My old 1981 SCRAMBLER returns 25 years later

[jbeemer]

I'm not much for typing so part of this is a copy/paste from our club forum

Long story short. My 1981 scrambler that I had to sell back in 1989 made it back to me and I bought it back.

It came into my shop as side work without me knowing that it was my old Jeep. It was a assemble job with all new parts that turned into lot's of fab work.

It has only been driven 14K miles since I sold it, but was rotted really bad.

The basket of parts is big with lot's of good parts. The plan is to make it into a daily drivable rig for light trails and dunes.

Here's most of what it came with.................................. :weee:

Advanced frame works frame, Chevy mounts, cross member/skid plate
4WD Hardware fiberglass tub, fenders, and hood
all the fiberglass body mounts and bracket kits
Fiberglass half doors
new steel grill
original steel windshield
original steel doors
original steel tailgate
original half cab and bulkhead
original steel hood and grill
original steel tub and fenders (very, very rotted)
factory tire carrier
Dynatrac rear Dana 44, 4:10 gears, ARB, disk brakes
Dynatrac front Dana 44, 4”10 gears, ARB
Rancho 4 lift with shocks
Chevy 350 H.O. Ready to run crate engine
March billet aluminum serpentine pulley set
Holley fuel pump
Turbo 400 with Dana 300 adapter
new copper radiator
2 sets of headers
33”x14.5x15” Mickey Thomson Baja Belted
Mickey Thomson classic wheels
original aluminum slot wheels that I installed
Painless wiring harness
s.s. Brake lines and hoses'
s.s. Fuel lines
s.s. Parking brake lines
Totally stainless bolt kit
21 gal poly fuel tank and new skid
Warn front bumper
Warn rear bumper
Warn winch mount
Master brake products master cylinder, booster, and bracket
AGR steering box, pump, and box mount
steering box brace
Mastercraft front seats
carpet kit
B & m shifter
ARB compressor, switches, s.s. Lines
full sticker kit for the body
New speedometer and gauges
Besttop center counsel
new headlight trim
new marker lights
new tail lights
2 sets of fender flares


How it was when I had it


9/18/15


How it came to my house in August







A few days later


The motor, plan is to run it with EFI. And it now has a factory serpentine setup with a ac compressor.



The half cab and doors


The school bus top for when the family cage and 2 rear bench's are in.


The led rear lights

 

[jbeemer]

A little more about the plan.

It is going to be a daily drivable rig mainly for street, light trail, and dunes. I plan on running 33 or 35 inch tires, the motor it came with and a overdrive trans.

I have a crawler that I play with so this one can stay nice.

Putting the body mount on


The other toy "The Beast"

 

[bigwalton]

 

[surfjeepzx]

Very cool.. both rigs. Looks like a fun project.

 

[jbeemer]

I got started last night on the family cage. I used two stock roll bars as a starting point. The 2nd one had to be cut into pieces and put back together. The bends were angled wrong, and it ended up too short after It pointed the right way. still need to add a center bar at the top, The bars across the bottom for the seat mounts, and seat belt mount/brackets.

 

[jbeemer]

Did a little more last week

Final fit of the body and flares



Some of the body mounts, cage tie ins, shock mounts, and slider/steps






Frame ready for paint.............later today

 

[jbeemer]

another update............

Painted today


Several coats of Valspar enamel with hardener

 

[Randyzzz]

Looking great!

 

[opelgtboy]

Nice.

Karl

 

[wramblerguy]

Looks awesome!
I sent you pics of that tailgate on Great Lakes

 

[jbeemer]

More shop time today

Started reassembly of the frame, this time for good, antisieze, good bolts, and tightening :thumb:

Got the hard brakelines, parking brake cables, gas tank, gas tank skid, rear shocks, rear half of the painless harness, electric fuel pump, motor, and fuel lines. Also got the harness built and run down the frame for the fuel pump and stripped the crossmember down to get it ready for the 700r4 mount.





And I found these 700r4's over past Detroit (they were cheap). So out of the 3 I'll have one built.

 

[jbeemer]

Finished the exhaust, radiator hoses, heater hoses, and fuel lines today.

Hoping to mount the steering box and power steering lines tomorrow.

fill the rest of the fluids, make a temp starter harness, and fire it to break in the engine

I am a little nervous, a 13 year old engine that has never been ran hope all goes well

Sorry no pics

 

[jbeemer]

Got it fired up yesterday

Ran great, few minor issues, now it's time to get the rest of it done

I tipped the mufflers..........Just in case it needs a anti-wrap bar added
And the t-case still needs a clocking ring to turn it down so the driveshaft will clear the 700r4 (that still needs a rebuild)

 

[jims chop shop]

Purty !!


Sent from my iPhone

 

[jbeemer]

Another small update.

Been waiting on a input shaft from JB conversions, still not here.

The simple bolt a Dana 300 to the NP208 adapter is not quite as simple as it sounds.

The 1st issue is one of the holes doesn't line up, just die grind out the one hole, easy.

The input has to be changed, easy.............if they ship it

The clocking rings that they make clock the t-case up...........I need to go down..............

The solution, just make one myself

 

[BRKLYNZ28]

There nice and shinny when new...

Sent from my SPH-L900

 

[jbeemer]

Got to the shop for a bit today and did some work on the rear seat mounts and seat belt mounts for the rear seats.

I picked up 6 matching shoulder belts out of military hummers (there is a place on feebay that sells them NOS, I got 6 of them for $77)

I had to bend some hoops to place the top point were it needs to be for kids. Not the look I really wanted, but it should be way safer than lap belts.

 

[zero2wow]

Most excellent..... safety is our number one concern.

z

 

[wm69]

Really like those sliders. They are both a step and protect the rockers while at the same time they should keep mud from covering the doors.

I have some similar ones Scott Anderson made me. Mine sandwich the frame between two plates so it wouldn't require drilling the frame.

I really need to get those painted and installed. They're in the shop and when I lived away a bunch of stuff got piled up in front of them.

 

[jbeemer]

Got the "kid cage" welded up, etching primer, and regular primer on it today.
I think it is going to work out good, it bolts in the same holes as the stock roll bar, so I can run either one with a simple switch.





I also stripped almost everything off of the tub. That way I can start scuffing, blocking and priming.