I just purchased this 1983 Scrambler and plan to restore it. I was told that it hasn't ran in about 15 years. The frame and the sheet metal are rust free and straight. I expect this thread will take a couple of years to complete as I don't seem to get anything done fast. I plan to keep it cosmetically original. I plan to strip all of the emissions and clutter under the hood and dash. I have already started pulling off the non stock items. Before I got too far along in the tear down process I wanted to get some pictures down loaded to document the rebuild. Along the way any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
1983 CJ8 Restoration Begins
- Thread starter USMCMutt
- Start date
It's Black and I plan to restore it right back to this color scheme and sticker configuration. For the winter I'll be pre buying the parts I know I'll need, and I will try to get the motor, trans, and transfer rebuilt. I know threads get boring without photos so I'll take as many as I can as I move along on this project.
Need to get the motor out so I stripped off the front clip this weekend. Received a stock front bumper today. I pulled the aluminum rockers off and put them in a safe spot. They are dent/scratch free. I plan to get the motor out this week and hopefully to the shop. A rust free vehicle is the way to go. I didn't strip, break, or round off any of the bolts during the tear down so far.
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Now that it is stripped down I have found 3 spots of rust. Not bad for 35 years old. 2 roll bar mounting points and the back panel under the tailgate. I plan to fill most of the holes drilled in the dash as I plan to have a lot less wiring and zero emissions under the hood. I have the body ready to lift off the frame but no one around to help.
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I learned a lot about rust from my dad when I was pretty young because we lived in an area where that was a real problem. I bought my jeep new and within about 5-7 years I removed my roll bar to take a look under there and saw trouble was already brewing. When jeeps were assembled, it was bare metal to bare metal so that is a real problem as you can see.
- City
- Bedford
- State
- NH
Bottom left of this page... classic makes great parts...
https://www.classicent.com/jeep/81-86-CJ8/floor
cb
https://www.classicent.com/jeep/81-86-CJ8/floor
cb
- City
- Bedford
- State
- NH
and under the tailgate is on the right most of the way down above those lights.
https://www.classicent.com/jeep/81-86-CJ8/tail/rear
cb
https://www.classicent.com/jeep/81-86-CJ8/tail/rear
cb
Stripped down the frame yesterday. It was cold, but sunny and dry so I went for broke. I have a heated room in my garage big enough to let me paint it today. I still need to replace the rear cross member and fix one body mount but I wanted to get it painted to prevent any corrosion. Only one body mount and the radiator mounting hole were corroded, the rest of the mounts looked great.
