Varg In Jeep's Clothing

Three days on the firewall so far.
I didn’t get any “before” pictures except this one of the drip edge under the hood hinge...



But just imagine all of it like this. There were ten 1 1/4” holes in the firewall (among countless other smaller holes, tears, creases, etc...). Two of the holes were for the heater hoses, but what on earth the other 8 were for...???

I got all the unnecessary holes filled, fixed that drip edge, and I fabbed the box to cover the distributor. I’ll work on mounting it tomorrow. The bottom lip hooks outside the edge of the opening to keep any accumulated water running outside, not inside.



It’s getting crowded under the dash.

 

In the future you might look back and thank yourself for going the extra distance.

 

The outside of the firewall is done! Baby steps.

For the distributor doghouse, I welded two strips of 12-ish gauge steel to the firewall, then drilled and tapped them.

The pedal box is fully welded in, the hole around the steering column is filled and another plate was added to the column with another mounting bolt.

And yes, Cary, I filled that hole in the floor, just for you.

 

Your Jeep with no body reminds me of a Scout we kept around for quite a while. We ripped the body off, except the cowl and rad support. It was a 345 and automatic. Called it the Hot Potato. It was fun though bouncy. We just welded some seats to scrap to the frame, no cage and had idiotic amounts of fun. It ran like a V8 skateboard. Plus, with no body, we threw on all kinds of tires, and the center of gravity was so low, it was pretty safe. Aaaah, memories of stupidity gone by!

 

I had “The Heap”
Basically the same thing with a ‘63 with a v6 transplant that I bought for $200 just for the OD. Started out with a body, but that fell off. Welded some seats in and rigged up a gas pedal off a bellhousing bolt and kept going. The only brakes it ever had was the parking brake. It worked ok until one side was on mud or ice and they’d spin backwards while you’re still moving forward. I broke four ribs against that thing’s steering wheel when I didn’t make a turn and hit a tree.

 

I removed the paint (and bondo) from the cowl to reveal why the hood sits crooked. The LF of the hood must’ve been pushed in at some point and it folded up the cowl on that side. That’ll be fun to fix.
(Straightedge on top shows the bad stuff)



That depressed me, so I left it for another day and began removing the horrible bulges on the pass side. I really wish I would’ve taken my time and done this right the first time.

The shrinking disc is working well, it’s just such a slow process.

 

Yesterday at lunch, I took a jug of vinegar and a roll of paper towels down to the shop to set up the rear floor for a soaking to remove the mill slag. It took less than a quart to soak the towels.



18 hours later....



I hit it with a stainless steel scrubber...



Finished it with a quick sanding. So easy.




Just an idea as to how bad the sides are warped because I didn't take the time to do it right the first time...

The perimeter shrank, the rest didn’t, so it rippled. Now I have to go back and shrink the rest.



The passenger’s side is about half way there. The waves are gone, it’s tight, but it’s very bumpy. Again, baby steps. Spray a light coat of paint, hit it with the sander, shrink the high spots. Repeat.

 

You know, I think the bodies came pre wavy from the factory..

 

A glass flat Jeep has had work.

 

I haven’t told anybody yet, but remove a few screws, a few panels, boom! It’s a mighty mite.

 

pictures or it didn't happen

 

I’ve been chipping away at this body. Nothing super exciting to report. Every day I wish a little more that I would have just built the whole thing from scratch.

I hit the diamond plate with the vinegar soak, pounded out the dents in the cowl, shrank the driver’s side to remove the waves, removed the paint from the wheelhouses, and now I’m filling the rest of the holes and replacing sections of rot.





Filled all the unneeded holes in the dash.





I also had these messes to contend with. Where I applied the skins to the sides, I ended them at the seam in the cowl with a big ugly weld.



I clamped a straightedge to the body and used a cutoff wheel to cut a groove to simulate the old body seam.





As is with everything else on this body, it’s not perfect, but it’s better than it was.

 

Probably a heck of a lot nicer than Willys made it.

 

That's the truth. Both of my CJ-5s have original paint and you can clearly see all the spot welds down both sides.

 

I have no recollection of doing this, but it made me chuckle this morning.