Travel and other projects have kept me from working on the JL Grille Kit for the past month but I got some time this weekend to make some progress. First I made a fixture for holding a factory grille to make the mold. This fixture holds the very flexible plastic factory grille rigid while molding and also increases the margins on the mold so the edges of the part can be made a little longer for trimming after removal from the mold.



The next step is to convert the JK grille to a replica of a JL grille. Since the slots in the JL grille are more complicated than just being holes in the grille, I made an intermediate mold for the slots. I'll mold seven identical slots using the intermediate mold and then I'll assemble them into the factory JK grille. I could make all of the slots separately, but making a mold for them assures they'll all be exactly the same. Here's the intermediate slot mold:



I've made the slots with a forward bend to match the bend in the JL grille.

Since most of the photos of JLs I've seen so far have inserts in the slots I've made the slot mold with integrated inserts so they will look like these when finished:



The Safari Concept Jeep revealed last year also has inserts in the slots:



The outer two slots will need to be modified because they'll intersect with the headlight recesses, but even so starting with 7 identical slots will make the final result much more accurate than doing it any other way.

 

YES. I'm so excited already. Put me in line for the first run or prototype testing or whatever will get this onto my jeep fastest. I would offer you 3D printing services but you just keep making everything by hand!

 

Someone asked me if the half door slider kit can be used with Rugged Ridge uppers. Yes, this photo shows Savvy half doors and Rugged Ridge uppers with the Retrofit Offroad slider window kit installed.



The slider kit is designed to work with either factory, Bestop or Rugged Ridge uppers. There's one kit for the factory uppers and a different kit for the Bestop/Rugged Ridge uppers, the only difference are a few brackets but the slider window is the same.

 

I spent almost all of February out of the country but I've been back for a few days now and I've started work again on the JL Grille Kit. The next task is to mold the intermediate parts for to make the slots in the mold master; I've molded three so far, four to go and then I can assemble them into the grille to make the full grille mold.





I've made the slots with a forward bend so the new grille will match the forward bend shape of the JL grille.

 

Always looking for more storage in my Jeeps, I've been working on a swing-down Molle panel that installs to the roll bars above the cargo area. No drilling is required to install it, and it works with a hardtop, soft top or no top at all.


The panel isn't visible in the rear view mirror because it is above the bottom of the roll bar.

This next series of photos shows what might be stored up there.

First pair of photos: on the left is a 2-gallon Rotopax; I only have one but two will fit. On the right is a pair of 10 liter (2.5 gallon) Rubicans:



Next, on the left is a 20 liter (5.2 gallon) Rubican; a 4-gallon Rotopax is a bit smaller and will also fit. On the right a HiLift is mounted along with a folding shovel; the shovel is mounted with QuickFist clamps.



And, on the left is a bunch of random Molle pouches and on the right I've used straps to secure two folding chairs to the panel.

 

Testing the overhead Molle panel today with various gear configurations. First, a 2-gallon Rotopax and a few Molle pouches:


Here's the rear view with the panel stowed, nothing is visible because it's above the bottom of the roll bar...



A few test configurations...

From the video above, a 2-gallon Rotopax and a few Molle pouches. Two 2-gallon or one 4-gallon Rotopax will fit but I only have the one 2-gallon here.



Two 10-liter (2.5 gallon) Rubicans:



One 20-liter (5 gallon) Rubican. A 4-gallon Rotopax is slightly smaller than this one so there would probably be room for some Molle pouches on each end.



Two folding camp chairs, secured with large Velcro straps.



A HiLift and a small shovel. The shovel is secured with QuickFist clamps; the HiLift is mounted on studs in holes specificially designed into the panel for Hilifts.



I'll leave the HiLift and shovel up there for the next week or so to give it a good weight test.

 

Will it be lockable? I have a few items that could be stored up there out of sight out of mind.

 

There is a provision for locking it in the stowed position. A padlock would be required.

 

My original plan was to make one overhead Molle panel and make two sets of mounting hardware for it - one set for the JKU and one set for the LJ, and I'd swap the panel between Jeeps depending on where I needed it. The installation in the JKU worked out so well I don't want to remove it, so this morning I made a second panel for the LJ. I'll make the LJ mounting hardware over the next week or so.



Report on drive-testing the panel in the JKU - I've got the HiLift and shovel mounted on the panel and I've been driving around the potholed roads of my town this morning. There's no rattling from the panel itself, although some parts of the jack itself are rattling, that would happen no matter how the jack were mounted. Panel is very solid, the weight of the jack and shovel if well supported.

 

Back to the JL Grille for the JK project, I've got five slots molded, two more to go. Once I mold the final two I'll assemble a complete grille to make the full grille mold from.





All of the JL grilles I've seen have inserts and mesh in the slots. I'm heading in the same direction with this grille - I've molded the slots with inserts, mesh will be installed after the complete grille is molded. In this photo I've colored some inserts light gray (can't really do silver with my drawing program so my coloring job doesn't really do it justice).



The photo below is of the grille on FCA's Safari Concept Jeep, it's got the inserts and mesh and this is where I'm heading with this project.