Voodoo Blue 82 Complete Refresh

[gpassida]

Well, I've lurked around here for years and you guys have done some incredible builds. I have gained much from reading and observing. Thank you!

I am in Year 3 of my complete refresh of my 1982 Scrambler. I have done a lot of work and I'll post below some of the history of my Scrambler and pics of the build to this point. I'm sure I will be needing help and advice to bring this across the line. The goal is to have it done to run the 70th annual Jeepers Jamboree on July 28-31, 2022. I'll need to finish it and do some shakedown trips first.

I have wheeled this Scrambler all over Northern California, Moab, Colorado. It was on the first "Rubicon Scramble" and 4-5 more after that. I was also at the first "San Juan Scramble" with it too.

History: I have previously owned a 1978 CJ-5 Levi's Edition, a 1981 CJ-7 and then this Scrambler. My wife drives a 1995 YJ and my oldest daughter caught the bug and drives a 1999 TJ. Needless to say, I do a lot of wrenching and maintenance on all of them. I bought this Scrambler in 1997. I knew I was going to build it and really only looked for a good frame and body. It was a 4-Cylinder, 4 speed and second gear was shot. But the body was clean and the frame was in great shape.

I proceeded to tear it down and start the first build in 1998. Long story short, I copied a LOT of what Mark Werkmeister did with his yellow "Project Too Long" in the pages of JP Magazine. I sourced a junkyard 1987 350 TBI motor (this is pre-LS days) and pulled it. Took off all the external parts and TBI and put them on a brand new Chevy roller cam long block. Did it smog legal in CA and it has always passed the smog test we have to do every two years. I replaced the axles with Dynatrac (old days before all the Pro-roc stuff) D60 in the rear and D44 in the front. Used Detroit soft-lockers on both ends and 4.56 gears. Put in an early NV-4500 5-speed with the 6.34:1 first gear. Added one of the first Atlas II transfer cases (serial #23) with a 4.3:1 low range. It has a 125:1 crawl ratio. I originally did a 4" SUA lift but eventually did a spring-over using Rubicon Express YJ springs for a better ride and flex. It runs 35" tires. I have the strength and power to run 37's but it won't fit in my garage without doing things with air pressure in the tires.

I ran it that way for 18 years and it was extremely reliable and amazing on the trails but also drove great on the highway with the 350, 4.56 gears and the overdrive 5th gear. The new long block engine only has about 20K miles. The frame and body was totally stock, with the original white paint, and time started taking its toll along with a few rock impacts. The light rust that was starting to appear freaked me out. So I decided to tear it apart and make it look good again. That was 3-years and a significant amount of cash ago.

Here is one of the few photos I have of it when I bought it in 1998. (before digital cameras)



That's my story and I'll post some more pics of how it got to the current state of build and as I go forward.

The "Voodoo Blue" comes from the new paint color. I literally went to a new Toyota Tundra TRD-Pro and used that paint code. I really love the pop on that blue paint so my Scrambler is now a very bright blue:



I have some Rubicon, Moab and other videos on my YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/user/gpassida

More to come shortly...

Thanks!
George

 

[gpassida]

This is what it looked like just before starting the full teardown and how I ran it after the first build in 1998. It was running great but just needed to get refreshed and to deal with the rust that was starting in on the frame and several areas of the tub. Also needed to deal with a few dents on the corners from the Rubicon and flipping on my side in Moab on Hells Gate.

 

[gpassida]

Here are some pics of the teardown:

 

[Chamba]

Good looking 8 if I do say so myself; uncanny ...... can't wait to paint mine corvette seafoam green one day when the kids are older and I don't have to worry about them scratching the heck out of it.

That blue should look really good. Can't wait to the finished product.

 

[gpassida]

Good looking 8 if I do say so myself; uncanny ...... can't wait to paint mine corvette seafoam green one day when the kids are older and I don't have to worry about them scratching the heck out of it.

That blue should look really good. Can't wait to the finished product.

Nice Scrambler too! I have three kids and that is one of the reasons I bumped up from a CJ-7. For a while, I had a low back CJ front seat tucked to the passenger side as my third row. Left me room to slide in a cooler and gear so we could all go on weekend trips.

How do you like the TJ hood latches?

 

[Chamba]

I really like them. They aren't for the purest obviously but they stop the squeaky CJ latches and I like the look.

Love your YJ by the way. Very cool.

 

[gpassida]

More tear down:






Amazing it actually ran well:


I think they skipped painting some of this stuff at the factory:





Had no idea this was happening under the windshield hinge:







This started to worry the neighbors:

 

[sdsupilot]

This is a very interesting build. @Chamba and I have very similar builds to yours. I even added on to the factory roll bar like you did. This is a different build as most of us are adding axles and such on the rebuild where you are refreshing an already great setup.

 

[gpassida]

I decided to armor up a little more than I had originally. I went with the Poison Spyder "Ricochet Rockers" and steel "Crusher Corners". I had previously used the Hansen Rocker Guards. In 1998 Wayne Hanson actually fabricated up the CJ-8 guards using my jeep as the template.

I test fit and drilled holes for the Poison Spyder armor:

















Decided to use these cheap $20 each LED Tail Lights:

 

[Chamba]

I like my poison spider sliders but they are a real pain to mount because of the way they mount between the frame and body. It looks like they might have fixed that issue with yours which is nice. I filled my spider 'cause I don't need to advertise for them and I like it better smooth.

 

[gpassida]

I like my poison spider sliders but they are a real pain to mount because of the way they mount between the frame and body. It looks like they might have fixed that issue with yours which is nice. I filled my spider 'cause I don't need to advertise for them and I like it better smooth.

I thought about filling in my spyder but thought it would look pretty cool with the Voodoo Blue showing through.

 

[gpassida]

Was it common for AMC to not paint some of the under dash parts? You can see the steering column support, the gas pedal and the top half of the parking brake assembly had no paint and that let plenty of surface rust form.





Harness out and labeled:



You can see the Chevy TBI ECU mounted all the way on the left and the TBI Fuse block and diagnostic port (Pre OBD). Put the Howell TBI Harness in 20 years ago and it was flawless.

 

[certifiablejeep]

Every Jeep I have taken apart looks like that... they didn't paint it all.

cb

 

[Chamba]

My Jeep looked just like that too. No paint under the dash.

Of course it's all painted now, so I won't be winning any concours authenticity trophies at Pebble Beach. I'll have to live with that.

 

[gpassida]

With everything out of the tub, we rented an enclosed U-Haul trailer, loaded up the other body parts and drove it to "Charlie's" place. Charlie does body work at his house as side jobs. We unloaded the tub and he got to work on it.

 

[gpassida]

Here are some pics of the Chassis before stripping it down:







Getting the Dana 60 out. That thing is heavy!





And the Dana 44:



Get it all off:

 

[gpassida]

Rigged up a "poor man's paint room" and painted my skid plate, knuckles and the axles.






Worked on the frame and welded on some F-250 shock towers frame reinforcing plates and Chief Waho's rear cross member:

 

[gpassida]

I was going to work around the engine but decided to yank it and do a better job on the frame:





By the way, I did all of this with recalled Harbor Freight Jack Stands! Got them replaced before they killed me.

Cleaned out the internal frame sections the best I could and prepared for Eastwood Internal Frame Coating:







Taped up every hole:



Rigged up the Eastwood nozzle to a coat hanger to get into the frame.



Pulled a piece of tape off and shot 4 cans to get a really good coating.



Hard to see but it did a really good job of coating the internal side of the frame:

 

[gpassida]

Now on to the rest of the frame:



Did some testing of different rattle can paints. Applied different fluids and dropped a rock from a standard height. Only one resisted brake fluid.








The only one to withstand all of the fluids I tried was the Eastwood Ceramic 2K Aerospray. It is a Catalyzing paint and you release the activator by popping the bottom chamber. Then you have 48 hours to use the can.





Shot the frame with 2 coats of each:





The paint test plates have been sitting exposed outside for almost two years now. Here they are. We have really hot summers, decent rain and a few snowstorms every year.

 

[gpassida]

Here is my front axle. It is a Reverse cut Dynatrac Dana 44 that I purchased in 1999. Detroit soft-locker, 4.56 gears and it uses '88 Ford F-150 rotors and hubs with 1977 Chevy Calipers. Stops great with the Navajo Brake Booster I added back then.



I pulled out all the hubs and all bearings and seals to replace them:



Here is the rear axle: Dynatrac reverse cut Dana 60, Detroit Soft-Locker and 4.56 gears. Uses the big drum brakes from an '88 F-150. It's a heavy beast!





Here they are after painting: