And more things to consider which are annoying...the differences in the way the firewall is made means the battery tray doesn't mount directly, you have to drill holes for things like the gas pedal mounting, heater box install, and other complicated firewall related matters. The body also needed to cut some material out to allow the gear shift to move as needed. And I'm still completely lost on trying to get the fender braces installed.
Repli-tub deficiencies
- Thread starter walkerhoundvm
- Start date
And more things to consider which are annoying...the differences in the way the firewall is made means the battery tray doesn't mount directly, you have to drill holes for things like the gas pedal mounting, heater box install, and other complicated firewall related matters. The body also needed to cut some material out to allow the gear shift to move as needed. And I'm still completely lost on trying to get the fender braces installed.
- City
- Cave Creek
- State
- AZ
They also use a jig to make sure all the frame mounts are lined up, but yes, there's a few things done to the firewall.Is it worth paying for the fix if you are swapping firewalls? As I understand it, most of the fixes are on the firewall.
LetchcoreCJ7
Legacy Registered User
- City
- Nashville
- State
- TN
There is an oem one on eBay I bet you could have got for similar price. Did you consider that?
- City
- Bedford
- State
- NH
- City
- Halifax
- State
- UK
Me too!
- City
- Mt Holly
- State
- NC
Thanks for the responses. I have spoke in length with them and they will not be doing any "fixing" to the firewall since I don't need that part. This will be a one-off sort of job for them fixing the rest of the tub.
I'll add a few more cents to this thread as I'm getting to the assembly portion of this project. I am running 100% jeep original body parts on this other than the windshield frame and the tub, which is MD Juan. The windshield frame is fine other than they left out the slots for the defrost. I'll have to cut those in. But the tub...oh the tub. There was a lot of issues with the tub and I'm still dealing with it.
1. The body only mounts correctly to the front mounts on the frame. The last two mounts are misaligned and I'll have to mess around back there to get them to work.
2. All the curves, at the back by the tail lights and the cowl were not up to snuff. They needed a lot of work, sanding, bondo, to get them to look ok. And even after all of that, still don't look as good as the original without all the work.
3. Fender and hood alignment. We did the best we could but the drivers side alignment of fender to hood has like a 1/2" gap running the length. I cannot sort it because all other panels and alignment gaps are correct.
4. The hood cannot align left to right correctly. If you move it to align, it sticks over the drivers side cowl too far. This might be something a jeep expert can handle to get everything aligned better than I can, but i've had it with trying.
5. Holes missing...it is a real PIA to get things mounted because it's missing a lot of holes in the body. Holes to mount up the door strikers, holes for the vents. Holes for gas pedal mounts. Tail light holes, etc etc etc. all holes you need are missing except for ones that are mislocated.
6. Holes that are there are mislocated. The big one was the heater core holes being about a full inch off.
7. Firewall stamp different from stock. THis means that the heater box was a massive project to get in (still not in, but hopefully soon) and the battery box doesn't mount the same way. By the way, the battery box holes were not there.
8. The Fender stabalizer mounts that go to the firewall were a PIA. I had to drill holes and use bolts because the bolts sticking out of the firewall were misplaced.
Honestly, if I were to do this again, I would have searched high and low and found a good used tub from a dry state and paid the money to get it here. By the time we did all the bodywork, bondo, and all the challenges to assemble, the choice of using the MD Juan as a new tub is negated.
I will say a few positives about the tub.
1. It is NOT flimsy. I actually think it is made with 16 gauge steel all around. After it was linex'd top and bottom, you won't know it is aftermarket until you see the jeep logo emboss missing.
2. It was cheap. I got the whole thing shipped for $2400 new. That included tub, fenders, hood, grill, tailgate, and windshield along with a set of windshield hinges. And it arrived without any damage.
3. It was NEW. It looks like it was dipped, actually, in some autophoretic type dip. If you're not familiar with that process, it is the process that people use for industrial purpose with harsh environments. Generally autophoretic dips can be subjected to 365 day salt water tide simulations and do not rust. If that's what's on here, which seems so, it will never ever rust out. The fact that I linexed it top and bottom should help. Any additional holes I drilled I blotted with POR15.
1. The body only mounts correctly to the front mounts on the frame. The last two mounts are misaligned and I'll have to mess around back there to get them to work.
2. All the curves, at the back by the tail lights and the cowl were not up to snuff. They needed a lot of work, sanding, bondo, to get them to look ok. And even after all of that, still don't look as good as the original without all the work.
3. Fender and hood alignment. We did the best we could but the drivers side alignment of fender to hood has like a 1/2" gap running the length. I cannot sort it because all other panels and alignment gaps are correct.
4. The hood cannot align left to right correctly. If you move it to align, it sticks over the drivers side cowl too far. This might be something a jeep expert can handle to get everything aligned better than I can, but i've had it with trying.
5. Holes missing...it is a real PIA to get things mounted because it's missing a lot of holes in the body. Holes to mount up the door strikers, holes for the vents. Holes for gas pedal mounts. Tail light holes, etc etc etc. all holes you need are missing except for ones that are mislocated.
6. Holes that are there are mislocated. The big one was the heater core holes being about a full inch off.
7. Firewall stamp different from stock. THis means that the heater box was a massive project to get in (still not in, but hopefully soon) and the battery box doesn't mount the same way. By the way, the battery box holes were not there.
8. The Fender stabalizer mounts that go to the firewall were a PIA. I had to drill holes and use bolts because the bolts sticking out of the firewall were misplaced.
Honestly, if I were to do this again, I would have searched high and low and found a good used tub from a dry state and paid the money to get it here. By the time we did all the bodywork, bondo, and all the challenges to assemble, the choice of using the MD Juan as a new tub is negated.
I will say a few positives about the tub.
1. It is NOT flimsy. I actually think it is made with 16 gauge steel all around. After it was linex'd top and bottom, you won't know it is aftermarket until you see the jeep logo emboss missing.
2. It was cheap. I got the whole thing shipped for $2400 new. That included tub, fenders, hood, grill, tailgate, and windshield along with a set of windshield hinges. And it arrived without any damage.
3. It was NEW. It looks like it was dipped, actually, in some autophoretic type dip. If you're not familiar with that process, it is the process that people use for industrial purpose with harsh environments. Generally autophoretic dips can be subjected to 365 day salt water tide simulations and do not rust. If that's what's on here, which seems so, it will never ever rust out. The fact that I linexed it top and bottom should help. Any additional holes I drilled I blotted with POR15.
- City
- Cave Creek
- State
- AZ
MD Juan direct or via willys-overland? I'd guess about 90-95% of my holes lined up, heater box/core included. Fenders/hood/grill - yes, they were a real pain to get even remotely aligned. I don't think willys-overland made that much of a difference, sounds like the QC is crap at MD Juan.
I purchased mine from 4wd.com. The problem is due to how I executed the project, the whole thing was already painted and linex'd before I found out these issues....didn't consider it was going to be THAT far off. But now I have to deal with patching holes on the firewall, which won't be hateful, but just another project. I plan on just making a small cover plate, coated in POR15, siliconed and attached with 4 self tapping stainless screws. I can live with that. But the fact that the whole firewall is just stamped differently, is utterly disgraceful.
- City
- south central
- State
- AK
Be aware: the Aqualu tub has no holes. None. You have to locate and drill EVERYTHING. The ONLY holes it had were the lower ones on the B pillar for the seat belt retractor. They were kind enough to scribe the cutout for the steering column and the wiring harness at the firewall, but I still had to make the cuts myself. If a person is intimidated by the MD Juan tub, I don't know that I'd recommend an Aqualu tub.
- City
- Redmond
- State
- OR
I doubt I’d actually trade my tub for an Aqualu. It’s just too nice. I’ve always loved those aluminum tubs though. Maybe some day-
- City
- River Ridge
- State
- La
Somehow I doubt you would be intimidated. I might be more like the lion in the W-O-Oz.
- City
- Redmond
- State
- OR
I wouldn’t be intimidated. It would actually be nice to open up only what I needed as opposed to welding a bunch of extra holes shut.
I’m thinking an Aluminum bodied Scrambler should be highly modified- TDK hybrid frame with long arms at both ends, LS9 or Hellcrate engine with appropriate trans, Hutchinson bead locks with KM3’s... a real hot rod! If I ever win the lottery I might have to build one!
I’m thinking an Aluminum bodied Scrambler should be highly modified- TDK hybrid frame with long arms at both ends, LS9 or Hellcrate engine with appropriate trans, Hutchinson bead locks with KM3’s... a real hot rod! If I ever win the lottery I might have to build one!
- City
- East Norriton
- State
- PA
Don't forget the prorock 60's with axletech portals!
Ok...one more deficiency with the MD Juan Tub...Besides the tub firewall being stamped entirely differently, the location of some of the key elements is off. The blower motor hole for the electrical connection is clocked about 5 degrees incorrect. The stamping itself prevents the airbox from seating correctly against the firewall without a lot of pursuasion. The left most mount will not make it through the firewall, so I'm going to have to put an extension on back there to anchor it. The upper fresh air box mounts ok, but the drain spout hole location is off about 1/4" And I thought that I could just flex it in there, and instead I broke the spout right off the airbox. The throttle linkage square that comes through is about 1.25" too far to the left. I'm going to fix that by welding a bracket onto the gas pedal at the top to move it over. I'm going to say that the entire tub at the cowl and dash is a full 1/4" narrower...the original hood doesn't line up correctly as a result. The original dash panel hangs off the ends a little bit. Every hole to mount the dash panel needs to be redrilled. EVERY HOLE. Anyone want to take a gamble to see if the Roll Bar will mount in there correctly?
- City
- Cave Creek
- State
- AZ
For my dash, it was just the bottom one on either side that didn't align. Roll bar did fine.
The problems really seem to be hit or miss, every tub is different.