'67 Commando Build

Instead of writing the story of this Jeep, take a look at the intro to it in the Introductions section: http://www.earlycj5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49691

Otherwise let's cut to the chase, shall we?

We (my dad and I) bought this Jeepster sight unseen, which is always scary, however we are very happy with our purchase, but we did just discover quite something interesting...
Let me start with the mystery Dana 30 rear, all the Commandos with the dauntless V6 came with a Dana 44 rear, and this is quite clearly a Dana 30 rear axle which only came in 4 cylinder Commandos:

Puzzled, we continued to work, rust proofing the Jeepster the best we to protect it until we could tackle the bodywork. Today we got to removing the separator that is on the halfcab models to get at the rust in the crevices down there, by this point in time we had noticed that the front end had a gold paint colour (original) and the rear and teal (original):


Once we got the divider out we noticed some welds along where the bed connects to the floor of the front half of the vehicle as well as some brazed sections along the side of the body:



This was somewhat odd, but we continued working admiring how solid the body was for the age, then it struck us... was our Commando... really two Commandos?? So I went to check the frame... and... what do you know... there's a seam from a weld on the back half of the frame just in the front of the wheel wells:

A look at the edge of the rear springs confirmed this thought, the same paint colour as the rest of the rear half of the Commando:


So now the build of the two-in-one Jeepster Half Cab Commando begins... with a bit of extra work involved... such as reinforcing the frame for instance... wish us luck!

 

Glad to see your rebuild more Commandos is always good!
Mine has its problems for sure but I always seem to be suprised how good of shape mine is compared to the ones I have been seeing since.
Mine is in one piece but the hood and windshield are from a donor or two along the way.

Keep it coming.

 

Here's a better summary of where exactly this Commando was spliced together:



Makes me think it was rear ended, as all the work done to this last (dauntless rebuild, body/frame mods, paintjob, cut wheel wells, and swampers) was all done at once from the looks of it, and that was before it sat in Las Vegas for who knows how many years... I'll keep posting updates as I actually make some more progress, stay tuned...

 

Looks like a challenge! I didn't read but you say original. As in. Were 2 commando's spliced together to make one?

 

From the looks of it, the front end is all gold, hood, everything from the front end up to the base of the bed, from there on back is the body of another Commando of a teal colour. The frame from the teal one was also used to replace the back half of the original frame, amazing both are very solid, but the frame definitely needs strengthening where it was cut and welded. I would be much more concerned if there was serious rust spots, but everything from the looks of it is very solid. I tried tracing the VIN but got no useful info at all... legally for the most part the VIN is for the half cab I believe, due to the H in the VIN, meaning the front half is the legal half...

 

Wow, you don't see that everyday. I'm not a fan of gold, but do think it looks good on the Jeepster. Mine had different color doors than the body. Overall looks to be in good condition, lots to work with.

Paul

 

IIRC, the 67 Jeepsters came with the 30 rear with both the :v6: and the :hurrican:.

 

http://www.earlycj5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41784