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Freshening Up my 1981 Scrambler Laredo

Gueon

Gueon

Scrambler Junkie
Lifetime Member
City
Thatcher
State
AZ
So it's been just shy of 11 months since I picked up this 1981 triple black Scrambler for a quick flip. My family came across it while vacationing in Lake Havasu. After sending me a few pictures we finally decided to buy it and resell for some quick money. The PO had owned the Jeep for just a few months and obviously was not ready or willing to deal with the nuances of owning an old Jeep. That's OK, I was willing to take it off his hands.

Again, the idea was to buy it, replace a few items with used original parts and then resell... so much for those plans. I still have plans to replace the non-working original parts with used Jeep parts, just not willing to go spendy on NOS items!

Here's how she looked when we got her home last July.















We're now firmly ensconced in our new home in Southeastern Arizona, my 20+ years as a career expat is temporarily behind us and I am ready to fixing up the Jeep!
 
Here's a list of the things that I have done up to this point:

- swapped out the weak SR4 transmission with an equally weak but fresher T5 tranny
- stripped all of the clear coat off the 15x8 rims, talk about an improvement!
- removed the step bumper (for now) and replaced with bumperettes and a draw hitch (for pulling the jet ski to the lake)
- sourced a beautiful set of original NOS wooden side boards (thanks to Eric)
- removed the front tow bar
- added a NOS frame guard on the front bumper
- installed wheels adapters to get the stance right, front and rear (I hate NT axles)
- installed a used but nice original bed mat
- replaced the driver's rear side fender flare
- removed the ugly CB and equally ugly antenna
- replaced both sunvisors with used ones
- replaced rubber bumpers on the tire carrier
- added driver's seat slider and tilt
- replaced the rear tailgate seal
- replaced the window cranks (originals)
- replaced fan switch (NOS)
- replaced light switch (NOS)
- purchased side steps (not yet installed)
- replaced rear view mirror (NOS)

That's a fairly good list of what I have been able to accomplish during vacations over the past 10 months. Now on to the good stuff.
 
Here's how she sat as of ~8 weeks ago, prior to getting everything moved to Thatcher.

















 
So here we are this weekend, the Jeep is parked and ready to start.



We essentially gutted the interior, pulled the seats, carpet, console, belts, etc. Pretty disgusting, I don't think this had been cleaned since 1982.







Pile of parts...



Came across some interesting artifacts from 1983, as well as the original warning sticker on dropping the windshield.



The we pulled the top and the doors and dropped the windshield.



 
The interior on this thing was shocking. After a quick vacuum and ~2 hours degreasing and brushing the floors, we were finally able to asses the rust damage on the floorboards. Given the condition of the rotted A/C drain line, I am guessing this original California car suffered from condensation drips from the air-con. It looks worse in the photos than it does in person... Not really sure how to go after this one, I did order POR15, I am assuming that's my only option to keep the cancer from spreading.















 
Are you going to be able to let that one go? It should be part of the family by now. And your shop is YUUUGE.
 
Kim Dawson said:
Are you going to be able to let that one go? It should be part of the family by now. And your shop is YUUUGE.
Click to expand...

I don't think I can make money on it now, I have too much into it :eek:

I am loving the garage, 50x50 with 3 doors, 2 of them big RV doors. All of our crap from Peru is on the water so at some point down the road it will be full. I still need to build a bench (I am using makeshift shipping containers for one now), but I am too excited to get the Jeep together. Priorities you know!

More toys!

 
I decided to go with a new carpet kit as the original carpet was looking pretty sad. I also opted to purchase a set of new seat covers from George, AKA CJLaredo and have them installed on the original seat frames. Since the covers were off I also decided to install a seat heater kit from Ebay, for those colder mornings.

Where I am struggling however is deciding whether or not to install the reproduction seats in the Red Scrambler and take the original seats and put them in the Black Jeep. I drive the Red Jeep later into the season without a top so it makes sense to put the heated seats into Red ... decisions decisions, this is a 1st World problem for sure!

Nevertheless, the seats from George look great.





 
CJLaredo does a nice job. Using carpet as originally done, and the front bolster has the small pieces (some repro covers eliminate these), so that's about as good as a reproduction cover gets. I like your heated seat idea. I didn't realize there was a kit on ebay for this. Your black one is so original, I think your idea to swap seats with the red one makes sense.
 
This is going to be great! I am so amazed at the straightness of the panels and how well that black paint still shines. And good thing on the rust on the floor boards, it has not crept up to that overlay section on the sides of the body and started the dreaded bulge outward. You will get that stopped dead in its tracks. :bow: :wave:

PS, what is the original mileage?
 
jerseyjeeps said:
This is going to be great! I am so amazed at the straightness of the panels and how well that black paint still shines. And good thing on the rust on the floor boards, it has not crept up to that overlay section on the sides of the body and started the dreaded bulge outward. You will get that stopped dead in its tracks. :bow: :wave:

PS, what is the original mileage?
Click to expand...

Odometer shows 36XXX, so I am guessing 136,000. It's clean but not 36K clean! The title also read 130K, just to be clear :bacon:

So do you think that POR15 is the right way to go on the floorboards, just the rusted area?
 
I made some more progress last night.

First thing I did was drop the dash and pull the old junky stereo. I was pleased to see that the PO did not cut up the dash. I still need to get some small speakers for the dash, nothing fancy, just good enough for the old radio. I plan on installing a bluettoth receiver under the passenger seat as well.





I am trying to make some room for this beauty, a nice little AM/FM/CB radio that I picked up from a fellow board member here about 6-7 months ago.



I was also able to get the old clock out and replace it with a unit I sourced from Eric, what a pain it is to get your hands behind the dash for this one! I was pleased to see that it was still working this morning!!



I also replaced the old broken light switch with a NOS unit I find last year, this one works like a charm.

 
walkerhoundvm said:
I see a California "Check Carb" lamp!
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Yes indeed!

Unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, most of the CA emissions crap is missing. Loose wires under the hood and some of the exhaust plumbing are gone. Once I get this work done I plan on having a new exhaust put in from the manifold back. When running I get a nifty little "pfft pfft pfft" sound from some missing plumbing just beneath the drivers seat.
 
Gueon said:
So do you think that POR15 is the right way to go on the floorboards, just the rusted area?
Click to expand...

I think POR15 would work fine. Eastwood also makes a good rust encapsulator paint that is supposed to bind with rust and stop it. I think it is a little easier to use then POR15.
 
Why not have it blasted and removed, then evaluate what's left. Might only need to be resprayed in those limited areas. Very nice looking Scrambler by the way.
 
I continued last night with getting the AM/FM/CB radio installed.

For the in-dash speakers, I went with a simple 5 1/4 flush mount Rockford Fosgate speaker. Biggest reason for going with this particular unit, free next day shipping with Amazon Prime for only $39. Gotta love Amazon.





Again, flush mount so no issues getting them installed.


Here's the radio installed in the dash. The face trim is a bit warped, I would be interested in getting one less stressed if any of the folks out there have one they would be willing to part with...? :)




I still need to mount the mic plug as well as the mic handset itself. Does anyone know where the factory location would be for a Jeep with a factory installed A/C unit is?


CB antenna, cable and mount should be here today, plan is to get them installed tonight. I also took the opportunity to change out all the dash light bulbs why I had it dropped. Scratched forearms and a little blood letting later, I can actually see the gauges at night! Quite an improvement.

Plans for this weekend are to finish up the floorboards, get the carpet installed, get the seats swapped out of the Red Jeep and get this thing back on the road. I am hoping to get it into the muffler shop next week and have a new 2 inch stainless exhaust installed from the ex-manifold back.
 
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