No its next years project the tub, looks like im staying with the jeep engine carnt afford to go LS and ATLAS so just collecting parts(new wheels, tyres,just got some spare axles)just need to find an auto box which auto you going with.Somthing like this with minimal body work.
Cleggy,At some point I'll start a build thread when I take some decent pics and have more time. Regarding the gearbox, initially I was intending to go down the AW4 route however eventually opted for a TH350, passing on the AW4 plus all the bits to fit AW4 to a TJ to Willo - we've been trading bits on and off for a while. Now lots of folks are going to say fitting a TH350 to 4.0L I6 is a stupid thing to do, however: 1) at somepoint I may choose to go with a Chevvy Engine, 2) Stroke the 4.0L (I have a complete Cherry to play with), 3) the TH350 is a good deal shorter than the AW4, 4) its stronger, 5) doesn't rely upon electrics or need extra bits to force it to stay in 1 or 2. I also thought about going down the Diablo route or similar, even got as far as pricing up shipping a Diablo to the UK, however: 1) its very expensive compared with buying tube locally and doing your own thing, 2) we doubted there would be any weight saving especially if we opted for large diameter tube or if we needed to strength it, 3) rear would require a lot of tweaking. So we've opted to tray back TJ, not sure about the front at the mo. By we, I mean Martin Lewis and myself, Martin is the guy who started the whole trayback thing in the UK, I'm luck enough to live about 5 minutes away. There will be alot of other stuff that will be unique to a UK Jeep, its already sporting a custom 3 link + panhard front suspension, relocated steering box that allowed us to meet one of our design objectives, 37" will stick out about 1" to 2" in front of Jeep. Jeep build is a huge project (all kicked off by Willo finding me a pair of Teraflex HP CRD60s), one thats already give me some sleeplist nights and no doubt alot more, one that will progress slowly during the year, one that relies upon the expertise of UK folks such as Andy W who been retubing the D60s (thanks Andy, work is really appreciated) and some US suppliers who are very interested in what I'm upto - they've been offering great advice and very good pricing. Cuffy
bowrope from david bowyer