Revive Retro

Bill got very lucky and no threads were damaged and there was virtually no sign of any movement between the tranny and bell housing. But new bolts in and everything looks great.

2 1/2 jeeps and the shop was getting a little tight :redneck:

So the starting point or first part of this project will be getting the mechanical side all fixed up. Its been sitting (broken) for over 10 years.

I spent a couple hours tearing some of it apart to inspect and get a good rough idea when needs to be done. My plan is to have the rolling chassis 99% done when I roll it under the new tub.

Serviced both diffs and there was no water mixed in the diff oil and I pressure tested both ARB's to make sure the piston seal had not gone bad sitting--both are is great working shape.

So pulled the front apart...

Front driver axle certainly toasted,lol.

Bill got really lucky as when I was pulling the ball joints I found the driver side joints were 1/2 of being pushed out of the knuckle...

New ball joints pressed in and ready.

Since I am waiting for the axle shafts to show I got the passenger side done.

So since I am waiting for parts I decided to get the rear brake stuff done.

Of course the hardlines are rusted to the brake cylinders,lol.

Got the rears done up with new cylinders and shoes.

Also got the new passenger E-brake cable installed.

Made new hardlines for the rear. Just the one side was frozen but opted to just make both sides.

A big box showed up with some shiny parts. Its funny I didn't realize but the jeep has had a broken axle since the old reiter days,lol.

Got both axles assembled and installed. I didn't realize Bill was getting both sides so I had to disassemble the passenger side but thats ok :awesomework:

So got the new tie rod/rod ends assembled and installed and toe set. Filled front diff and the front diff is done.

So next we opted to remove the rusted out air pipes. Unfortunately that also meant rusted in bolts,lol. Out of 7 only 3 broke off. I was able to extract them with my trusty reversible remover.

So all fluids replaced and the only thing left on the chassis is shocks. The 3rd body mounts need to be removed and prepped to be moved forward and the very rear body mount needs to be modified for the new YJ tub.

Glad you had fun.

I always have fun :awesomework:

So now onto getting the tub ready. It came off a YJ and of course its not in perfect shape but WAY better than the tub that was on it. It came off a rig that suffered a frontal collision.

So my plan is to straighten it out as best as possible (I aint a body guy,lol), fix any rust issues(some minor rust), modify it to a CJ and throw some paint on it since the color is nowhere near close :haha:

I got creative and was able to work the cowl/hood hinge back into place. There is a little wobble left on the cowl and without some bondo/shaping it won't be perfect. The rockers I was able to work into place but there is still some wobble there too.

My body tools :redneck:

Where the rear portion of the roll bar meets the body and the rear tailgate hinges. The rust was not deep but was pitted a little. My norm is to sand the rust down to metal and then I like to use naval jelly to kill the small pitted areas, sand it again and then prime it (Using a metal etch base and then filler over top).