Okay guys i'm looking for opinions about which direction I should go with disassembly of the jeep. Should I take the tub off first and start moving brake/fuel lines over? Or should I take the axles off first and put everything up on stands?

I'd pull the axles. Gives you a LOT more breathing room underneath to pull the lines once the tub's off. Not that I've done any of this before, but that's the direction I would go.

I'd pull the axles first too. Then you've got much more room to lower the frame when removing the tub and like Ryan said you can reach things much easier.

Well I guess that sort of depends. My first thought was tub, but that's because in my situation a rolling chassis would be helpful. Would that be of any use to you?

I'm going to have the jeep parked parallel to the carport (frame's in the carport). It would be a lot easier to move the axles over to the new frame so that I can push it around if I need to. Hopefully I won't too much haha.

Well today the heep drew first blood. My knuckles are bleeding but the front clip is very slowly starting to come off. So far just about half of the bolts and studs came out easily the rest either snapped or are taking their sweat time coming out. I hosed everything with PB Blaster a few minutes ago so I'll kick back and enjoy the sun for a while. For anyone interested in Blue Moon beers I may need some help next Saturday at 3 getting the body mounts out. Also if anyone has an impact gun that would be fantastic! Those things are hardly budging with a breaker bar.

Where you located? I could possibly lend a hand for a bit, just need to see if I can swing it..

Sudbury Mass.

I'm not sure what dates are still planned for work, but if it's still going on in August, I would love to help out, ha ha.

It might even give me a chance to try out my air tools and compressor which never get used (due to the fact I don't have a garage).

Let us know the progress and if there's anything we can do to help!

I hope to have the tub off by the end of September so that I can swap the engine and tranny in before snow falls. That way I can run new lines and whatnot inside the carport in the winter. I'll be working whenever I have free time throughout the summer so if anyone is interested just shoot me a text at 978 four six zero 1516 if they want to swing by for a bit. Again any help is appreciated!

CrawlingForward it would be a huuuuuge help if you could stop by in August. Hopefully it won't be this hot haha. I have a pretty powerful air compressor hooked up in my basement with 100 ft of air hose to run outside. If you want to test out those air tools on the body mounts by all means please do. If they snap the retaining nut inside the channel it doesn't matter because I need to weld in new sections anyway.

Well it's been a really long time since I've worked on the jeep but I made a good amount of progress today! Completely ripped out the radiator and loosened up all the bolts to take the front fenders off. The tub mount bolts finally gave up today and let me take them em out.

Got the driver's seat out so the tub is completely stripped aside from the roll cage and dash. Tomorrow I'll finish up disconnecting what's necessary to remove the tub. At this point it might be more cost effective to swap the tub as well. I'll throw up some rusty pictures later today.

In a couple minutes I'm buying a 2 ton engine hoist to assist in the tub removal along with the drivetrain. It's an Ex-cell hoist that's been garaged for a few years. Only $150! Can't complain.










And labeling the bird's nest of wires under the hood.

Back from the dead!

Good to see the project moving again. Any word on who the vandal ended up being?

It's not hard to do, I basically swapped my frame by myself, just take your time.
Leave motor and trans in it, remove shifters, wiring etc.
Get a few guys and pick up tub and walk it backwards twards rear of jeep, easier if tires are off or flat.
Then you can remove drive train.
PIECE OF CAKE.
Looking for pics of my frame swap.

Thanks Mark! And I didn't get a definitive answer but my ex mentioned something about it.

Engine hoist going for a magic carpet ride.



Unfortunately it was way the hell across the yard.



The yellow shed was its final destination.

Couple more pics from working today. Looking good so far! Fenders are definitely shot. Still debating on the tub. It could be fixed up but it would still need some costly work.

Ah progress, you'r getting there.

Pulled the transfer case and transmission shifters today. The emergency brake is disconnected as well. The transfer case shifter might be a little difficult to disconnect entirely due to the rust.

Leave the shifter in place and just disconnect the linkage at the shifter.
You can pop it out of the grommet with a screw driver.
If the linkage is that bad a sawzall will do the job.

The tub doesn't look so bad from the pictures. Where's the damage?

Popped off the grommet today! I wasn't sure how brittle it would be after all these years but it didn't split.

Here's a few pics of the tub damage:



Passenger's Floor Pan



Driver's Floor Pan





Left Side Tub Mount



Right Side Tub Mount



Both floor pans will be replaced and the area that the e brake mounts to has to be cut out and replaced. The rear 2 body mounts on both sides are rotted out completely. Rear right tub corner has a rust patch that will be easy to cut and replace.

On a less morbid note here's some more progress from today

All shifters are out.



All of the main wiring harness disconnected including PCM.

I'm not sure how the rest of the tub will look until I pull it off. It didn't look too bad when I was crawling around under there a few times. I laugh every time I look at the transfer case skid. Looks like I could poke through it with a spoon.

Heck, I drive mine everyday and my driver floor is much worse than that.

Definitely looks like a solid project though dude, hopefully summer will offset last winter and be warm and dry to give you plenty of opportunity to work on it. I know that's what I'm banking on.

I have a bone to pick with rust. Literally can't stand it if I see it haha.

Yeah, I know the feeling.

Most of that's cosmetic, but the mounts would definitely need addressing. Might be worth patching and monstalining the interior stuff while you've got the tub off.

Yeah I was planning on replacing and patching what's necessary and then raptor lining the inside. Underside will get 2 coats of 3M undercoating. Both sides will have a bottom layer of POR 15. Don't want to have to do this twice. Hopefully I can keep everything within my budget time and money wise. I would like to get the engine and tranny into the new frame along with a suspension rebuild at minimum before I start working again.

July 4th is my ideal end date for everything.