Build Thread Nick's 1977 CJ5 Renegade Restoration

[lxlmariuslxl]

Well the back story on this jeep is My mom got it in 1978 with 10k on it, the guy who had it before her jackknifed with a....ready for it??? 28 FOOT TRAILER!!! Yeah anyway my bother, sister and I were all taken to the hospital in it when we were being born and the first ride home. Then the jeep sat in the yard for 10 years. When I turned 14 I went to my mom and said this is how much its going to cost to rebuild the jeep, and I have this much can I work on it? And thats how I got my first Jeep. Being from the south I had a dream of building a off road monster. well after trashing the jeep for about 4 years it sat in my yard again...I had a motorcycle and a 77 f150 both with no problems so the jeep went to the back of my mind. Now its time to bring her back to life. Engine and Transmission are strong so I'm leaving them alone. So here I come Tube full of rust! Here are some pictures back when I was 14 on to what we have going on today. I did pick up a hard top for about $600 with doors but it needs a little help and to be re-keyed
One a little muddy
How she looked for 4 years...yeah no top but drove year around

and finally what she looks like now hardtop with spare hood and grill to keep the engine covered

 

[lxlmariuslxl]

As for whats next in her future there is and probably more to add later :
Rear frame repair
POR15 frame / axle housings
POR15 bottom and inside of tube
repair rust holes in body
paint back factory green
repair and paint fiber glass top and doors- rekey doors and hatch
paint engine and drive train
replace brake and fuel lines

 

[lxlmariuslxl]

Today I started stripping the roll bar and grill. The roll bar had herculiner on it along with the inside of the jeep. I will NEVER use that stuff again. Anyway a wire wheel gets it off pretty easy. Most of the grill is stripped I just need to put it in the blast cabinet to hit a few hard to reach areas. I plan on using an epoxy primer later this week on both of them and a few other parts I have cleaned up.And yes every bolt is bagged and tagged and will be cleaned and blasted and painted.

 

[Busted Knuckles]

Neat story, youve got allot of work ahead of yourself, kudos if you can pull it off !

 

[lxlmariuslxl]

Thanks, as long as the money stays coming in I plan on having body work done around Thanksgiving. That includes being blocked out and ready for paint. Mostly everything with the drive train has been rebuilt so its mainly all body work.

 

[lxlmariuslxl]

Well I started to take the drivers side to bare metal and realized I sucked at body work before...anyway I have a little more to do then its getting epoxied.
And yes those are rivets, I didnt know any better and yes the bondo did crack. YaY! wire wheel...

 

[Busted Knuckles]

You know you can buy a panel for the side ?

 

[lxlmariuslxl]

You know you can buy a panel for the side ?

Well I didnt 6 years ago when I "thought I knew how". I plan on a 4x8 sheet of metal and my electric nibbler. That should take care of all the rest of the rust and will run half price of buying panels if not a little more. I do body work on older cars for a living now so this is pretty easy, just takes time.

 

[Busted Knuckles]

Okay, sounds like you got it handled !

 

[lxlmariuslxl]

Well didnt get to much done today, my air compressor crapped out but I did get the drivers side of the tub from bare metal to sprayed with a gray epoxy primer. I love not having to tape anything off. I'm thinking about letting the hard top go but I'm not to sure on that yet. It needs a little repair.

 

[zuba]

Got a lot of work to do but doable , Good luck

 

[Petescj]

That does look like alot of work. Luckily you chose the right proffession.

 

[lxlmariuslxl]

Yeah after I painted my 77 F150 I started to feel guilty seeing the CJ just sit there and then working on this other guys CJ really got me feeling guilty. Its hard to paint his knowing mine could be rolling around looking just as good if not better.

 

[lxlmariuslxl]

I've been pretty lazy with the jeep the past few days. I did pick up 300lbs of black diamond sand for $30 at northern tool. Its normally 7.99 for 50lbs. Tomorrow I'm pulling the rest of the painless wiring harness out of the jeep along with the lights. I'm also almost done with a cart I built to roll the tub around on, Pics of that tomorrow.

 

[Niedhogg]

Looks like a great project, keep it coming!

 

[lxlmariuslxl]

Well its been a while, but have to work on paying jobs first!! Plus the crappy welder broke so its time to spend the cash on a nice one.Anyway check out this 1978 CJ7 I did bodywork for the past week and painted tonight.

 

[ShowroomShine]

Ever get anything else done with this one? I'm in Wake Forest as well, and redoing my 76 CJ5 .

 

[lxlmariuslxl]

I have been so swamped with work over the past 4 months I havent done anything to her...But that is about to change next week. How far along are you on your 76?