Rookie 73 build

sstull · Apr 30, 2011

So I picked this up from my brother-n-law about a year ago and have been working on it ever since. Between work, a house remodel, and just everything else that comes up, its definately been a slow process. My skills are limited, I know enough to get me by, but I am definately not to proud to ask for advice and or help. So here she is....

So at first this didnt start as a rebuild. Just wanted to ya know put a little lift on it, bigger tires, paint. But then I really started looking at how this thing had been patched together.

Thats really only the only pic I have of all the jerry-riggins on this thing. But Im sure you all know first hand what people do.
So didnt take many pics of the tear down. Here's a few

So I got the tub off and before I started welding on the millions of tiny screw holes courtesy of the p/o I cleaned up the frame and painted it. Also installed my 4" Super Lift, lift kit and lengthened my brake lines.

So thats about where Im at today. I think my next steps are:
1.Pull and paint motor
2.Cut and replace rusted hat channels and front end supports
3.Strip and prime tub, after of course filling in the swiss cheese
4.Fab seat brackets.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. thanks guys!!

Sooo... been moving along, slowly but surely, but have been taking lots of pics in the meantime. Got the motor pulled a couple weeks ago and started the prep work. Put plenty of hours into cleaning, degreasing and painting but I think its starting look like im getting somewhere.

Painted the the pulley and therm housing with high temp block paint. hope it lasts....im a little sketchy at this point.

But here is the real beauty. I went with Eastwoods high temp AMC blue and couldnt be happier!!

Also purchased and painted my new FlowKooler water pump. The old one was in pretty bad shape. Polished up the dingy valve covers and and put it together real quick just to see what the finished product would look like.

After getting the motor pulled I was able to really get into cleaning up the chassy. I attempted to paint it already with a similar product to POR15 and didnt really like the results. Didnt take me long to find this. But with the help from you guys the cracks will be welded and braced this weekend.

I have to tell ya, I have been having a blast. This jeep didnt start out as a rebuild but once I got started I couldnt stop. Definately taking my time because I want it to be done right. All my rock crawler buddies always give a hard time, but I dont care, rather have it look nice cruisin than tumblin down a cliff. Well I'll try and keep em comin. On to cleanin up the chassy, trans, front and rear end, then start puttin it back together. Here's what I got ahead of me.

Finally got to do some welding on the frame today. I did as you all recommended. I drilled the cracks then channeled them with my grinder. I bought some 1/8" flat bar tacked that in place, put some heat on the steel then bent it around the cracked area and welded that in place. I think it turned out pretty good. only cost me a bottle of whiskey. well worth it in my book!

Cleaned up the welds with the grinder and got a good coat of primer on it.

Now Im ready to get the front and rear ends off and begin really cleaning up the rest of the chassy. I will keep the pics coming. Let me know if you have any feed back. This is my first rebuild ever and dont always know if Im going in the right direction, so if you see anything not right I am open to ideas and suggestions. Thanks guys!