My Jeep is on crack...

[EDM620]

On 9/4/2023 at 7:45 PM, ]2eDeYe said:

added connectors to the frame

Excellent - 'cause you never know when pushing bush...

[]2eDeYe]

 

 

[EDM620]

Ah the eccentricity of an early Jeep. I remember the signal assembly with the rubber roller to cancel the lights, the under seat storage bin, and the hasps that latched the windshield. I bought a set of Advance Adapters windshield clamps to upgrade those factory hasps - sort of better but you had to really pull the windshield back and spin the knob in since it didn't pull like the original hasp did. Stronger though. I wished mine had the tailgate, was a solid back instead.

 

My '75 had every available factory option - AM radio (under dash pod w/ single speaker) AND tachometer! Levi's trim to boot - probably why the 2 options 🙂

 

[]2eDeYe]

3 hours ago, EDM620 said:

Ah the eccentricity of an early Jeep. I remember the signal assembly with the rubber roller to cancel the lights, the under seat storage bin, and the hasps that latched the windshield. I bought a set of Advance Adapters windshield clamps to upgrade those factory hasps - sort of better but you had to really pull the windshield back and spin the knob in since it didn't pull like the original hasp did. Stronger though. I wished mine had the tailgate, was a solid back instead.

 

My '75 had every available factory option - AM radio (under dash pod w/ single speaker) AND tachometer! Levi's trim to boot - probably why the 2 options 🙂

 

I need a new clasp on the drivers side, but it still latches pretty solid. 

There's a levi interior package on marketplace right now, not my thing though. 

[Duncan]

I didn't recall seeing this thread before, but it started in 2007 and somewhere around 2009, you let it sit for a mere 12 years or so 🙂

 

It's a cool Jeep.  I need to go back a few pages and catch up a bit.  I'd love to have one of those..

 

I have to grab some photos, but I have a car show friend that has a Corvette body on a semi-Bigfoot Jeep 4wd chassis.  Funny thing is he lives in Newport Beach (very wealthy area) and people shit their pants when he's out and about in it. 

 

 

[]2eDeYe]

15 hours ago, Duncan said:

I didn't recall seeing this thread before, but it started in 2007 and somewhere around 2009, you let it sit for a mere 12 years or so 🙂

 

It's a cool Jeep.  I need to go back a few pages and catch up a bit.  I'd love to have one of those..

 

I have to grab some photos, but I have a car show friend that has a Corvette body on a semi-Bigfoot Jeep 4wd chassis.  Funny thing is he lives in Newport Beach (very wealthy area) and people shit their pants when he's out and about in it. 

 

 

Right about 12 years ya. No that long of a stretch, but it was put away wet lol. 

Thanks, I kept seeing jeeps and convertibles out this summer and decided I needed mine back on the road and in the woods. 

I would love to see pics of the Veep lol. They have grown on me over the years. 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

On 9/15/2023 at 3:17 PM, EDM620 said:

Ah the eccentricity of an early Jeep. I remember the signal assembly with the rubber roller to cancel the lights, the under seat storage bin, and the hasps that latched the windshield. I bought a set of Advance Adapters windshield clamps to upgrade those factory hasps - sort of better but you had to really pull the windshield back and spin the knob in since it didn't pull like the original hasp did. Stronger though. I wished mine had the tailgate, was a solid back instead.

 

My '75 had every available factory option - AM radio (under dash pod w/ single speaker) AND tachometer! Levi's trim to boot - probably why the 2 options 🙂

 

I converted my '74 CJ5 to a tailgate back. It wasn't really that much work, but I did have a donor body with a tailgate surround that was salvageable.

 

 

[]2eDeYe]

Man that thing is as straight as mine is crooked. B)

Your builds are always eye candy. 
 

Mine was rear ended and is rotten under at least one section of diamond plate back there.
Eventually plan to cut it out and redo it with 3/16 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

2 hours ago, ]2eDeYe said:

Man that thing is as straight as mine is crooked. B)

Your builds are always eye candy. 
 

Mine was rear ended and is rotten under at least one section of diamond plate back there.
Eventually plan to cut it out and redo it with 3/16 

In the 4th pic, see the spot welds at the top of the body? The height of the body was different from side to side, by almost 3/8". The reason it came out so straight isn't because it was a clean CJ to start with. I made it straight by cutting shit and welding it back together. Picture Toldeo Ohio in the '70s. Laverne and Shirley were building these things...

 

I'd like to see what you end up doing with your CJ.

 

And thank you.

Edited September 22, 2023 by Stoffregen Motorsports

[EDM620]

1 hour ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

Laverne and Shirley were building these things...

after swilling a few freebies!

[]2eDeYe]

16 hours ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

 

I'd like to see what you end up doing with your CJ.

 

 

 

For now it is replacing missing or broken parts.  
 

 

[]2eDeYe]

On 9/21/2023 at 4:59 PM, Duncan said:

It's a cool Jeep.  I need to go back a few pages and catch up a bit.  I'd love to have one of those..

 

 

 

I just went back and redid all the pics to get rid of the lame photobucket watermarks. 
Now I am all annoyed again at what they did to forums... thankfully we can upload here now. 

Oh well, hopefully youtube doesn't implode lol.  

[]2eDeYe]

Some pics 

 

The hornets really like the jeep

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Unfortunately for you, the 72-75 CJs can be really hard to find parts for. This era was the "changeover years" between when AMC bought Jeep from Kaiser and were redesigning everything, but using up old stock on the shelves. When I was looking for replacement body parts, three different experts had never seen the variation of rear fender stiffening ribs that were on my '74. Also, floor boards can be difficult to source and if you need a trans tunnel cover, forget it. I had to scab two together to make one good one.

 

This guy here makes some really nice reproduction panels - https://www.classicent.com/jeep/72-75-cj5

 

My dash board was apparently an anomaly too. In those years, they started putting the little rectangular indicator lights above the dash switches, but mine had none. Also, the position of the oil and water gauges was "not correct" according to the experts. So yeah, expect the unexpected with that year CJ.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Oh yeah, and the frames crack badly too. Mostly around where the crossmembers attach. The factory welds were so bad that they just break out and cause the frame to flex. It might be worth a look, but even then, a broken out weld may still look solid...

[]2eDeYe]

24 minutes ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

Unfortunately for you, the 72-75 CJs can be really hard to find parts for. This era was the "changeover years" between when AMC bought Jeep from Kaiser and were redesigning everything, but using up old stock on the shelves. When I was looking for replacement body parts, three different experts had never seen the variation of rear fender stiffening ribs that were on my '74. Also, floor boards can be difficult to source and if you need a trans tunnel cover, forget it. I had to scab two together to make one good one.

 

This guy here makes some really nice reproduction panels - https://www.classicent.com/jeep/72-75-cj5

 

My dash board was apparently an anomaly too. In those years, they started putting the little rectangular indicator lights above the dash switches, but mine had none. Also, the position of the oil and water gauges was "not correct" according to the experts. So yeah, expect the unexpected with that year CJ.

 

 

Of course you post this after I cobbled the drivers side back together lol.
Hopefully he is still offering them next time I have to go through this thing. 

 

 

22 minutes ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

Oh yeah, and the frames crack badly too. Mostly around where the crossmembers attach. The factory welds were so bad that they just break out and cause the frame to flex. It might be worth a look, but even then, a broken out weld may still look solid...

 

I noticed that lol. 
It looks like someone tried to reweld the shock crossmember from the outside sometime in the past, but they failed miserably. 
I got it back in there and attached a little better.  

I do still want to put a new frame under this thing, but I also don't want take it apart that far and would like to have it usable. 
It's a fine line between restoration and hack for now. 😄

 

Now I have to go edit more video and continue installing actual body mount bushings. 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

23 hours ago, ]2eDeYe said:

I noticed that lol. 

It looks like someone tried to reweld the shock crossmember from the outside sometime in the past, but they failed miserably. 
I got it back in there and attached a little better.  

I do still want to put a new frame under this thing, but I also don't want take it apart that far and would like to have it usable. 
It's a fine line between restoration and hack for now. 😄

Those are probably original welds. Yes, they were that crappy. You can try to burn over them, but whenever I try to do this, there is so much contamination in the original weld that it just spatters and spits. Grind it out a bit before trying to weld over it. Or just burn it really freakin hot.

 

Keep the original frame. Enough can be done to make it strong. Besides that, there is a soul in a vehicle, and who's to say where it is? It could be that once yous wap in a new custom frame, your connection to the vehicle diminishes.

[]2eDeYe]

4 hours ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

there is a soul in a vehicle, and who's to say where it is? It could be that once you swap in a new custom frame, your connection to the vehicle diminishes.

 

This is how I am approaching the repairs. Stronger better my Jeep thru and thru.
I am leaving the paint alone for the same reason, it earned it. 
Thanks for that.

 

[]2eDeYe]

Been thinking about one of my other favorite Jeeps with character, Rick Pewes is pretty awesome.

 

 

Made some more progress on mine. 

 

 

[]2eDeYe]

Some pics cause everyone likes those 🙂

got some paint on some stuff

 

 

crossmember back in

 

 

 

cut some reinforcement plates 

 

Boxing plates mocked up

 

Windshield frame looks not bad

 

 

 

My helpers on break 

 

boxing plates welded in

 

 

 

Pretty happy with progress so far 🙂

[datsunfreak]

On 9/25/2023 at 3:24 PM, ]2eDeYe said:

I am leaving the paint alone for the same reason, it earned it. 

 

I heard someone say something about this the other day that struck a chord with me. "If you paint it, then it just looks just like everybody else's". 

[Lockleaf]

Your videos on this beastie keep popping up in my feed.  I need to stop sucking and watch them. You keep getting edged out by Halfass Kustoms.  Sorry man, he's my favorite channel :D.

I'm with you on the whole paint thing.  I regard much patina the exact same way.  It's earned.  Its hilarious to listen to my 10 year old kid showing his friends my Travelall and when they comment its 'ugly' or whatever, him parroting my speech on how thats patina, and cars earn it so its awesome.

 

[]2eDeYe]

16 hours ago, datsunfreak said:

 

I heard someone say something about this the other day that struck a chord with me. "If you paint it, then it just looks just like everybody else's". 

 

Well mine definitely doesn't look like any other one. 🙂
 

 

15 hours ago, Lockleaf said:

Your videos on this beastie keep popping up in my feed.  I need to stop sucking and watch them. You keep getting edged out by Halfass Kustoms.  Sorry man, he's my favorite channel :D.

I'm with you on the whole paint thing.  I regard much patina the exact same way.  It's earned.  Its hilarious to listen to my 10 year old kid showing his friends my Travelall and when they comment its 'ugly' or whatever, him parroting my speech on how thats patina, and cars earn it so its awesome.

 

 

 

Cool, they are doing really well, never can tell with youtube. 
Halfass Customs is a great channel, Puddin and DD Speed Shop are my favorites tho. 
 

Ugly is a matter of perspective, a lot of cars I thought were ugly in my youth are awesome to see on the road today.

[Rustbin]

I guess I'm a little "out there", I prefer "Rat Rods for Africa" to "Halfass Customs" but I suppose this is going off on a tangent.

[]2eDeYe]

On 9/24/2023 at 8:38 AM, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

Unfortunately for you, the 72-75 CJs can be really hard to find parts for.

 

My dash board was apparently an anomaly too. In those years, they started putting the little rectangular indicator lights above the dash switches, but mine had none. Also, the position of the oil and water gauges was "not correct" according to the experts. 

When I installed the t18, I had to use my engine hoist for that heavy pig and cracked the glass on the gauge. Do you know if I can just buy a cheap one and replace my glass and bezel with the new parts? I would like to keep mine.

 

 

 

 

17 hours ago, Rustbin said:

I guess I'm a little "out there", I prefer "Rat Rods for Africa" to "Halfass Customs" but I suppose this is going off on a tangent.

 

I will have to check out 'rat rods' it pops up on my feed. No worries about tangents, it's what we do here lol

 

 

Now on the current thread subject, a couple questions. 

Fully weld, stitch some or leave it? It is definitely more welded than factory lol

 

Seam sealer, douche with paint or let nature sort out this finish here? It is all underneath the tub. 

The stock 'plates' are now welded back together and reinforced with 1x1 tube