Barn Door for JK factory hardtops

[jscherb]

Masking removed. All it needs now is a few coats of clear, which I'll shoot now. Stay tuned, more pics later this afternoon.

 

[jscherb]

I want one!

Darn it, I painted it the wrong color for your Jeep .

 

[en480c4]

Wow, Jeff. Even by the high standards your previous work has created, this looks incredible. I wish really wish this was available. It'd look amazing in gloss black on my Willys!

 

[jscherb]

Wow, Jeff. Even by the high standards your previous work has created, this looks incredible. I wish really wish this was available. It'd look amazing in gloss black on my Willys!

Thank you very much. I finished shooting the clear and took more photos so you'll see it in gloss as soon as I get a moment to get the photos off the camera and post them.

 

[jscherb]

Paint process finished, shot 3 coats of clear. Grille is now done.

I'll let the clear cure overnight; tomorrow I'll reinstall the mesh and turn signals and put the grille on the Jeep.

PS: If you're wondering why I put copyright notices on these photos, the other day a company used one of my earlier images from this project for commercial purposes without my permission. Copyright law grants an immediate implied copyright to the photographer even without a notice, which the company violated, but maybe this notice will prevent that company from using my images again.

 

[jscherb]

A few more...

Some closer views. It's hard to tell the inserts in the slots and headlight buckets are actually molded as part of the grille .

If you look closely at the area of the grille to the left of the turn signal hole, you can see my reflection as I'm standing over the grille to take this photo :

The overhead bulb in the garage is visible in this one (and if you look towards the lower left corner of the photo you can see the bulb over the second bay reflected as well, it's further away so it's a lot smaller).

 

[jscherb]

First thing this morning I installed the turn signals and the mesh behind the slots.

A view of the back. In the factory grille, the turn signals snap into place - clips on the back of the light housing snap into slots in the recess in the grille. When they're installed in a hole like I did there's nothing for the clips to snap into. To secure them in place, I made aluminum clamps similar to those that hold many old-style gauges in a dash or panel. These hold the light housings in place very well.

I'll install the grille on the Jeep this morning.

 

[jscherb]

And a few photos of the factory grille and the new grille for comparison. The factory grille has aftermarket slot inserts that were in the grille when I bought the Jeep.

 

[en480c4]

Jeff, have you considered the newer JK clear turn signals? I think it would really clean up the grill by eliminating an unnecessary additional color.

 

[jscherb]

Rain today. I was going to take the Jeep to the carwash to get the road salt off and then take nice photos of it with the new grille, but that'll have to wait until tomorrow; for now a few garage shots will have to do.

 

[jscherb]

Jeff, have you considered the newer JK clear turn signals? I think it would really clean up the grill by eliminating an unnecessary additional color.

No I haven't, I'm happy with the amber lenses. And they match the amber CJ-7 side marker lights I have on the front fenders so if I changed the lenses in the grille to clear it would look strange if I didn't change the side markers as well.

 

[jscherb]

Had to run to the store and when I came out I found a JK next to me so I couldn't resist a few comparison photos...

 

[jscherb]

An errand this morning took me past the local Jeep dealer and driving by I noticed they had a JL placed where I could get some side-by-side photos. This JL doesn't have inserts in the grille slots, I guess it's not a high-spec model.

BTW if anyone is thinking of trying to adapt a factory JK grille to their JK, I measured and the distance between the headlights on the JL is about an inch wider than the headlight spacing on the JK.

 

[MattJ]

LOVE that photo! Gotta ask - did any of the salespeople from the dealership notice and ask you about the grille? Or better, any customers?

This has to be one of the best DIY projects for a JKU that has ever been done. It's got every element: creativity, craftsmanship, patience, and a very non-DIY-looking result! Looks completely professional in both engineering and design.

 

[jscherb]

LOVE that photo! Gotta ask - did any of the salespeople from the dealership notice and ask you about the grille? Or better, any customers?

This has to be one of the best DIY projects for a JKU that has ever been done. It's got every element: creativity, craftsmanship, patience, and a very non-DIY-looking result! Looks completely professional in both engineering and design.

This dealership is closed on Sunday.