1978 Cherokee Chief aka Beatrice - Build and Questions

[rang-a-stang]

Wow! SOooo awesome! I wish my fender flares were half that nice! Post pics of the work you do on those; I am going to be cutting into my flares in the coming weeks, too.

[J76137]

Wow! SOooo awesome! I wish my fender flares were half that nice! Post pics of the work you do on those; I am going to be cutting into my flares in the coming weeks, too.

I really feel like I got lucky. I have found two dents that were fixed with body filler and only a little rust overall. I did try to cut out a section of that inner fender and make a patch but it looks terrible. I am going to try to do it again and see if it comes out any better. I will make sure to take some pictures tomorrow and post then repairs. No promises on how well they turn out.

[J76137]

I decided to take a break from the underside and inner fenders. I did make a patch panel for one area but am not stoked about how it turned out. I think I am going to revisit this in a little while. I will either attempt to make some steel patches myself or I will make a full set of fiberglass flares. Maybe even carbon fiber since I have some on hand.

I have been doing the "nickle and dime" thing again by only trying to do the bad spots and sort of patch them to make it look better. After some discussion with the wife, and some research on the inter-webs, she goaded me into pulling the windows and dash out. Such a bad influence.

This is what I found Lurking under the window seals in a few places.This is the driver's side. I also have similar on the passenger side, under the rear trim, and a little around the door seal edge on each side.
[IMG]Untitled by John Armstrong, on Flickr[/IMG]


After a good stripping with a wire wheel and some rust treatment I used the base coat for the Mastercoat system to seal up any remaining rust that could be embedded in the metal. Since this product can be sanded and primed over It will work great for the epoxy primer I am putting down(hopefully this weekend). I also used this same product to get it into any areas that I had to grind away rust for the same reason. And, as added protection I used it inside the window channel to help prevent any moisture from getting inside. They claim it will help seal up leaky windows.

This is after the treatment and primer.

[IMG]Untitled by John Armstrong, on Flickr[/IMG]

I have been stripping away any old paint that had worn through to the base metal and feathering it into the places where the paint is pretty hard.

Untitled by John Armstrong, on Flickr

Untitled by John Armstrong, on Flickr

I have a little bit of work to do on the rear section around the tailgate but it is almost ready for primer. I am hoping I can bust my tail and get the rest of the prep done and get the primer down tonight. Then, maybe some color tomorrow.

The window seals were what started this chapter of project creep. I found this from C.R Laurence and available on Amazon. It is $95 for a 50 foot roll and should work well.

http://www.crlaurence.com/crlapps/showline/largerimage.aspx?productid=10803

Hopefully it will be a good fit.

[J76137]

After a few days of prep I was able to get the epoxy primer down on a good portion of the interior and the firewall. I have not done the floors yet because I have a bit to do still and want to do them last. Kind of a top down thing.

I spent some time practicing my dent repair technique with a cheap hammer and dolly set. I think it looks pretty good for a first time.

There was a large dent in the right rear floor section that is hard to see but I took before and after pictures to compare them.
Before:
Untitled by John Armstrong, on Flickr

After:
Untitled by John Armstrong, on Flickr

I have three good coats of primer on the interior and two good coats on the firewall. I am not too worried about the little bit of texturing on the inside since I am going to use Raptor on the floor and the exterior. It will match a little.
Untitled by John Armstrong, on Flickr

Untitled by John Armstrong, on Flickr

I am pretty happy for having never used a paint gun before. If the weather holds out I will get the color and clear on by the end of the week.

[rang-a-stang]

Looks great!!!

[J76137]

Looks great!!!

Thank you.

Here is a little teaser of some of the color going on. It is a medium blue with a hot rod satin clear from Summit.
Untitled by John Armstrong, on Flickr

[Full Size Jeeper]

I really like the color and finish of that satin. Nice work.

[SOLSAKS]

I am with rang a stang

you are doing a great job.

I like this project.

dave in NC

[J76137]

I really like the color and finish of that satin. Nice work.

I am with rang a stang
you are doing a great job.
I like this project.
dave in NC

Thank you. I have been stressing it a bit lately so work has stalled. I am not sure if the texture of the satin clear is supposed to be that way or not. I am thinking it should be smooth but I like the texture so I am leaving the gun settings for now. It is possibly a combination of settings and the infamous Harbor Freight purple gun. I am open to suggestions on a cheap but better gun or any hacks or settings for the purple thing that might help me in the future.

I spent a few minutes Saturday evening on it but the rain over the last few days has done nothing for my motivation. I intended to continue prepping the frame for some paint but that went in the toilet. My wife even ENCOURAGED us to drive out to Summit Racing and pick up the stuff to paint the frame. I have a long way to go but each hour of work is that much closer.

I picked up some additional epoxy primer and some single stage hot rod black in satin for when the time comes. I have much more prep to do on the frame and I want to clean up some of the horrible factory welds. Looking at the pictures I am thinking this was a Friday before happy hour or a hungover Monday kind of job.



I am not a master welder but even my first day welding was nothing close to that bad.

I also found the left front spring mount like this:

That nut was rusted pretty solid so I am sure it has been that way for a long time. The front receiver hitch was hitting the mounting bolts on both sides of the frame so I had to cut it out so I can fix the spring mounts. I do not think this brand was a factory or dealer add-on but if any of you know any different I would love to know.


I am not a fan of the front hitch so I am not sad to see it go. I am sure to re-purpose it on another project down the road. That is what I plan to do with the 360 that came out of the Cherokee. My wife gave me her blessing to swap in an LS drive train so I am currently looking for parts. I am wanting a 6.0L so that may have to happen. If anyone knows of a way to swap in a modern transmission and transfer case while keeping the passenger drop option to retain the original axles I would love some suggestions. I am trying to avoid an axle swap and/or having to buy adapters from Novak or Advanced Adapters.

[J76137]

Work has stalled a little bit over the summer. Between work issues, mental health issues, and shop problems I am surprised I got any work done at all. My wife is amazing and has been helping me out to stay motivated. She is truly a huge blessing and not JUST because she gave the green light for this project.

My compressor died a tragic death after living an abused life. I guess the home garage rated air compressors are not suited for the abuse of shop work. So, after dumping a ton on a compressor, a new 240V circuit, and some shop plumbing for the new air lines I am back in business. I was able to get the frame finished and painted.



I used the Mastercoat system on it and am very happy with the base primer. The satin black topcoat I am not as impressed with. I almost used some single stage Hot Rod Satin Black from Summit Racing but decided to use the Mastercoat. It was free so no complaints there. I may have to thin it out more if I use it again but at least I am not going to have any rust issues.

I have the gas tank mocked up as well. I went with the Blazer tank and think it will work well for what I want. I need a little more work on the mounting bracket but I am heading in the right direction.



It will support the weight of the fuel with no issues. I tested the framework for the mount by jumping on it with my 200 lbs and it did not flex at all.

My wife and I spent a few hours prepping the floor and got it primed and coated with black Raptor Liner. Having used Summit Racing epoxy primer and now the Upol Raptor primer I can say the Raptor primer goes down pretty well. The Summit Racing brand is great but the topcoat window for the Raptor is shorter. It does cost a bit more so I would only use it for small areas.

This is after the primer.




This is after 5 bottles of Raptor shot at 60PSI.



It is a long road but it will be worth it in the end.

[SOLSAKS]

I love the way epoxy primer looks after applied,...

the raptor looks like it was applied perfectly.

you are doing it right, when you start with a foundation like that

you are going to have great results, ( frame looks good too )

dave in NC

[Rusty76]

Really nice. Thanks for the update.