Build Thread The '80 FrankenJeep frame off reassembly
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Build Thread The '80 FrankenJeep frame off reassembly
- Thread starter shum8
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- Roanoke, Va
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- '80 CJ-7, AMC 304, T177, Dana 300, Widetrack axles (D30 & AMC20) w/ 3.73 gearing, MSD ignition,
Had a small change of plans regarding the hard top. Since cooler weather is upon us, and I won’t have time to overhaul it properly, I was just gonna overwinter with the soft top. Didn’t like the idea cause the soft top is 25 years old and is starting to show its age, and I was afraid the cold weather would stress it pretty good - sooo, I decided to do a speed prep on the hard top and full doors and give the fastback top a break. I could bedline the top easy enough, but I didn’t wanna do the doors - if I decide to sell em bedliner would make that difficult. Also didn’t wanna completely overhaul em yet either.
What to do, what to do... [emoji848]
Rustoleum. Started with a door as an experiment. (Pics bounce between doors...)
Vinyl inserts are filthy, doors had peeling and chipping paint from a previous paint job
Started scrubbing with Clorox cleaner
Got it all clean - we’ll, as clean as it will get. It’s now ready for some vinyl dye / paint.
Got all the loose paint off the inside surfaces and sanded down. Taped off the stuff that didn’t need to be painted, and hit it with satin black.
Funny - the driver side door is green, and the passenger side is red.
Back to the panel - a couple of the plastic mounting plugs pulled out of the back of the panel - it’s a pressed fiber board that’s old and tired, has softened due to long term exposure to moisture, so I soaked the area around each one with super glue.
I also discovered that both doors are dated 1979
Also cleaned one of the inner door handles and hit that with satin black as well...... it’s out in the garage and I’m downstairs - pics tomorrow. I also got the door panel shot with med gray dye - also pics tomorrow.
Also got the inner door handles cleaned up - they were filthy.
Too bad I need black or gray.... guess I’ll hit em with the dye and wrap the bulk of em in paracord. More tomorrow.......
Almost forgot - for the outer surfaces of the doors and top I’m going to brush on satin black Rustoleum and go over it with a texture paint roller. I figure a little texture is better than smooth, and it’ll sand down nicely when it’s time for the bedliner.
Sent during my evening snack using Tapatalk
(Iced molasses cookies)
What to do, what to do... [emoji848]
Rustoleum. Started with a door as an experiment. (Pics bounce between doors...)
Vinyl inserts are filthy, doors had peeling and chipping paint from a previous paint job
Started scrubbing with Clorox cleaner
Got it all clean - we’ll, as clean as it will get. It’s now ready for some vinyl dye / paint.
Got all the loose paint off the inside surfaces and sanded down. Taped off the stuff that didn’t need to be painted, and hit it with satin black.
Funny - the driver side door is green, and the passenger side is red.
Back to the panel - a couple of the plastic mounting plugs pulled out of the back of the panel - it’s a pressed fiber board that’s old and tired, has softened due to long term exposure to moisture, so I soaked the area around each one with super glue.
I also discovered that both doors are dated 1979
Also cleaned one of the inner door handles and hit that with satin black as well...... it’s out in the garage and I’m downstairs - pics tomorrow. I also got the door panel shot with med gray dye - also pics tomorrow.
Also got the inner door handles cleaned up - they were filthy.
Too bad I need black or gray.... guess I’ll hit em with the dye and wrap the bulk of em in paracord. More tomorrow.......
Almost forgot - for the outer surfaces of the doors and top I’m going to brush on satin black Rustoleum and go over it with a texture paint roller. I figure a little texture is better than smooth, and it’ll sand down nicely when it’s time for the bedliner.
Sent during my evening snack using Tapatalk
(Iced molasses cookies)
- Posts
- 7,316
- Media
- 5
- Solutions
- 1
- Thanks
- 157
- Location
- Roanoke, Va
- Vehicle(s)
- '80 CJ-7, AMC 304, T177, Dana 300, Widetrack axles (D30 & AMC20) w/ 3.73 gearing, MSD ignition,
Here’s another pic of the second door
When I started removing the door handle, both weld nuts on the inner side of the door broken loose. Had to put tension on em with a pry bar, and they still wouldn’t let go of the screw - so I just pulled em out as they were spinning. Then I had a pucker to hammer back down.... Go me.
Once I got the puckers hammered back down flat, I needed to be able to hold em in place so I could hit em with the welder. First thought about using a long bolt, but that would occupy one hand - really wanted em both free. Before I got too deep into this, I drilled a small hole on either side of the flattened pucker to give me access to the nut for the mig.
Then I had an idea.....
Ran the bolt thru the bracket and threaded it into the nut, then ran the nut over the bracket down until I had good tension........ kept the nut square and I was hands free. Hit it with the welder, knocked it back to flattish, then was ready for paint.
The paint settled down nicely, and looks very nice for a rattle can job
I still need to get a couple of the plastic panel mounting "clips" then the first door's panel will be ready to go home.....
Sent from Lat 37.30503736669 Long -79.878662824630 using tapatalk...
When I started removing the door handle, both weld nuts on the inner side of the door broken loose. Had to put tension on em with a pry bar, and they still wouldn’t let go of the screw - so I just pulled em out as they were spinning. Then I had a pucker to hammer back down.... Go me.
Once I got the puckers hammered back down flat, I needed to be able to hold em in place so I could hit em with the welder. First thought about using a long bolt, but that would occupy one hand - really wanted em both free. Before I got too deep into this, I drilled a small hole on either side of the flattened pucker to give me access to the nut for the mig.
Then I had an idea.....
Ran the bolt thru the bracket and threaded it into the nut, then ran the nut over the bracket down until I had good tension........ kept the nut square and I was hands free. Hit it with the welder, knocked it back to flattish, then was ready for paint.
The paint settled down nicely, and looks very nice for a rattle can job
I still need to get a couple of the plastic panel mounting "clips" then the first door's panel will be ready to go home.....
Sent from Lat 37.30503736669 Long -79.878662824630 using tapatalk...
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Posi
Always Off-Roading Jeeper
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Sweet looking CJ !! I know you enjoy driving it, but anyone else that’s into CJs enjoys seeing it being used as well. Get behind the wheel as often as possible.
Belizean
Always Off-Roading Jeeper
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Posi is right. I really like the color !
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- '80 CJ-7, AMC 304, T177, Dana 300, Widetrack axles (D30 & AMC20) w/ 3.73 gearing, MSD ignition,
Thanky - I really like the color as well. What you can’t see in the pics is the very light metal flake in it. Unless you have a direct reflection of sunlight, you can’t see it.
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- Posts
- 7,316
- Media
- 5
- Solutions
- 1
- Thanks
- 157
- Location
- Roanoke, Va
- Vehicle(s)
- '80 CJ-7, AMC 304, T177, Dana 300, Widetrack axles (D30 & AMC20) w/ 3.73 gearing, MSD ignition,
Got closer to putting the hard top in service for the winter. The inside paint is good and dry and finished out pretty nice.
Time,for the outer surface today. All I had to do was remove the outer door handle. Two screws. That's it. Well, I broke the first bolt today after all this time. The first screw I tried, the head twisted off. The other three came right out.
No problem - I'll just hit it with some PB Blaster, a little heat, and a pair of vice grips. PB - check. Heat - check. Vice grips - not enough protruding above the surface. I've read several times the suggestion to weld a bolt to the broken stub, and use that. This was a #10 screw - not even close enough to weld a bolt to. Plan B. Hacked up a piece of square tube and welded that to the little bit of stub I had.
Gave it a little bit of a twist, and Viola -
Twisted off another 1/16"........ yay. Plan C. Drilled for an easy out..... I've only ever had work once..... and this was no exception. So I went ahead and drilled to retap to 10-24 threads.
This time I was the windshield rather than the bug - the tap pushed the stuck remnants out the back side..... finally, on to the sanding and painting. Got the outer side sanded, the bare spots primed, and taped off the vent window. Sprayed the upper window frame shot with satin black aerosol, then it was time for some experimenting. I've always preferred the textured hard tops rather than the smooth ones, and mine is smooth. The ultimate goal is to bedline the top, but don't have the time or funds to do it before winter. So, went to Lowes, got a quart of semi gloss Rustoleum brush on paint, a small roller, and this...
Rolled on a heavy coat of paint, let it set for about 45 minutes, then went over it with the texture roller. Had to wait for the paint to tack up otherwise it would just settle out. Now, trying to take pictures of a stippled gloss black surface in crappy light that actually shows something is rather impossible. But here goes....
In the process of rolling the texture roller over it, it picked some of the paint up, exposing the white paint below. Once this dries well, I'll spray over it with the satin aerosol and it will be good enough till spring. If this turns out like I hope it does, I'll do the same to the top this week.
Sent from Lat 37.30503736669 Long -79.878662824630 using tapatalk...
Time,for the outer surface today. All I had to do was remove the outer door handle. Two screws. That's it. Well, I broke the first bolt today after all this time. The first screw I tried, the head twisted off. The other three came right out.
No problem - I'll just hit it with some PB Blaster, a little heat, and a pair of vice grips. PB - check. Heat - check. Vice grips - not enough protruding above the surface. I've read several times the suggestion to weld a bolt to the broken stub, and use that. This was a #10 screw - not even close enough to weld a bolt to. Plan B. Hacked up a piece of square tube and welded that to the little bit of stub I had.
Gave it a little bit of a twist, and Viola -
Twisted off another 1/16"........ yay. Plan C. Drilled for an easy out..... I've only ever had work once..... and this was no exception. So I went ahead and drilled to retap to 10-24 threads.
This time I was the windshield rather than the bug - the tap pushed the stuck remnants out the back side..... finally, on to the sanding and painting. Got the outer side sanded, the bare spots primed, and taped off the vent window. Sprayed the upper window frame shot with satin black aerosol, then it was time for some experimenting. I've always preferred the textured hard tops rather than the smooth ones, and mine is smooth. The ultimate goal is to bedline the top, but don't have the time or funds to do it before winter. So, went to Lowes, got a quart of semi gloss Rustoleum brush on paint, a small roller, and this...
Rolled on a heavy coat of paint, let it set for about 45 minutes, then went over it with the texture roller. Had to wait for the paint to tack up otherwise it would just settle out. Now, trying to take pictures of a stippled gloss black surface in crappy light that actually shows something is rather impossible. But here goes....
In the process of rolling the texture roller over it, it picked some of the paint up, exposing the white paint below. Once this dries well, I'll spray over it with the satin aerosol and it will be good enough till spring. If this turns out like I hope it does, I'll do the same to the top this week.
Sent from Lat 37.30503736669 Long -79.878662824630 using tapatalk...
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Wow that is a very interesting technique
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- Roanoke, Va
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- '80 CJ-7, AMC 304, T177, Dana 300, Widetrack axles (D30 & AMC20) w/ 3.73 gearing, MSD ignition,
Well, it's not done yet - has a very real chance of turning out to be a bonehead move.... we'll find out in a day or two.....
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- Roanoke, Va
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- '80 CJ-7, AMC 304, T177, Dana 300, Widetrack axles (D30 & AMC20) w/ 3.73 gearing, MSD ignition,
Well - the doors didn't turn out like I had envisioned, but close enough. It'll do till I get the top bedlined next summer. Here's the first door with a satin black top coat (its very difficult to take pics of a black door...)
Not quite as textured as I wanted, but enough that it looks textured. As soon as I got home from work I started sanding on the top. If I were looking for a smooth paint job I'd have had a ton of work to get it ready for paint - but since it's destined to be bedlined, I'm not sweating the dings.
Took the rear hatch off the top to get it ready for paint - and decided to strip the window tint from the inside. Man, it was stuck good....
And the hinges will be getting some attention as well... not to mention the screws
Hopefully tomorrow the top gets its first coat of black .......
Sent from Lat 37.30503736669 Long -79.878662824630 using tapatalk...
Not quite as textured as I wanted, but enough that it looks textured. As soon as I got home from work I started sanding on the top. If I were looking for a smooth paint job I'd have had a ton of work to get it ready for paint - but since it's destined to be bedlined, I'm not sweating the dings.
Took the rear hatch off the top to get it ready for paint - and decided to strip the window tint from the inside. Man, it was stuck good....
And the hinges will be getting some attention as well... not to mention the screws
Hopefully tomorrow the top gets its first coat of black .......
Sent from Lat 37.30503736669 Long -79.878662824630 using tapatalk...
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Your hard top and doors are coming along nice! Always enjoy the creative ways you accomplish things. You probably know this, but a good welder I know told me about using deep creep instead of pb blaster since it doesn't react to heat the same. Keep those posts and pictures coming!
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- '80 CJ-7, AMC 304, T177, Dana 300, Widetrack axles (D30 & AMC20) w/ 3.73 gearing, MSD ignition,
Hey, thanks for the kind words.... but there's a fine line between creative and cheap. I tend to travel the cheap side LOL. Just treading water till next summer.
Here's the first coat of black....
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Here's the first coat of black....
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- Posts
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- Roanoke, Va
- Vehicle(s)
- '80 CJ-7, AMC 304, T177, Dana 300, Widetrack axles (D30 & AMC20) w/ 3.73 gearing, MSD ignition,
Satin coat is done. Would have liked to have had it on this weekend, but now we’re expecting more tropical rain. Good grief....
Still not as “pebbly” as I would have liked...
That’ll do, pig.
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Still not as “pebbly” as I would have liked...
That’ll do, pig.
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Looks good from my arm chair
That’ll do pig
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That’ll do pig
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Man I tell you it’s been raining so much in Texas the last 2 months that I’m surprised we haven’t washed away yet
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- Posts
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- Roanoke, Va
- Vehicle(s)
- '80 CJ-7, AMC 304, T177, Dana 300, Widetrack axles (D30 & AMC20) w/ 3.73 gearing, MSD ignition,
I hear ya - my armpits are starting to mildew....
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gr8dain
Full Time Jeeper
That top looks great to me. I put a satin on mine as well. I just wanted something I could easily touch up with a cheap can of spray paint when it gets scuffed. And after hitting it on a tree in September, I am glad.
Posi
Always Off-Roading Jeeper
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If black is going to be used I'm a fan of black satin. Looks good!
Belizean
Always Off-Roading Jeeper
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That goodness for garages or mine would have rusted out a long time ago. We just had a gully washer this morning from that hurricane that went into Mexico and came this way
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