CJ Grille Conversion Kit for the TJ/LJ

[njtacoma]

I too appreciate jscherb/s work. In this case, I like the hold down device sitting on the trans hump.

I had to look twice. Right tool for the right job!

[reece146]

Nice touch with the character crease added to the CJ hood.

[jeepdreamer]

Very cool! Maybe the next one should be a facelift for the YJ?? Also a couple other ideas to tease your brain with is a new front facia for an XJ that allows you to run Commander or Liberty headlights. Or a really new facia for an XJ that could look like a Gladiator grille! )

[jscherb]

I've finished up the construction of the inner fenders, here are some photos.

I've left the grille off in these first photos so you can see how the inners join up to the outers. Some final fitting and trimming is still required.





These inner fenders are a composite of both the TJ and CJ designs, so they fit correctly with the custom CJ fenders, but they also have all of the mounting locations for the TJ under-hood accessories, which will make the swap from stock to these parts a bolt-on job.

With the grille installed:

[M35A2]

Really nice.

[Bad Karma]

NICE!!! any chance you'll be making CJ inner fenders? (without all the TJ bumps)

I think inner fenders would sell like hot cakes since 99.9% of all aftermarket fenders require you to cut your factory fenders up to use the wheel wells.

[jscherb]

NICE!!! any chance you'll be making CJ inner fenders? (without all the TJ bumps)

I think inner fenders would sell like hot cakes since 99.9% of all aftermarket fenders require you to cut your factory fenders up to use the wheel wells.

You mean like these?



Actually I didn't mold those, they were part of the fiberglass CJ fenders I used as a starting point for making the custom fenders for this project. But it would be easy and inexpensive to make molds of them - it took me only a couple of hours to make a pair of molds for the TJ inners.

What I'm wondering is if this would be such a hot item, why hasn't anyone done it yet?

Maybe it's because people wouldn't be willing to pay enough for a pair to make it worthwhile to manufacture them?

This is one of the molds I made for the TJ inner fenders:



BTW the complete fenders I made for this project could also be fitted to CJ's, and unlike stock CJ fenders, they work nicely with TJ flares, so they could be a way to get larger wheel openings for bigger tires on CJ's... I made mine with TJ inners as you've seen in the photos but they could also be made with CJ inners taken from molds made from the inners pictured above.

[jscherb]

Simply awesome! Will the grill allow enough airflow and the use of the TJ A/C system?

I've mounted the radiator, so here's more detail...

Since the Wrangler radiator is narrower than the CJ radiator, there will be plenty of airflow. To mount the Wrangler radiator in the CJ grille shell, mounting brackets are required. They're are pretty simple, a pair of sheet metal "z" brackets to recess the radiator about 1" into the shell. I made a pair from scraps of sheet metal left over from cutting up the factory TJ hood that I used in making the custom hood for this project. The brackets have holes for the radiator clip nuts. I'll probably need to adjust the final height of the radiator to match the engine fan when it gets installed, so all I'll have to do to is drill different holes for the clip nuts.

The brackets mount to the holes that already exist in the factory CJ grille shell:



Here's the whole thing in the mockup.



In the next shot you can see there's almost 1" between the front of the radiator and the grille shell, that's where the AC condenser goes. Also the tape measure is showing about 34" from the firewall to the radiator, which is the same measurement as on the factory TJ, so there won't be any fan-radiator clearance issues.



Can't see through the grille anymore :



No new holes needed to be drilled in either the grille shell or the radiator, all it took to mount the Wrangler radiator in the CJ grille shell was the pair of z brackets.

[stomperxj]

Jeff - when do the custom lightweight Pine TJ frames go up for sale?

Looking awesome as always...

[jscherb]

Here's a digital mockup of the flatfender design I'm considering making molds for: