Barn Door for JK factory hardtops

[thechadwick]

That's a winner in my book. One thing I've wondered is if placing the markers more inboard might give the impression of more of a keystone look to the grill? I've considered cutting my JK grill down to a more keystone vs the current oval-ish design before, but putting a small marker might draw the eye in without resorting to the sawzall. Something like the picture below but is what I was considering, but moving the markers seems to get after the look pretty effectively.

 

[jscherb]

That's a winner in my book. One thing I've wondered is if placing the markers more inboard might give the impression of more of a keystone look to the grill? I've considered cutting my JK grill down to a more keystone vs the current oval-ish design before, but putting a small marker might draw the eye in without resorting to the sawzall. Something like the picture below but is what I was considering, but moving the markers seems to get after the look pretty effectively.

View attachment 438340

Early in the design process I studied what it would take to change the shape of the grille to the more trapezoidal JL shape and I decided not to do it because it would require moving the lower mounts for the factory fenders and would prevent the factory fenders from being used in stock condition. Notice the Jeep in your photo, the fenders are trimmed high so they no longer mount halfway down the side of the grille. I decided that if this were to be a generally acceptable design for most people it would have to work properly with the factory fenders and not require modification of the fenders or fender mounts.

This pair of photos and the outline drawn on the JK grille illustrates the difference in shape between the grilles, and I agree that moving the turn signals inboard does enhance the look.

 

[thechadwick]

Couldn't agree more. I was reluctant to trim the grill due to the difficulty involved but if your JL one made it to market I wouldn't even consider it. I think the inboard lights with the small CJ3/5 non-bezel ring style fits the modern look of the nose, and gives it a more traditional keystone look to boot. Thanks for the great thread! I'm overseas for sometime, and catching up on 15 pages of innovation was a treat. (even if it does make me miss being home with my jeep.)

*Not for nothing, your grill would likely be the only non-grumper/angry eye aftermarket grill out there that builds on the original jeep design vs covering it up. That certainly has to appeal to an entirely different demographic than the current market offerings. I'm interested to see how much interest this project gathers as I love it. Of course I've been interested in nearly everyone of your design projects since I discovered the barndoor at the beginning of this 300+ page thread now.

 

[jscherb]

Couldn't agree more. I was reluctant to trim the grill due to the difficulty involved but if your JL one made it to market I wouldn't even consider it. I think the inboard lights with the small CJ3/5 non-bezel ring style fits the modern look of the nose, and gives it a more traditional keystone look to boot. Thanks for the great thread! I'm overseas for sometime, and catching up on 15 pages of innovation was a treat. (even if it does make me miss being home with my jeep.)

*Not for nothing, your grill would likely be the only non-grumper/angry eye aftermarket grill out there that builds on the original jeep design vs covering it up. That certainly has to appeal to an entirely different demographic than the current market offerings. I'm interested to see how much interest this project gathers as I love it...

After I finish the mold and make the first one and install it on my Jeep we'll see how much interest there is in it. If there's enough interest maybe I'll try to find a company interested in manufacturing/marketing it. If not, then it will just be a one-off project for my Jeep. I may mold a few extras for friends though, if I've got the time.

 

[Yuke]

I might be interested...

 

[jscherb]

The production JK HD Door Hinges that match the tailgate hinges are due to be available this week. I'll pick up my set next week when I stop by MORryde on my way to Moab.

Today I designed and built a prototype of another accessory for the hinges - a HiLift mount. It bolts to the hinges in the same way that the steps do - the hinges don't have to be unbolted from the door in order to install or remove the HiLift mount. A few photos of the new mount on my salt-encrusted JKU (just back from a trip to snowy Boston):

The parts are raw aluminum right now, I'll paint them black this evening.

The jack mount can go on any of the 4 doors. Also in the photo above a hinge step is installed on the rear door.

 

[jscherb]

The HiLift hinge-mount in action.

 

[jscherb]

I haven't had time to do the bodywork on the mold master grille yet but this morning I had a few minutes to try a quick test-fit on the Jeep. Fits well, so far everything is going according to design and plan.

Upcoming steps in this project:

- Bodywork the mold master to smooth the parts together; fill the intersection between the outer slots and the headlight buckets.

- Put a final finish on the mold master - epoxy primer, high build primer, 2k clear.

- Make a mold from the master.

- Mold the first actual grille.

Tomorrow I plan to do the bodywork to smooth everything together and fill the intersection between the outer slots and the headlight buckets.

 

[14JKURX]

Looks good keep up the good work.

 

[jscherb]

The preliminary bodywork on the grille face is done and I applied epoxy primer to it this morning. The new face hasn't been attached to the grille base yet, that's the next step and the two parts will be smoothed together with some bodywork followed by more epoxy primer and then a nice finish. In these photos you can see that I've built the intersections between the outer slots and the headlight buckets, until now there were gaps there.

 

[jscherb]

The JL Grille for the JK mold master is just about finished. Still have to put a nice finish on it before I make the mold, but here's what the master looks like now. The face and the factory grille base are now joined together; I also put bottoms on the headlight buckets to make the mold easier to make.

What's next is fixing a few very minor imperfections, then perfecting the surface with high-build primer, then I'll put a gloss finish on it so the mold has a gloss surface.

 

[en480c4]

Great work Jeff. I'm really looking forward to seeing how it turns out. The attention to detail will really show in the final product.

 

[jscherb]

Great work Jeff. I'm really looking forward to seeing how it turns out. The attention to detail will really show in the final product.

Thank you. My goal is a factory-quality look. I've still got a little work to do to get there but I feel good about how it looks at this stage.

 

[jscherb]

I've got a meeting with one of the big Jeep catalog companies tomorrow and I plan to show them the Overhead Molle panel so today I outfitted it with a sampling of gear... a 2-gallon Rotopax, a couple of Molle pouches and a folding shovel. Stowed, everything disappears...

 

[02rangeredge]

that I feel like gets picked up in a heartbeat, is your rotopax full? I can see them wanting to know that if it's mounted in your sample gear