Gnardoggie's Purple Renegade I

Howdy - here's my newly acquired CJ5. Hoping to use this as a log of my road to resto(mod)!


What I know about the rig:

• Late 1970 build with a 1971 title
• 69k miles on the body, engine had 7k when swapped but I don't know when that happened
• Possibly one of 250 purple Renegade I out there. I have only seen ONE other photo online of this config, so if you know if any more PLEASE SHARE!!!
• 4.3L V6
• T90 transmission
• T20 T-case
• 31" tires with possibly a mild lift but I'm not sure

First goals are to get all the fluids swapped, new bulbs, fix leaks, adjust brakes, etc. Then work through phase 2:

• Disc brake conversion
• Refresh lift
• Respray tub
• possibly audio upgrades

Anyways, here are the photos!

 

After taking care of a few small items - swapped trans and t-case fluids and replaced some faulty bulbs, I've decided to jump in on salvaging the original paint since there don't seem to be many purple renegade I's out there.

I decided to start by testing my efforts on the hood. Here's a clay bar + hand polish using Meguires Ultimate Compound:


This gave me some hope that there's progress to be made, so I went in with my polisher and the same compound for an advanced test:



Lastly, hitting it a bit further I was able to find the paint layer that actually matches the engine bay and dash!



Looks like it might be somewhat salvageable! I'm going to try to be patient and wait for me Rupes liquids to show up and see what a real effort will show. Pretty amazing I must say.

 

What a difference!

 

When I was a kid, the Scoutmaster of our Scout troop had a purple Renegade. IDK if it was a I or II.
You sure don't see many in that color!

 

Much much much much less than 250 "Plum Poly/Met" produced. Awesome find! Keep her in all of her original glory.
Make sure the poorly glued on "Trim/Paint" tag does not get lost like 98% of all of them have. Glad to see it still on the firewall above the battery. Is SSO plate right below it as well?? I can't tell from the pic. **edited** nevermind. Looks to be missing as you can see the outline of where it was originally located below the trim tag

 

Sweet score, that is an awesome jeep! Totally dig the purple!

 

Initial rough cut with some Rupes compound

 

A friend of mine that passed in '18 had one. His widow sold everything, including another sweet '70 with a factory T18 behind the 225. Anyway, yours could be the twin to his. Any idea if yours came from Lake Tahoe?

 

good job on that paint.. That's an amazing difference..

 

Not that I know of - what I do know is that the last two owners were here in WA - not sure about the history prior to that but the VIN indicates it is a CA jeep.

Do you know if his had any identifying factors at all?

 

I really don't. I also don't have any photos. Just a thought since the plum ones are kind of scarce.

 

Latest and greatest:


BEFORE (and the side I still have left to finish):




AFTER:

 

Nice!

 

Great job bringing that paint back to life! Love the patina.

 

Remarkable.
The undone side looks more silver than poiple.

 

That is remarkable !......Was the silver color some sort of Paint ?

 

That is fantastic! Great to see the original paint shine!

 

No just years and years of oxidized purple.

 

Wowza! Thats an unbelievable difference!