PROJECT "JunkJ20"

[Jubbs74]

I Got this truck almost two years ago, as a gift from my wife as a 25th birthday present. It was cheap and she had never baught a truck before, but it was a great surprise. Since then I have had to do all the dirty gritty work of getting the nasty stuff cleaned out.
I started with cleaning the front axle, it was totally caked with grimy nast tar in the hubs.
The Passneger front main spring was broken so I had to repalce that.



The 401 motor had been left open with the heads off of the motor and one was being used to chalk the wheels. The cylenders where filled with water...so that had to be replaced.



I got a donor motor 360, i cleaned it up and bolted it up to the TH400 (had to rebuld it to replace the out-put shaft).




I will throw pics of the progress as I have time and get things done.

I would love to have your input and advice on the future.
Thanks RJ

[Jubbs74]

I had to clean the body pannels as well. The body was in rough shape some rust and a few dents.


I decided to trim the fenders so that I can fit 36" Hummer tires with no lift.



RJ

[fulsizjeep]

Wow, you have brought it a long way. Congrats!

[trellis8]

Nice work! Good to see another brought back from the dead!

[Wayne]

Coming along nicely, like the fender triming.

[JeepBountyHunter]

That's looking good...What are you going to do for bumpers?

[Dmntxn77]

Nice work... I really like the fender trimming.

What did you do with the 401 block?

[Firegoose]

Its coming along great !!!

Thats about what mine looked like about 2 years ago.

[gte901m]

Looks like you have the new engine in, is it drivable yet?

[The PIG Smith]

Originally Posted by Wayne

Coming along nicely, like the fender trimming.

X2!
If W/T trimming needs to be, I would suggest anyone to look at this and do the same!

[Heavy_Metal_Thunder_81]

In my book, anyone who hacks off a set of W/T flares should be shot......buuuuuut....you still have some flare left so youre safe with me

[jtr]

Looks good, can you show a pic of the radiator support without the grill on? Looking to do some trimming too.

[Jubbs74]

What are you going to do for bumpers?
I Am pretty sure that I am going to have to make some custom bumpers. I will make it fit tight against the grill so that I can mount the trun signals in the stock grill location. I would like to make a prerunner style bumper with a stinger to match the hood lines.

What did you do with the 401 block?
I still have the 401 block, crank and rods in the Garage, I am saving them untill the kids can support themselves or I make a lot more money. I will eventually build it to repalce the 360.

Looks like you have the new engine in, is it drivable yet?
The motor, and tranny are in the truck but that is about all. I still have a laundry list of things to do before the truck gets to leave the driveway.

Looks good, can you show a pic of the radiator support without the grill on? Looking to do some trimming too.
I will get a picture of it this weekend. i have taken the front section of the radiator support off for two reasons, save weight and RUST. the front section was so rusty that it wasn't worth keeping. so I am going to make some brackets off the rear section to bolt the fender corners to and also mount the headlights (off road driving lights).

Thanks for the interest and comments.

RJ

[Jubbs74]

here are some close up shots of the fenders. in the second one you can see the front clip and the grill. it shows how I still need to make a bracket to tighten the two parts up.

[Jubbs74]

This past weekend I tore into the cab and cleared the entire thing of all but bare metal. and Holy Rust Demons Batman!!!!! I have decided that I am in trouble.

I need some help, I have never done body work and this thing needs some serious work. What are your sugesstions to exorcising the Rust Demons?

You can see where the previous owner tried to put a band-aid on the hemerage. The lip that hold the door seal is compleatly rusted out on the bottom and the top and sides has the cancer too.


Under the dash has spots of the evil red dust as well. The corners and seams are the worst.


I think That there is SOME half way decent metal left under there.


If you have had to battle the cancer too let me know how it went. Any help would be apreciated.

Thanks

RJ

[energyhutch]

Arghhh I hate rust ! That looks better than the fenders on the Cherokee though!

[mafos4471]

I have seen a lot worse...

[Jubbs74]

have you ever repaired worse?
What is the best way to fix it?
Should I cut and replace the bad parts or just get a new cab?

[Jubbs74]

Well...since there has been no advice from the board as to how to takle the rust I decided to enlist a friend of mine who has done a restoration job on his mustang to help me repair and clense the rust issues. In the next two weeks I will begin to remove the cab and bed to do a complete repair and restore job on the frame and cab.
If anyone has some advice on what products to use in the cab and frame to prevent further rust I would appreciate it

In the mean time I wanted to know what the truck would look like when setting on 36" tires with stock suspension...I think that it looks cool (I love the low setting big tires).
In the Rear I will need to do some fender trimming, you can see in the second phot that I diid some Photoshop work to show where the fenders will need to be trimmed a bit.



Those of you who are concerned about trimming WT flairs...these were trashed from the P.O.

I checked the front tire clearance and at ride hight there is no rubbing...at full stuff I might get some rubbing at the rear of the inner fender.


Here are some wide side shots.

[noflyzone]

I just found your thread. Its awesome. Your J20 is in very similar maybe a little better condition than mine. Do the front tires rub the springs? Are those the stock wheels?
Mine is rusty too. What I dont need I am cutting off and leaving off. Otherwise I am wire wheeling it and spray bombing it.