AEV Highline Kit Installation Guide

Chris said:
Shhhhh...this is my next project. I'm going to be taking the AEV flares from the new TJ and seeing what I have to do to get them reproduced and what it would cost.

If it makes sense, I'll organize a group buy for them, but first I need to find the proper production facilities to speak with and see what it would take. I'll have the flares (all in good shape) so I would think that's a start.
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If you are thinking about getting stuff custom made and organizing group buys, the one kit that many people would really be interested in is @jscherb's TJ--> CJ front clip. That was one of the really amazing projects that I've seen, and the TJ with that front clip on looks really great.

Photos here: https://expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/cj-grille-conversion-kit-for-the-tj-lj.78680/

This is @jscherb's photo - and yes that's a 97-06 Jeep!

LJ-8-2_zps4714da81.jpg



I know atleast 2 other people other than me who would buy it .. @jjvw (not sure if it'll fit with where your Jeep is now, though) and @zebra12. There are many more who have expressed huge interest in that project.
 
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psrivats said:
If you are thinking about getting stuff custom made and organizing group buys, the one kit that many people would really be interested in is @jscherb's TJ--> CJ front clip. That was one of the really amazing projects that I've seen, and the TJ with that front clip on looks really great.

Photos here: https://expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/cj-grille-conversion-kit-for-the-tj-lj.78680/

This is @jscherb's photo - and yes that's a TJ!

View attachment 158194


I know atleast 2 other people other than me who would buy it .. @jjvw (not sure if it'll fit with where your Jeep is now, though) and @zebra12. There are many more who have expressed huge interest in that project.
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I'm interested until I see the actual cost. ;)
 
I'm more than open to helping out with this sort of thing from the web / business end of it. In addition, I'm happy to use the forum as a means of promoting it (it is a great resource after all).

I agree, that CJ front end would be a cool one to see put into production, and if there is absolutely any way I can get these AEV flares reproduced for a reasonable cost, I have every intent to do so. That may not be possible, but here's to hoping.
 
psrivats said:
If you are thinking about getting stuff custom made and organizing group buys, the one kit that many people would really be interested in is @jscherb's TJ--> CJ front clip. That was one of the really amazing projects that I've seen, and the TJ with that front clip on looks really great.

Photos here: https://expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/cj-grille-conversion-kit-for-the-tj-lj.78680/

This is @jscherb's photo - and yes that's a 97-06 Jeep!

View attachment 158194


I know atleast 2 other people other than me who would buy it .. @jjvw (not sure if it'll fit with where your Jeep is now, though) and @zebra12. There are many more who have expressed huge interest in that project.
Click to expand...
All of the molds and the engineering drawings for the CJ Grille Kit exist and could be used to make more. The CJ Grille Kit consists of a new hood, fenders (inner and outer) and cowl panel; it uses a factory CJ grille. There are a few brackets for things like adapting the TJ radiator to the CJ grille and relocating the hood hinges to the CJ hood hinge spacing, but that's about it. The kit accepts factory TJ flares (or any other flare that mounts to a factory TJ fender, even though these aren't factory TJ fenders).

PartsLaidOut4_zps448ba835.jpg


The mold also exists for the JL/CL-style grille overlay:

PickupCompare2_zpshmsda03l.jpg


At this point I don't have any plans to do anything further with either kit, but if someone wants to explore making a small production run using the molds I'm open to discussing it.
 
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psrivats said:
Let's have @Chris get both made!
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As I've said before, I have the business, marketing, and web development skills to handle that side of the business. What I don't have is any knowledge whatsoever of manufacturing, who to talk to about that, etc, etc.
 
jscherb said:
All of the molds and the engineering drawings for the CJ Grille Kit exist and could be used to make more. The CJ Grille Kit consists of a new hood, fenders (inner and outer) and cowl panel; it uses a factory CJ grille. There are a few brackets for things like adapting the TJ radiator to the CJ grille and relocating the hood hinges to the CJ hood hinge spacing, but that's about it. The kit accepts factory TJ flares (or any other flare that mounts to a factory TJ fender, even though these aren't factory TJ fenders).

View attachment 158203

The mold also exists for the JL/CL-style grille overlay:

View attachment 158204

At this point I don't have any plans to do anything further with either kit, but if someone wants to explore making a small production run using the molds I'm open to discussing it.
Click to expand...


@Chris .. we should find out what it'll take to get say a run of 10 or 20 of either kit made!
 
Chris said:
As I've said before, I have the business, marketing, and web development skills to handle that side of the business. What I don't have is any knowledge whatsoever of manufacturing, who to talk to about that, etc, etc.
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I think you should talk to Jeff and find out who to talk to. I think he can point you in the right direction. He mentioned something recently of someone organizing a small group buy on another forum.
 
@jscherb, I am going to message you when I get home. Maybe you and I can help each other. Some of your products I would like to bring to market if there is enough interest and the costs could be nailed down. I have all the business and marketing knowledge, I do not however have the manufacturing knowledge.

I’ll shoot you a PM.
 
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Chris said:
@jscherb, I am going to message you when I get home. Maybe you and I can help each other. Some of your products I would like to bring to market if there is enough interest and the costs could be nailed down. I have all the business and marketing knowledge, I do not however have the manufacturing knowledge.

I’ll shoot you a PM.
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Ok. Might be a good idea to also start a thread on the subject, I'm sure people will have questions and useful input. And we won't clutter up the AEV thread with it. If someone wants to start a thread and post a link to it I'll join in there and answer any questions people have.
 
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psrivats said:
If you are thinking about getting stuff custom made and organizing group buys, the one kit that many people would really be interested in is @jscherb's TJ--> CJ front clip. That was one of the really amazing projects that I've seen, and the TJ with that front clip on looks really great.

Photos here: https://expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/cj-grille-conversion-kit-for-the-tj-lj.78680/

This is @jscherb's photo - and yes that's a 97-06 Jeep!

View attachment 158194


I know atleast 2 other people other than me who would buy it .. @jjvw (not sure if it'll fit with where your Jeep is now, though) and @zebra12. There are many more who have expressed huge interest in that project.
Click to expand...


Yes, I really like the CJ conversion, but I would be happy if I could just get the JL grille.
 
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From someone who recently sold some AEV TJ parts, due to an improbability of being able to replace them if they were ever damaged, why AEV flares?

They're only one piece of the puzzle and worthless without the rest of the kit.

That's not to say that I wouldn't be interested.
 
Mrholland said:
From someone who recently sold some AEV TJ parts, due to an improbability of being able to replace them if they were ever damaged, why AEV flares?

They're only one piece of the puzzle and worthless without the rest of the kit.

That's not to say that I wouldn't be interested.
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The flares seem to be the most common part that gets damaged on the trail, no?

GenRight has made a copy of the AEV highline hood, and given GenRight's reputation, I have to imagine that it's high quality.

So the hood already exists, it's just the flares and the front fenders.

I wouldn't be oppose to manufacturing the entire kit, but last I heard, Dave (AEV) had said the molds were destroyed, and that none of the original stuff exists, so they'd essentially have to start over.
 
IIRC, I was offered 1500 for a set of flares I had.

I'd love to have a few complete kits, but they're just not available.

Nonetheless, you have my attention
 
Mrholland said:
IIRC, I was offered 1500 for a set of flares I had.

I'd love to have a few complete kits, but they're just not available.

Nonetheless, you have my attention
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Yes, my thought is that if you could buy a brand new set of the fender flares, people would probably pay $2000 for them given that they'd be brand new (I could be wrong, just a guess).

GenRight makes the hood, and then the only thing you'd need is the fenders. However, given that I've seen plenty of people do highline conversions with the factory fenders (and they look damn good too), I would think the factory fenders could be modified easily enough to fit the AEV flares.

At that point, the only irreplaceable part becomes the fender flares, once again.

I intend to look into this further. Maybe I need to reach out to Dave Harrington himself and see if he's open to me picking his brain at all.
 
This is my first post here as I drifted over from the AEV forum. I have an NOS set that I am installing now onto LJGator. I would be willing to put money down on a backup set of flares. You can try contacting Dave Harriton but his answer has always been the same.
I attached a photo of LJGator before I started to dismantle for repaint yesterday. Right now its just LJBlack.
Ward

B0A22D67-84E5-4B8B-AAF6-8223886F9A95.jpeg
 
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