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My "new" dream Scrambler

AK-RWC

Legacy Registered User
Gold Member
City
south central
State
AK
It’s taken me awhile to come to terms with this, but I had a baffle loose in my left side Flowmaster 50 that was driving me crazy, and I wanted it a tad quieter anyway, so I took it in to have them replaced with a set of Dynomax mufflers. While there, someone decided to gaze at my 401. This was the result:

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The shop fessed up to it and after getting some quotes, cut me a check. Now on to sourcing parts and dealing with the repair. I have a ‘76-‘81? hood, but it has that divot in the left side, and there’s a slight bow from placing it against the windshield frame, but I think that’s repairable. I’m also trying to convince another friend to let me swap it with his postal hood since his postal is ugly anyway.

I got what I thought would be a good OEM windshield frame, but after sandblasting I was disappointed to see how much pitting and repair it would need to make me comfortable, so I ordered one up from Crown.
 

Randyzzz

Blown Budget
BENEFACTOR
Gold Member
Lifetime Member
SOA Member
City
Redmond
State
OR
Oh no! At least they took responsibility. Good luck with the w/s frame. I’d hold out for an original if at all possible.
 

Hoover

Bronzed Member
Lifetime Member
City
Livingston
State
AL
also trying to convince another friend to let me swap it with his postal hood since his postal is ugly anyway.

Man, having the hood flip up on me is a fear of mine- constantly double checking the side latches and even installed a hood lock as an extra precaution. Although I hated to hear about AND see it, I laughed out loud when you mentioned your buddies ugly postal :rotfl:

Hope you source some quality replacement parts quick!

Hoover
 

Belizeit

CJ-8 Member
Gold Member
City
River Ridge
State
La
I have had people 2 different times try to open up my hood when I was not around. I installed a hood lock decades ago. They work great.
 

Graveltravels

Scrambler Junkie
Lifetime Member
City
Red Deer
State
AB
55-60 degrees and sunshine? Why yes, I believe I will pull the hard-top and drive it every day for a week! Given that we broke the record for snowfall last season, we've had an incredibly mild break-up. I have nothing substantive in this post other than 327 miles on the new engine!

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A quick trip to Home Depot yielded another 2x4, four hooks, four eye-bolts, 8 fender washers, and four ratchet straps. I wanted to use some 2x2s that I already had to have it rest on the rails, but there wasn't a way to make that happen and clear the front cage or rollbar.


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This things amazing. Sorry I'm digging so far back, I'm reading my way thru right now, and I had to comment on the flat fender in the last pic here. Wanna send it to Alberta for me? lol!! And off topic too, but the ZJ is almost as bad ass as your scrambler is!
 

AK-RWC

Legacy Registered User
Gold Member
City
south central
State
AK
. . . I had to comment on the flat fender in the last pic here. Wanna send it to Alberta for me? lol!!

That was actually my neighbor's. It was a pretty bad-@$$ little flattie. His dad built it up for wheeling in California, and he inherited it a few years before I moved to the neighborhood. His dad was more the mechanic though, and my neighbor only took it wheeling once or twice in the time that he lived here. It had a Chevy V6 and 44s f/r (I think with lockers) on 35"s. He also had a stock 2A in his garage that he bought in a somewhat restored condition, but I never saw him drive it.
 

AK-RWC

Legacy Registered User
Gold Member
City
south central
State
AK
I finally got around to ordering the hard-door seal kit, and the new left-side handle. When I ordered parts in 2008, I ordered the handles but realized later the “left” one was actually re-labeled from a different manufacturer, and underneath the “right side” label p/n was the actual left side p/n. So, Amazon and Dorman to the rescue.
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(CJ-7 modeling.) But, not so fast. After assembling the latch mechanism, I couldn’t figure out why I was still getting a binding, and realized Amazon sent me YET ANOTHER RIGHT SIDE DOOR HANDLE!!!

So now I’m sitting on three right side chrome handles, and no left sides. GRRR.
 

jak inc

I H8 RUST!
Lifetime Member
City
Merton
State
WI
IIRC The numbers are reversed in the mopar database at the dealer too. Order the right and its actually the left. I believe the TJ handles are the same as CJ's just reversed in pull direction.
 

AK-RWC

Legacy Registered User
Gold Member
City
south central
State
AK
IIRC The numbers are reversed in the mopar database at the dealer too. Order the right and its actually the left. I believe the TJ handles are the same as CJ's just reversed in pull direction.
Wait; seriously???
 

AK-RWC

Legacy Registered User
Gold Member
City
south central
State
AK
Working with what I’ve got, over the last couple days, I 100% completed the passenger door and went ahead and drove around with the driver door missing the outer handle.


Oh; and my Crown windshield frame FINALLY came in. Crown is at least using the same thickness as OEM, but there are still differences (aside from the rib) that will upset purists. This is still better than my OEM option, so it’s the choice. I’ll have pics eventually, but it’s at my paint guy for now.
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Door:
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The door cards sat for the last 12 years with the crappy glue they came with splayed open, so at the advice of a professional, I glued and clamped them with the 3M weatherstrip adhesive for 2 hours. That worked perfectly. I then used a thin layer of the same adhesive to re-glue the plastic inner covers that I reproduced in grad school 19 years ago, and the door(s?) look like new. The driver’s door handle should be here Monday, but it’s not worth a pic.

What’s truly amazing to me is that I haven’t really had a functioning passenger door handle on this Jeep. Ever. When I bought the CJ-7-that-became-this-Scrambler, in 1997, the passenger door handle had a bent cam and didn’t work. I fixed it circa 2001 when I put these YJ door shells on, but the cam bent again after just a few uses. It worked less than a month. And then I just never felt like fixing it because I was already so used to opening the passenger door from inside. So here I am, 23 YEARS later, with an essentially new passenger door. It’s kinda weird.
 

spankrjs

Scrambler Junkie
Lifetime Member
SOA Member
City
Biloxi
State
MS
Did you check that your wipers would work with the Crown frame before painting it? My wipers will not work properly with the Crown windshield frame :(
 

AK-RWC

Legacy Registered User
Gold Member
City
south central
State
AK
Did you check that your wipers would work with the Crown frame before painting it? My wipers will not work properly with the Crown windshield frame :(
They work fine with the Crown frame I have now.

???
 

AK-RWC

Legacy Registered User
Gold Member
City
south central
State
AK
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I did eventually get the driver's side door worked out.




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And my buddy painted my "new" hood. It's a pre-'81, so it has the divot for the blackout light, but whatever. I admit I was slightly disappointed with the paint, but he wanted to finish the buffing in the spring when I was ready to make a mess with re-polishing the tub. He also didn't quite get the full part of the usual windshield dent area 100% worked out, but it was still way better than the creased one I had before.





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And then I got distracted with skiing. I realized my son was old enough to learn, so I took out my busted old Volant Machetes and spent a day with him at the local in-town bunny-slope, and remembered how much I love skiing! Which sent me on a quest to find another pair of old stainless steel Volant Machete McG skis, and in doing so, I ended up with some FBs, and decided that I also needed Spatulas, and then I wanted the longer version of the McGs, etc. etc. Either way, my wife supported this minor obsession since it got me outside and I was spending more time with the kids (my daughter decided she wanted to ski too); although I definitely got my solo days in at Alyeska skiing the big runs.





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Shiny skis, shiny CJ.




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With summer and pulling the hard top, I realized that BOTH DOORS ARE ALREADY BUBBLING. GRRRRRR.




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Windshield frame story: I had the opportunity to compare the Crown windshield frame (two ribs) up against an OMIX-ADA frame (one rib). They each had their better and worse features, but IMHO, I preferred what was going on with the OMIX-ADA frame (one rib), and so I swapped my Crown frame. The big selling point was the bottom of the OMIX-ADA frame was thicker, and the seal/glass would theoretically fit better. I did have my friend make a couple of minor corrections to it before he painted it. Either way, the club was in a parade recently which pushed both of to finish the paint work and to polish the tub. When I pulled my "old" Crown frame, I was shocked to have rust flakes come off with the cowl seal. This frame was newly installed in 2011!!! I think we should add windshield frame replacement to the CJ maintenance schedule; roughly at a 10 year interval. My friend did cut 3" out of the windshield seal, and it's now leaking, but he said to bring it back (I need to pay him anyway) once the seal had relaxed into place and he'd use some special glue where the cut is located.




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New frame installed, freshly polished.




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Polished up, with the 401 emblems on again! This was just after the parade.






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OEM tailgate. I couldn't actually tell a difference between this one and the aftermarket, but this one does for some reason close "tighter" like the seal is pinching differently.
 
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AK-RWC

Legacy Registered User
Gold Member
City
south central
State
AK
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Another shot of the tailgate. With the BesTop seal in place, it actually doesn't even want to close all the way.




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And another shot of the windshield frame.




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Emblem close-up.



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Proof of concept: I hate how I have to carry a 1/2" on an extension to fold the windshield frame down, so I made a thumb-screw. This is obviously the rough draft, but it worked! Now to weld up three more, refine them, and paint.
 
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