Soon to be FSJ Section.
Plan of attack:
And I plan on leaving the 5.87 gears fron and rear. Just wish that I could get a locker or spool for the Dana 70 rear for a decent price.. I got some used 44" Gumbo Mudders for now, and when I win a lottery =), I'll get a set of 44" Boggers.

Spring over.

Swapping cabs:
This always something fun, not. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I had thought this was going to take a few quick hours. Boy was I wrong. I guess I was TOO used to doing this on cars, and not FULL size vehicles, let alone a military truck. Don't get me wrong, I have done just about everything to military vehicles while in the Army from complete suspension on HMMWV's to engine work on a Duece and half. And I have done full body off resto's on cars. So you would think that I would have a clue. I guess the one time that I was optimistic, everything wanted to be stubborn.
First the bolts on the cabs, and I do mean BOTH cabs, didn't want to come out. And cab bolts are not the most accessable bolts. And you do not want mess too much stuff up when extracating them. So a lot of elbow grease and monkey business went into getting the cabs loose. Then unhooking the brake lines, steering, and shifting linkages from both cabs.
Next is actually getting the cabs off of the original vehicles. Now getting the M715 cab off took a little bit to clear ALL the shifters sticking up. One from the tranny, two from tcase, and one brake. But seeing as the condition of this cab was not of interest, after it cleared the shifters, thump, right over and on to the ground, and try and make sure that no one was under it!
The J cab wasn't that bad to get off. Once the master cylinder cleared the engine, we just carefully tilted it over onto it's side on the dirt. After is was on the ground. It wasn't that difficult to slide over to be in front of the M715.
Then the hardest part. If you haven't noticed yet, we didn't have anything to lift the cabs off, except arm strength. So EVERYTHING seemed to be the 'hard part'. So we took two aluminum 4x6 beams and put them on the frame and bed. This, we thought, would be the easiest way get it up high enough without breaking something. We then used two nice and LONG 4x4's to lever the cab onto the rails. Once it was on the rails, we slid it up over the shifters.
Now the next hard part. Taking the rails out without dropping the cab. So, with the use of a high lift jack, and another 4x4, we lifted the cab up and pulled out the rails. This seems normal and almost safe. Except for the fact that the jack was in the middle of the firewall, and the 4x4 was in the middle at the back of the cab. So this was a 'wonderful' balancing act while the other two guys pulled out the rails. Then the fun really started. Just after the rails were out, the jack slipped. I couldn't really see the reason for this because I was the guy standing in the bed holding the 4x4. The two guys on the sides bailed out of the way. And the guy holding the jack got out. But I didn't want the cab to fall and kick the 4x4 up and into the rear glass, so I hung on. Needless to say, after the fun ride was over, I was the only one holding it up. Lucky for us, the shifters went through the hole, we took out the whole plate, and didn't mess anything up. The front of the cab was resting on the frame rails, and the back was being held up by me and my 4x4. The other guys came up and held the cab while I pulled out the 4x4, and it set down just fine.
After this taking a few hours of time, and then seeing the J cab sitting on the M715. It was worth it. And made the guy whome I got them from start thinking about when he was going to start HIS.
Oh yeah! Did I mention that it was over 100 degrees, and that we were 15 minutes from the coast???
It was worth it, but we were some REAL tired guy at the end of that day.

I am getting some pictures sent to me of the trucks before the swap. And I'll get them up here soon.

Getting the truck!
After the weather and circumstances finally permitted us to go get the truck. Time allowing this time, we bolted down the cab. Then we put on the fenders and grill. And after some puppy dog eyes, got a grill from a Gladiator. VERY NICE ! So now we have a truck sitting there that has the military front fenders and bed. With a J-10 cab, hood, and front grill.
Technically the fenders on the M715 are nothing more then J-fenders that have the flare cut out and a flat flare instead. But after closer inspection, the inner fenders are going to be need from the J-cab. The fenders have the mounting holes with the correct mounting points so that the inner fender will bolt to the cab. I nice thing that gives the fenders a lot more support. (Like this truck needs more support!!). But the inner fenders will bolt right up to the military fenders. Nice!
The towing went a LOT better then I had hoped for. With the SLOW towing speeds involved (between 45 and 55), it took a few hours to go the 120 something miles. I had planned on at least one tire blowing out. The tires are still the original military tires! So we had a spare tire and a high lift jack at the ready. But didn't need them. Whew!
Cool part is that the J-cab steering shaft hooked up directly to the M715 steering gear box. So steering was hooked up within about three minutes. Later on I will install power steering. But for now, the current box has some serious gears. So it will work fine even with big tires, I hope! It looked kinda funny being able to look through the entire engine bay where the inner fender well was, and no engine there gave us a clear view to the other tire.
One good thing about this time is that we didn't try and drop a cab on ourselves! On looking back at how we did it, we have decided that a good strong tree and a hoist will be the answer to the next time this gets done. For which I hope that I am conveneintly absent!
After some other things get cleared away, this project will start in earnest. First thing is to sand it all and primer it. Then 'think' about painting it. Of course, knowing me, it will have the Krylon touch. Black.


So until I get some pictures up here, and a story or two on how 'fun' the cab swap was. I will ask for some patience.
Build it, and they will come!
Cool link for some FSJ's. International Full Size Jeep Association.