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Body off '96 XJ

Thanks for the thumbs up, I'll start another thread when the plasma starts buzzing. I've chopped a few A's in my day too.... Too much wood in those "chicken coupes".

Saw a Gremlin on a Blazer chassis the other day; the availability of fence posts and a welder does not make you a fabricator.
 
Old Man said:
Saw a Gremlin on a Blazer chassis the other day; "the availability of fence posts and a welder does not make you a fabricator."[/FONT]
Click to expand...


Amen, well said.

Oh, and what a waist of a Gremlin.........
 
I've seen a 1965 elcamino with the rockers sitting about 40" off the ground, they used the stock boxed frame and added leaf pockets to it and full leaf suspension,no blocks. As someone that restores classic cars for a living I say dont cut up something that is pretty hard to find, I dont know how rare a commando is. That being said I have restored cars that were pretty cut up and they HAD to be as close to stock as possible,nearly 100%, so they can be fixed again if someone so desires.Just got done replacing nearly every peice of metal except the roof/firewall on a 65 mustang fastback that used to be a race car. I say if your going to keep it forever go ahead and do what makes you happy, if you plan on getting rid of it in a year dont do it.
 
Excellent points, as a savior of old stuff in general, I agree that the 'rare' or low production stuff needs to be saved if possible. Commando's are not terribly rare and generally undesirable by the general Jeeping public. I have a soft place (rust I think) in my heart for auto-oddities. I have 4 Commandos ranging from really clean to hanging together by the door gaskets and glass. I am now 100% convinced this will be a worthy and successful project, a "modern" Commando that has better road manners than factory will be a great daily driver. All the parts leftover from this '73 will find their way to a '66 tru-convertible Jeepster-Commando that has a decent body but no floors. My shop is all bout breathing new life in some one else's cast offs. We have some real auto-oddballs in the family, Ambassador, Pacer, and Eldorado are some of the family names on our tree. 'Opportunity' costs have gone up so much I have to be a little more careful picking projects, I used to run to Colorado or New Mexico to snag clean vintage tin, last trip out to Denver for a Nash was almost $900 in fuel alone. I'll have to settle in with what I have for now. If I ever get done the shop its self needs some work too.

Thanks for the encouragement.

OM
 
Depends on what you intend to do with your Commando, you'll find it terrible to drive daily. They have terrible Ross linkage steering and pitiful 4 wheel drum brakes. I see you are in California, you'll get run over on the freeway. If you intend to 'wheel it, the body and frame will pull itself apart after a few trail rides, the rivets and spot welds will give out with any flexing as they did in the 60's, and they were new then. If you are building a garage ornament, that's great, they are really cool looking and for driving to shows or going to the DQ on Sunday for a Sundae. Our tru-convert will be a full restoration and probably get 500 miles a year on it. My wife likes its looks and we'll paint it up real pretty red and white with wide whites and Lakeside pipes. She will have her own car to take when we go to shows with the Nash. So, I appreciate that you'll be 'saving' another Commando, but I'd ask you to also appreciate that this one will be 'saved' too, and actually driven every day for everyone to see. From the outside it will still be a Jeepster-Commando. It can be our 'dirty little secret' that it is safe and comfortable to drive as well as really cool inside and out with the Cherokee air conditioning and classic C-101 body lines! Good luck with your project, I've got 4 of them and a ton of parts if you are in Minnesota and need something.

OM
 
mine is going to be a surf wagon for my son. ditching the 4x4, throwing a mild smallblock in there with 9'' rear end, just something to run around in. good luck with your project :cheers:
 
winkosmosis said:
I just don't understand why you would do this. What is the point??
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Have you ever driven a pre-1977 Jeep in stock form at highway speeds? Actually the steering was sorted out for the most part by '72 in the CJ's. The early Ross linkage system was scary at best when new and time and miles were not kind to the straight cut steering gear, joints, pivots and bell-crank.

A 2wd beach cruiser sounds good to me, shoot me a photo. I have a total basket case of a '50 VJ (Jeepster) I may do something similar to. I have a crunched '98 ZJ 2wd from Florida with a v-8 and all the toys.... Not a good pan-off swap because the dash/body is WAY too wide. I'd like to find a Hudson Hornet or Packard to slide over that one. Might see if I can find an 80's Malibu 2dr for the VJ, that dash can be narrowed easily. I helped a guy do a '58 Studebaker Lark Pro-Street and he grafted the firewall and dash from a '80 Malibu Classic wagon in... Looked really cool and it allowed him to cut out all the Stude's rust.... Typical MN car, everything from the sill down was gone.

Think of it as a mountain climbing or storm surfing thing.... It's therapy, the pride of accomplishment, the 'wow' factor at shows.... Most of all, the joy of driving.

Happy trails.

Old Man

My wife says if I build a helicopter and fly it she'll leave me....
 
I'd rather have originality than original sheet metal. I say go for it. A couple years ago, a shop put a 65 Mustang fastback body onto a 03 Cobra unibody/running gear/suspension. Google "SN65" if you want to check it out. Its bright yellow, hard to miss.
 
I say fire up the torch and start a thread i would love to see that!
 
Old Man said:
Have you ever driven a pre-1977 Jeep in stock form at highway speeds? Actually the steering was sorted out for the most part by '72 in the CJ's. The early Ross linkage system was scary at best when new and time and miles were not kind to the straight cut steering gear, joints, pivots and bell-crank.

A 2wd beach cruiser sounds good to me, shoot me a photo. I have a total basket case of a '50 VJ (Jeepster) I may do something similar to. I have a crunched '98 ZJ 2wd from Florida with a v-8 and all the toys.... Not a good pan-off swap because the dash/body is WAY too wide. I'd like to find a Hudson Hornet or Packard to slide over that one. Might see if I can find an 80's Malibu 2dr for the VJ, that dash can be narrowed easily. I helped a guy do a '58 Studebaker Lark Pro-Street and he grafted the firewall and dash from a '80 Malibu Classic wagon in... Looked really cool and it allowed him to cut out all the Stude's rust.... Typical MN car, everything from the sill down was gone.

Think of it as a mountain climbing or storm surfing thing.... It's therapy, the pride of accomplishment, the 'wow' factor at shows.... Most of all, the joy of driving.

Happy trails.

Old Man

My wife says if I build a helicopter and fly it she'll leave me....
Click to expand...

Wait.. I thought you wanted to use the body of an XJ with the frame from a Jeepster
 
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