Click for Coverage

want A Jk Pickup - bulkhead Installed - Photo 41767878

Back to Article

Next, the bulkhead and top are placed together and checked for good fit. Once the final placement is determined, the fiberglass parts are removed and prepped for paint. Note the way the bulkhead contours to the load floor. Once painted, the supplied glass will have to be carefully installed.

154 1207 01+want a jk pickup+jeep jk and jk 8 kit

154 1207 02+want a jk pickup+completed jeep jk 8

To give you an idea of just how extensive the conversion is and to ensure all the required parts were there, the contents from the Mopar crate were laid out on the floor in front of the donor rig. All the factory pieces that needed to be removed are on the cutting room floor as well.

The first step of the process is to basically remove the rear third of the Wrangler beginning with the roof, doors, interior behind the B-pillar, and rear section of the factory sportbar. Then, you drill out all the individual spot welds holding the factory outer quarter panel and use an air chisel to separate the quarter panel from the vehicle. The corner cap that houses the taillight goes away and the quarter panel can be peeled off. Note the ample amounts of expanding foam Jeep uses to insulate occupants from NVH.

After chopping the B-pillar and outer skin, chiseling off the adhesive caulking that covers the rear floor, and essentially taking the rear of the Jeep down to a skeletal structure, the new quarter panel can be held in place to check for fitment. It’s held in place with clamps ’till things are ready for the final spot welds to be burned in.

The replacement sportbar downtubes were then put in place and spot-welded. They look kinda funny, but remember they stay tucked inside the truck cab and are designed for strength and behind-seat clearance. With the modified sportbar structure bolted together, the new rear downtubes were then welded to the crossmember. Notice the inner quarter panel clamped to the tub, ready for spot-welding.

Once the inner panel is welded, the outer quarter panel and taillight caps were installed and spot-welded. A load floor support crossmember is welded into place and then the load floor panel is installed over it. In this photo, you can see the load floor has been welded and sealed. The factory rear storage cubby is covered by a panel and is not functional in the JK-8 conversion.

Next, the bulkhead and top are placed together and checked for good fit. Once the final placement is determined, the fiberglass parts are removed and prepped for paint. Note the way the bulkhead contours to the load floor. Once painted, the supplied glass will have to be carefully installed.

Breezing through the conversion in a couple magazine photos and captions makes it seem like it’s not that big a deal, but to get to this point involves a mountain of work. After ensuring all the body panels line up with the front doors and tailgate, top, and other connections, final spot welds were made, seam sealer was applied, and the Jeep bodywork was finished in preparation for the paint booth.

Once out of the paint booth and with the hardtop and bulkhead in place, the supplied windows were installed—but it was discovered during wet-sanding that they leaked water. To properly fix the issue, a professional glass installer sealed the windows with urethane. We were surprised to learn Mopar doesn’t provide any provisions to trim out the interior, leaving the sportbar naked without padding, interior lights, or overhead speakers.

Once the windows were made watertight, the resourceful team at Hi-Tech was able to repurpose some of the original factory padding and scale down the stock sportbar trim, which at least allowed retention of the dome light for a more OE look. Spray-in bedliner was applied to give the conversion a more finished look and added protection for hauling before the new JK-8 was rolled out into the sunlight for the first time. Check the How It Works sidebar to see, er, how it works.