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Project Panel Replacement

Got all the aluminum diamond plate off... not sure if that was a kit at some point or homemade, but it had all the same bolts/nuts for the most part, however, they were all in places that were up against something, so using the impact wasn't an option for about half of them... and with the rust... well, yeah.

Anyway, underneath was as expected, the tub is just shot on this thing... not much salvageable... the parts that look nice are loaded with fiberglass and bondo.

I will save what I can and use it on the other tub.

cb

20220202_173932_resized.jpg
 
I forgot to show this... the one piece/place that ALWAYS rusts and always has the biggest pain to remove... sometimes you can't just assume things will be bad I guess. This came out pretty easily considering. The only thing that was interesting was the lower side of the spare tire hinge (not shown, on opposite side) had a welded nut on it. it seems like a decent idea I guesss, most of the swing out bolts I have taken off have not been original or snapped, so this was overall a nice thing to see/deal with.

cb

20220202_183056_resized.jpg
 
Not much to report outside of the fact that I simply grabbed the side of the scrambler last night and pulled it off... then a few selective cuts and this...

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The entire thing was held together with fiberglass and bondo... and mostly rust/leaves.

Frame however, looks to be decent so far.

I also got 12/16 rollbar bolts removed now, so only 4 more to go!

cb
 
rubclt said:
On the positive side, the removable bed side makes it easier to get the rear roll bar bolts out…
Click to expand...
Yeah that is true.
I just put these pictures out there so people can see what is there when buying something.
The amount of fiberglass and spare metal used to make this "rigid" so it would pass inspection is definitely one of the most I have seen.
This would be a major... major disappointment for someone thinking they got a good starting point.

The Jeep looked great from 5 feet, but if you know what to look for, and weren't going to replace the tub, then this should have been run away from.

The day I got it home:
20210724_150648_resized.jpg


cb
 
It looks like a cut away sales/engineering model with the side off. Truly a buyer beware. Thx for the updates
 
The one I just got looked about the same. Looked good from 5’. But the tub is now being melted into rebar. Only part of the tub salvageable was the firewall.

The amount of spray foam that was sculpted into the shape of a body with window screen material as support and then painted was shocking. Almost 75% of the cowl was sculpted foam. It made cutting it up with the plasma a stinky flambé mess.

Crazy how some people “fix” things.
 
That is scary how good that one looked. Makes me remember when I brought mine home. Was surprised that the floors were so solid. Put weight on them and heard a cracking sound. Pulled the mat and realized they had been "repaired" with fiberglass.
 
That just shows that you have to REALLY LOOK when you go see a vehicle to buy, and look and study it well.
 
certifiablejeep said:
I forgot to show this... the one piece/place that ALWAYS rusts and always has the biggest pain to remove... sometimes you can't just assume things will be bad I guess. This came out pretty easily considering. The only thing that was interesting was the lower side of the spare tire hinge (not shown, on opposite side) had a welded nut on it. it seems like a decent idea I guesss, most of the swing out bolts I have taken off have not been original or snapped, so this was overall a nice thing to see/deal with.

cb

View attachment 100257
Click to expand...
Ohh - i wish i had seen that before i made mine (Postals didn't have one of these) looks to be about 0.1 maybe 12 gage - fairly beefy compared to 14 g
 
Mancunian said:
Ohh - i wish i had seen that before i made mine (Postals didn't have one of these) looks to be about 0.1 maybe 12 gage - fairly beefy compared to 14 g
Click to expand...
I can measure tonight, but yeah, it is probably a bit thicker than that... my guess is 1/8", but will check later.
Dragging something home today hopefully if the weather/cleanup pans out.

cb
 
Is that part of a tire carrier? It doe not look familiar to me.
 
Thanks - I may have to remake my bracket sometime -
It's the bracket at the inside of the lower tire carrier - to support the lower hinge
 
certifiablejeep said:
I can measure tonight, but yeah, it is probably a bit thicker than that... my guess is 1/8", but will check later.
Dragging something home today hopefully if the weather/cleanup pans out.

cb
Click to expand...
Note to self... don't pick up Jeeps in freezing cold temperatures... wait, I told myself this many times and have yet to listen.

Very cold/blistery day yesterday... 20 mph winds, 12 degrees... traveled a couple hours out to get it... 84 CJ7, 5 spd/D300/Black denim/rocker trim/wagon wheels (one doesn't match size wise). First Jeep I have seen in a long time for a good price... the rest of them are asking 3x the actual value of the parts these days.

20220205_164740_resized.jpg

Unloading it proved challenging with 2 flat tires in the front and the driveway was a sheet of ice.

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It is inside warming up... need to melt the ice to see what is under here:

20220205_164751_resized.jpg

cb
 
And what did we find underneath?

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I am very surprised to find it in such good shape... took a while to clean it all up and get it nice... the front right corners on both sides are a little scuffed and chewed up, but no holes (outside of the wear of the inside of the top of the e's.

It will be a nice addition to the Scrambler once it is done... bonus score!

cb
 
Teardown continues... Got the other side off with just threatening to use the sawzall... seriously, I made like 3 cuts and the rest fell off. I got 2 more rollbar bolts out as well, but broke 2 torx impacts, so I need to get more. Only 2 more bolts to go and the rollbar will be out.

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Also, the CJ7 tear down (got 2 going at the same time)... but this one is still somewhat frozen and has snow in it still (no heat in the garage this year... have to wait till next year).

So, it might be a while until it all melts... had it in the 22 degree sun the other day, but not a ton of melting going on.

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Had to put other wheels on it to roll it around... the front ones were frozen/flat/cracked so bad that it just wouldn't work.

cb
 
There was an original paint 15x8 on that CJ7 that is being torn down... once the tire was removed, it looks pretty good (not cleaned up yet).

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It was an oddball, because the others were 15x7 and original. So not sure why this was on there, but a nice find none the less.

Compared to one that I had powdercoated, you can see the paint is definitely more on the flat side with no gloss... the powdercoat was matte (semigloss) finish.

20220207_173917_resized.jpg


Side by side.

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So, now I have 2 15x8's... the restored one was a leftover from a pile I had done a while ago. I keep collecting them until I get enough to make a set or 2 and then have them restored.

cb
 
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