MJ tailgate revisted

[vetteboy]

Finally got the time & motivation to finish the body work on this stuff.

Before tackling the whole vehicle, I decided to just work on the tailgate itself first. This is my first 'real' body work project so I figured it'd be a good starting point that won't be too much of a pain to fix if I mess it up.

Here's the paint I'll be using, this is an OEM match from the firewall color code tag.

The back had several areas with surface rust along the bottom panels, and had been repainted at some point with crappy bondo & prep work. I stripped it down to bare metal and put a thin coat of filler along the bottom edges where the surface rust was. The previous owner had one of those plastic protector covers installed, and the screw holes had rusted out too. I welded and filled those at the same time.

The front had some pretty good rust going on, which the previous owner had covered with a sticker. I cut out a decent amount of rust and welded new panels in the bottom corners, skim coated with filler & sanded. The paint quality is a lot nicer on the front so I only sanded down the areas where it was chipped.

I still have to fill a few low spots and pinholes/scratches, and go over the entire thing with ~220 grit, then it's ready for primer.

 

[BIGSLVRXJ]

That turquoise is going to be snazzy on your rig dude. Great fab work too! I approve.

 

[vetteboy]

That turquoise is going to be snazzy on your rig dude. Great fab work too! I approve.

I've had the XJ for 8 years, it just kinda grew on me. I wish they had picked a better name for it though.

Here's the tailgate setup as of last May, just to keep it all in this thread:

 

[Darky]

off-topic, but I like the MJ tailgate on the XJ. What all did you have to swap over? Just move the hinges and latches? Was the width correct? I ask because eventually I will either do the "crew-cab Comanche" deal or a XJ "SUT". If I go the SUT route, I'd want to close off the passenger compartment and put a tailgate in back. TIA
PS Great lookin rig

 

[vetteboy]

Well, it's a bit more complicated than that. I'll go into more detail about it later, but you basically have to rebuild the whole rear section of the XJ if you want to have a functional tailgate there.

I finally got the proper grille for it (8 slot), and started putting the other crap back on it. Honestly with the silver roll cage and exo, I'm thinking about doing the clear outer lenses.

Oh yeah, did the letters too.

I think I'm going to tape off the tube, and straight across the top edge of the tailgate, and spray that all silver. So the tube line goes all the way across. I can't think of a better option for blending it all in and I think it'd look pretty good honestly.

I think I might not put the JEEP letters back on the front, omit the "cherokee" lettering, and do the clear lenses.

 

[ehall]

Nice! I want to do that to my beater one day.

 

[Smittty9785]

LOOKIN BAD ASS

 

[vetteboy]

Gettin closer.

 

[pb_beaker]

not to side track the thread but i like the additions to the cage. could you maybe post up some front pics to better see it?

 

[vetteboy]

Yep...

Ties into the B-pillar hoop...

Down through the front fenders...

and onto the 2x6 rocker replacements.

Goin' wheeling this weekend at a pretty difficult place, hopefully I'll put the new bars to good use.

 

[pb_beaker]

VERY NICE! Thanks for the pics, i was wondering how you connected it up front