Update 4/10/2017

JEEP BUILD SOLD 2/16/2017 but and finalized 4/10/17

Final photos

Build started 9-22-16 

I'm looking to do something different to change things up a bit.

Below is the most requested Jeep from callers

ROT FREE 1986 Jeep CJ7 Laredo

w Dana 44 in classic black.

I'm going to build it like it was mine and then sell it

to someone who calls in and wants a premium, well built to keep forever kind of CJ.  Feel free to follow along.  It will be done, done well and for sale before Christmas.

If you've been good this year perhaps it could end up under your tree!

 

Step One:  

Start with something good and not something cheap or pretty.  Quality starts with the foundation, not with the pretty new aluminum siding over the patchwork.

(working by myself I drove this in the shop Thursday 9/8/16 above photo)

By Tuesday (9/13) all the sheet metal is at media blast and the engine is at the machine shop for a far better than Mexican low cost crate engine rebuild).

Notice the lack of body rot on the floors and sides of this Jeep.

No, these photos aren't sexy but they're honest before shiny paint photos that other shops are NOT showing you.  

This is a Jeep worth owning for more than a few years before the bodywork falls out of the shiny paint.  A Jeep like this is a good investment you can enjoy.  

 Body just went to media blast and the engine to the machine shop.  No cheap crate motors built in Mexico and no awful Philippino bodies.

 
Why am I showing these bolts?  These are the not broken body mount bolts from taking this Jeep apart.  This is common in my shop for the tubs I sell and the Jeeps I have. 

I realize to most people they won't understand the significance of this unless you've tried to take some out.  The bad can of worms opened when body mounts break is the beginning of an icy uphill climb in slippers.

In my shop we cut Jeeps up with bad body mounts.

Original handsome rot free frame back from blast and paint 9/24/16

The frame is the foundation of your Jeep.  Do you really think a flaky, rusty, patched up foundation is worthy of all the time and labor required to build your classic Jeep?

The below is a typical frame from my shop 

Because this will be one of the nicest Jeeps in the world when done it is important that the VIN from the frame and body match.  Note the factory stamping of the VIN to match the body showing this is original to this machine.  It is the last numbers of the VIN noting its sequence at original assembly.  You won't be able to see this on many flaky rusty frames.

 9-27-2016

Engine at my local machine shop in hot tank bored .030

 

Premium rebuild parts like Federal Mogul, Melling, and Fel Pro Made in USA   I had a local enthusiast in my shop buying parts this weekend who said he loved original Jeeps and was donning a Rugged Ridge hat....which is a company providing all Chinese products manufactured as cheaply as possible.  Sigh.  Honestly the words, "Made in China" hurt my soul and has nothing to do with the heritage of the American Jeep. 

Thre are few restoration parts out there made in the US which is why all my used parts are so important to what I do.  They allow me to heal the Jeeps I get in my shop AND why on occasion I won't sell something I have that is requested.

 The next photo is of my steering components and u-joints.  The brands are Moog, Timken, Spicer (Dana) and Federal Mogul. These items could all be purchased for about 1/3 what I spent in Crown, Omix Ada which are all brands made in China.  I wouldn't put those items on my Jeep so I'm not putting them on yours.  Buying a Chinese bearing when you have a choice to buy US made is akin to buying disposable tools from Harbor Freight.   Cheap tools are like deals on cheap Jeeps...."that run great!....I only need a body, frame"  I've been hearing those words for about 20 years now.

You get what you pay for.

Have some pride in your country and buy American when you can.  Employ your neighbor thereby employing yourself.

I re-use OEM USA or North American made parts when I can like these original rotors (turned and originally from Canada) and Bucyrus Ohio made Timken roller bearings (not scored).

Did you know some CJs were Made in Canada?

Our brothers (and sisters) across the pond North of Cleveland are good folks also making quality goods.  My life story can't be told without strong ties to Canada.

This is just some of the parts sandblasted and professionaly painted.  This is part of what it takes to restore a Jeep.  Truly restoring a Jeep takes time and money.  There's no shortcuts to doing it right.  People often call me about "restored" Jeeps for $10-$20k.  The truth is that the word 'restored' is undefined and over-used in the industry.  My definition of restored is much different than the guy selling a newly painted vehicle.

 

The chassis in progress complete w new Moog ball joints, tie rod ends, rebuilt steer box, Monroe Made in USA shocks, OEM springs, oem like USA made steering stbilizer and new rubber bushings.  I chose rubber as it rides better and poly tends to squeak and get super hard over time.  I want this Jeep to ride and drive like a new one.

Engine back from the machine shop late 9/30.

Bored .030.  Head and block decked for flatness. Crankshaft turned .010 for rods and main journals.  This is pretty much the ideal scenario for a new rebuild with the least amount of material removed as posible tp make it new-like.

Flywheel resurfaced w good ring gear.  Pistons pressed on and ready for assembly.

Chassis almost 100% done w grade 8 bolts, stainless lines and riveted brake shoes on the rear.  I think riveted shoes is important instead of bonded shoes as the glue tends to dry ou.t The shoes can slip off the steel especially on vehicles that don't get used enough to wear them out frequently

Note the rare last half year of production 1986 Dana 44 shown.  You can tell because of the cover and the one piece axles.  The Model 20 was an engineering blunder by AMC.  They tried to reinvent a better way to make the wheel...err differential and failed.  It works under light use and can be upgraded but is inherintly flawed w puny axle tubes and slip fit axle flanges.

Today was an engine building day.  Using plastigage, the main and rod journals checked out perfect.  Close to the minimum of clearance.  

All piston rings gapped and crank and pistons installed.

Meanwhile the tub has been in the honesty booth showing what was under the original paint....shiny metal.  Here's a few photos of it before primer.  Note the lack of holes like 99.9% of CJS left.  

When you're Jeep is this clean and factory straight, it costs less to build, takes less time to build, looks better easier, lasts longer and is worth more.  My Jeeps are cleaner because of what I spend and where I shop.

Engine date code.  I've been around CJs long enough to see them be beaters for the field, parking lot plow rigs and now, numbers matching originals.  Remember, all photos can be enlarged by the lower right corner.  The below is the date code on the engine.  510c10 The first number is the year, then month, then c denoting 258 than 10th day.  So this 258 engine was made Nov, 10 1985.

On the driver's side of the block is this casting as well.  "85"

I usually just glance at the valve cover shape to ID it is of the right era and also the head has the year cast in the front corner as well.  Close is good....like 85 cast for an 86.  This one actually says 86 which isn't a suprise.

This is a handsome engine with every fastener and part cleaned, blasted and or replaced.  I have easily replaced 100 fasteners in this assembly w new grade 8 fasteners of the correct length.



I'll show more photos later.  It has am NOS AMC water pump as I have a case of them.  I also chose to replace the valve cover with a stemped version as the OEM plastic one is a terrible fire starting, oil leaking piece of crap.  Fine if there and not leaking but once it goes, toss it.

Also notice the valve cover I chose says "JEEP" on it.  Mopar gets a cut w anything that says JEEP.  It costs double of the same unit that says OMIX or 4wd. 

Pay attention to the quality of parts your Jeep builder/seller uses.  Do they cheap out at the expense of quality or aesthetics  to save a nickle?  

 I mean really, who wants to lift the hood and see this if you have a choice?  Btw, this Jeep was called freshly restored and is for sale for $25k w unknown miles.

In seconds in this one photo I can see washer bottle mounted on the wrong side where the jack is supposed to be w the washer hose crossing the whole engine compartment.  There is no jack.  There's no defrost dump so the cowl water will drop right on top of the starter.  It has the cheapest plastic Chinese tanked radiator. The main engine harness wiring is run under the manual brake master cylinder  on top of the steering shaft.   It's supposed to go over the master cylinder so it's away from moving parts.  It may get rubbed thru to fail or start a fire over time.  

BTW who "restores" a Jeep and leaves manual brakes?

It even has knock off $50 Laredo hood only decals for good measure.  I hate dealers who's first step is to see how little you know and don't know squat about what they're selling.  Are they ignorant or dishonest?  I've never had any reason to talk to them so I don't know.

That's in one small photo in a few seconds.  It would be unprofessional of me to critque the whole Jeep but these guys are very good for my business.  I really just  intended to show the cheap valve cover on an expensive Jeep and went on an unintended rant.

Back on track tomorrow with hopefully a loaded rolling chassis.

Go Tribe!

10-8-2016

As promised, one rolling chassis

 

  New top of the line BFG AT TKO 31x10.50r15 tires.  Not Sport Kings, or Wild Country etc (cheap black round things that look like tires for resell)

 On oem extremely hard to find chrome Jeep wheels w exceptional center caps (5 of them)

 Engine set w my new USA made leveler made by Trans Dapt.  They deserve the plug for having the only one of these I could find made in USA.  It cost about triple what the Chinese ones cost and has a patent that with no doubt the Chinese versions illegally copy.

I loathe Chinese goods.  The produce cheaper partially because their people are disposable, they don't design anything because just reverse engineeer our stuff and they couldn't care less about the environment....and Americans are short sighted enough to buy this crap and fight amongst our selves.

Who's idea was it to borrow money from this communist self serving country?

Rant sidelined.

 Dont forget the all important ground strap that goes from the clean shiny (paint ground away) metal engine block around the rubber engine mount to a bare steel ground spot on the frame w star washers.  Wonder why the fuel gauge doesn't work after your engine swap?  Ck for this strap.  

By the way, like Les Stroud I do all my own camera work and this is a one man build.  

I also rescue wayward wooly worms that wandered into the shop.  I mean who doesn't like a  wooly worm?

 Engine set and professionally rebuilt T5 installed w new clutch, pilot bearing, fork boot and throwout bearing

 10-14-16 Waiting on t-case and paint.  Expected next week.

Resealed 11k original mile Dana 300 installed w driveshafts W new genuine Spicer U-Joints

New Belts, power steering lines & pump, fuel saving clutch fan, remanufactured steering box.  New vent hoses and body bushings.

The engine is set on TDC w the improved High Energy Ignition (HEI) one wire distributor and integrated coil installed in a ready to fire position.  There is no way I would reinstall the original flawed ignition when this does twice the spark w one component and only one wire (over about 20 wires).  I will have to remove the distributor briefly when I manually prime the oil pump to start the engine.  That is also why the valve cover is not permanantly installed.  I will view the oil coming from the pushrods before I start the engine to ensure it has proper lubrication at the critical start up.

 There's always something else to do when you're waiting.  In this case I can work on sub assemblies that bolt on to the Jeep when it returns.

I parted out an 11,000 mile CJ this uear because it gad rust that I don't deal with.  Other people else gladly bought the body and frame for a lower standard build but I kept all the USA made as close to NOS items for something like this build.

This is the dash wiring in bright, clean connections for this restoration.  There is no new wiring as good as the original harness.  The so called painless harnesses I have bought in the past always got returned when I saw how many wires weren't preterminated and required crimping or fabrication.

 

A clean original harness is the right length, gauge and has all the right connectors to do the job the way the factory engineers intended.

You can't reasonable re-use a harness that's been exposed to lots of moisture or salt.

I will use a complimenting West coast harness for under the hood.

Note the low original mileage on the below 6 digit odometer.  It and all the other USA made original bright gauges, cables, etc will donate to this project.

The Chinese cables fall apart quickly.  The Chinese lights are a funny color.  The Chinese gauges look like that same familiar writing you see on every disposable tool they sell at Harbor Freight.

I also have the original heater box looking near new.  I of course split and dissasembled it to flush the USA made heater core and inspect it for corrosion.  I have a new heater core that weighs less and was made in China.  The original heater core is also wrapped in foam to prevent damage from being jostled when the Jeep is offroaded.

Thankfully I didn't need to install the Chinese replacement unit.

The seals for the heater doors were soft and untorn.

I did however remove all the original dry butyl tape that seals the heater box halves shown bottom right in the photo next to the wrapped new butyl tape.  The original tape allows the heat to seep everywhere and gives Jeep heater a bad reputation.

Can you really call a Jeep "Restored" without doing this? 

 

 12-26...still waiting on the body shop but my tab there is over $9000.00 for this project.  High quality clear and all the pieces that go with restoring a CJ.  They are in fact harder to do right than most other vehicles.

Tilt steering column reconditioned.  I persoanlly don't need tilt as the straight column is right were I want it but this is a super nice Jeep.  It should have a tilt column to match the quality (however not all Laredos came with them)

 New USA made manifold to tailpipe exhaust w catlytic

You might not want to do this until the body is in place but I know where things go.  I also make the choice to keep a catlytic as they no longer diminish perforamce like they once did.  They also keep the occupants less carb smelly as the fumes tend to roll back up into the seating area and Jeeps of course are best used as open air vechicles.

I will never start a new engine without the exhaust finished.  You need to hear what is going on well with a new motor on start up when you break in the camshaft.

Note a newly pro rebuilt carb.  I have these hand done with a long standing shop that does a far better job than any discount auto parts store.

I use only clean original wiring harness as Painless Wiring has never made a kit half as good as an original one.  All of thier kits require splicing, terminating and fudging to install.

I replace the original wire loom with exactly the same length and diamter as original after wiping down the wires.  Newand old loom shown below.  Before the body goes on is the only time to do the fuel tank wires.  Of course I ground the frame to bare metal and used a star washer to attach the ground strap.

I use West coast corrosion free harnesses and dress the connections with these PB Blaster products for a lifetime of trouble free use.

(If you 're watching the World Series you'll see "Blaster" on the left field fence at "the Jake" (Indians stadium)

Body back from beautification

It's not just shiny, it's real.

No smoothed spot welds or plating...

and the way it came from the factory.  ...okay, much better shine, better paint and we actually painted everything, unlike AMC

 

 Note the original emissions stick and ID tag masked over before blast and paint.  It's about the details.

I took a few hours Saturday and assembled the body 

Don't forget where all your fender struts go!  These are painted better than the facory did it,

I've never had a CJ square up and align as easy as this one.  There's almost too much adjustment available in these old Jeeps because the quality was so bad.  

Having done dozens before helps know what to expect and what to do.

Original one rib windshield frame placed with new glass, seal and cowl seal

 Note original hard to find visors w original warning label

 Sedlom used and often missing oem windshield hold down strap and oem footmam loop

Original Jaoanese wiper motor and linkage from my 11k mile part out.  Yes, original wiper motors were Japanese.  At least they're wired right and last.  The new ones in the marketplace are Chinese and the connector is wired backwards.

Hard to find oem hood kit and hood catches.  Normally what you see here is Chinese stainless.  

Original hood catches are silver painted and the windshield rests are thick rubber coated.  Usually the rubber is all cooked off and cracked.  Mine are nice from my large selection of inventory.

Engine Wiring Harness. 11/1/16

I've sort of been putting this off.  

The original wiring harness is laden with unnecessary complexity from flawed 1980s best effort emissions.  Originally this Jeep had a computer and 6 miles of wiring to move some metering rods up and down based on a half dozen temperature sensors and 50 feet of vacuum hoses.

To support my thinking, this is the era of my first desktop computer, a Radio Shack TRS-80 competing with a Commadore 64.  Need I say more?

The 80s was a transition from bad computer controlled carbs to efi.  This Jeep is right there in the prime of the inefficiency.  I didn't want efi on this as aftermarket systems also have flaws so I will revert this Jeep to the basics with a KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid)  intent which will net better reliability and easier repairs for the rest of its existence.

Remember however that I did put a catlyitc converter on this Jeep which will help diminish bad emmisions greatly.  Now back to the show...

AMC used a bad Ford ignition sytem that had 2 modules, a coil, distributor with pick up and a dozen wires going back and forth across the engine bay.

I am using a GM style HEI set up which requires one wire and provides almost twice the voltage.

Top harness is the one from this Jeep.

The bottom one is from a 1981 non computer Arizona Jeep.

Either harness would get me where I wanted to go.  The Arizona part is only relevant because I want clean, uncorroded connections.

My process:

I strip the loom off the harness and sit in a wash tub and degrease it.  Good times.

I then go through each wire and acknowledge it as having a legitimate purpose or being extra clutter and complexity and trim it out.

 The original 1986 harness is on the left.

The harness to be used is on the right without its loom and extra wires.  

I know which wires to trim from memory of having done this for a long time.  I know each wires purpose by location or color.

The trimmed fat is in the middle.  If I had used the left harness, the middle pile would be as big as the harness on the right. 

I now have to reloom this mess as of course the original loom is dirty and dry.  As I go through the relooming I re-wrap the many soldered splices that the factory put in each harness.  Jeep used what looks like furnace tape in every harness I've ever seen.  (top wire in the close up)

Relevant sidebar next...

I worked in custom automation out of college for over a decade before I set myself free to run this business for what I think is 10 years this Spring.  I have a marketing degree from Ohio State but worked in a 2 bay Sohio then BP gas station while attending college.  I do not have a tech or automotive formal education.

 I mention this because I'm thankful for what I learned at both jobs from many mentors who took the time to teach me.  

I learned to use linerless rubber splicing tape with vinyl high temp black tape over that.  (Shown in the bottom 2 wires of this close up).  Heat shrink would also be appropriate IF the solder connections weren't already done but in all cases, what I've done here is better than the factory job.

The next photo shows the new re-loomed, trimmed and cleaned harness on the bottom and the original harness on the top.  In person the size is dramatic.  The photo is not doing the size difference justice.

This process took me 5 hours to complete.

This tedious task will net a better Jeep.  

It will be cleaner and neater underhood, simpler to repair and need repair less often.  For those unknowing fearful people reading this...and there are many of you.  

Any competant old school mechanic or willing novice can now service this Jeep.  Before it was frigtening and overwhelming.

Keep in mind AMC is out of business and 80s American cars were laden with troubles.

What I've done is far better than factory and how they would have done it if they bought GM distributors instead of Ford and didn't have to contend with unreasonable for the time emmissions standards.

Thank you to those of you following along and calling in for parts requests and sharing kind compliments.

This build was never intended to be fast and thankfully Jeep and parts sales have slowed progress.

On a somewhat relevant topic of delay, yesterday one of my past builds came back to the shop to be sold....

Returning to the nest and available for sale:

1976 FJ-40 Rot Free Resto-mod.

Approximatly $80,000 invested.

Frame off build

300 HP Crate Engine

EFI

Auburn posi units w 3.73 gears front and rear

Air Conditioning

Tilt Column

Power steering and brakes (FJs came with neither in this era)

Multi use Premium Warn winch and air compressor

Heated custom upholstery on oem seats

all on what started as a very hard to find original paint not crusty, California desert FJ40

 After 4 years of toy use, this collector with limited space has sent this back to me to sell.

Most of this build is HERE

We had a budget and he expanded it after he used it for a bit.  In the 4 years of use he also added a top of the line Old Man Emu suspension and best of the best NV4500 5 speed beast of a manual transmission

PLEASE CALL FOR PRICING

Back to the build.

My Upper heater box is as clean as I've ever seen from the 11k Mile Jeep I parted.  The cowl seal is still soft and all the fresh air linkage looks like new.

These are 2 of the special screws that hold this to the colwl area (2 are already installed and I thought these should be shown.)  Common screws will work but strip far easier.

Hanging pedal assembly looking like NOS

Dash wiring harness in like new condition

This next shot is just another testament to the cleanliness of this harness and gauges I'll be using.   This is the back of the dash from the Jeep I took apart.  These are far better than Chinese script knock off faced, low quality new gauges.

NOS E-brake assembly.  These do wear out so that when you depress it under load, they pop and release.  Not good!!

 This is a simple grommet/boot for the brake rod thru the firewall to the hanging pedal assembly.  Usually this is all dry and broken up or missing altogether

A few items installed like oem jack, handle, and mounting plate, starter solenoid

Power brake booster installed, oem horn (so it sounds right as the aftermarket ones sound like a Honda....ughh), OEM Washer bottle, Coolant bottle, Original wire loom holleders, washer hose run, ground for washer squirter done, speedo cable routed

Upper and lower heater boxes installed w intermediary cable and new flexible ductwork installed.  NOS ebrake and hanging pedals installed.  E-brake cable engaged.  Wiring routed properly w washer hose OVER hanging pedals.  Note the moving blancket covering the floor for protection.  I also use a towel on the windshield frame while the hood is resting all the way back.

Happy Thanksgiving all.  

I'm thankful for my health to be able to work and play, my freedom, the Hippy, good friends and that my folks still have each other at about 90 years old!

12/7/2016

Progress is slowed but this is in fact in the home stretch.

 Jeeps, Jeep Parts (and FJ40s) keep selling and I keep delivering them! It all takes time.

This will get done but there is no deadline or budget.

I've been blessed with being very busy and this is in fact fill in work.  Thank you to all the people following along and complimenting the work.

Dash work

I've been sweating the details of this for far longer than the one hour it took to assemble this.  I spent over a day with radios alone and finally bit the bullet and bought one.  I have a dozen original Jeep radios but none were right for this so I spent $350 for the one your about to see.

 If this dash were to be parted out I could find almost $2500 in pieces.  If you don't care what goes on your dash then this Jeep isn't for you.  Every part in this dash is original AMC except the speakers and plastic overlay.  The switches, lights, cables, original panel, cigarette lighter, leather grab bar, bolts, speedo, tach etc etc.  All 11k mile original USA made parts in exceptional conditon and far better than new.

Here's an idea how much value is in this dash from Ebay prices:

Oem Tach and clock uncut dash panel: $400

Oem working clock: $500

Oem Tach: $100

Oem Jeep Am FM Radio: $350

Leather grab bar: $500

Ash tray and lighter: $100

Perfect speedometer unit: $400

Bright like new Volt and Oil gauges: $200

Cable pulls, switches, lights, all clean like new and not Chinese

Original clean working clocks are very scarce and the Chinese one looks like a Harbor Freight wrench set. I borrowed this photo from WalMartOriginal below

OEM Tach, lights, heater pulls (oiled and smooth working), lights, switches.

Bright original working oem speedometer zeroed per an old Haynes manual I was given by a friend for what to do when you replace a center gauge.  The numbers and pointers are as bright as new as it only had 11k on it.  This Jeep will be sold as mileage unknown but the buyer will have a fresh start on the speedometer.

Original super clean oem lighter and unused ashtray.

Bright volt and oil pressure gauges.

Very nice oem AM FM Jeep radio.  These are so hard to find.  Most Jeeps were ordered without radios as the dealer could put in a $10 Kraco unit compared to the $200? AMC charged them for a similar unit.

Note the correct knobs with the note and volume.

Here's a $100 Chinese speedometer.  These generally sicken me.  The centered speedometer is the heart of your classic Jeep.  If you can look at this Chinese writing, feel the cheap tin in your hand and feel good about your classic, you're wasting your time and are shopping on the wrong website. 

This is a very nice original leather grab bar people call me for all the time and expect them to be cheap.  They aren't as most got tore up over the years and very few Jeeps had them at all

I didn't phot this but the glove box door has the right oem rubber bumpers behind the door so it doesn't rattle.

Backside photos showing how clean evertghing is.  Notice the radio has no splices to tie to the speakers and the tach, clock and radio will all terminate in the fuse block with factory supplied connectors in their designated spots.  No wire taps!

Oem like new carboard glove box insert.

I will also have nice oem underdash lights and the correct pinstripe added around the center plastic aplique.  I'll have it added when the rest of the Jeep gets pro decaled by someone who does decals everyday.

Don't forget to add this gasket behind the steering column clamp that goes to the firewall to keep engine smells out ;)

12-15-16

The below is a simple part I like to use and always appreciate finding.  It is a wire loom support that goes to the stud for the hood catch under the fender for the marker lights.  When these are missing the loom droops into sight.  There are 2 of these needed.  One per side.  

 The next thing is me obsessing a little.  These are the 2 positive cables from the battery and to the starter.  I would do the same on a direct connect winch cable.   I like to shoud my positive cables from being rubbed thru and causing a fire.  Putting this loom on took me at least 20 minutes put I can sleep better knowing it won't rub tru and short out and burn down the Jeep.  

 It's always rewarding when it comes alive!  Everything on the grill is oem excpet the parking lights.  

It took me 15 minutes of scrubbing to get this cowl dump this shiny and new looking.  I see a lot of Jeeps missing this item and the little deflector on the bottom.  

It's purpose is to deflect the cowl water away from the starter.  Without this, it dumps right on top of it.  I have this mounted and pointing strtegically away from the starter.

In this photo you might notice I have the tailgate mounted.  I was able to use super clean oem hinges, cables and latches.  I bought a new seal.  The tailights are original as is the roll bar padding!  It also has the original not Chinese fuel bucket with rare original script still in very nice condition.

The tail lights do have mew lenses however as shown.  Made in USA Grote. This makes sure they are as bright as the show quality paint.  You can buy these cheaper from a communist country.  

The next two photos are of rubber clip on protector.  The first one goes over inner sheet metal to keep the fuel fill from rubbing through.

The second one shown keeps the tail light harness from rubbing through when it croses a sharp metal tub structure

The nest photo is of the new dash pad.  This is a really nice piece I've used several times.  I assume manufacturing of this type of material has evolved beyond what was available when the originals were made.

You may notice this has the cut outs for moveable wing windows in fiull hard doors.  That is the only way the new dash pads are offered.

This Jeep when finished will be offerered with or without full hard doors.

I do have an absudly nice fixed wing black dash pad if that is desired by the lucky end user.

Flares, restored oem rocker trim and factory side steps installed

2-15-17

My radiator shop always appreciates oem radiators as they tell me the quality is far superior to a new typically imported one.  I took in my cleanest 3 row radiator for boil and test and for no good reason they re-cored it maybe by accident which can result in a cost of about $400 to $500.  So this is a top of the line oem 3 row newlike radiator and also shown is a clean original fan shroud.  This radiator is twice as heavy as new ones I take out of some Jeeps we part.  It's hard to see in the photo but the fins are far more dense which provides more cooling surface area.  In the shroud is a new fan and thermal fan clutch rotating in the correct direction.

I like safety release radiator caps as they are much more user friendly. I also choose a lower pound cap than original as there's no reason to have that much pressure with this big of a radiator and the hp made by this engine.

She's almost ready to start and break in the new engine.  From your favorite hot rod magazine or tv show they say new oil lacks zinc which is necessary for flat tappet camshafts.  Here is a bottle of zinc additive to aid in the violent camshaft break in.  I also have at about $7 a quart the engine break in oil.  

All coolant hoses and fuel line steel and rubber hoses inestalled.

I have watched the valves open and close to detirmine top dead center while handcranking the engine so it will fire promptly.  This means I was now able to secure the valve cover and fill with oil and additives.

2-23-2017

JEEP BUILD SOLD 2/16/2017

Buyer has requested a very cool speaker pod w bluetooth

Soft Half Doors

Tuffy center console

Strapless bikini top

New upholstery

3/1/2016

I have finalized the required wiring for starting the engine for break in.  I only needed a hot wire with KEY ON for the carburetor choke thermostat.

I also had to have a single hot wire of significant gauge hot when cranking and when running for the distributor.

Restating in case you ever install an HEI distributor.  The wire needs to be 14 gauge or bigger and have voltage when cranking and when the key is in the run position.  I have had several Jeeps over the years where the distributor only has power in the run position.  It actually kind of works.  The Jeep will crank and crank and crank and when the operator gives up and lets the key go to run after it doesn't start, the distributor gets power and MAY start the engine.

To do an HEI correctly you really need this pigrail harness which will snap into place under the cap and not fall out at the most inoportune time.

Ok, ready to start the engine.  You can read in many places

how long to run it and how to prime the oil pump.  

There are many things that can go wrong when you first start a newly assembled engine in a newly built vehicle.

Here's a partial list:  Coolant leaks, exhaust leaks, fuel leaks, valve noise, bad ignition or valve timing, wiring issues, fire, weird noises, catastrophic failures.

This engine fired VERY easily and sounded great...for about 5 seconds.  At this time I noticed the tires were self steering themselves to the left?!?!  What?  uYeah...so an amount of screwing around and I made my best guess that the pro rebuilt steering box had an issue.  I ordered a new box and installed it late today after it was shipped in.

I restarted the Jeep and YAY!  No phantom steering issues.  I walked away for the night after topping off the power steering fluid and allowing it to self bleed. You never want to run a power steering pump with a bunch of air in the fluid.  It may burn up.  I will intend to break the engine in tomorrow. :)

3/2/17

Healthy Jeep engine!  I went through the camshaft break in procedure and it showed about 75 psi with rpm and 35 at idle after about 25 minute of letting the lifters get into their happy places on the camshaft.   I always use a professional oil pressure tester for things like this as the factory gauge is more of a swag.  No oil or coolant leaks, no noises no exhaust leaks.

 The customer will have a hard time getting parts and labor once this Jeep makes it to the Dominican so we discussed it and came to the conclusion that new upholstery was the best solution for him.

Can you tell which are the covers and which are original?

Most of the under hood work is done so I can install the prop rod and struts.  When the paint is this nice, it feels bad to stuff the perfect metal prop rod into the metal holder on the strut.  I will wrap it in electrical shrink tube as shown.

 Sometimes after a paint job when everything is disassembled to paint, the factory grounding is lost.  The factory assembled many parts and THEN painted them which aided in grounding but sped the corrosion process.  To make the factory hood light work I had to use a couple external star washers under the hood hinge.

I'm not really a bumperette fan but they are part of a Laredo and neccesary.  These are very nice originals.  

On the downside, I had planned on a factory hitch install.  The customer asked for a hitch so it will have a hitch.  Well crud, honestly, I've never towed anything with a Jeep except w a tow strap.  I have removed dozens of factory hitches but never installed one.  

Here's a flub on my part.  If you think you want a factory hitch, do it before the fuel tank goes in or maybe when the body is off.  Installing this hitch while the Jeep was assembled was akin to building a ship in a bottle and took most of my Saturday.

It looks good installed!

Matching spare and Laredo wheel installed on a straight original tire carrier.  Notice the spare should not have a center cap on it. (above)

Original end caps installed on tire carrier in 4 places. (above)

Notice the new rubber bumpers installed as the orifginals are always flat, worn down or gone.  These are hard to source but to keep the carrier from rattling and scratching the Jeep. (Below)

The engine compartment is finally finished.  I am using a stock Power brake air cleaner unit and simplified it's operation as much as possible with a new shortened air intake hose.

There is no reason to recreate the overcomplicated inefficiencies of the stock 1986 vacuum routing unless you live in California.  There were way too many poorly functioning mechanical components trying to emulate fuel injection.

One very high quality Made in USA chrome front bumper and Mopar frame cover installed.  There used to only be the option of rechroming a stock bumper or using the cheap stainless ones.

I did used stainless washers under my grade 8 flanged bolts to hopefully slow the corrosion of steel bolts to the chrome.

Very hard to source OEM correct Leather steering wheel and horn button for a Laredo pulled from my inventory.

Shifters and inspection cover installed using oem refinished screws.  I used foam tape under the inspection cover to keep heat and fumes out.  Normally I'd use butyl tape but I hoped this might service cleaner if it ever has to be removed.

Newly recovered front seats installed with both sides on oem flip forward brackets.

Correct oem flanged cadmium plated bolts holding the seats brackets in place w oem slider on the driver side.  Note a passenger slider generally makes the passenger sit too tall and the seat wants to flip into the grab bar and limits the room to get in the back.  CJs never came with passenger slider brackets on the passenger side.

A full compliment of low mile OEM seat belts, bolts, washers, spacers etc.   The aftermarket seat belts look close to right but have hyper sensitive locking when you go to put them on.  The originals work much more naturally and fit correct.

The Jeep was professionally aligned and test driven.  It went down the road like a new Jeep.  It is tight and quiet.  Decals to be installed soon.  

Tuffy console installed....because it makes sense. The stock consoles are useless for support or securing anything and they are delicate.  A good Tuffy box allow you to secure valuables, actually have an armrest AND gives you useable cupholders.

Also notice the emblems in place appropriatly over the tail lights.

 Notice the original lay in carpet....It is NOT secured under the seats, console etc so that it can be removed easily.

Fold and tumble rear seat brackets ready for the rear seat.  This is fold and tumple specific original carpet.  It has slots for all the brackets AND vinyl 'slides' on the wheel wells built into it for the seat to rub on without tearing the carpet when it is tossed forward.  

Small detail of 4x4 decals for lockout hubs installed...

 This beautiful blank canvas of Jeep art is about to get professionally decaled tomorrow along with my 85 Renegade (to be available soon) :)

 Decals professionally installed.

Notice the forward placement of the "Laredo" decal.  I looked across the web and found this placed everywhere but mostly centered.

I have had many original paint 86 CJ7 Laredos to study photos of so we placed this in the correct original location which is skewed forward towards the hood latch.  Many places look good but this is factory correct.

Why professionally installed?  Well, like most things aftermarket, they just arent right in the box.  Simple things like the 3 colored stripes on the sides are 3 different thicknesses where they meet in 3 pieces.  This require each stripe to be separated from its backing, trimmed and laid one at a time.  This is not a job easy to do well.  We all have to appreciate a company making these available to us but the lack of quality control is apparent and sad.  A good pro installer can make up for these shortcomings.

Step tread applied and looks good installed!

Almost done...finally :)

So you think your done and every TV based car show has everything fit and it all happens in a week. 

I couldn't drive this Jeep with salt randomly on the road and rain with no top and doors.   When I fianlly got to drive it, I was able to hear a tick in the engine that would go away when it got warm....ugh.  Eventually it got louder but was certainly not in the bottom of the engine.  I spent a lot of time with the valve cover off and a stethescope and finally decided it might be a lifter.  Hesitantly I removed the head and found minor piston scuffing.   Oh no.  Theres nothing to do but pull the engine and fully dissasemble it.  The machine shop rehoned all 6 cylinders and gave me 2 pistons and a gasket set.  I supplied the 40? hours of labor.

The only thing obvious was a tight wrist pin.  There were no hot spots and I broke the cam in with a llaser heat gun and never saw coolant over 200F.  Maybe the piston to wall clearances were too tight.  I do know it was a lot of work.  My customer was understanding and patient but there really wasn't much else to do but suck it up and do the work.  Thank you Lucas!