Both of us were going back and forth with tail light choices, but two things we did agree on was to stay with the classic shape and L.E.D. I for one did not like the stuck on look of the original, after all it was nothing more than a utility trailer light. Flush mounted or even recessed was my preference. Initially a cheaper pair of originals were ordered in L.E.D. but you get what you pay for, and besides they stuck out. Ok scrap that idea. Then Jeffrey found Savvy Off Roads http://www.savvyoffroad.com/tech/TailLights/SavvyTailLightsInstructions.pdf

offering  He took the plunge and ordered them in black anodized finish. When they arrived I was impressed. Being a machinist myself I could appreciate the time and quality that went into making these. Mounting is straight forward if they are mounted with the back up light on top as the originals are. But I could never understand why they were mounted on top until I realized that the tail light bulb was also the license light and needed to be on the bottom. Any other vehicle back up lights are on the bottom for obvious reasons, you want to light up the ground so you can see where you are going. Heck even the JK's made the switch and put it on the bottom with a separate license light. That alone must tell

you something. So before you tell me they are mounted upside down, that's the way they should be and also they don't come with a license light. (Much to my delight). The only thing I did do was to run a tap in the threads to clean out the anodizing since the screws went in tight. Either way they are a work of art and the fact that they do come with side marker lights will help clean up the body.

Jeffrey was kicking around ideas for a windshield washer jar for a while, and at one of our trips to Carlisle swap meet, he picked up an aluminum overflow tank measuring 3" dia. by 10" long. Then armed with a washer pump from a Subaru he drilled a hole in the bottom the size to accept the grommet that came with the pump, milled up some angle brackets then mounted it to the firewall on the drivers side. Since the American Autowire wiring harness will not be exiting where the original once was there was plenty of room. This set up coincides in looks with the radiator overflow tank.

Picked up a pair of half doors locally from a dismantler, Jeffrey had decided against the full doors for a couple of reasons. One not having the open air aspect and also the drivers door appeared to have been repaired sometime in it's life and was out of shape. We had picked these up at the u-pull. Repairs would have been too costly and finding another set would be scarce and new ones too costly. Now that we had the body dimensions squared away from the top install, door alignment was pretty straight forward. We used a method found on the internet of using a threaded rod thru the windshield hinge to align the lower hinge. Shell Valley glassed in a steel plate in that location, so all that was needed was to drill and tap to thread in the bolts. Holes were marked first before drilling then removed the threaded rod and held the half doors in place to verify alignment. Accuracy is vital here because the steel plate can't move for minor adjustment like on a steel body, where the plate is not fixed and can move around. Only then were the holes drilled and tapped. Now with the doors hinged, attention was moved to the latches. There are several manufactures that make latches for fiberglass bodied Jeeps. Some looked pretty nice. But for as cheap as we are, we decided that we could make the originals work. These

came from a YJ and were modified to mount to a flat surface. I figured since a steel plate was installed for the hinges that one might have been put in for the latches. A magnet was used and one was found. The magnet was moved around to find the outer edges and marked. With the latch rough cut, it was determined that the leading edge of fiberglass would have to be removed to locate the latch pin to mate with the door. This was done with a series of drills, multi tool and chisels. Wood reinforcement was found around the door edge. Now to make a perfect fit, I can only say 6 different small pieces of sheet metal were fabricated from cardboard patterns and tack welded in place, checked for fit then

final welded. Using a combination of stick and mig was that accomplished. Very tedious work done by Jeffrey then grinding and filling with JB Weld (done by me, he is not a fan of body work) a few thin layers of body filler then primed produced a presentable latch. After it was aligned holes were drilled into the glassed in steel plate and tapped. The rear hole will have to be done upon removal of the roll bar during tear down. The pin is still fully adjustable as stock. The rubber weatherstripping was removed from the doors for this procedure to make it easier to do all the alignment. We have more time in these latches than we care to admit, but resulted in a very solid latch. Not only are they fastened to the

 steel plate but, they wrap around the door edge and are secured with sheet metal trim screws into the wood. The rear top edge of the door does make contact with the body which will have to be addressed. Don't know at this point if the YJ doors differ or is it an issue with the fiberglass body.