J10 Refurbish/repaint (moved from PRIS)

[Towtruck]

Thanks, KJ. I'm documenting the build for historical reasons, and so that potential buyers can see the before and after condition for themselves. I'll miss having the dang thing, but not as much as Rufus the Dufus who runs over and sits outside the passenger door every time he goes out. He freakin' loves to go for rides with the windows down...hangs out the window and gets that wind tunnel look...funny as hell. I put that blue masking tape on the door so he doesn't scratch the paint.

Anyway, the resprayed and cured exhaust pipe on Rufus' side is shown in the photos. I should have done them prior to the sheet metal paint...masking was a beech. Right side turned out very nice...driver side needs a little sanding and touch up (sags).

I also finished dying the center arm rest and the steering wheel hub. Then repainted the glove box door and funky old ashtrays so they match the new paint on the dash. After that I got bogged down fixing the remote driver side switch for the passenger side window. Turned out it was a faulty toggle switch, so I had to completely strip down the main switch assembly (from a Wagoneer) to swap the defective toggle for one that works. If you try this, be sure to take notes during the teardown as it's easy to put parts in backwards...duh...

Odds and ends remaining.

DSCN1890 by Rufus, on Flickr
DSCN1892 by Rufus, on Flickr
DSCN1894 by Rufus, on Flickr
DSCN1895 by Rufus, on Flickr

[Towtruck]

Installed the new speedometer cable, which bypasses the old cruise control unit. Unfortunately, the speedometer is still inoperative. I should have put an electric drill on it when I had the instrument panel out. It's been sitting inop for a long time, so I'm guessing it's gummed up/dirty. I'll fix it later.

While I was under the truck hooking up the speedo cable I noticed a red fluid drip on the rear transfer case output yoke. so I dropped the driveshaft, pulled the yoke and installed a new seal.

The defroster vent hose showed up yesterday. Installed it this morning and started putting the dash face back together. Again, the left half is original '81, and the right half is from an early 70's truck. The early metal stampings are much nicer than the later ones, by the way. The foam pad was eliminated as part of the modification. The Jeep clock embedded in the glove box lid adds an extra "period" touch. I have an old radio that will fill that hole. I need to tidy the wiring a bit.

Next is a thorough interior cleaning, then the transfer case shift lever/double rubber boot, carpet, seats, door trim panels, and the new dome light. Wheels and exterior wash last.

DSCN1896 by Rufus, on Flickr
DSCN1900 by Rufus, on Flickr

[SJTD]

Looks really good. I couldn't believe the two halves of the dash matched up that well.

That big pad in front of the passenger is why I trashed my '84 dash.

[Towtruck]

Yes it turned out OK. Just had to measure carefully and account for the width of the blade. Lots of slow stitch welding to avoid warpage. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the biggest issue was cutting out the right side defroster vents and grafting the newer style into the older (right side) half of the dash. (The older style plastic vent drops straight down, and the hose hook up would have been blocked by the AC unit). My foam dash pad was in good shape and I sold it to someone here on the forum who needed one.

[Towtruck]

Carpet, center armrest, and seats are back in. Cleaned, greased and adjusted the shifter on the T-18. Note the "proper" TC shift lever which replaces the original wimpy 208 lever next to the transmission tunnel....major performance upgrade...heh, heh.

I also swapped the old baby blue seat belts for a black colored set that I purchased from a forum member about 15 years ago. Never took them out of the box until today. Turned out one of them was missing the retractor spring mechanism....grrr. So I had to swap that around from my old set. Anyway, everything now matches. The seats are in very nice shape. When I had them reupholstered, I asked the shop to use the originals as a pattern, but skip the multi-colored stripes...yikes. So the pleats, etc. are per factory design...just a different color. The cloth inserts breath, don't get as hot as vinyl, and are very comfortable. The door upholstery goes on tomorrow.

A few photos... The plastic covers over the seat back hinges are now installed (missing in the photos).

DSCN1913 by Rufus, on Flickr
DSCN1915 by Rufus, on Flickr
DSCN1916 by Rufus, on Flickr

[Towtruck]

The door upholstery is finally installed. Just a few items left to finish the interior...radio and driver side AC vent extension among them. I have to dye the replacement louvers that forum member 78 Widetrac sent me a few days ago (nice parts, thank you sir). Also need to find and install the chrome sill trim.

When I finished the door upholstery I took Rufus the Dufus for a ride and discovered that the seat belt tab in the black set that I purchased off the forum some years ago, is too wide to fit into the latch mechanism. Clearly a made up set from two different year vehicles. Add that to the fact that one of the retractors was missing the coil spring mechanism (mentioned earlier), and I do believe a nefarious forum member sold me a bill of goods. I'm hoping I can swap around more parts from my original set.

Anyway, I'm inching ever closer to the wash and cleanup segment. Photos of the door upholstery...

DSCN1925 by Rufus, on Flickr
DSCN1926 by Rufus, on Flickr
DSCN1922 by Rufus, on Flickr

[Towtruck]

Radio is installed, seat belt problem from yesterday is fixed. Unfortunately when I took Rufus for another test drive, the passenger side window would not lower beyond half way. He was so disappointed that he couldn't flop out over the side of the door, that I went straight back to the garage and removed the upholstery trim to investigate. Turned out that I had failed to tighten the slider to the bottom of the window pane and it was binding. So I fixed that, took Rufus for another ride, and left the door card/upholstery reinstall for another day. Reading other build threads I noticed that some of you use Velcro instead of the perimeter edge clips...so I'll give that a try.

The radio and glove box latch installed...still needs the driver side AC vent and a good cleanup...

DSCN1930 by Rufus, on Flickr

[SOLSAKS]

I have just seen the last photos
I especially like "Rufus"
he is beautiful.
the truck is nice too !!!

my dog goes with me everywhere for past 12 years
she is 14 "Gertie"

your pics make me long for the days she felt that good.
since this dec 24, Gertie has been sick
and I know what is in the near future
but I am doing what the Vet says and giving her
the chance to get better if possible.
just hard to watch her decline.

dogs and fsjs are a good combo, wish us luck.

dave in NC

[Towtruck]

Rufus (AKA Mr. Barker, the Dufus, or the Dude) is a larger than life (and larger than normal) Havanese. He has more than a few screws loose, but his saving grace is that he is indeed a handsome devil, and is hysterically funny. Sorry to hear of your dog's decline....we've lost three Airedale terriers over the years....tough times.

[SOLSAKS]

thanx for the kind words.
still trying to give Gertie a fighting chance,...
she took appetite stimulant this a.m. in hopes it will work.

tell Rufus hello !!!

and your truck is looking good.

dave in NC

[jeepman1]

208 shifter..

Carpet, center armrest, and seats are back in. Cleaned, greased and adjusted the shifter on the T-18. Note the "proper" TC shift lever which replaces the original wimpy 208 lever next to the transmission tunnel....major performance upgrade...heh, heh.

I also swapped the old baby blue seat belts for a black colored set that I purchased from a forum member about 15 years ago. Never took them out of the box until today. Turned out one of them was missing the retractor spring mechanism....grrr. So I had to swap that around from my old set. Anyway, everything now matches. The seats are in very nice shape. When I had them reupholstered, I asked the shop to use the originals as a pattern, but skip the multi-colored stripes...yikes. So the pleats, etc. are per factory design...just a different color. The cloth inserts breath, don't get as hot as vinyl, and are very comfortable. The door upholstery goes on tomorrow.

A few photos... The plastic covers over the seat back hinges are now installed (missing in the photos).

DSCN1913 by Rufus, on Flickr
DSCN1915 by Rufus, on Flickr
DSCN1916 by Rufus, on Flickr

What kind of setup did you use/make for that shift lever?! Awesome

[Towtruck]

It's a stock J-Series lever and boot. The transmission cover has a notch where the TC lever bolts on....maybe they all do. It's been a very long time since I installed the T-18....might have been part of that set up, or maybe from a T176, which I used at one point. Anyway, I have a spare rubber boot with about a 3 inch tear that can be superglued together, and I might have another lever in the pile of junk. The linkage would likely have to be fabricated depending on the transfer case. Don't know about the hump cover. Maybe I'll graft on the second pair to operate the heater flap and the manual choke cable (I'm kidding).

[Towtruck]

Quick wash. Wheels cleaned up nicely...never in salt...rarely on the road in last 15 years. A little elbow grease on the interior and engine bay and it's done. Goes on DFW Craigslist after this post. If no sale in a month it goes to Streetside in Fort Worth.

DSCN1938 by Rufus, on Flickr
DSCN1941 by Rufus, on Flickr
DSCN1942 by Rufus, on Flickr

[bkilby]

Nice job, great looking truck. I think you're price is reasonable. GLWS.

[Towtruck]

Thanks. Considering that I have over $5K in receipts plus nearly a thousand hours of labor invested over the past year, I think it's a dang bargain. Time will tell.