Doors & Windshield for Rocky

[Bob R1]

You may have noticed that I revived a couple Threads from 2019/2020 of Rifleman 1981 about his Windshield and Door and Cab and Cable Operated Twin Stick project. I believe that he changed directions along the way when he came up with a CJ Scrambler Cab. He did not do a single build thread. I ended up looking as several threads to get a handle on his build. I never did locate a Finished Project Picture with new paint. From what I could gather he used:
CJ7 or a TJ Door Frame
YJ or CJ7 Full Doors
Scrambler Cab
Cable Operated Twin Stick Shifter from an old Jeep. No idea who sold this conversion for a Jeep.

I am seriously considering using a donor YJ to do doors and a better windshield on Rocky. I currently have a Fortress Roof with the Tilt Out Windshield with a Single Windshield Wiper on the drivers side. From what I can tell the YJ Windshield is pretty much a direct bolt on after doing some cutting on the Roll Bars. Unsure about how much will be required to install the doors. This may require some custom fitting. However the doors should be worth the effort from what I can tell.

DONOR YJ
I just got home with the Donor YJ. Bad Motor?, Rusted out Frame, and Rusted out Floor. I plan to air up the tires before unloading it off the trailer. The last Inspection sticker on the windshield looks to have been 2013. It has been parked for a while rusting. The cloth top rotted down and then the floors rusted out. This one has Jeep Factory Half Doors, and also comes with the Upper Wire Frames. The Windshield Frame looks good, but the Windshield is cracked. The Windshield Gasket does not look real special either. This will be a good excuse to clean up the Windshield Frame with the Glass out of it. This should be an easier conversion than Rifleman 1981's project. Fitting the Scrambler Cab I am sure was a head ache.

WHAT I HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH
Better Windshield with vastly improved Windshield Wipers on both sides, and synchronized to work together. Factory Jeep Windshield Wipers should be a very good improvement.
Half Doors that have a top section. The top section can have new factory canvas with plastic windows with a call to BestTop. Easy fix back to brand new condition. I really like the idea of half doors on the Roxor, however none being made with a top half leaves a lot of room for improvement. I am hoping this is as good as Half Doors get on the Roxor.
The Factory Half Doors have a good Latch Assembly that can be operated from both sides. Huge improvement over most Roxor Doors.
My hope is to take the front Roxor Roll Bar most of the way to the windshield then have it drop down for connection to the YJ Windshield like factory using the Front YJ Roll Bar section with the bolt on flange. This will take care of the Windshield being short, causing the Roof to be Too Low for comfort.
A new Roof will need to be fabricated that seals up much better than normal on a Roxor.
Another improvement will be the YJ Sun Visors. Much better than my Roll Bar mounted ATV Sun Visors.
Also hoping to get working Windshield Washers while I am salvaging parts.
I will need to figure out the Windshield Wiper Switch. Hoping a simple two position Rocker Switch will work out.

This project may take till next Summer to complete, if I keep shopping my daily drivers for repairs. I have had my old Farm Truck in the shop twice this month. I will try and start taking parts off the YJ in the near future, and cleaning them up. Deer Season is two weeks away. I will probably hold off on taking the Roxor Apart until Deer Season is over.

Bob R

 

[Bob R1]

Thursday 10/30/2025 The Rain has stopped for a few days. I have things to do today, however I plan to unload the YJ, and start soaking down screws with Kroil Oil. It will be a lot less trouble in the long run not to twist screws off. It would be nice to get the Half Doors off the body for a start.

I did a little looking, and Rear Fender Side Panels are reasonable. Using them might help out with the door installation.

I need a picture of the VIN to determine the year model. It has Square Headlights, so it is a YJ. When I get the windshield off the VIN will be much easier to read.
UPDATE: The 10th Character of the VIN is a J so that would likely mean a 1988 YJ per my search.
That would mean an AMC 258 Six Cylinder, Peugeot BA10 5 Speed Transmission, and a NP207 Transfer Case. Front Axle will be a D30, and the Rear Axle will be a D35. Most likely 3.07 Gears.

UPDATE: I got the tires aired back up, and I now have the YJ Unloaded off the car hauler. I doused it down with Kroil Oil. Hopefully I have enough on it to do some good getting the Doors and Windshield off.

Bob R

 

[Bob R1]

My brother came over after work today. We positioned the YJ next to the barn/shop so that I will have electrical power available during disassembly.
I managed to get both half doors off fairly easily.

I called Rifleman 1981 this evening. We talked for half an hour or so. He is going to go over what he did on his Scrambler Cab Conversion (2019/2020) tomorrow, and we will talk again. He also did a Twin Stick Cable Shifter. I am sure that it is not available any more, but still interesting.
I am hoping to get the Windshield off this weekend.

Bob R

 

[Bob R1]

Well weekend is here. It is 6AM Saturday morning. Today is my brothers birthday, the big SIX O for him. We will start the day meeting our boss at Betty's Diner for breakfast. My brother is wanting to go by the Amish Meat Packing House and pick up a really good steak for his birthday. We will fire up my 26" Weber this afternoon and cook it to perfection.
In my last post we rolled the YJ into a good spot to start work on it. While waiting on my help to roll it into place, I took a few minutes and cleaned all the junk and trash out of it. I mentioned the 2013 Inspection Sticker. While cleaning it out I came across license plates that were also dated 2013. It was setting for a while. I found a canvas tarp in the Jeep, so someone mush have tried to cover it up at some point over the years.

Today I will try and get the Windshield off of it, and remove the Door Hinges. When I get that far along I will next need to look over the Door Strikes and see exactly how they are mounted in the door opening. Then remove what ever I need to, to reuse them.

I have read that the door opening on the Roxor were larger than a ???, making getting in and out easier. This must have been compared to an old CJ2/CJ3/CJ5. The Roxor Mirrors were in the road doing a really good mock up, however just holding the YJ Half Door up I am pretty sure the new doors are longer than the door opening on the Roxor.

I will need to get the door hinges mounted on the Roxor to get a good handle on how the YJ Doors fit in the door opening. I am really hoping that the somewhat fit front and bottom.

More to come, hopefully today.

Bob R

 

[Vinny]

Please follow up on "The Steak". 😋😁

 

[Bob R1]

Vinny We ended up getting a couple T Bone's approximately 1.5 Pounds each. They were around $25 each.
The bad part was we did not end up cooking them today as planned. It rained off and on all day. We decided to wait until Sunday Afternoon. That will cost me, as the wife will be home from Horse Camp, and I will end up buying another nice steak and a baked potato for her.

YJ PROJECT
Back to the YJ Project. I mentioned the rain. That slowed things down a lot. I removed both lower door hinges today. I now have access to the back of the Upper Hood/Door Hinge Assembly. "Under the dash". The Roll Bars are unbolted from the top of the windshield frame. I have the Eight Hinge Bolts soaking in PB Blaster. With luck I will get the last 8 Bolts out tomorrow afternoon.

ROXOR WORK
I may go ahead and pull the Fortress Windshield off, and take the front bolts out of the Fortress Roof, and loosen the back bolts. That will let me block up the front of the Fortress Roof without removing my Rear Flood Lights from the back of the roof.

I could then start doing some fitting to see exactly what I will need to do. The plan is to keep as much of the Roxor's Front Roll Bar as possible. I plan to mate the Roxor Roll Bar with the YJ Roll Bar close to the windshield frame. That should preserve head room.

More tomorrow.

Bob R

 

[Bob R1]

SUNDAY 11/02/2025
About all I got done today was getting the YJ Windshield Removed.
I ended up buying a new drill bit, and drilling out the Eight Hinge mounting screws. They were not going to unscrew.
The good news the windshield frame looks good. I am very surprised that it is not rusted, given the overall condition of the rest of the YJ. From reading it was supposed to have some special anti-rust finish on it. Looks like the finish actually worked.
I am considering removing the windshield glass to start with, then cleaning up the frame and hinges before painting them.
Again doing research it looks like the windshield is a Glue In installation. The rubber around the glass is pretty much trim. The existing looks to be a little hard, and probably should be replaced with new when installing the windshield glass.
I probably should get Rocky stripped down so I can check the parts fit, before ordering anything.
I am seriously considering Flange Bolts instead of the recessed head Torque Screws to mount the Hinges.
I am also considering a new Windshield to Cowl Rubber Seal, as well as a new Windshield to Hard Top Seal for the top of the windshield. Put in a little extra effort to water proof the installation.

I went on the Rocker Switch Pros site last night looking at rocker switches. I am considering just wiring the Wipers with Low Speed and Hi Speed with an ON-OFF-ON Rocker Switch. Then using an (ON)-Off momentary contact switch for the Windshield Washer. With real windshield wipers I might as well install a Windshield Washer. Just wondering if I should also order a Light Bar Switch while I am at it.
The alternative to a Rocker Switch would be using a CJ7 Switch. The advantage would be Park and Intermittent could be wired up to work, but it would also be a lot more work to wire up. I have been just turning the wipers off to park them. It is not all that difficult to do.

More Later

Bob R

 

[Ted]

I’ll be interested in seeing the finished product, sounds like it’ll be a big improvement!

 

[jbrenza]

SUNDAY 11/02/2025
About all I got done today was getting the YJ Windshield Removed.
I ended up buying a new drill bit, and drilling out the Eight Hinge mounting screws. They were not going to unscrew.
The good news the windshield frame looks good. I am very surprised that it is not rusted, given the overall condition of the rest of the YJ. From reading it was supposed to have some special anti-rust finish on it. Looks like the finish actually worked.
I am considering removing the windshield glass to start with, then cleaning up the frame and hinges before painting them.
Again doing research it looks like the windshield is a Glue In installation. The rubber around the glass is pretty much trim. The existing looks to be a little hard, and probably should be replaced with new when installing the windshield glass.
I probably should get Rocky stripped down so I can check the parts fit, before ordering anything.
I am seriously considering Flange Bolts instead of the recessed head Torque Screws to mount the Hinges.
I am also considering a new Windshield to Cowl Rubber Seal, as well as a new Windshield to Hard Top Seal for the top of the windshield. Put in a little extra effort to water proof the installation.

I went on the Rocker Switch Pros site last night looking at rocker switches. I am considering just wiring the Wipers with Low Speed and Hi Speed with an ON-OFF-ON Rocker Switch. Then using an (ON)-Off momentary contact switch for the Windshield Washer. With real windshield wipers I might as well install a Windshield Washer. Just wondering if I should also order a Light Bar Switch while I am at it.
The alternative to a Rocker Switch would be using a CJ7 Switch. The advantage would be Park and Intermittent could be wired up to work, but it would also be a lot more work to wire up. I have been just turning the wipers off to park them. It is not all that difficult to do.

More Later

Bob R

Rob, FWIW, I recently completed the installation of the GiStore Willys washer / wiper kit. It's a great solution for the Roxor since it's dual, synchronized wipers, and a discrete installation (i.e., motor and mechanism are hidden like a factory install). I also tucked the washer reservoir in near the radiator fan shroud (below the headlight). I altered the installation to use a single speed dash switch for wiper on/off and integrated switch for the washer. It's backlit for easier use at night. I'm quite pleased with the outcome.

Here's the item I used for the switch: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C3B27SVK?tag=roxor-20

I'm looking forward to seeing how your install works out!