[Daves77CJ7]

This was my first and only Jeep. I originally bought it when I was 16 as my first ride. Drove it for 5 years and loved it. Decided to sell it when I got married because I moved to a big city and needed to be practical about driving on freeways. Hated to do it, but sold it to a friend with the agreement that I had first chance to buy it back one day. 15 years went by and that "One Day" came when my wife bought it back for me on my birthday and I am now undergoing a frame off restoration. The good news is my friend only put 2000 miles on it over 15 years because it just got towed around on some hunting trips and the occasional weekend drive. The bad news is it sat outside and it is now 33 years old and every bushing, steering part, etc is in bad need of replacement. But it spent it's entire life in AZ and it is 100% rust free!!!!
When I got it back, I made one very short drive in it and decided to do what I always wanted. I immediately began tearing it down.
Here are some pics of it just after I bought it back.

[Daves77CJ7]

So I quickly decided what I wanted to accomplish with this rebuild. First off: let me tell everyone right now that I am very much a rookie in the mechanics world. I can figure things out because I am kinda handy and can follow direction. This site is awesome thanks to you guys and your incredible threads.
So I talked with Jim at OK4WD and told him of my situation. I informed him that I was not building an extreme crawler, but I wanted to restore it back to "near new" condition. I also wanted to keep the 258 (my Dad and I rebuilt it about 5K miles ago, but that was also 17 years ago!). I knew I wanted quality power steering and power brakes. Good suspension and replace everything that I thought was broken. I ended up spending a decent chunk of change here. A week later a delivery truck rolled up to the house and dropped off a big delivery. I ended up getting PSC power steering gearbox, pump and HD bracket. Heavy duty tie rods and brace. 2.5" Old man EMU lift and shocks. YJ springs and Rock Equipment components. I also got a new Master Power booster for the power brakes. I also received a York compressor rebuilt for air.
You will notice from the stress cracks in the body that the original spare tire carrier was a problem for me. I also got a Warn rock crawler rear bumper and tire carrier. There is a lot more in those boxes and I will try to take lots of pics and talk about those parts as I come across them.
I have taken the body off and here is what the frame looks like today.

[Daves77CJ7]

So I have a good friend that owns a great auto body shop. I did some business for him recently and asked if we could work out a trade for the sheet metal work on my Jeep. He agreed and I dropped off the tub, hard top, fenders, doors, hood, grille, EVERYTHING.
I just picked it all up and it looked great! Thanks Val and Joe for the great work!
They welded every stress crack and filled every hole. Joe worked real hard to make sure it came out good. Here are some pics of the body parts sitting in the body shop just before I loaded them up.

[Daves77CJ7]

So that pretty much takes you to where I am today. I am almost down to the frame now. I hope to get there in the next few days and get the wire wheels spinning. I also have a friend who has access to a media blasting cabinet and I will clean up a lot of other parts soon. My goal is to have the entire frame and chassis parts stripped and painted within the next couple weeks. I am really looking forward to starting the build up part instead of this tear down phase!
I feel like a lazy bum because I have already received all the new parts I mentioned earlier, body work is done (except I need to U-pol the inside and underside of tub), and seats have already been re upholstered. All this is now waiting on me to get the frame ready to start receiving these parts, etc.
I wish I was as mechanical and motivated as sooooo many of you on this forum.
I will do my best!
Thanks
Dave

[Jeremy_C]

Looks good. You west coast guys and your no rust.....pfffffftt.....

[243]

Great start Dave, it will be sweet when you are finished!

[Daves77CJ7]

Thanks guys for the encouragement.
I forgot to mention. I had everything painted the original AMC/Chrysler Alpine White just like it was originally back in 1977. I also went with a single stage paint job on it rather than base coat, clear coat. I was told that this is easier for touch up and it makes buffing out the "pinstripes" (scratches) much easier.
I have been watching the engine color threads on JF. I am not real excited about the AMC Blue for the block, but I am trying to keep a lot of this as original as I can. I realize that restoring it to original condition is not realistic with the aftermarket steering, lift, spare tire carrier, bigger tires (33s), intake, headers, carb, etc. So I am undecided on engine color. I really like some of the other colors you guys did on your engines.
Dave

[Cutlass327]

Originally Posted by Jeremy_C

Looks good. You west coast guys and your no rust.....pfffffftt.....

Yeah no kidding!! That thing would be a pile of rust in the driveway by now if it was out this way...

[Daves77CJ7]

Being a Jeep owner in AZ is a good thing. I recently moved just 4 hours North into Southern Utah and there are a lot of rusted Jeeps up here. I plan to do all I can during this rebuild to make sure that all metal is coated and guarded from future rust. I am a little paranoid about it. I don't mind a sunroof to see the sky, but I don't care for one on the floor to see the road!

[Daves77CJ7]

I am planning to drop the gas tank tonight and get the last few items off the frame. I plan to re-use all my fuel lines. What do you guys think? Are they a pain and expensive to replace? Is it a waste of time?
Thanks
Dave

[alex211]

You're lucky, this is what north east salt will do to a nice jeep.

[TRex]

Originally Posted by alex211

You're lucky, this is what north east salt will do to a nice jeep.

That's a Jeep?! I thought someone had been shooting at a soup can!

[alex211]

Originally Posted by TRex

That's a Jeep?! I thought someone had been shooting at a soup can!

The fix.

[Daves77CJ7]

Wow! I feel bad for you guys up there. You have some skills (and balls) to take on a rusted project like that.
That soup can crack was a good one! Hahaha.

[alex211]

All I got was a title when I bought my heep, mother nature ate the rest.