Am I crazy? I am thinking of swapping tubs...

I am finally at a point in my life where both the wife and I have CAREERS. It is a good feeling. My Jeep is "close" to done (Carb issues still exist...), but otherwise is good to go.

As you can see, I have a 4WD fiberglass tub on it:


http://tinypic.com/view/?pic=m7t6v8

It looks nice, but I am thinking of eBaying the fiberglass tub and going with a Willys Overland REPLITUB.

-Has anyone here used one of their repaired tubs?
-How much are they with a tailgate?
-Do the tubs have the correct "Jeep" script logo stamped into them?

 

No experience with those tubs, but I think your Jeep looks damn nice as it is! Why go through the grief of changing it? I'm no fan of fiberglass, but that photo looks great.

 

Yes you are crazy. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

The replitubs do NOT have the "Jeep" script on the sides and the only other major difference that I have spotted is the trapazoidal piece where the windshield hinge mounts to the front of, is indented like the YJ.

Jim

 

looks great!!! what color blue is that.i was going to repaint my 76 blue,that is a awsome looking blue.

 

Yes, your crazy........

 

x2

 

I have seen the replitubs and although there is alot of effort to make the import correct, it is still alot of effort for you.

I'm not a fiberflas fan either but I also say drive it until the next Jeep "opportunity" arises

 

Yep, your crazy

I have a fiberglass tub and have no problems with it. I agree with everyone else, hold off till something else comes around. I wouldn't get rid of that beautiful blue tub.

High5

 

I'm no fan of the 'glass tubs... but your Jeep looks good and I'd presume that it's sorted out well. If I really wanted a Jeep with a steel tub, I'd look for another Jeep with an original tub, put some work into that, and sell your blue Jeep to cover some of the costs. Consider that you'll likely spend $2000 for the new tub, and need another $1000 to make it look as nice as your current tub, plus significant labor. For that kind of investment, you can afford to go far afield to find the "perfect" replacement for your existing Jeep. What do you have now? T-14? Manual steering? 3.73 gears? If it were mine, I'd look for one with 4.27 gears, power steering, and a T-18/258 (unless you want a V8)... and a cherry steel tub. They are out there, if you spend the time and are willing to pay premium money. In the meanwhile, you can enjoy your great looking CJ-5.

 

You can swap the tub on mine if you want.

 

LOL! Thanks for the responses. As I have said before, my Jeep turned out too nice, because most of te work was done during long winter months, so it ended up too pretty.

Resto started in 1984 by my dad, with a 9 year old rusted out CJ-5. Around 86, he became burnt out. This is how it looked when I took over, minus the hood and fenders:



I started the rebuild in late 2001, and became burnt out in early 2002. In Late 2002, I got the bug again, and it ended up looking like this:



The seats did NOT fit in the Jeep until I did major reconstructive surgery on the internal frames of the seats, and had the original Besttop upholstery restretched around them. Did I NEED highback seats? No, my time and $ would've been better spent on lowbacks that actually fit in the Jeep out of the box. But damn, are they comfortable!

It was a 20 footer, good from far, but far from good. Anyways, my inherent anality kicked in, and I kept making it pretty and strong, instead of making it strong and functional. Many hours were spent sanding and lining up panels. Did I need to have the headers Jet-hot coated? No, but they sure look nice.





Here is a blurry shot of the dash, to give you a better idea of what the paint looks like on steel....




ANYWAYS, Janet (The Jeep) is 99% done now. Unfortunately, I have this urge to have a steel body with all the correct divits, emblems, TAILGATE, etc on it.

I think a flat fender will be in my future...


OK, as for the questions:

The color is 1996 Corvette Cloisonne Blue. It has a tiny amount of metal flake in it, but it is barely noticable. The paint job cost me $425 at Maaco. Despite all of my prep work, they did their best to F__K it up. there were numerous runs in the paint, which they had to wet sand out, and I wasn't happy that they used some sort of "Sticky primer", instead of using a traditional primer.

 

You bullseyed my setup. I have a granny knob on the steering bus wheel, so I have West virginia power steering!

Like I was trying to say in the post before this one, she ended up TOO PRETTY! Yeah, I have a fresh 258 and a Dana 44, but too nice of a paintjob to take her off road! Since she ended up too pretty, now I have these delusions to blow more money to get rid of a perfectly good tub!

 

Nonsense! (IMO) Sure, that's a beautiful Jeep (love that color), but it's still a Jeep! Take it out and drive it offroad, let it be a Jeep! Paint can always be touched up, and a few "trail pinstripes" will only validate its heritage. Going off-road doesn't mean you HAVE to beat it up, at least not to me.

When I get my '56 done, it's gonna be as purty and shiny as I can make it, but I'm still taking it on the trails in the mountains. But I'm not after the rockcrawling or mudholes, just scenic trails. I don't necessarily plan to keep it showroom perfect, but I'd like to start that way and just enjoy it after that.

 

X2 X2

 

Scratches build character.

 

save your money and buy another one to restore with a metal body.

I agree, that is a beautiful Jeep and an awesome color.......like the seats too !