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Good eye... Some of that is due to the angle of the pic, but we did have to shove everything on topside back a bit. The wheelbase came in about 115 3/4". This was sort of accidental, though we were originally shooting for 115. We decided to set the engine back as far as practical. I wanted...

Now it's on to plumbing, wiring, interior and charge-air-cooling routing. Stay tuned for more in January '19... ~doc

She's tall, and she carries some weight up top, But seriously, who doesn't like tall buxom redheads with long legs? Besides, with those full-width military axles, her track is wide. Should be plenty stable... I mean, as stable as any redhead CAN be, right?

All in all, she's not falling too far afield from the final design drawing from approximately 8 months ago... Drawing... And current state with all the big heavy parts together...

Well, what the heck is that thing for anyway. It's way too tall to carry a bunch of crap up there... Yes, you're right! While we've all seen crazy amounts of stuff loaded way up high, that really a bad idea on off-camber situations. This design carries the preponderance of its weight at the...

And due to the time warping ability of post-construction writing, BAM!... Just like that, we have the externals of the the cage...

HOOP, 'der it IZZ!! TOLD you we'd have a use for that pretty aluminum we cut off the bed. And the hoop? Gotta start that cage somewhere, right?

We'll make those rails tuck up real nice and close to the pretty LumNeum bed that is all cut down in length and width.

Now, about that stupid-proof armor... Gotta have the exo-cage integrated... and might as well make those rocker sliders out of 2x4 dom while we're at it, huh? Just so we have a nice sturdy base. Now that we're thinking about it... let's just consider it a secondary frame and build it up as...

Ok... engine secure, transmission bolted up. Now we can start thinking about drivelines... but first, what are we doing for a Tcase? Well, we haven't taken any real shortcuts up to this point. A top-flight rebuild on a np203 and 205, plus the cost of a doubler kit is within spitting distance...

Ok engine's fitting perfect! Wait!! Do we have enough room for the cores up front? Umm... Yeah, I believe we'll have enough room. Looks like a good 16 inches from the pulleys to the grill. 20 years ago, I could'a stood up in there, but I'm a wee too wide for that these days.

Fortuitously,we had a rear-wrecked totaled TJ for the rest of the top side hard-parts... important stuff like doors, hood and windshield. Hey, those 35s came in. HO-LEY mother of altitude, Batman... this girl has LONG legs!! That, ladies and gentlemen, is a 38 inch step-in height, and I'ma...

I dunno... that engine's pretty tall, are we gonna have to cut a hole in the hood? Let's see, I think if we tilt it back a bit and drop it down between the frame rails, we might just be able to make enough room to close the hood.

Frame, axles, wheels, tranny, bed. We got a roller... but where's that engine? Ok, time to bug the engine guy. Ring... Ring... Umm... what...? He did WHAT??!! Retired?!?! But... but...? "Oh wait... you're THAT guy. Yeah, that one's being finished up and should ship next week. Robbie...

Tranny! This is one tranny that should never be heard singing "we're not gonna take it..." and I shouldn't hear it singing "Tear It Loose" (another from the way--back Twisted Sister file. Danny Snyder and crew ROCK!

Ok... gotta have room for all this crap that's hitting the shop... Let's heave that luscious hunk of 'Lumneum bed up on the back, throw some wood blocks under it until it looks like it sets right. There... that's about right. Welp... she's kinda... umm... misshapen. About 6 inches too...

Beginning to look less like parts and more like a truck... sorta... -ish ?

hmm... that's room for 37's, but dang, I'm getting old... knees still in good shape, but never know... let's back it back down to 35s... that'll knock an inch off and that's gotta be better for the knees, right? In the meantime, let's put it on 33s so we can roll it around. Depending on how...

So then, let's start by setting the gorgeous tub up on the frame... body mounts look like they're fine, since Aqualu/Hardbody does great fab work. YJ length spring pack over the axle and a shackle reversal...

This is when bits start arriving in earnest... Tub, transmission... "Wait, how we gonna make wipers work with that tub, there aren't any hidey-holes for the wiper assembly under the cowl?" We'll figure that out later!