The beginning.. the end.... and a fresh start
- Thread starter surfjeepzx
- Start date
FLCJ8
Legacy Registered User
- City
- Palm Bay
- State
- FL
Heres
's the straight on shot requested earlier
Love it. That is going to look great with the chrome grille.
Thanks.
- City
- Wilbur by the Sea
- State
- FL
Thanks everyone, it's moving along nicely.
Today I finished the exhaust and tuned the carb a little bit. She's running good so I took her around the block and back in the driveway with my daughter in the right seat next to me. Never made it out of second gear but it felt good to be at the wheel again.
Regarding the axles, they're narrow tracks that came on the 81's. I'm OK with them. My last set never gave me any issues. I do plan on changing over to one piece axles and eventually changing the gears.
Today I finished the exhaust and tuned the carb a little bit. She's running good so I took her around the block and back in the driveway with my daughter in the right seat next to me. Never made it out of second gear but it felt good to be at the wheel again.
Regarding the axles, they're narrow tracks that came on the 81's. I'm OK with them. My last set never gave me any issues. I do plan on changing over to one piece axles and eventually changing the gears.
- City
- Wilbur by the Sea
- State
- FL
Thanks again.. today I took my wife and daughter for the official spin... around the block... I guess I need to get the tags for it 
The axles still have the high 2:73 gears installed and it reminds me of my buddies CJ-7 with a 3 speed. I'm doing 35 in second gear with a lot of pedal to go. You can really wind her up.
So my wife said, "why is it so jerky when you take off?" I said, "that's horsepower baby!". My 6 year old is laughing silly in the back seat. You gotta love it. Just a matter of getting used to driving her again. Barely touching the gas and she wants to run.
The axles still have the high 2:73 gears installed and it reminds me of my buddies CJ-7 with a 3 speed. I'm doing 35 in second gear with a lot of pedal to go. You can really wind her up.
So my wife said, "why is it so jerky when you take off?" I said, "that's horsepower baby!". My 6 year old is laughing silly in the back seat. You gotta love it. Just a matter of getting used to driving her again. Barely touching the gas and she wants to run.
- City
- Dallas
- State
- tx
Is that an NOS steering wheel AMC button? or an aftermarket, been looking for one of those....
This past week I got a little more accomplished. Worked on welding up the exhaust which I'll finish up tomorrow. Painted and installed the steering column. Got most everything working that runs through the column wiring. Also added little something different to the steering wheel. I plan on recovering the wheel next. Installed the rear seat belts too.
She starts and runs well. Once I finish the exhaust on the right side I'll be able to dial in the carb settings. So far she has an awesome exhaust note through the 2.5" pipe and Borla cans.
- City
- Wilbur by the Sea
- State
- FL
Yeah she was a little shaky off the start and the tires are square from sitting so long. When I finally get the new wheels that should make a big difference. The motor ran good too and definitely a tad louder with the new exhaust and headers. I took a video on my Android phone when I first fired her off but I can't load it for whatever reason. I'll take another short video and try again.
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- City
- Wilbur by the Sea
- State
- FL
The steering wheel and the horn button are original from my old 81. The new 81 came with a different factory wheel which was all rubber and had a "cheaper" plastic horn button. That plastic wheel had some cracks and wear and tear. I still have that wheel and button. I rebuilt the column from the new 81 and used the wheel from my old 81. The amc emblem in both buttons were faded and foggy. I pushed the button out, sanded and polished it by hand much like the process for the paint and glued it back in. It made a day and night difference.
- City
- Wilbur by the Sea
- State
- FL
Thanks but I don't know if I can claim that prize. But I'm trying.
- City
- stafford
- State
- va
Everything looks great man ,keep up the good work
- City
- West Friendship
- State
- MD
You definitely win the prize for "Best Restoration within 25 feet of a swing set"!! Love it! Actually, my wife even asks about your build
What did you paint the steering wheel with? Some kind of epoxy?
- City
- Wilbur by the Sea
- State
- FL
You definitely win the prize for "Best Restoration within 25 feet of a swing set"!! Love it! Actually, my wife even asks about your build
What did you paint the steering wheel with? Some kind of epoxy?
Thanks,
The wheel has a brushed type finish so I sandblasted it with my handheld blaster. Then epoxy primer >>base coat >> clear coat
- City
- Wilbur by the Sea
- State
- FL
I'm currently working on the "V-8" emblems you see in my avatar. I snagged those eons ago from an old Jeep Commander that was rusting away behind a friends shop. They were mint when I got them but like much of my old Jeep the beach life took a toll on them. Much of the chrome was peeling and flaking away from the pot metal and the paint had faded. So far I've sand blasted them, filed off the peeling chrome, and painted them with epoxy primer. Rather than re-chrome them I'm going to paint them which will add some detail. Also at some point I'm going to color in the Jeep emblems on the tub.
- City
- Wilbur by the Sea
- State
- FL
The V-8 emblem gets a re-make
This past week I haven't been doing a whole lot of fix it up stuff. I did want to accomplish something so I got to work on the Jeep Commander emblems. My avatar has the original emblem as I found it on the old commander and then stuck it an my Jeep.
They were originally chrome with painted insets of blue - white - red, and black inside the number 8. So I stayed with that theme. The chrome was peeling and flaking off with a little corrosion. So I sandblasted them with a handheld blaster. Then I epoxy primed them black when I was doing the steering wheel stuff. I wasn't going through the effort of re-chroming them so I worked with some paint I had left over.
I have an airbrush set up that I inherited from my wife when she used to do spray tans. I bought a new gun a while back and it really comes in handy on small jobs like this one and touch up work.
I sprayed the whole thing silver, then brushed in the colors. Then I had to add that custom touch. Then clear coat and two sided tape. I also have to thank my sponsors; my daughter for some paint brushes from her artwork stash which she made me give back. My cat for donating a food can for mixing paint, and my wife for one of her cleanser bottles for mixing paint. I ran out of paper cups.
This past week I haven't been doing a whole lot of fix it up stuff. I did want to accomplish something so I got to work on the Jeep Commander emblems. My avatar has the original emblem as I found it on the old commander and then stuck it an my Jeep.
They were originally chrome with painted insets of blue - white - red, and black inside the number 8. So I stayed with that theme. The chrome was peeling and flaking off with a little corrosion. So I sandblasted them with a handheld blaster. Then I epoxy primed them black when I was doing the steering wheel stuff. I wasn't going through the effort of re-chroming them so I worked with some paint I had left over.
I have an airbrush set up that I inherited from my wife when she used to do spray tans. I bought a new gun a while back and it really comes in handy on small jobs like this one and touch up work.
I sprayed the whole thing silver, then brushed in the colors. Then I had to add that custom touch. Then clear coat and two sided tape. I also have to thank my sponsors; my daughter for some paint brushes from her artwork stash which she made me give back. My cat for donating a food can for mixing paint, and my wife for one of her cleanser bottles for mixing paint. I ran out of paper cups.
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- City
- Rock Hill
- State
- SC
That looks cool! Am glad it is an AMC V8 emblem...just feels...righter