Oh boy, that's a road I've been down years ago when we did our Jeeps restoration, using an MD Juan tub we bought off of Rudy's Jeep back in 2007. Bought it at a very good price and it was one of the first tubs to have the "Jeep" stamp in the cowl. It was the tub that was sent to Chrysler for inspection in order to approve the Jeep logo for reproduction authentication according to Rudy at the time. Don't know if that is true or not, since the tub is anything but authentic.

Years ago, these MD Juan tubs were built rough and lacked many of the features on later model CJ's. They are practically hand built and hammered formed on all the edges and very ill fitting. I imagine they are still being built that way with "some" improvements but not much. They still lack the tail light, gas fill openings and do not have the proper transmission tunnel opening of later years from 1980-86.

I had many modifications we had to do to make it fit on the original chassis, and as far as I know, they have been resolved but will depend on your year of manufacturing. And with that said, it will be the first item you need to check on your MD Juan tub, when it was built. There is a serial number above the battery tray area that is stamped in the firewall.

Lets start with that and then we will direct you to some Jeep forum threads about the tub.

I had documented the tub in detail on another Jeep forum back in 2007-2011, JeepsUnlimited.com, but that forum is no more and all pictures went with it due to PhotoBucket hijacking all the photos we posted and holding them hostage now.

 

I had documented the tub in detail on another Jeep forum back in 2007-2011, JeepsUnlimited.com, but that forum is no more and all pictures went with it due to PhotoBucket hijacking all the photos we posted and holding them hostage now.

and this is EXATLY why i use extra hard drives with my computer every thing i do is on one of those hard drives. day to day expense's keeping to pictures . if i need to document something it goes on a separate hard drive then those go in a safe.. i label them and pull them out when needed . that has saved my but more than a few times .

 

Oh boy, that's a road I've been down years ago when we did our Jeeps restoration, using an MD Juan tub we bought off of Rudy's Jeep back in 2007. Bought it at a very good price and it was one of the first tubs to have the "Jeep" stamp in the cowl. It was the tub that was sent to Chrysler for inspection in order to approve the Jeep logo for reproduction authentication according to Rudy at the time. Don't know if that is true or not, since the tub is anything but authentic.

Years ago, these MD Juan tubs were built rough and lacked many of the features on later model CJ's. They are practically hand built and hammered formed on all the edges and very ill fitting. I imagine they are still being built that way with "some" improvements but not much. They still lack the tail light, gas fill openings and do not have the proper transmission tunnel opening of later years from 1980-86.

I had many modifications we had to do to make it fit on the original chassis, and as far as I know, they have been resolved but will depend on your year of manufacturing. And with that said, it will be the first item you need to check on your MD Juan tub, when it was built. There is a serial number above the battery tray area that is stamped in the firewall.


View attachment 4309840
Lets start with that and then we will direct you to some Jeep forum threads about the tub.

I had documented the tub in detail on another Jeep forum back in 2007-2011, JeepsUnlimited.com, but that forum is no more and all pictures went with it due to PhotoBucket hijacking all the photos we posted and holding them hostage now.

Oh boy, that's a road I've been down years ago when we did our Jeeps restoration, using an MD Juan tub we bought off of Rudy's Jeep back in 2007. Bought it at a very good price and it was one of the first tubs to have the "Jeep" stamp in the cowl. It was the tub that was sent to Chrysler for inspection in order to approve the Jeep logo for reproduction authentication according to Rudy at the time. Don't know if that is true or not, since the tub is anything but authentic.

Years ago, these MD Juan tubs were built rough and lacked many of the features on later model CJ's. They are practically hand built and hammered formed on all the edges and very ill fitting. I imagine they are still being built that way with "some" improvements but not much. They still lack the tail light, gas fill openings and do not have the proper transmission tunnel opening of later years from 1980-86.

I had many modifications we had to do to make it fit on the original chassis, and as far as I know, they have been resolved but will depend on your year of manufacturing. And with that said, it will be the first item you need to check on your MD Juan tub, when it was built. There is a serial number above the battery tray area that is stamped in the firewall.


View attachment 4309840
Lets start with that and then we will direct you to some Jeep forum threads about the tub.

I had documented the tub in detail on another Jeep forum back in 2007-2011, JeepsUnlimited.com, but that forum is no more and all pictures went with it due to PhotoBucket hijacking all the photos we posted and holding them hostage now.

Thanks for replying, I saw the numbers you were taking about, made in 2020. Gave another look over the tub. Still looks like it also needs holes for battery tray and lower heater core unit. Any chance there diagrams or printable layouts for the hole locations online.

 

Quick after thought, i still have the front cowl/ portion of the old jeep, probably could just cut out the fire wall in sections and match it up. Have you guys had any experience with doing that. Feels like the most simplest thing, use it as a stencil for the new tub. Any thoughts would help.
Thanks

 

I didn’t do the firewall, but I did transplant 2/3s of the top cowl from my original tub to my MD tub. The curve on the passenger side was total wrong when the hood went on. I don’t know why you couldn’t split the firewall off at the floor and the cowl from the base of the windshield/dash. Transplant the whole thing… at least everything would be in the right place. Other bonus would be that all the weld nuts and studs would be there too.

 

before paint i would assemble this first for panel fit, hood, fenders, window, see if it all lines up well enough. along with all changes you make/he made. how it sits on the frame. then take it apart for paint. I would suspect if still handmade might take some finessing for good fits? not uncommon even with any panels made for older stuff. depends on what level you want this to be at.
might be easier to make a template of where the holes were. transfer over and mark the holes and drill. no added welding seams.

 

I second that opinion. ^^^

 

Your firewall is a little better than what I had in 2007. Many of the changes made to make them better was due to a meeting we had with Rommel Juan of MD Juan in West Chester, PA years ago while he was there at Quadratec.

Here's a good read to learn about the troubles we had on these tubs that was started by Rommel Juan himself: https://www.jeepforum.com/threads/tubs-from-the-philippines.1480423/#replies

The firewall won't be easy and you must check center-lines first and foremost. Mine was off by almost a 1/4" so heater, cowl vent, hood hinge mounting ALL had to be adjusted. PIA to say the least. I also had to make and mount my own grill strut tabs, gas pedal hole and angle it, bump out for the lower heater flap and redo the hole for the blower fan for the Chevy Blazer blower as the hole was off anyway. The worst was the drivers side lower body mount. I think it is higher than the passenger side by about a 1/2" and had to use shims to make level.

 

And, forgot to mention, do not rely on the paint that was applied by MD Juan as a good primer or etching primer. It is not and is only good for transporting the tub across the ocean so it didn't start to rust. I was literally able to blow the primer off with a blow gun right down to bare steel. If you use it as a base primer for final paint coat, you will regret it when the paint starts to come off. It is NOT good!

I removed every bit of it and then took it to a sandblasting shop to have plastic beaded done afterwards since I couldn't get it all off. Ran out of soda media.

 

The gas fill, rear tail lights, and grille support brackets still need to be done.

Also any links to that give dimensions for cut outs would help.

Thanks

I edited this photo many years ago of my original tub with measurements. I had to do the same thing with my MD Juan tub as well.