74 Chief Restore

[bkilby]

Still in limbo on the frame for now. I thought I was taking it to a local shop today but got put off until Monday. Anyhow...


Started working on the dash finally. I didn't realize my phone's camera took a dump (again) until I got home. That really sucks. Time for a new phone.


I started looking much closer at the dash yesterday and I gotta say, that paint guy really didn't do a good job. Lol. He was suppose to at least primer in the inside to keep the raw steel from rusting but after flipping it over, I can see he missed a bunch. That and he left a bunch of crap on the inside. I'll have to address that before it gets installed. Sorry for the fuzzy pics.













This is the dash assembled. Still a few things to do but this is it for the most part. I'll have to get better pics when I get a new camera. Unless I can find the old phone... Edit. Changed pic.

[asphaltrockdweller]

It looks great!
I just wish you could get that stupid palm tree reflection out of the picture that I see on the face of the gauges?

[bkilby]

Sorry, no can do. I like the palm trees.

[SOLSAKS]

I like all the screws or fasteners
it looks like something from NASA In the 60's

very cool.
dave in nc

[rang-a-stang]

The speaker grill looks super nice. I also totally dig the new glove box on the passenger side. Soooo cool! Excited to see this get installed. Bummer on then backside.

[bkilby]

I like all the screws or fasteners
it looks like something from NASA In the 60's

very cool.
dave in nc

Thanks. They're cool and all but I'm not sure if I'll keep them in place or swap them out for black screws. Button heads or something similar. I have plenty of time to think about it.

[bkilby]

The speaker grill looks super nice. I also totally dig the new glove box on the passenger side. Soooo cool! Excited to see this get installed. Bummer on then backside.

Yeah, I'll get the back side cleaned up and green primered. That glove box door is cool and looks better than I thought it was going to look. I'm glad the black is breaking up all that green too. Lol. Besides the door latch, the door snaps in place when closed.


Edited for a better pic.

[bkilby]

Found the old iphone and retook some pics. And added more.

[babywag]

Cool! Looks like a small aircraft cockpit panel, you work on aviation stuff?

[asphaltrockdweller]

Cool! Looks like a small aircraft cockpit panel, you work on aviation stuff?

Brad it does look really really nice.

[bkilby]

Cool! Looks like a small aircraft cockpit panel, you work on aviation stuff?

I don't work on aviation stuff but I do sell aviation stuff. I thought about buying the aircraft style bezels for the gauges but I don't know if they'll fit or not.

[bkilby]

So after getting stroked by a couple of "customer friendly" frame repair shops the past couple of weeks, we finally took the Jeep to an old school frame shop 20 miles away. Because, you know, Los Angeles doesn't have a good frame shop within a 5 mile radius. Lol.


Frame shop says rear axle is 1/4" farther forward on the DS rear. Said my shackle reversal bracket is "dead nuts on". He thinks I can just loosen the rear ubolts, shift axle and bolt it back down. No explanation as to why the front axle appears to be shifted, although it's not. So....F it. Gonna weld it up, try shifting the rear axle and move on. I've wasted way too much time on this portion already.



A pic for amusement.

[bkilby]

For the past month, the Jeep had been sitting on the lift waiting for me to come finish it up and get it on the ground. With this whole covid-19 thing, work being busy and life in general, I didn't have the motivation to unlock the building let alone stay there and work on it in the cold on rainy days. Yeah, I was being lazy.



Anyhow, got the motivation yesterday (with help) and got 'er done. All I can tell you is WOW! What a difference! That Jeep rides so nice now. It handles much nicer, rides much nicer and no more clunks of the leaf springs hitting the frame. I didn't drive it home as the left front was making noises when braking so we took it apart to see what's up. Didn't really find anything that was causing the noise but did notice the wheel bearings were not happy with the current grease situation so we cleaned and packed new grease in there. It was time to go home by the time we finished.


Also had to put gas in yesterday. Normally, I'd have to add gas slow, like real slow to get any in without it puking on the ground. Yesterday I disconnected the vent at the fill neck and with the nozzle upside down, I can dump gas in full throttle if held just right. That vent obviously sucks so that tells me I need to add another vent the next time I drop the tank. A vent I already have and knew I should have installed it.....

[offthebeatenpath]

That dash looks incredible! Excellent work!

[Heavy_Metal_Thunder_81]

Looking good Brad! You've done quite a bit of work since last time I saw it. I still love the Hemi swap, it was a real blast to drive haha