63 Tux Project

Greetings from South Louisiana. I’ve had my Jeep for a few years now and drove it a good bit, but finally took the plunge and started the restoration this month ( Jan 2019)
History of Jeep
The Jeep comes from Colorado and has about 28,000 original miles. The original owner received the Jeep for her 16th birthday in 63 and kept it until she sold it to the gentlemen I bought it from a few years ago. He said she cried when he hauled it away. The Jeep is in great condition and has virtually no rust. The hat channels are excellent and the body is straight and true. The rear corner where the spare was mounted was dented, but plans are to cut it out and patch it and then off to the body shop for prep and paint. Over the last 15 days I’ve disassembled the Jeep at my shop and now have the body on the rotisserie. The disassembly was a very enjoyable experience because of how well the Jeep was maintained. It will be kept bone stock except for updating the brakes to 11 inch and maybe a overdrive. I’m going back with the original color , Indian Ceramic and may even do the grill in this color also. The grill was originally a cream white. I want to put a black soft top on the Jeep and may even do the wheels in black. All of the original chrome pieces are on the Jeep even the elusive tail lights and license plate holder. The only piece that was missing was the rear bumper. I have the front but don’t believe I’ll use it during the restoration. I’m prolly going back with a stock front bumper in either black or chrome. I’ll update the thread as I go along and add pics of the progress. I’ve hesitated to post the start of my rebuild as it’s a journey that is a little scary and can get expensive but I’m moving forward so please help keep me on track.

 

Welcome! Looks and sounds like a nice one.

 

That sounds like a good candidate for an original restoration.

 

Looks solid. Great Tux.

 

Great find! A very nice Tux
Welcome

 

I"ll be following this thread! Do you have the side steps? If so, were they chrome? I've seen a couple MKlll's with them chromed. Why not use the original chrome front bumper? To me, thats kind of a trademark of the Tux.
-Donny

 

The jeep had side steps when I got it, but they were after market re-pops. I understand your thoughts on the bumper, but I don't have the attaching hardware that connects the front bumper to the frame. At some point in the past the original brackets were replaced with some homemade brackets. They work, but are not original. Since I don't have the rear bumper to match it, and don't have the original hardware to mount the bumpers I would have to purchase all of these items and I just don't think it's worth it. The front bumper also needs a little work so that would be more money. I think a nice clean standard bumper would look great and if I have the funds I may look at getting it chromed. All of the work I am going to do to the jeep that change it slightly from the way it came from the factory can be reversed easily by someone in the future if they want to go completely original. I know it will disappoint some purist, but I have a look I'm trying to achieve and have decided to go down that path. I want a little more rugged appearance than the refined appearance of a factory original tux. Thanks for the interest and in the next couple of months I'll be posting my progress and asking lots of questions. The knowledge on this forum is magical.

 

There is no mounting bracket to mount the front Tux bumper to the frame, only two stainless-capped bumper bolts used by about every car made before 1972. The front bumper simply bolts straight onto the front frame rails through the face of the bumper, one face bolt per side, just like the flat bumper, only the original flat CJ bumper was riveted.
I would be reinstalling it back on the Tux.
The rear bumper is mounted by two fairly heavy formed brackets. I could send a tracing of originals if you were interested in duplicating the pieces. There are a couple hard bends, close to 45 degrees.
If for any reason you would be interested in selling your chrome bumper, keep me in mind!
-Donny

 

Thanks for the info on the bumper. I am guessing that the fabricated brackets that were also attached to the bumper when I got it were from the previous owner. If it were easier to post pictures I would be giving everyone lots of shots of the jeep. I’ve tried the upload the file feature but it says it’s too large. I’m on other forums using the tapa talk app on my phone and it’s very easy to do using the app. I can’t find the early CJ5 when I try to look up the site on the app so I’m guessing they are not on there. What’s tge easiest way to upload pictures ?

 

I use beaming pix it’s easy

 

Is “ beaming pix” a site you down load photos to then you can add them to the thread. Throw some mad knowledge on me !

 

It’s all one word beamingpix it is a pay service very reasonable I upload from my phone or pc and it gives you a link to embed in your post that shows the picture. It’s run by a member here, focker get in touch with him and he can steer you in the right direction.

 

i like the indian ceramic. very nice color.

 

Can you upload pictures from Amazons picture storage ? If so could someone point me to the instructions on how to do it.