Question regarding China JK 2 door and stock SCX10
 

Hi guys -- here's my dilemma. I don't have enough funds to purchase a transfer case and front tranny mount for my scx10 and certainly not anything close to the funds needed for the entire GCM skeleton kit, but I'd love to have one of those Jeep JK 2-door bodies from China.

Without the transfer case and maintaining the stock tranny location, would I basically have to shelve the entire stock interior, or could I get away with removing part of the underside dash and the center console without having to remove the passenger side seat?

I'd like to keep the top portion of the dash and both seats, sort of like the Wraith interior, and still be able to mount the body low enough.

Just wondering if anyone has attempted this. I searched and could not find an example -- only versions with transfer cases and front tranny mounts.

Thanks,
Steve

Re: Question regarding China JK 2 door and stock SCX10
 

I know this is an older post, but I figured I'd chime in anyway.

The floorpan is very low compared to the rocker panels, so to get a good look on the chassis, there is very little room left between the two. However, dash is relatively tall, so you likely would be able to retain the upper dash area. The seats are far enough back that you should be able to keep the seat backs in place, though the lower section of the seat would need to be carved out quite a bit. Given the way everything is situated in there, it probably wouldn't look too bad if you took your time and did it clean.

That being said, if you can scrape together enough for a transfer case on it's own, a no-weld/no-machining/no-bolt forward transmission mount can be made incredibly easily, with minimal tools and for about $2. If you're decently handy with custom work, a transfer case is a pretty easy fab job too. With how nice this body looks, it would be a shame to have to cut up the interior, and worth the effort make it a front-mount/transfer case rig.

I can post some pics if you're interested in seeing how I did it.

Re: Question regarding China JK 2 door and stock SCX10
 

I'm interessted in how you did it too S1NN3R even though I already have all this fancy stuff like GCM Sceleton kit and front mounting kit.

Re: Question regarding China JK 2 door and stock SCX10
 

Sure. The transfer case is nothing special, a few write-ups have already been done detailing how to make those and mine is right along those lines.

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps54f19fc3.jpg

Forgive the rough nature of the one in the pic, that was just a test-bed version and I haven't gotten around to getting pics of the finalized pretty version.


The front mount plate is incredibly simple. It's made from 1 by .064 inch brass strip, though of course any material will do, brass is just what I had on hand.

The general shape is (not to scale) this. . .

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps44c4c145.jpg

The plate is cut to length to be pinched tight by the chassis as the screws are tightened into the crossmember, which needs to be rotated 180 degrees so the open end of the horseshoe shape is facing rearward. The notches on each side are roughly 6 by 5mm, and were centered on the plate. The point of the notches is to allow the crossmember to act as a brace for the whole plate, both keeping it from twisting and pushing the plate tight against the upper part of the chassis rail.

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps7964f5fb.jpg

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...psb0564f92.jpg

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps94bbe430.jpg

Moving the notches forward and aft on the plate will change the height and angle of the transmission, so it's something that you can play with to get the position you need.


It's not a perfect set-up, doesn't get the total height as low as the commercial kits I've seen, but it keeps the weight low, works with a 4-link, little time investment (the second one took about 10 minutes to make) and costs a buck or two in materials, it works out well.

Oh and a bonus, rotating the chassis crossmember also facilitates an easy CMS set-up, since the holes that used to mount the RX box are now in front where a small piece of aluminum angle can be mounted.

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...psf6078b63.jpg