[Deer-Slayer_5]

Thanks guys! I've put some hours into it, thats for sure. Even though I may not use the hard top a lot, It's nice to have.

I'm still saving for that rot free tub from Rudy's... anyone have any suggestions other than the fenders on what to start working on while I wait for that tub? Windshield repair is out... just going to spend the money for a OEM one from Rudy thats in good shape. Just looking for suggestions from those who have done a frame off restoration or referb job

 

[Jim1611]

The best advice I can think of right now is that you need all the room you can get for working on your Jeep so why don't I store your new looking hardtop for the next few years!!!:grin2:

 

[Deer-Slayer_5]

The best advice I can think of right now is that you need all the room you can get for working on your Jeep so why don't I store your new looking hardtop for the next few years!!!:grin2:

Jim, you have till Friday to find me! Saturday it is going to an undisclosed location until it is needed again lol There are some nicer looking OEM hardtops in my area on facebook market place... I'd gladly refurbish and sell you one?? :grin2:

 

[Jim1611]

Jim, you have till Friday to find me! Saturday it is going to an undisclosed location until it is needed again lol There are some nicer looking OEM hardtops in my area on facebook market place... I'd gladly refurbish and sell you one?? :grin2:

Be careful of that! I know where allot of members live due to the fact I've sold allot of shackle hangers to them. :grin2:
You might be on to something with selling rebuilt hardtops though. You've done as nice a job as I've seen.

 

[Deer-Slayer_5]

You might be on to something with selling rebuilt hardtops though. You've done as nice a job as I've seen.

And with those striker plate drawings I did for you, you might expand that address book! lol

Finding them for the right price is the key. I see the tops from anywhere between 400-800. With the new lift gate and paint, I've got probably $500 into my hard top. I didn't really think about how much I have into the top until now and if I sold one like mine I would have to sell it for some big $$$s.

 

[CJ7 Joe]

Josh the CJ looks sweet!! I’m jealous of the quality of work and paint etc you are doing! It looks awesome!!

You mentioned you bought a rollbar from me. I’m trying to remember because I’ve had a few people buy things that I had left over. Did you also buy the spare tire carrier from me? If so I remember you well now and I came and looked at your CJ as well. You were also looking for a factory tachometer dash. I happen to have a rust free OEM tachometer dash – but it is out of an older CJ with just one speaker hole . If you’re interested I can let it go cheap! I’ve also have an OEM windshield frame that I will let go cheap but I will admit it needs some work. Anyway good luck on your project it looks awesome I’ll be following your build thread!

 

[Deer-Slayer_5]

Josh the CJ looks sweet!! I'm jealous of the quality of work and paint etc you are doing! It looks awesome!!

You mentioned you bought a rollbar from me. I'm trying to remember because I've had a few people buy things that I had left over. Did you also buy the spare tire carrier from me? If so I remember you well now and I came and looked at your CJ as well. You were also looking for a factory tachometer dash. I happen to have a rust free OEM tachometer dash - but it is out of an older CJ with just one speaker hole . If you're interested I can let it go cheap! I've also have an OEM windshield frame that I will let go cheap but I will admit it needs some work. Anyway good luck on your project it looks awesome I'll be following your build thread!

Yeah that was me! I was only like 10 minutes from your place lol I see your marketplace posts on the dash and windshield but I'm hunting for a 2 speaker cut out dash with the clock and tach holes. I plan on seeing Rudy here soon and I'm just gonna empty my pockets up there just to minimize the extra work. That sounds lazy, I know but some things I believe shouldn't be messed with. Just because with those windshields you can cut and discover that it needs to be cut even more to the point where you've got almost nothing. My windshield is worthless, Rusted out and had been hit and the PO tried to cover it up with the hinges.

 

[Deer-Slayer_5]

Haven't had an update in a while now but I have been busy doing other stuff. I've had the fenders and grill out for metal cleaning and I got them back yesterday. I'm really impressed by the acid process. It takes everything off but doesn't leave you gaping holes like sandblasting. I think I am going to go on Adams route and take apart the fenders and rebuild them to eliminate any rot caused by the rust. It's gonna take some time but I think in the long run its worth it.

Here is my parts I'm going to fix up here in the next few months.

I know this isn't a CJ thing but this is the bed for my dads M715 he's working on

 

[Jim1611]

Will those parts flash rust pretty easy now? I've used molasses and water to take the rust off and it won't harm the metal either. Your parts look very clean.

 

[whollsee]

Will those parts flash rust pretty easy now? I've used molasses and water to take the rust off and it won't harm the metal either. Your parts look very clean.

It would depend on the acid used perhaps. I think phosphoric gives an etch prime that is good for about a month if kept dry.

 

[Deer-Slayer_5]

It would depend on the acid used perhaps. I think phosphoric gives an etch prime that is good for about a month if kept dry.

Yes it is coated with some kind of temporary rust protection. I'm not sure what the chemical they use but the owner of the place I took it to said its not really an acid. He said it is dipped in a large tank with the chemical which is temperature controlled. He then said the parts go in a oven. this may be to evaporate the solution? Not sure, but the very last dip is into a different tank to help keep surface rust from forming.

With the weather cooling off and humidity staying low, we could go a few months with our parts in the garage before rust starts to come back. Plenty of time to fix my grill and fenders and get everything primed!

 

[Deer-Slayer_5]

This week I got some goodies in the mail! I got a spot weld cutter and some sheet metal tools to start the grill fixing. My plan is to fix the rust holes that developed and to fix the nut that holds the grill onto the frame.

Does any one know the original bolt size and thread that the grill bolt uses? I am planning on buying a captured nut like the original.

So after cleaning up the tree that fell on my house... I dug into the grill. Don't worry the house is okay. No humans or pets were harmed. Just some gutter damage.

Here is what I planned to cut out.

Using the spot weld cutter, I removed the bad section. This required drilling a small pilot hole and then using some oil and the cutter. No prying was needed to get it off.

So I decided to take the whole bar off because I saw there was a decent amount of surface rust remaining.

The metal dipping did a really good job. The owner of the place I took it to said the smallest nooks will still have rust and advised me to find the holes and dig a little further. I won't be able to get all of the rust but I can help it from coming back over the next 50 years.

 

[Deer-Slayer_5]

Still working on the grill. Ohio is experiencing all four seasons in the span of a few days to a week. Went from mid 60s to 14 degrees in the span of less than 24 hours and has stayed cold. I received my birthday present to myself today! I have been searching for OEM parts on facebook and ran across some Laredo door panels. I couldn't pass them up because I felt I would never see them in that condition again. For now just adding more parts to the assembly list when the time comes. That top pad is something I haven't seen before and I don't have any holes where that would attach on my doors. might just drill them myself and call it a day.

Does anyone have a picture of this set up on their doors? I'd like to see how they look

 

[lugnuttz]

Nice looking project!

 

[whollsee]

Nice looking project!

Getting that post count up huh?

 

[Deer-Slayer_5]

Happy New Year everyone!!

So not too much has gone on since my last post. Work has been busy and all I have been doing is sandblasting and getting the grill done. It's coming along but I have neglected taking pictures due to getting way into the process lol It is going to get some primer tomorrow to keep the rust off of it. I'll worry about block sanding until the time comes.

Also, I picked up a good working OEM tachometer off of facebook. It needed some cleaning but that was easy work. I had to paint the black ring on the glass and I touched up the needle. I didn't want to test painting the redline ticks, It looks better aged anyways. Here is a before and after:

I took my Christmas money and splurged on a NOS Speedometer as well. The guy I bought it from repairs gauges and collects NOS parts. I won't mention his name but he is on the facebook CJ pages. I bought it because I am certain my original does not work. My plan is to repair the original one and keep it as a spare just incase something goes wrong.

All my sandblasted parts are out to powder coat. Right now I have to address my spare tire carrier, the diagonal main square tube has pin holes in it (easy fix) and I am thinking about repairing the drivers side fender. If the cold stays away I'll be welding!

 

[Deer-Slayer_5]

Yikes, sorry for the pictures being rotated... I haven't had that issue a picture do that before

 

[John Strenk]

Yikes, sorry for the pictures being rotated... I haven't had that issue a picture do that before

Seems like JF pictures always default to landscape mode. So when taking pictures, keep you phone horizontal.

 

[keith460]

Nice job on the OEM Tachometer. Was it hard to take apart? I need to repaint the black ring around mine as well, as it seems they all do that over time.

 

[bob4703]

Yikes, sorry for the pictures being rotated... I haven't had that issue a picture do that before

Open the photos with a photo editor on your PC and even if they appear oriented correctly save them. That will keep them properly oriented. You also can use the Preview Post feature to check them.

By the way nice work on the tachometer.