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84 Australian Overlander frame off restomod

jammer1

Scrambler Junkie
Lifetime Member
City
Maple Hts.
State
Oh
Mainly our rust comes from the salt. First time I've ever hear of the dirt having so much iron in it that a magnet can pick it up. Good thing is you caught it and it's repairable. Looks like you be busy for a little while.
 

The Buzzcutter

Basic User
City
Brisbane
State
QL
Mainly our rust comes from the salt. First time I've ever hear of the dirt having so much iron in it that a magnet can pick it up. Good thing is you caught it and it's repairable. Looks like you be busy for a little while.

There will be a lot of cutting out and replacing of metal. What surprised me was the extent of the rust and repairs that was hidden and not apparent before the sand blasting. As I mentioned at the beginning I had purchased this unseen with a view to restoring so some work was expected but even looking it over whilst it waited on the drive really didn’t tell the whole story.

As the body work was going through these stages I also had the chassis out for sand blasting. Similar story here too, numerous cracks, including the expected cracking and plate repair around the power steering pump. Once again the rails contained the lumps of rusting ore although not quite as bad as the box sections. My theory is that the process would be similar to panning for gold in that the dirt and soil would get washed out over time but the heavier iron particles would accumulate. These would oxidise and gradually build up over the years. The resulting rust slowly attacked the thinner sheet metal but it seems the chassis fared a bit better. Perhaps with the thicker steel of the chassis it acted as some sort of sacrificial anode?

This was that stage in any restoration that you get to knowing that if you carry on you are going to burn a ton of money!
 

The Buzzcutter

Basic User
City
Brisbane
State
QL
Aside from the tub the other accessories weren’t too bad. There was the normal cracking on the inside of both doors just behind the quarter panel, the bonnet was replaced with a new one and there was some old ‘repair’ to one of the window frames. One thing that did stand out was a previous repair to the roof. This was done using lead and looked like it had been done quite early on in the Jeeps life. I would say it was a damage repair rather than rust.
8C8498A9-34FE-431B-9087-11FC78CD3FEF.jpeg32627D76-4A0D-40A4-9D71-D666A948293A.jpeg
 

The Buzzcutter

Basic User
City
Brisbane
State
QL
The only solace I had was this should mark the turning point. From here on, at least in terms of body work and chassis, I knew all the secrets the Jeep had been hiding. There was now a huge amount of fab work required but every job now was towards rebuilding rather than stripping back.
 

The Buzzcutter

Basic User
City
Brisbane
State
QL
I like the look of the square top doors on the jeep with no top

I have always found the look of full doors with no top jarring on any Jeep. To me it just looks awkward somehow. Flicking through my photos I managed to find one that the seller of the CJ10 half cab had sent me with it originally fitted to his CJ8. Looking at it again I am glad I didn’t go this route
DAE09F6A-9BAE-43C0-9DC0-C049CD102091.jpeg
 

bigwalton

Alaskan Postal nutjob
FORUM MANAGER
SOA Member
City
Dexter
State
MI
Agree with buzzcutter here, I take the doors off my LJ when I drop the top for this reason. I don’t hate it with the doors still on but it looks “right” without them when the top is off/down.

Back on topic, that is an insane and amazing amount of work. Just awesome that it was saved and done so well. :cheers:
 

ag4ever

Average Nut
BENEFACTOR
Gold Member
Silver Member
Lifetime Member
SOA Member
City
Richmond
State
TX
I agree with buzzcutter and BW. Personally, the YJ half doors look right on a CJ with no top, just makes the eye flow better.

I’ve been on the hunt for a decent set at a decent price. Each time a possibility shows up, there is logistical problems.
 

jammer1

Scrambler Junkie
Lifetime Member
City
Maple Hts.
State
Oh
For a second there, I thought you were the superman of jeeps (sorry that's CB). I understand the slow pace. Good work requires it. It's not like the tv shows that have 20 guys working on them behind the scene.
 
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