By Justin Jimmo
Toronto, Ontario — August 30, 2016 — In this article, we look at how we used a body kit to transform a 2014 Jeep into a mini pick-up. The Jeep and the Mopar body kit were both provided by a Chrysler dealership.
Overall, this customized jeep took several weeks to complete, with all panels welded in place. We spent between 200 and 300 hours doing the conversion.
1. The first step was disassembly. This is an obvious starting point for further modification. To begin, we removed the rear doors, molding, wiring, tailgate and a good portion of the interior.
2. This is where the fun really begins! Now that we had the disassembly complete, we cut out the roll bars, rockers, quarters and pillars. I think it’s worth mentioning here that we used a genuine Mopar kit, so the fitting was actually pretty good. This may not be the case with those cheap kits you see on eBay. In my experience, they don’t fit well and you have to do a lot of work to get them to fit properly. Frankly, I don’t think there’s much point in saving a few dollars if it costs you a lot of labour time.
3. Next, we dry fitted all the metal and lined it up to ensure everything fits 100 percent before welding the metal in place. This is essential. You really don’t want to weld a panel on and then realize it’s not precisely where you want it.
I was a little surprised that they didn’t specify the use of panel-bonding adhesive in place of welding at any point during the installation. The OEM specified welding everywhere, so that’s what we did. It’s important to follow the manufacturer’s instructions and recommendations for the best results.
4. Once we had the dry fit done, we coated the metal in weld-through primer before welding. The welds all needed to be ground down afterwards, and in some cases, filler needed to be applied to smooth it out.
5. Once the box was roughed out, it was time to apply some primer to smooth it out and level any imperfections.
6. We did the painting in a few steps. First, we sprayed the inside part of the cab. This allowed us to insert a divider between the cab and bed. At this point, we needed to apply some seam sealer to keep water from leaking into the cab.
7. Next we painted the box, inside and out, in one shot. It was a bit of a risky way to do it, but it turned out really good. The shop decided to use Axalta Cromax waterborne for the basecoat, and 8300 series clearcoat. We painted the roof and blended the colour into the doors afterwards.
8. Last, but certainly not least, it’s time to put it all back together. The roof was a bit problematic, but after a little bit of playing around we had it fitting well.
9. The final addition was the JK-8 badge, which clearly identifies this as a modified Jeep for anyone who couldn’t tell otherwise.
10. After a bit of cleaning up, the modified Jeep was sent back to the dealership’s showroom, and eventually to a customer who wants something out of the ordinary.
Check out the video in the player below for more details on this conversion!
