Swapping '72 body onto '81 diesel-powered chassis

[dusty]

looking good. i remember those body swap and frame swap headaches to beat the CA smog

[budojeepr]

Getting ready for paint

I've made some progress towards painting the Wag, and thought I'd post some stuff. Mostly I've been stripping paint, but now I'm starting to do some of the body work. Somewhere in the past 6 months I made a new friend who happens to share a bunch of the same interests, and who (amazingly) volunteered to share some of his experience in body work, time, and the use of his shop for finishing the work. And he's a Highway Patrol officer to boot. Gotta lotta great stories to tell while we work. Anyway...

The plan is to shuttle the Jeep's carcass to his shop next weekend, finish all the body work (precious little is needed, thankfully), and squirt primer/sealer on it. This weekend is "all hands on deck" for what little body work is necessary.

Don't mind the dates on the photos, I've gotten tired of setting the date every time I switch camera batteries.

Here's the side of the Jeep, in my garage:


The front doors:




Junk piled up in the interior (there's at least twice as much junk in my rental storage unit):


The PO had, near as I can tell, a large whip antenna mounted to the driver side below the back window. When the rig was repainted white, they removed the antenna and covered the hole. I dug the 1/4" of bondo out and removed the patch. Wait for it:


OK, they pounded the area outside the hole in far enough for rivets to go in to hold the backing plate on, then just bondo-ed it all in.


Here's the plate, with the remainder of the bondo stuck on:


I pounded the area flush with the body again, then made cardboard templates. I hope the GF doesn't mind losing her JoAnn coupons :


I decided to use the one on the left, and just fill all the rivet holes.

Here's the test fit of the final replacement plate:


Here's the plate, tack welded:


And the plate, stitched in:


Not yet ground flush or otherwise prettied up.

More to come later this weekend!

[JeepinPete]

That is a tremendous amount of work just to have a diesel Wagoneer. My hats off to you

[budojeepr]

That is a tremendous amount of work just to have a diesel Wagoneer. My hats off to you

Well...thank you. It's no more than Resbum or a bunch of others have done, in fact any of the build threads on here.

To be technically correct I already had a diesel Wagoneer. I just couldn't drive it. I guess I finally figured things out:

1. I want to drive an FSJ. Daily.
2. I don't want to mess with Cali smog, so pre-'76 is the only option.
3. I want to drive a NICE FSJ. Daily.

So, given my outlandish desires, I can only hope it'll be worth all the dollars and travail.

This weekend I did a bunch of bodywork with my CHP buddy. He's good with a hammer...we got that ex-hole all smoothed out. Only have to do the right rear quarter panel and right rear door, and she's ready for paint!

Only now we're going into a 7+ day storm track.



Shoulda painted it two weeks ago!

[JeepinPete]

OK, let me restate that. That is a tremendous amount of work just to have a state approved, daily driver diesel Wagoneer

[Towtruck]

Fun thread. Amusing and well written.

[Resbum]

Cool build. I feel your pain. I once fought emmisions laws, and didn't win either.

Subscribed.

Between here and lobie's thread it took me two hours to catch up on everything since last Thursday.

Resbum

P.S. There may now be a Suburban tank in my trucks future. Thanks for the info.

[COLOFIREMAN]

[budojeepr]

Tailgate tale - bodywork

I took a closer look at the tailgate last night. It's ... sad. The PO or PPO had backed into what looks like a stick of rebar or something, and pushed in the left side. It was filled up and straightened with bondo, a cheap way out IMO. The weatherstrip/wipes were rotted out, which led to lots of water down in the bottom, which sat there and created rust all along the bottom seam.

I decided to see if the junkyard could supply me with a better one. I knew there was a '73 Wagoneer there - I've gotten parts off of it in recent weeks.

Well, I scored a pristine tailgate, with good glass and all the fixin's, for just $75. I'll post some pics tomorrow after I get it cleaned up. I'll be stripping off the nice trim and scratching the paint (original, same original yellow color as my '72) and prepping it for my new paint...

...Which, by the way, I picked up yesterday. Going with two-tone, satin black below the hood line, and British Racing Green up top (including the hood) and interior. We'll divide the two colors with a strip of gloss black. I'll fix up the grille, not sure if I'll retain all the silver, or do a black/green thing. My imagination says it'll be gorgeous, but I'm not good enough with GIMP or Photoshop to fake it.

According to my newfound painting pal, we should be squirting primer next weekend!

[budojeepr]

Tailgate pics

As purchased:









Disassembled:


You wouldn't believe all the crap that came out of it:


Window tracks:


Interesting sticker on the tailgate:


More later, the S.O. is ringing the dinner bell!

[budojeepr]

Some bodywork

I think the antenna hole is ready to paint:




There's precious little body work left. We're waiting for some clear weather to get the Jeep turned around so we can make sure the passenger side is all ready. It's tough to squeeze in between the body and all the ... good stuff ... I have piled around it on that side. And the Left Coast weather has socked in and is not cooperating at all.

Our tentative plan is to transport the Jeep to the shop on Thursday April 12, set up the paint booth on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, and hopefully squirt primer on Friday afternoon. We both have stuff to do on Saturday, but we'll block sand and do the second coat of primer on Sunday, then the base coat whenever we can after that.

Speaking of names, which we weren't but are now, when I got the Jeep it was the color of a soda cracker. Liking the pun, I started calling it "Cracker" ( ) then. The GF (or S.O.) and I have bandied about some names for the Jeep, but I still like "Cracker" even though the pun is no longer apropos. Ideas, anyone?

Oh yeah, I've been shopping online...almost ready to pull the trigger on a weatherstrip order at BJ's Offroad (start collecting pieces, Ryan! ), and am almost ready to buy an HID headlight conversion. I'd like to go with LEDs but the legality or lack thereof and cost are pushing me away. And I want to get an oversized radiator and mod the core support for it. So much to do!

[Resbum]

I just got my rubbers and seals from BJ's last week. You should be happy.

Cracker, definitely Cracker. That's history, man. It's a tie and identity to its past. Besides, IMO it's a cool name.

Make up a story. Somebody asks where you bought it.

"Well, I got it from a Meth addict, but Tweeker sounded dumb, so I named it Cracker.

Resbum

[budojeepr]

I just got my rubbers and seals from BJ's last week. You should be happy.

Cracker, definitely Cracker. That's history, man. It's a tie and identity to its past. Besides, IMO it's a cool name.

Make up a story. Somebody asks where you bought it.

"Well, I got it from a Meth addict, but Tweeker sounded dumb, so I named it Cracker.

Resbum

Thanks for the feedback. Problem is, there are so many tweekers around here that it would be believable.

Actually, I pronounce it with a Bah-ston accent: "Crack-ah".

[COLOFIREMAN]

LOOKING GREAT!!

[budojeepr]

Happy New Radiator to Me!

Thanks to Resbum for the source!