Build Thread: Chief Laredo

[CJ5]

Well, it is time. This will be my second frame off restore project. This one is more special since it is my first father/son project. I wanted to pass down the coolness of one of my favorite trucks. This will be his first vehicle and he will be able to participate in a complete restore project, which I hope gives him some invaluable exprience. This will also end up being his truck when he turns 16 so he will be invested in it and appreciate it more, I hope. The good thing for me is he was open to a Cherokee. I just love these as they bring back a lot of good memories when I ran the roads and think it will be a perfect truck for a teenager. I really hope when he gets older and decides he needs to buy something on his own he will give it back to me. I tried to trade my Suburban to him already and he declined.

We started out with a near perfect jeep to begin. I purchased this from someone on the board. It is in almost perfect shape and bigdaddy sold it for such a good price I almost felt like I stole it from him. It has run flawless since I bought it nearly a year ago and I hate to start the project. We have a good timeline for the project since my son will not be 16 for another 2 years.

We called the project Chief Laredo since we both like the Chief badges/decals but we found a Laredo. Will will stay with the Laredo package and badges but add the Chief badge and decals. We plan on doing a complete frame-off. Th goal is to restore it back to btter than new quality. I hope to be able to document and share this from start to finish with my fellow jeepers. Your suggestions and input wil be invaluable!

The before pics 10/1/2010:http://www.fototime.com/5123FDF2122DFAA/standard.jpg




The album:http://www.fototime.com/inv/BB4AF31A10748CC

[ColeTrickle]

Nice Cherokee! In all honesty, that Cherokee is pretty clean as is...

What type of mods are you going to be completing?
In doing a frame off, what exactly will you be replacing? I'm just seeing more of a refurbishing out of the rig than a complete resto.

Not trying to be abrasive just telling how I see it.

[CJ5]

It certainly is a cream puff. The only thing wrong right now is the drivers seat is ragged. The plan is to make it like new. It is 27 years old. I want to get it back to new quality and make it a project for my son.

The plan is to do a complete frame off, to include new upholestry, new carpet, new paint in and out, new updated exhaust, refurbished bumpers, chrome and SS. Rebuild/Replace the hardparts as needed, new springs (which we already did) and refurbish and or replace the motor, wiring, etc.

We are about to finalize the outside color, order in the carpet and then decide what interior colors to go with. Unfortunatley, I cannot get the nutmeg carpet so we are going with the light tan, which may require us to change colors on things like door panels, seats, trim, etc.

I want it to be finished basically stock, with a few modern upgrades.

[normand]

82 laredo

nice truck as said earlier i do not think it nead a frame resto basdicly it is a nice truck but you could refresh it and in 5 or 10 years when the market will be their it will worth the price of a full frame resto in the mean time find all your parts change what is nead ,drive it and enjoy for the carpet the color nutmeg is avalibale i order some for a 79 j10 honcho and they are the exact color of my 82 laredo which is orignal interior if you change your interior i would buy yours congratulation for your laredo normand

[suzq044]

Nice truck. Still SOO much nicer than my Levi. lol

[jaber]

Subscribed to watch.

That is a cream puff. Make sure you are carefull in removing the old stuff, it will be 10x's better then someone elses stuff. Might help fund it.

[2ToneBluJ10]

Won't all that original Laredo striping be hard to replace after a repaint?

Your rig is very clean. I'd be very hesitant about repainting it if the factory paint isn't too far gone. I learned that lesson on my truck after it was repainted.

Just my 2 cents.

[CJ5]

I read a lot of hesitation from you guys on my plan. I can understand and if I bought it for me I would run it. You cannot find one of these in this shape for $2800. However, the restore was the plan from the begining.

I have sourced the striping already. I have sourced a place to send the bumpers for replating. Every pirce of SS trim is perfect but some of the chrome has a little bit of pitting. All should cleanup well. Body work should be fairly easy, as I have identified only 7 dings/dents that need attention. There is absolutely no rust to speak of. He originally wanted to go with the smoke grey and chief badges/decals but I was able to talk him into keeping it white (or close enough) which will help.

I mispoke on the nutmeg carpet, we can get but decided to change the carpet to a lighter color. In doing that we have to decide how much nutmeg interior we can keep. Before we tear it down I plan on getting the carpet in so we can see what looks good. I hope to keep the dash pad the same. Everything else can be changed/painted or dyed. The hardest to replace is the piece on the top of the doors so maybe we can keep that. We will keep the dash original with the exception of upgrading the radio. Man I hate to lose the am/fm/cb. All of the trim is there but I need front arm rests and seat belt covers/trim.

We plan on keeping the 360. The a/c works fine and the engine and hardparts all seem sound. There are so fleeting thoughts of putting in a modern 6.0 liter but I don't really want to get into all that, though it would be nice. We will do new seals, bearings, hoses, through out. I don't anticpate a complete rewire but may need to do that.

Today, the color we decided on is the off white pearl found on the new cadillacs. I think it will go great with the nutmeg/brown striping. I am still investigating that. I can paint the interior but don't want to try to paint the exterior unless I have to. A complete paint job is a budget buster. I am estimating a budget of 10k. I will sell my YJ since we just don't get to go rock crawling much anymore.

Anyway, sorry for all the talk. I am excited and ready to get started. We will begin today with removing exterior trim and begin fixing dings and dents.

[CJ5]

We have stripped the interior, less the dash. The doors and windows removed. The read gate removed, hood, etc. The fenders are pulled off, the wire loom hase been labled and removed from the motor. I have run some compression checks on the motor to determine what work it needs, also. The next step is to remove the dash and parts. Hopefully in the next few weeks we can roll the chasis out from under the body and then begin the hard work.

I have some repair on the passenger floor board, due to A/C, I guess. Other than it looks pretty good.

[krek]

I read a lot of hesitation from you guys on my plan.

Your Jeep, your plan!

Subscribed to watch it unfold.

[cherokee83]

We have stripped the interior, less the dash. The doors and windows removed. The read gate removed, hood, etc. The fenders are pulled off, the wire loom hase been labled and removed from the motor. I have run some compression checks on the motor to determine what work it needs, also. The next step is to remove the dash and parts. Hopefully in the next few weeks we can roll the chasis out from under the body and then begin the hard work.

I have some repair on the passenger floor board, due to A/C, I guess. Other than it looks pretty good.

WOW THE JEEP GODS HAVE BEEN VERY GOOD FOR YOU GUYS JUST TAKE YOUR TIME AND HAVE FUN WOW WOW WOW

[81cherokee laredo]

I'm going to have to agree with the group here, no need for a full resto. It is your jeep though and you should do what you want with it. nice score on a nice cherokee, your definatly ahead of the game. most of us start out with a lot more rust..

[aallison]

Way cool!! I want one of these. There was a dude selling a cherokee, golden eagle IIRC, down near Daytona. He sold it a year or so to soon for me.......

[Ghinmi]

This is a cool project, I can't wait to see how it unfolds! Where are you getting the Laredo stripes from?

[chithead]

Can' wait to see this project unfold! Great choice of rig, looks to be a good platform to start from.