Another Scrambler Purchase/Road Trip - UPDATE- BODY ON FRAME AGAIN

[Bushmaster6]

So you have some bolts painted already for all the hinges and such?

FYI.. when I painted my CJ7 (second vehicle I'd ever painted), I painted all the hinges while they were off the vehicle, and then used the original (already painted) hardware (torx heads) to reassemble, and I did have problems with the bolt heads "torquing" paint off the freshly painted hardware as I tightened them back on..

a recommendation, if you can do it, would be to paint them separately, at least up until the primer or first coat of color, and then paint the final color and clear coats after they are on.. that's a technique that I haven't tested, but I was really annoyed watching my fresh paint rip off and exposing primer (I'm talking small bits here).. took alot of work to get that nice new paint on, and dorking it up druing reassembly was not fun...

there's probably a professional way to get this done right, but I'm not a pro.. like all aspects of painting, it's one of those little things that you realize later you should have planned better before the paint flies..

 

[Jeep Addict]

"a recommendation, if you can do it, would be to paint them separately, at least up until the primer or first coat of color, and then paint the final color and clear coats after they are on.."

This is what I am going to try. Have the hinges and all primed and painted once then have everything put back together and have the fianl coats and clear.

 

[Bushmaster6]

yeah.. and another pain in the reassembly-with-fresh-paint process was how nervous I was adjusting things.. when you put the hinges on and they are sliding around with the free backing plates, and you're trying to get doors lined up correctly.. pretty nerve-wracking when all that sliding and tightening/loosening/re-tightening is happening on that new paint.. good luck with it (hijack off)

 

[spankrjs]

"a recommendation, if you can do it, would be to paint them separately, at least up until the primer or first coat of color, and then paint the final color and clear coats after they are on.."

This is what I am going to try. Have the hinges and all primed and painted once then have everything put back together and have the final coats and clear.

That would probably be the "best" way to do it I wasn't too concerned about being exactly like "factory" on this build, more concerned about getting rid of all the rust and rhino liner

I wonder how they did paint/final assembly on these things at the factory

 

[spankrjs]

yeah.. and another pain in the reassembly-with-fresh-paint process was how nervous I was adjusting things.. when you put the hinges on and they are sliding around with the free backing plates, and you're trying to get doors lined up correctly.. pretty nerve-wracking when all that sliding and tightening/loosening/re-tightening is happening on that new paint.. good luck with it (hijack off)

I already have a few small "beauty marks"

 

[spankrjs]

LOOKING GOOD

FYI I think the tail gate hinges are upside down? NEVERMIND I guess I'm not around the back side much BUT IT LOOKS DAMN GOOD

Appreciate it

I will have to go look at the tailgate hinges

 

[MrBeep]

Look'n Good!

Great progress.

 

[spankrjs]

Great progress.

Appreciate it Toby, I was wondering if you had been watching this thread

 

[spankrjs]

Small update of some easy things I did last week.

Put on all 4 fender flares. Those rear ones are a pain in the butt, front ones were easy except for the fact that the body guy filled in two of the mounting holes. I already used a drill on this body, no going back now.

Mounted up the skid plate. I had to use a bottle jack to spread the frame apart to get the skid plate to mount back up. The frame had "narrowed" by about 1/2 an inch. You can see the bottle jack in the picture in front of the bell housing, it has a blue handle sticking out.

I used a ratchet strap to gently pull the transmission/transfer case over about 1/2 inch to get the holes in the mounts and the skid plate to line. It is now finally bolted in place, no more jack stands supporting the power train.

I need to go bolt shopping again this week so i can start reassembling more components, that's it for now.

 

[Randyzzz]

Looks good!

Another case of the mysterious "frame narrowing". I think this condition is more common than we realize.

 

[bigwalton]

 

[Bushmaster6]

incredibly impressive pace and results.. everytime I read your updates I kick myself for the lack of progress on my own 8, and I didn't even take mine apart..

looks awesome, can't wait to see some full body shots.. red/black together looks great

I'm not too far down the road from you (FWB FL area), hope to get a chance to see it in person one day

 

[Craner8]

Regarding painting the bolts, we did what has been suggested. Painted all hinges x1 off the Jeep, assembled whole body with all hinges and bolts. Will paint a second time on the Jeep with the bolts and then clear coat. They won't need to be adjusted at that point.

Pics look great. Keep up the great work; it's a great thread to watch, especially at this point.

 

[spankrjs]

Looks good!

Another case of the mysterious "frame narrowing". I think this condition is more common than we realize.

Appreciate the compliments

I guess the "smart" thing to do if you need to drop the skid plate (and not repaint the whole frame LOL) would be to stick a piece of 2x4 between the frame rails to keep them from squishing together Hindsight is always 20/20, I just thought of that a few minutes ago

 

[spankrjs]

 

[spankrjs]

incredibly impressive pace and results.. everytime I read your updates I kick myself for the lack of progress on my own 8, and I didn't even take mine apart..

looks awesome, can't wait to see some full body shots.. red/black together looks great

I'm not too far down the road from you (FWB FL area), hope to get a chance to see it in person one day

Appreciate the compliments

Pace has been pretty good so far, but I still have a ways to go. Plus, its about time for me to buy some more stuff so I don't get stalled for lack of parts

Fort Walton isn't too far, and once I get this thing back together it will be making lots of road and off-road trips

 

[spankrjs]

Regarding painting the bolts, we did what has been suggested. Painted all hinges x1 off the Jeep, assembled whole body with all hinges and bolts. Will paint a second time on the Jeep with the bolts and then clear coat. They won't need to be adjusted at that point.

Pics look great. Keep up the great work; it's a great thread to watch, especially at this point.

Appreciate the compliments

Your way of painting is most definitely going to give the best finish possible Even though all my parts were painted out of the same batch of paint and clear, I can still notice very slight variations in color/depth as a result of taking it all apart and doing the complete painting process with the CJ8 in a million pieces It is most definitely best to paint it all together as a "whole" vehicle to guarantee a 100% uniform finish

It makes it easier to get motivated at this point of the build since all the parts coming together are starting to look like a complete Jeep again, not just a pile of powertrain parts in various conditions of functionality LOL

 

[Craner8]

We didn't paint it all together. It was all apart in pieces. The individual pieces were oriented like they would be if assembled, I presume so that the metallic lays the same on the final coat. We painted all the hinges one time off the car. Afterwards, we assembled all the parts with bolts and adjusted them for the final time. We are going to paint the final coat and spray the hinges with clear while they are on the car.

Great work.

 

[spankrjs]

Appreciate it

This long weekend I need to start going through all my boxes, dig out the stuff i am going to reuse, clean and/or repaint reusable parts, make up a parts "buying" list, make up a hardware list, and come up with a list off all the stuff I can do with what I have on hand, what i can do once I order certain parts, etc.

Nothing exciting or fun, but I need to do my homework and get organized again so I can keep making progress

I am sure football and going jeeping will keep me distracted, though

 

[Craner8]

Do you that rigid plastic-cardboard piece behind pass rear wheel and how do we rehab it?