Hello all,
I have had the rear seats out of my JKUR for 2 years now. I can't see ever putting them back in and have been wanting to finish the interior.
I was originally thinking aluminum sheet. Since I am an aircraft mechanic, aluminum is my go to material. But there are way too many disadvantages to an aluminum floor, noise being the biggest, denting and scratching being another.
I started looking at Richlite http://www.richlite.com/what-is-richlite/
It is really great stuff. Strong enough to build skate parks out of, self healing, re-surfacable, and pretty good strength to weight ratio.
The negative is I would have to drive 6 hours to Tacoma with my trailer to buy it, and it will cost me at least $300.00 for what I need.
Marine plywood. I am not really versed in plywood. I could use some help here. I know strength to weight is pretty decent, it's quiet, it would be easy to work with. I have no idea what to look for in plywood for this purpose. If I were to do plywood, I think I would finish it in a thick epoxy coating over nice natural wood grain, like a vintage boat.
Or, I would consider using bed liner material over it, maybe a light or medium gray to go with the silver Jeep.
I bedlinered a stock on an old .22 rifle that someone had previously cut and glued it into a target style stock. It made it look and feel like a Houge Overmolded stock. Bedliner on wood can work and last.
This morning I started thinking HDPE. It is tough as hell. Heavyish, but for sound absorbing, impact resistance, cut resistance, and cost, it is not too bad.
http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?pid=21339&step=4&showunits=inches&id=1526&top_cat=181
Above is an example of cost and thicknesses.
My plan is to make a flat floor that ends just behind the seats in the rear most position. Under what was the rear foot well, I will make a semi secure (somewhat hidden too) storage area. I will put another cargo net behind the seats, and I have one that divides what was the rear seat area from the back. The idea is that my dogs will have a safe soft cage to keep them in the middle of the Jeep. I will put a snap on pad on the lid of the storage area for their comfort. I could leave a little leg room and use the area for human passengers in a pinch too.
I would like to be able to sleep in the back if needed. I have slept in the Jeep before, with the rear seats folded down. It was tolerable. It was also 20 degrees out, insulation would have made it nicer, that's in the plans somewhere too.
I have never done a build thread. Hopefully I will remember to document to project as I go and record the results in this thread. I have done so many similar project with some very expensive materials on Medevac Heli's, but I was never allowed to take personal pictures of any of it. The helicopter industry is very protective of their trade secrets.
After the floor is done, hopefully before we take off to see the eclipse, I want to get rid of my rear hard top windows and replace them with aluminum hatches. I have some sets of Airbus Helicopter engine bay latches that will be used to hold them closed. I am also looking at armoring the top of the hard top with sheet aluminum. I often carry a canoe or inflatable up there. The Yakima bars are never on when I need them. They also put any weight on 4 points. If I just put aluminum "skids" up there, and installed some tiedown anchors, I think it would work better than the Yakima bars. I do not like big metal roof racks. I had typical safari style one on my Disco. It looked cool, carried anything, had lights on it. I looked like king safari ******** driving around with it. When I sold the Rover, it made more financial sense to sell off some of the cool parts first. The rack sold in 10 minutes. After taking it off, the Rover handled so much better, was quieter, and probably got better mileage. I swore I wouldn't buy another huge steel rack again.
I have had the rear seats out of my JKUR for 2 years now. I can't see ever putting them back in and have been wanting to finish the interior.
I was originally thinking aluminum sheet. Since I am an aircraft mechanic, aluminum is my go to material. But there are way too many disadvantages to an aluminum floor, noise being the biggest, denting and scratching being another.
I started looking at Richlite http://www.richlite.com/what-is-richlite/
It is really great stuff. Strong enough to build skate parks out of, self healing, re-surfacable, and pretty good strength to weight ratio.
The negative is I would have to drive 6 hours to Tacoma with my trailer to buy it, and it will cost me at least $300.00 for what I need.
Marine plywood. I am not really versed in plywood. I could use some help here. I know strength to weight is pretty decent, it's quiet, it would be easy to work with. I have no idea what to look for in plywood for this purpose. If I were to do plywood, I think I would finish it in a thick epoxy coating over nice natural wood grain, like a vintage boat.
Or, I would consider using bed liner material over it, maybe a light or medium gray to go with the silver Jeep.
I bedlinered a stock on an old .22 rifle that someone had previously cut and glued it into a target style stock. It made it look and feel like a Houge Overmolded stock. Bedliner on wood can work and last.
This morning I started thinking HDPE. It is tough as hell. Heavyish, but for sound absorbing, impact resistance, cut resistance, and cost, it is not too bad.
http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?pid=21339&step=4&showunits=inches&id=1526&top_cat=181
Above is an example of cost and thicknesses.
My plan is to make a flat floor that ends just behind the seats in the rear most position. Under what was the rear foot well, I will make a semi secure (somewhat hidden too) storage area. I will put another cargo net behind the seats, and I have one that divides what was the rear seat area from the back. The idea is that my dogs will have a safe soft cage to keep them in the middle of the Jeep. I will put a snap on pad on the lid of the storage area for their comfort. I could leave a little leg room and use the area for human passengers in a pinch too.
I would like to be able to sleep in the back if needed. I have slept in the Jeep before, with the rear seats folded down. It was tolerable. It was also 20 degrees out, insulation would have made it nicer, that's in the plans somewhere too.
I have never done a build thread. Hopefully I will remember to document to project as I go and record the results in this thread. I have done so many similar project with some very expensive materials on Medevac Heli's, but I was never allowed to take personal pictures of any of it. The helicopter industry is very protective of their trade secrets.
After the floor is done, hopefully before we take off to see the eclipse, I want to get rid of my rear hard top windows and replace them with aluminum hatches. I have some sets of Airbus Helicopter engine bay latches that will be used to hold them closed. I am also looking at armoring the top of the hard top with sheet aluminum. I often carry a canoe or inflatable up there. The Yakima bars are never on when I need them. They also put any weight on 4 points. If I just put aluminum "skids" up there, and installed some tiedown anchors, I think it would work better than the Yakima bars. I do not like big metal roof racks. I had typical safari style one on my Disco. It looked cool, carried anything, had lights on it. I looked like king safari ******** driving around with it. When I sold the Rover, it made more financial sense to sell off some of the cool parts first. The rack sold in 10 minutes. After taking it off, the Rover handled so much better, was quieter, and probably got better mileage. I swore I wouldn't buy another huge steel rack again.
