TrebleHook's 1983 Scrambler Laredo

[TrebleHook]

Rockin' the family of 5!

Took the time to adjust all the seat belts and for the boosters and the car seat. Took quite a bit of "tuning" but the results were AWESOME! Couldn't work better....

Loaded up the whole circus, headed out town.

Sputter, putter, sputter. Died. The look my wife gave me would have killed a lesser trained husband. So there I am, baby and two small kids, side of the road. Oh, and it's supposed to rain....of course.

When I hear hoofs, I try to think horses and not zebras - so I figured it was out of gas. I thought the gauge worked and it was showing 1/4 tank. My OCD usually doesn't let me drive with less than 1/2 tank...

Funny thing - I had a perfectly empty rotopax gas can on the bumper. I hadn't filled it because it was a tiny little 1 gallon can and I'd planned to upgrade to a 2 gallon version. I mean, what can you do with that teeny-little can?...lesson learned.

A very nice fellow stopped in his truck - drove me 3 minutes to the gas station and waited while I threw a gallon in the can. Dropped me off and the wife was actually pretty cool...she's a bit of an expert at this since the CJ7 ALSO died on the side of road first time out with the kids!

Started right up and I headed to fill it up. I added 16.7 gallons before it was topped-off. That plus the 3/4 gallons from the can...makes 17ish gallons. It should have a 20 gallon tank, right? That means, there was 2ish gallons in the tank when it "ran out." Any ideas?

Regardless, we headed out of town and had a great drive up to Devil's Backbone Brewery. Ran up to the top of Wintergreen resort just to see what that was about. Good steep grade in third all the way to the top - stock thermostat was 3/4 pegged but no issues. Cooled down as soon as we leveled out, turned around and came down. Sunset dinner at the brewery, kids played, easy ride home. All-in-all a really great day in the Scrambler....

But most importantly....these words actually came out of my wife's mouth (BEFORE the brewery)....

"This is really great...maybe I want one for myself." She was serious....

Oh my...

Cheers,
Dylan

 

[TrebleHook]

Just sayin....

 

[gr8dain]

Beautiful!


Dain

 

[Randyzzz]

Looks amazing!

 

[TrebleHook]

Thanks! I bought some wax and other goodies to see if I can't freshen up the paint a bit. It's pretty thin on the hood - so I'll have to be gentle.

Also need to drop the tank - there's a leak at the top. Ordered new hoses, check valves, o-ring, etc...freshen that stuff up while it's down. But today....just driving it!

Cheers,
Dylan

 

[MrBeep]

Wife's Scrambler ordered yet?

 

[TrebleHook]

Wife's Scrambler ordered yet?

It's going to have to wait til we get to California!

 

[MrBeep]

Much better selection there.

 

[Polarfire]

Beautiful! Exactly what I enjoy doing with these old Jeeps!

 

[oldyellowcj]

That's really cool getting the whole family involved! It always feels good when I tell the kids to get loaded up and they reply "Are we taking the Jeep??".

 

[Manhattan]

Wow. That is looking awesome! Love the black and tan, the stance, the cage, the wheels/tires. Really looks great.

Keep me/us posted on that leak. I have the same or similar issue - all new aftermarket stuff, e.g. new tank, new sending unit - and it won't seal. If I have more than 1/2 tank and accelerate hard at all... gas makes its way do the filler neck. It's not the cap - it's coming from the top of the tank, running down the fill tube. Between that and the seatbelt buzzer of a fuel pump (MSD junk), I'm about ready to have a custom tank built with an in-tank pump.

 

[scramfan01]

Awesome Jeep, great story, and those child seats are so cool. The memories will turn into traditions as the kids get older. My daughter who is a midshipman at the Naval Academy, will finally be allowed to have a car there in a couple of months. What do you think she wants? Yeap! My wife says, "would you have expected anything else"? Build on those memories.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I547

 

[TrebleHook]

A little shake down at Jeeprdd's....

 

[TrebleHook]

Dustin's "sleeper" CJ7. Shhhh...don't tell anyone - but it's locked front and rear w/ 4:1 Dana 300...oh, and it goes just about ANYWHERE. Again. Hush....the rust is just camouflage

 

[jims chop shop]

Nice,!!

 

[MrBeep]

Great pictures! Looks like you were having some fun.

 

[TrebleHook]

Getting' at the old paint....

Perfect weather to try and restore/protect the original paint on the Scrambler. I've read and researched and read and talked with pros....and it was time.

First thing I knew I had to do was just be gentle. So I decided to do the whole thing by hand - so I am writing this by holding a pencil in my mouth and tapping at the keys with it...my arms barely work.

The single stage black paint is brittle and worn through on the hood. So after lots of research, I decided to start with just a wash and then a clay bar to see how it would effect the paint. I think this was the key. The clay bar picked up all kinds of debris in the paint. Without this step, I would have been peeling up old paint with the debris as I rubbed it for sure.

I also wanted to use the least abrasive method possible that would get the job done. I tried some quality cleaner-wax on the rear of the tub, but it didn't do much more than shine up water spots, etc. I had invested in a rather expensive little bottle of 3M rubbing compound (very light abrasive that was highly recommended by a professional detailer) and decided to test that....bingo! It was very gentle and basically allowed me to use elbow grease where it needed it most and go easy where appropriate. I was very very gentle on the hood and can say that I removed very little paint in the areas that were most faded through. Success.

Following a TREMENDOUSLY labor intensive rub down of the entire jeep (to include the windshield frame - PITA!) It was wax time. I was impressed that there was barely any black residue/paint coming off on the applicator pad at this point. Hand applied Maguire's Carnauba wax and buffed it all out with a microfiber towel folded 4x. And buffed, and buffed, and buffed....

I think the pictures tell a pretty good tale. The first shots are after the clay bar and show half the hood during the 3M rubbing compound.

Well...now I have a fully protected paint job - ready for pin striping at Wheeling for Hope this weekend! Makes me feel good to know that the factory paint is now in good shape. A couple more quality wax and polishing jobs and hopefully I can keep it in good shape!

 

[Randyzzz]

Looks awesome!


2, proofread and cleared by the NSA.

 

[Polarfire]

Wow! That turned out awesome! Great job on keeping the original paint/patina!

 

[John N]

Nice! Mine's in the garage anytime you get the urge to do another one.