Rebuilding An Old High School Friend!

I've had some parts that I wanted to do that with.

 

Received the rest of the parts I was waiting on today and the old windshield frame will NOT work. The windshield area is much too small for the wiper arms and wipers.

So I will call the vendor Monday and at a minimum return this one. Still not sure if I should exchange it or try a different brand. This frame is an OMIX but from all the reviews I read prior to ordering the Crown versions had very similar reviews and at the time were a little more money. The MD Juan frames are more money still but I haven't found any reviews to make any judgement regarding their quality. Given that the reviews of OMIX and Crown windshield frames were so similar I just bought the one with the best price... perhaps I just got a bad copy?

Decisions, decisions.... Anyone out there have any experience with re-pop windshield frames?

 

yup and have all been problematic to some degree. it matters not where you get it it is at best a crap shoot I usually just fix whatever one they send unless as yours is its un useable.

 

Okay, OMIX windshield frame on the way back to where it came from. MD Juan frame on the way. Guess in the meantime I'll go ahead and fix that coolant leak I've been putting off and maybe build a bracket for the brake return spring... something I've also been putting off. I see a trend.

Looking at my to-do list I see it is increasingly made up of a bunch of annoying little things I've been putting off. Guess that means I'm almost done!

 

MD Juan frame has arrive and it is much better! By no means perfect... but much better. It will require some hammer and dolly work and some clean-up with a flap wheel but you can actually put a windshield in this one. It is also made of much heavier gauge material and to my surprise it came with upper hinges installed, windshield latches and a new cowl seal.

I mocked up the windshield wipers and motor last night to make sure everything fit. Today I'll see if I can't get it pulled back apart and prepped for paint.

 

Test the wipers? I’ve had issues with linkage binding on replacement frames.

 

I actually bought an adjustable linkage kit off of ebay just for that reason.

 

As usual, long past time for an update.



I did finally get the windshield frame all sorted and the windshield installed. Of course it wasn't until after I had the frame all painted that I realized it didn't clear my roll cage on the passengers side. A quick check with the tape measure showed the vent box at the bottom of the frame was a full half inch wider/deeper on the passenger side. Running out of patience I just clearanced it with a hammer. It's behind the cage. It'll just be our little secret.

I took time to modify the windshield clamps. I got the idea from a picture I saw somewhere... maybe on here somewhere. Regardless, this should hold it more securely than the old floppy clamps.



I also pulled the tailgate out of dead storage with the intent to fix it. I knew it had some rust but it was much, much worse than I remembered and the upper left hand corner was all cracked up so I bit the bullet and got a new one. It is a MD Juan tailgate I found for $130 without the "Willys" stamp, thinking I can always transplant the "Willys" from the old tailgate. But, wouldn't you know it, when it came yesterday in the mail I test fit it on the jeep and it doesn't fit! It is exactly a 1/4 inch too wide at the top.... Errr.

I debated on whether to trim the new tail gate to fit or use the bottom and top corner to repair the old one. Ultimately I decided to trim the new one down. So doing my best "Brooklyn Pony" impression, I took an 1/8 inch off one side.



Maybe I'll get the other side trimmed tomorrow.

Oh did I mention that this tailgate is only 18ga and not 16ga like the original? So I'm thinking about adding a little diamond plate to the back side to reinforce it. Not sure, we'll see.

 

My windshield was floppy also after installing four off-road lights. Added too much weight for the latches to hold. I made two braces coming off the top of the cage to the underside of the windshield frame. Set nutserts in the frame and threaded 1/4” bolts into those. I don’t even need latches anymore and can pull my top as tight as possible. Your project is looking good.

 

Finished trimming the other side of the tailgate this weekend and it fits like a glove. But being a glutton for punishment and not willing to be seen without the "Willys" on the tailgate, I cut out the only decent part of the old gate and started grafting it in.

 

Big Day! My brother and I, in an effort to get some air out of the power steering system, spent about 20 minutes driving the jeep around the yard!! Got it up to temperature, thermostat cycled a few times... as evidenced by the temp readings. I'll check for leaks again in the morning but so far so good!

He took a video but I'm not sure I have the skills to upload it.

 

Any updates?

 

Well now this is embarassing! It's done and I've been driving it... alot... But have I've obviously utterly failed in my social responsibilities in keeping this thread up to date. I am a very bad person!

I'll refrain from the laundry list of excuses that led us to this point... faulty cord to download pictures, procrastination, lethargy, etc... But as luck would have it I did get all my old pics downloaded last month so I will get this thread up to date as soon as possible, tomorrow... or the next day... if nothing else, definitely after Christmas.

 

Let's see... so where was I.

After finishing my tailgate mods, I worked on getting the Hood and Fenders ready for bedliner.



I removed the brace at the back of the hood to get at and treat the rust inside. Maybe not required but I figured I would sleep better at night if I did.



Then, it being January/February time-frame, it was time to crank up the heater and roll on some more bedliner

 

Concocted a front license plate mount while the bedliner was curing...





I like it a lot better than having it stand up above the bumper. And so far it has worked well.

 

I ran into an issue when I went to installed the soft top. Despite following Bestops directions the door latch and striker were almost a full inch off.



After lots of head scratching I determined the installation directions placed the striker too far forward and I was going to have to reposition the side rails the top slipped into. So much for eliminating all the extraneous holes in the tub!

Following the directions left about an inch gap between the rails at the rear corner.



Eliminating that gap allowed everything to work as designed and the doors latched...



So the moral of the story here is maybe don't completely trust the directions and go to the trouble of actually slipping the doors on to make sure the latch lines up before you start drilling holes in your freshly smoothed tub.

Drama aside I was able to fully assemble her finally.





We ended up dubbing it "Odd Job." Because those are exactly the jobs it was designed to take care of around the farm... and because when you least expect it, it just might fling a bowler hat at you and cut off your head!

 

How are the upper part of the doors fit at the Windsheild?I fought mine for hours, still not right

 

Mine fit pretty close. I did have to tweak the door frames, both upper and lower, to better fit the openings. My passenger side lower was the most out of whack for me. When comparing it to the drivers it was clearly not the same shape but I was able to press it corner to corner and spring it closer. In the end, mine certainly fits better than the top we had on it when I was a kid