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OT: Retro Wrangler/Willys Pickup (long)

HAHAHAHA, that's a great story. Maybe they'll talk to Jeep corporate...
 
Well the body shop finally got around to painting the fenders, I guess I rank way below all of their collision work :(

But the results were worth waiting for, I think they turned out even nicer than my original steel fenders:

NewFendersPainted1-1.jpg
 
I finally got around to installing the new fiberglass rear fenders on the Retro.

Installed2-1.jpg


Here's some before and after photos - the old metal fenders are on the left and the new fiberglass ones are on the right. You can see I made the outer faces of the fenders wider to better match the front flares. Now I think they are proportioned correctly, the original fenders always bothered me a bit.

Compare11-1.jpg


One of the worries about fiberglass fenders is rocks getting thrown up from the tires, hitting the inside of the fender, and causing a star crack in the outer gelcoat. I've prevented this problem with a plastic inner fender liner. On the left is the fender before the liner - you can see the reinforcements, these also serve as locations to screw on the liner. And on the right the liner is installed, it is made from simulated diamond-plate plastic.

RockGuard-1.jpg
 
looks good!!!!
one question... wasnt the reinforcements cardboard? are you not worried about water getting in the screw holes and rotting the cardboard?
I just woke up, so if i;m wrong about the cardboard, sorry. working 14 hour nights sucks...
 
yea JaaascherbN?

Lookin' good as always.!.
Guess water getting in under the plastic liner and getting trapped isn't to big a worry...?
Sure hate to see those pretty fenders rust away!!

*kidding of course...fiberglass doesn't rust...I hope!*
 
Bad Karma said:
looks good!!!!
one question... wasnt the reinforcements cardboard? are you not worried about water getting in the screw holes and rotting the cardboard?
I just woke up, so if i;m wrong about the cardboard, sorry. working 14 hour nights sucks...
Click to expand...

Yes the reinforcements were formed over cardboard and no I am not worried. The only purpose of the cardboard was to support the fiberglass reinforcements until they cured, it serves no purpose in the finished fenders.
 
jeepdreamer said:
Lookin' good as always.!.
Guess water getting in under the plastic liner and getting trapped isn't to big a worry...?
Sure hate to see those pretty fenders rust away!!

*kidding of course...fiberglass doesn't rust...I hope!*
Click to expand...

There's plenty of room around the edges of the liner for water to drain out.
 
heehee

Uh...you do know I was just kidding right? I don't think I have (or any else here either?) have ever found a flaw in your work...:bow:
 
jeepdreamer said:
Uh...you do know I was just kidding right? I don't think I have (or any else here either?) have ever found a flaw in your work...:bow:
Click to expand...

Hey, kidding or not, it was a valid question. And as for flaws, trust me, there are plenty in my work. I'm almost never 100% satisfied with anything I do, but I have been getting better over the past few years... I'm getting closer to satisfied with each new project :)

Speaking of being satisfied, I am satisfied with the fit and proportions of the new fenders. In this shot, you can see how the vertical face of the rear fender is a pretty good match for the front flare, and it is in the same horizontal line. I also made these new fenders 1/2" narrower, so the overhang over the tire is the same front and back - with the old fenders the front tires stuck out from the fenders more than the rear tires, now they match. And if you look closely, you can see that the raised lip across the bottom of the fenders is also a pretty good match now, before the lip on the rear fender wasn't as tall as the lip on the front fenders. All of these are subtle differences, but they correct "flaws" in my original design. :crazy:

Installed4-1.jpg
 
Still great work Jeff, as always....

8 more posts and this hits 1000 posts.
 
John N said:
Still great work Jeff, as always....

8 more posts and this hits 1000 posts.
Click to expand...

Thanks John.

Well since we're so close to 1000 :)... I'll post the project I'm doing on the Retro tomorrow... the LJ I bought in December to replace my Scrambler came with a rear-view mirror with compass and temperature displays. I've really gotten used to it, so I've decided to add one to the Retro. I picked up a mirror from a 2000 Suburban on eBay, and I found the necessary temperature sensor and wiring plugs at the local Pick-n-Pull, so tomorrow I'm going to install it all. Here's a photo of it when I was bench-testing it.

RearView1-1.jpg


It's a fairly trivial installation, two wires to power the mirror, and two wires running to the front of the grill where the temperature probe gets installed. It even mounts to the TJ factory mirror mount (not sure if the CJ mount is different). Would be easy to install in pretty much any vehicle.
 
I like that idea!! love the temp and compass mirrors!!!
sh!t, now i have another project on my list... thanks man.
 
Me Likey..!

Thats cool...I always wondered how the inside part new what the outside temp was. Now if they would just make the compass read accuritely and in mils...that way I can "call for fire" while in traffic!
And I like that little dome light pocket thingy on the roof. Is it LED or bulb? Where does one get one of those??
 
jeepdreamer said:
And I like that little dome light pocket thingy on the roof. Is it LED or bulb? Where does one get one of those??
Click to expand...

The overhead console came from an early model Chevy minivan (or Pontiac, I can't recall), the lights are bulbs.
 
When I built the Retro, I used new reproduction sheet metal for the bed from a company called Mar-k (it's a 46 Chevy bed). When I finished the build I sent them some photos and they put the photos on their web site.

They're doing a "What's your favorite truck" contest among all the submitted truck photos on their web site. Wouldn't it be cool if the Retro was voted the favorite over all those Chevies, Fords, etc... :)

Here's the link, if you'd like to vote for the Retro, visit this link, click on "Click here to vote for your favorite customer's truck", and select "Jeff Scherb" from the drop down list: http://www.mar-k.com/custs/

Support the Retro! ;)
 
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