Alright dudes, I owe ya'll an update.
I got the Atlas project basically done.
I bent up some 1/2" rod and tapped threads onto it for knobs. I did this to replace the short little Atlas shifter levers with ones that sit right up next to my transmission shifter. I bent the trans shifter a little toward the passenger side to allow room for the twin sticks to clear my right knee.
All of my shifters are right there next to each other and well within reach even when the seatbelt is cinched.
Here is how I tackled the floor patch:
I added material to attach a floor panel to and added mounting holes and nutserts.
We cut out a floor panel on my buddy's plasma table and I added careful bends to it with a hammer and a piece of pipe.
Cut out the seat bracket to fit around the larger tunnel and attached a new front mount.
Then I painted the floor patch and bolted it up with some stainless M6 hardware I had at work. I added a custom cut to the floor mat and installed a new fire extinguisher.
I am really happy with how the floor turned out. The transfer case takes up a lot more space but the seat basically sits 1/4" above it and there is still a nice little pocket for my heel to sit in while I mash that skinny pedal.
I also got to work on finishing my flat skid. I used some woodworking tools to cut, drill, countersink, and rout the edges of my 3/8" sheet of UHMW and tapped 3/8" fine thread holes. I'm quite happy with how this turned out as well. I am a little concerned about how close to the edge I had to bore holes to counter sink the carriage bolts for mounting it. They will probably blow out eventually but it's all a learning process. In hindsight i would have ground the heads of the mounting bolts smaller to allow the holes to be smaller.
Here is the shiny new skid bolted up along with the spiffy new 1350 driveshafts.
I installed a new air intake and an electric fan kit. Then my radiator blew on the first drive so I installed a nice new Griffin aluminum radiator not pictured.
For memorial weekend, my wife, puppy, and I went wheeling at two different local trails (Dresser, WI and Frontenac Farms in Lake City MN) with some dang good friends (one with a stretched TJ and another with the Ranger) and we had a ball. The Jeep performed really well and nothing broke! The difference crawling with the Atlas 5:1 is unreal. First gear low range makes for effortless crawling, 2nd gear has great wheel speed, and 3rd gear is great for heading from one obstacle to the next on the trail. I have never been more happy with the little 4 cylinder now that it has good gear reduction. Below are some pictures and video from the weekend.
Oh yeah, and somewhere in there I installed some new Motobilt mirror brackets and 6" round trucker mirrors.
The UHMW held up well and slipped over everything. My favorite thing about it is as you slide over rocks it is very quiet and much less harsh.
I was between a rock and a hard place and dented my rear corner a bit. Oops!@#
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="
" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>