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(Long) Been rebuilding my Jeep for a while, finally have time to type

Two Jeeps

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Granville, OH
I would add photos, but I don't seem to have permission???

Quick history:
This Jeep was stolen from the original owner when it was new and found about six months later in South GA with a smashed up front end, mangled dash and steering column, broken glass, and a busted out tailgate latch. A buddy of mine eventually bought it and got it back to running condition (barely), but never fixed any of the appearance issues other than the dash and steering column.

I bought it from him two years ago and put it on the road as my mountain bike shuttle. The first thing I did was to get it running right. After a series of tune ups - I got it from 170 miles-per-tank to averaging right at 300-miles-per-tank. Then, after a while all the "uglies" got to me and I started to stock pile parts in an attempt to make it look good again.

Over the winter I went after the easy stuff - removed the headliner and got it prepped for the new fabric, swapped out the speakers, re-installed the rear latch (found it inside the tailgate) using marine epoxy, and put on some nice seat covers.

After the radiator popped last month, I figured it was a good time to go after the front end. So...last weekend I pulled the radiator, the grill, the front bumper and all the other small stuff in order to get ready for the "big dig".

I spent last night taking off the smashed up fender and straightening out all of the bent pieces that are worth saving. The vice can be a wonderful tool when you've got a few bottles of liquid tech support flowing through ya....

My next step is to sand-blast the new parts I got from a donor Jeep and get them ready to go back on. I've got a new fender and gas cap cover that I'm simply going to primer and spray paint silver for the time being - hoping to get all this done by this weekend. Eventually I'll have it painted some time this summer / early fall.

Here's what all will be new on the Jeep the next time it hits the road:
Headliner and all the trim will be re-installed. ($30.00)
Adding a dome light (with an on/off switch) to the rear cargo area. This came from that donor Jeep I got everything else from. ($3.00)
New front clip - grill, headlights, all front blinkers and running lights, headlight/blinker trim, bumper, bumper ends, fender. (About $200.00)
New gas cap cover - other one is losing the battle to rust ($3.00)
New radiator/thermostat - I'm going to install a new 3-core radiator and a lower temp thermostat. I'm tired of this thing running hot. (About $160.00)
Going to find that dang vacuum leak that makes the A/C cut off all the time. ($$ - who knows)
 
Photos added (Long) Been rebuilding my Jeep for a while, finally have time to type

Thanks - this works great!

How it looked when I started:


Headliner:


Tailgate work:


How it sits now:
 
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