J10 Refurbish/repaint (moved from PRIS)

[Towtruck]

I'm moving my J10 project from PRIS to here....it's definitely not PRIS. Strip, repaint in epoxy/urethane. Final color will be Eastwood hot rod satin black. The first photo is from 2002...black epoxy only. Subsequent photos are current and illustrate UV deterioration of Epoxy without a barrier coat. Sheet metal has been media blasted. (Still trying to get the downsizing of photos correct).

url=https://flic.kr/p/2dif3ag][/url]DSCN6044 by Rufus, on Flickr
DSCN1285 by Rufus, on Flickr
[img]https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7909/461399
29485_d80d6aca04_b.jpg[/img]DSCN1284 by Rufus, on Flickr
DSCN1298 by DSCN1365 by Rufus, on Flickr6/]Rufus[/url], on Flickr
DSCN1383 by Rufus, on Flickr
DSCN1373 by Rufus, on Flickr
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2eBnQdf]
DSCN1336 by Rufus, on Flickr
DSCN1339 by Rufus, on Flickr
DSCN1346 by Rufus, on Flickr
DSCN1284 by Rufus, on Flickr

[Towtruck]

Cab/chassis back from blaster today. Media blasting is the only way to go if faced with stripping epoxy. Rear frame gets epoxied followed by Chassis black finish tomorrow. By the way, if you look closely at the first photo you can get an idea of how the front sheet metal was lowered on the two posts either side of the radiator. The radiator is also lowered in the chassis. This is the first step in achieving a dropped front end rake via a body channel,

DSCN1389 by Rufus, on Flickr
DSCN1393 by Rufus, on Flickr
DSCN1395 by Rufus, on Flickr
DSCN1396 by Rufus, on Flickr
DSCN1397 by Rufus, on Flickr
DSCN1400 by Rufus, on Flickr
DSCN1407 by Rufus, on Flickr

[rang-a-stang]

That looks fantastic! Where is the front bumper from? Is that just a de-chromed/Debumperette'ed stocker?

[Towtruck]

It's a roll pan that I fabricated from the outer rear edges of an old hood....cut, bent a little with hand tools, and welded in the middle. It's flush with the bottom corners of the fenders...doesn't stick out like a bumper. Here's a better photo of the rear roll pan (wood and fiberglass)...

DSCN2691-1 by Rufus, on Flickr

[Towtruck]

Rear frame prepped, epoxy primed and painted (Eastwood chassis black). Inspected the Eldorado rear disk brakes that I retrofitted to the AMC-20 ten years ago...plenty of pad material remaining. Notice the steel plate welded om the top of the frame....a threaded hole in the middle accepts a ball for goose neck trailers.

Tomorrow I'm going to spray the cab/doors with Eastwood After Blast, which is a metal cleaner with a mild phosphoric acid. I used it on other blasted parts and it does a nice job of fending off flash rust. That will give me some breathing room to skim coat and block the old bondo areas before sealing it up with new epoxy and then applying the urethane primer.



DSCN1411 by Rufus, on FlickrDSCN1413 by Rufus, on Flickr

[Towtruck]

I decided to refurbish the dash board since I'll have the windshield out anyway. Notice that the left half is from the later models and the right half is from an early Gladiator. I liked the symmetrical look (like the early Mustang) and hated the original plastic/foam crash pad. So I welded the two halves together to come up with this. Custom, but subtle and still all Jeep. I have the cool old chrome clock to fill that hole. A blanking plate covers the hole for the radio since I can't much hear the radio over the side exhaust anyway. Antenna was deleted and hole welded shut long ago.

DSCN1363 by Rufus, on Flickr

[SOLSAKS]

man you did a dang fine job
that frame looks great
again I agree Eastwood has great products

love the photos

dave in NC

[Towtruck]

Wasted the whole day repairing a leak in power steering pressure hose. The third O'Reilly's store I tried sold me an o-ring style this morning. When I pulled the old hose I discovered it had flare fittings on both ends. Went to Autozone who found a hose with flare fittings, but it was 45 minutes away at another store. I went after it. When I tried to install it, I discovered that the pump has a different thread size than the steering gear. The hose had the same (small) threads on the B-nuts. Next stop was a hydraulics shop...another 30 minute drive. They fabricated a new hose (three time the price of the ones I had returned). Upon installation I discovered that the threads on the B-nut for the steering gear were too short to compress the flare and get a leak proof seal. By then it was getting dark, so I stretched an O-ring over the flare, which raised the nut enough to snug the fitting into the gearbox. No leaks for the moment, but that little O ring is going to flatten eventually... crazy, frustrating day. I've had this truck for over 30 years and neither the pump or the gearox were changed in that time frame. I did change out the hoses a long tome ago and don't recall an issue with finding one with the proper fittings.

So...a lost day for body work. I'll start on the cab/doors tomorrow.

[rang-a-stang]

If it helps (might be too late now), I ordered this one from Rockauto and it fit like a glove:

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=173&cc=1179435&jsn=385

[Towtruck]

Thank you for the tip. I just checked on the fabricated hose that I installed last night and there's a big puddle undet the steering gear. The Rock Auto part is on order. Think I'm out the $60 for the custom hose unless I can grind off either the bottom of the nut or the boss on the steering gear in order to get a tighter squeeze on the flare. What a nightmare over such a stupid little item....

By the way, the one I ordered from Autozone was for a '79 and it had the wrong fitting on the gearbox end. My truck is titled as an '81. According to both Autozone and O'Reilly it should have an O-ring hose. Don't believe either the steering gear or the pump was ever changed out. I suspect some older parts were being used up by AMC in the 1980 time frame.

[SJTD]

In the rocket bidness we used conical seals, one trade name was Voi-Shan or somesuch.

Aluminum or copper gaskets for under the flare. A one or two of these might get you a sealed interface.

[SOLSAKS]

you might not consider it prissy

but it sure is dang nice

good thorough work being done

it is a solid j truck.

I really like it.

dave in NC

[Towtruck]

Got the cab/doors cleaned up today. There were many small areas that the media blaster missed/avoided, so that took a lot of time...that old epoxy is still tough as nails to remove. Then I sanded the entire thing with 220 to knock back the sand papery surface left by the blasting process. Then I masked and sprayed it all with Eastwood After Blast. So now it's protected from flash rust for an extended period. ( I park it under a roof behind the fence when I'm not working on it, but it's not well protected from the sides). The last item for today was cutting the windshield out of the seal. Nasty job, but it's now free. I have a proessionalal lined up to installed the new seal and glass. His fee is $110, and I won't mess with it for that. A couple years ago I installed the $1000 windshield in my Jaguar by myself. Like a monkey F'ing a football.

Tomorrow I'll remove the windshield, pull off whats' left of the old seal....then clean up the metal under the seal. If there's time, I'll skim the old bondo and fix a few dings that occurred since I last painted this thing.

I'm trying to beat some rain and cold forecast for next week...would like to get the cab and doors in epoxy and urethane primer by Monday.

Here's today's output and photos of the powder coated inner fenders, (and a photo of the Jaguar, which I just completed restoring in November). Feels like a production line in my garage. Looks like a war zone.

SJTD, thanks for tip on shims for flare fittings...I found them at Grainger and Amazon...under a dollar each. Much appreciated.

SOLSAKS, thanks for the kind remarks. The truck is indeed in remarkably good condition. Always a Dallas area vehicle and it hasn't been off road in over 30 years since I bought it. I purchased it from an old guy (like me) who bought it new for his delinquent son. The kid drove it for about a year and went to prison. It sat around in the father's yard awaiting the kid's parole....and it didn't happen. The old guy was fed up and put it up for sale. When I finished my Jaguar I was going to buy another project car and my spouse suggested I get this one back in shape instead. Last one before my dirt nap....except for that damned boat...

DSCN1415 by Rufus, on Flickr
DSCN1414
by Rufus, on Flickr
DSCN1416 by Rufus, on Flickr
IMG_5047 (2) by Rufus, on Flickr

[bkilby]

In the rocket bidness we used conical seals, one trade name was Voi-Shan or somesuch.

Aluminum or copper gaskets for under the flare. A one or two of these might get you a sealed interface.

Voi-Shan is a manufacturer. Conical Seals is the correct name. Where did you used to work rocket man?


Nice project Towtruck! I dig what you did with the dash. Truck looks great.

[SJTD]

19 Years at Rocketdyne testing Atlas/Delta then ten years at Vandenberg launching Delta II and IV.