Things to do while I have it apart.

Ok, My last post was about swapping a 350 in which was talked about and decided to rebuild the Dauntless. I will be pulling that this weekend. My question(s) now become while I have it apart what should I do so I wont think damn I wish I would have done that when I had it apart. Here are a few things that I am thinking of;
1) Clean up and repaint the frame-Its pretty clean How difficult is it to pull the body off?
2) Clean and repaint all drive train - Is there a axel swap that bolts up with little or no fab in order to get disc brakes-If not I will just do the conversion talked about in these pages
3) I was thinking of putting a lift on while I have it apart- Should I go with a 4" susp lift or 2" susp + 2" body what do you guys suggest- I would like to run 33's perhaps 35's Also where do you guys recommend getting the lift kit or fabbing one from a later Jeep
4) I was planning on extending the wheel base a little say 18"-24" I think this would be best accomplished in the rear half of the vehicle to avoid messing with the steering etc.. Any thoughts, or post where people have done this?
5) I'm going to build a roll cage, I was thinking that I should mount my seats directly to it. Any thoughts, comments, ideas, pictures.


I'm sure as I go through this I will have many more questions....
I did read the Thread above......

thanks in advance
marc

 

This sounds like a whole project on its own...I guess it depends on how soon you want to drive your JEEP. Do you still have the gas tank in the original place?

check pirate4x4, that kind of work is common there...

 

Wow now thats some project creep.

20in extension of the wheelbase makes it a 6. Personally I would not do what you are planning simply because I have walked down the same road and I wish I had just had a running Jeep instead and at least had fun with it while I was building it.

 

That much wheelbase extention is unrealistic for an ECJ. I don't see how you could pull that off and have something that doesn't look......well.........just plain ugly. You would have to extend the body to get it back into proportion and at that point you might just as well have bought a CJ6. 10 inches is doable, much more than that I just don't see happening. I am working on a new (old) frame for my CJ and I've got it designed to add almost 10" to the wheelbase without stretching the frame, but I haven't been able to come up with a way to get more than that without either cutting the frame or going to coil suspension. If you think you may run 35" tires you will need at least the 4" lift. I have that and a 2" body lift and I still had to cut the rear fenders for clearance. Of course it also depends on what width 35" tire you plan to use. With some skinny 35's you might be fine with just the suspension lift.

 

I'm running about 3" of lift and have penty of room for my 31's. the 4" is too much, same with 35's. 33's are about the biggest tire I would realisticly run.

If 18-24" is a little, what's a lot?

 

Sounds like you have a good plan for it as far as most of the things go. As far as stretching the wheelbase, I'm kinda with everyone else on it to some extent. To get 18-20 more inches out of it, and still make it look good, you just about have to stretch it some in the front and some in the rear. For the most part, you will also have to cut the front fenders (or get tube fenders), as well as comp cutting the rear of the tub. You also have to take into consideration the size tire you are wanting to run, because with smaller tires around 33's or 35's, that much extra length will hurt you more than it will help you as far as trails usually go. Realistically speaking, if you want it a little longer in the rear, I would go around 6" to maybe 10", and it would just about have to be four linked in the rear. Even with that, you will have to comp cut the tub. All of that is good on the trails, but if you are gonna be driving it on the road it's just not something I would do.

To give you an example, here is my latest trail rig I'm building.



I bought the Jeep as it sits in the pic. The front has been stretched some, but the rear needs more to make it look right. It's sitting at 98" wheelbase, and I'm stretching it 10-12 more in the rear and four linking it. It is also sitting on 38's in the pic, but those have been swapped for some 44's. Keep in mind though, all of this is strictly because it will be for trail use only. If I would have bought the Jeep before he cut the rear, I would have kept it like it was for driving on the road.

Just my .02

 

And thats why I post what I'm thinking here... If I have a idea, someone else on here probably has tried it and can save me a lot of heart ache...
I think I will still go with the lift one way or another, the stretch will be something I will look at down the road.

Let me ask another question, What are some things I should consider in reguards to the steering and clutch....

Steering, should I consider doing any upgrades
Clutch same question

I really do appreciate you guys and your honesty... If any of you are in the TX area let me know, stop by have a beer or Iced T which ever is your taste....