I got started this weekend tearing things down, starting with the peripheral things (wires, alternator, power steering pump, pulleys, etc.).
Author: Eric Hansen
Back On!
So, since last February life’s kind of gotten in the way, along with the weather being too hot for my liking to work on my Jeep. Fast-Forward to last weekend when i finally made some time to get busy getting this project done.
I started with cleaning up the firewall in my Jeep. Pulled the battery tray, cleaned everything up, and painted the firewall with the same rocker texture and black engine enamel I used on the inner fenders. I hadn’t realized how bad things were behind the battery tray, so this cleaned things up nicely.
New Truck
So, I got a new truck thinking ahead about not wanting car payments heading into retirement. Here’s the whole story: http://www.mister4x4.net/cars/ram2.htm
Since my wife loves to name things (pool equipment, plants, cars, etc…), his new name is “Clifford” (‘The Big Red Dodge,’ of course). The whole process was relatively hassle-free, despite the bait ‘n’ switch by the Awfulplex and the entire day worth of driving just to go get it.
Here are a few pics (from the dealership’s website):
Some Progress!
Since I’ll be weathering the crap out of this one, I decided to just brush paint the chassis… yeah, I’ll never do that again since I have a dedicated airbrush booth. I also loaded up the underside with some course embossing and Elmer’s to simulate the caked mud we found under there… we’ll see how that turns out.
I brushed on some Tamiya Flat Black and sprinkled on some more embossing powder to hopefully simulate the crappy job of the rolled-on bed liner the previous owners put down. It’ll become flat black again when I shoot the body in the next few days.
New Project!
I guess I’m bored with my ’82 Mustang model kit or something… which is odd, since I’ve been working on it here and there since March 2018 and I’m still not done with it. I think it’s because I’m trying to make sure I get every little detail just right, and as I go along I think of more little things I can add.
So, I decided to start another project – one I can [hopefully] knock out in a few days, rather than years. Back in August 2020, I went to Austin with my pal Harry to pick up another 1980 Jeep CJ-7 (with a 304 V8 & TF-999 automatic transmission) to harvest the drivetrain and swap into my 1980 Jeep CJ-7 (that used to have a 258 I-6 & T-176 4-speed manual transmission). My BFF Dave came to San Angelo in January 2021 to help finish swapping the 258/T-176 into the ‘new’ Jeep (that he’s affectionately named “Klooge”) and took it home to Phoenix. As it sits, I still need to rebuild, warm-up, and install the 304/auto into my Jeep (“Dookie”). But that’s another story.
“Klooge” was a hot mess (more like a dumpster fire) that needed a LOT more work than we’d thought, which Dave is getting through in short order. One of my ‘things’ is that I like to build models of cars I’ve owned, and technically, I owned Klooge for about 4 months before signing him over to Dave, so I’ve decided to build a mini-Klooge (as I found him) as a result… I’ll build another version once Dave gets him back on the road and the way he wants him.
So, to kick things off, I scored another Monogram 2-n-1 CJ-7 kit from ebay (along with 2 more CJ-7 kits, so I can build one of Dookie when I first got him, along with the one after Dave finishes his work – I already have one of Dookie as he sits now… but after I get done with him [again] I guess I’ll need to get yet another one – sheesh). Today, I decided to get busy on “Old Klooge,” and cracked open the kit. My logic is that since he was such a mess, all I should have to do is pretty much paint everything flat black and weather the crap out of everything. I assembled the frame, suspension, and axles after trimming a ton of flash, then took the Dremel to the frame and ‘tub’ to duplicate some of the rust damage we found. There are a few holes in the frame, along with some rust ‘blow-throughs’ on the sheet metal. I also scored 2 sets of some AR-589 wheels (from another ‘Trucks – GMC 4×4’ kit) and painted one set silver (to simulate the aluminum wheels) which will just get weathered with plenty of dirt and grime (Dave’s planning on coating them black, so we’ll see how that goes). I also pulled apart and cleaned up the V8 the previous owner had ‘glue bombed’ during assembly (that’s as far as they got, fortunately – but they did manage to break the hood hinge piece). Then I cut out the transmission/transfer case cover from the floor, since Klooge didn’t have one when I picked him up. There was also a speaker hanging out of a hole in the dash, so I took the Dremel and punched a speaker hole in the dash panel. After all that, I also found some diamond plate styrene plastic from an online Hobby Store, so it should be here in a few weeks, which will add to the appearance.
Here’s Klooge on the trailer on the way home from Austin. Doesn’t look so bad, but little did we know. The hard top is for my Jeep, but I got the half doors for Dave, since he really liked having them on his ’92 YJ Wrangler “Islander” (which, I scored a Tamiya kit so I can build that one, too). All said, I think I have 6 more Jeep kits to build, so I guess I need to get crackin’.
And here were after spending a little time getting started with the kit.
Next time, I should have some flat black on everything, and hopefully start the weathering process for the engine, transmission, transfer case and wheels. I might wind up taking that giant catalytic converter out of there, since Klooge had a ‘Redneck Dual Exhaust’ when I got him.
First outing of 2021
Today, I took Frank out to get his annual inspection for registration, and decided that since it was such a nice day, I’d stretch the ride home out a bit and swung by the Vietnam Memorial at the airport. Since I have a cool new phone, it was such a nice day, and I’d always wanted some pics like this, I figured why not?
Almost 3 years, next week!!
I just realized it’s been 3 years (next Friday) since I started this kit. I need to get busy and finish it up!
Didn’t get a lot done yesterday, as I made these discs to help mount the wheels correctly. I’m using wider tires than came with the kit (just like on the real car), so they don’t glue together like they should. I “chucked ’em onto” a Dremel bit with a threaded tip, then trued ’em up on some 400-grit. They fit great!
Got the tires mounted up – they all sit right and still roll… unlike the other kit I made where they got glued on.
I just realized how much my work area has… ‘grown,’ for lack of better terms.
My airbrush workbench has also ‘grown,’ but looks more busy because I was building the WoW case when I took this pic.
That’s all she wrote
This morning Dave took off at Oh-Dark-Thirty for Phoenix, and had a helluva trip ahead of him. He experienced just about every kind of weather imaginable (ridiculous wind, rain, sleet, snow, you name it) but made it there with no casualties.
Here’s Klooge in his new home, about to be completely torn apart and restored by Dave.
And that’s pretty much that, I guess. As much fun as I had with “Jeep Week 2021,” I really hope to not have to crank so hard on a big project like that ever again… I’m getting too old for this.
Now I just gotta get my “Jeep 3.0 Project” off the ground, which involves getting that 304 torn down and to the machine shop (not even going to play around with this one), then clean up the 999 & D300 and service both, drill-out the D300 yokes to receive U-bolts (to get rid of those problematic U-joint straps I’ve always hated), clean up and repaint the drive shafts & brake pedal assembly, rebuild the steering column & automatic transmission linkage, install my Conn-Ferr 1″ shackles (up front), clean up the firewall, refurbish the engine-side wiring harness, obtain all of the needed engine & drivetrain parts, and put that sucker back together. Then I can swap the stereo head unit and tune-up the amps & speakers, adapt the TJ seat brackets to the CJ floor (to get those TJ seats lowered back down to ‘normal’ height), re-install the factory HVAC, install a BedRug carpet kit, paint the YJ top and doors, then take it to the exhaust shop for a new proper dual exhaust with a set of Magnaflows before ordering the Eagle 589s and 35×12.50 Swamper SSRs.
Sounds quick and easy if you read it fast.
Closing ceremonies of ‘Jeep Week 2021’
Yesterday, we worked some nit-noid stuff – although exactly what, I’m not entirely sure (it was something of a blur by this point). I’d pulled the stick from the T-176 while it was in 1st, not realizing the issues THAT would cause – it wouldn’t come out of 1st, or do anything at all really once I reinstalled the transmission stick on Friday. So, today I pulled the stick again, and remembered how things were laid out on the shifter (since I rebuilt this T-176 just 20 years ago), found the correct shift shaft, popped it back into its neutral position, then reinstalled the stick. All was well again. Moral of the story: don’t pull your transmission stick unless it’s in neutral. Learning has occurred. LOL!
We took off in Dave’s Ram to go get the car hauler from U-Haul, swung by HF for a couple more things and finished up the day just transferring tools and whatnot over to my Ram, since Dave now had to park out front with the trailer strapped up.
Today was the last day – last push to get Klooge ready for the trip to Phoenix, and we still needed to swap the YJ top over to Dookie, install my new paddle handle doors onto Dookie, get the new Rampage soft top Dave brought with him onto Klooge, get all of Dave’s tools and other newly acquired Jeep stuff loaded up, and do something with the old CJ top & doors.
We heard something about there being a major football play-off game that day, but we didn’t care a bit – we’re having fun with the Jeeps!
Had fun getting Klooge onto the trailer, between the downhill slope, using the starter motor, and actually running, it popped right on, we got him nailed down, and all that was left was to take my old CJ hard top and doors over to a buddy’s house for storage.
Now, my poor Jeep looks like crap, has no driveline, and my carport and garage are trashed. I’m not entirely sure who got the better end of this deal, to be honest. LOL!!
Startin’ to resemble an actual Jeep again
Today, we installed the steering column, brake & clutch pedal assembly, power steering pump, and wiring harness from Dookie. The new brake booster kit I’d ordered from Summit Racing turned out to be too big to fit with the MC2100 upgrade I’d done, so after we figured out the OE booster was still good, we installed it along with the new master cylinder from the kit and bled the brakes after a trip to O’Reilly’s for some vacuum hose junctions and over to HF for a vacuum brake bleeder kit.
A bit later, we got the brake booster vacuum plumbed and decided that since the intake valves were stuck closed because of the missing lifters, gave the key a turn and it actually fired up – ran like crap, but it ran.
Counted our blessings and put the repop fenders I’d picked up with the Jeep on… then called it a day.