83 Cherokee education through restoration

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akwagoneer
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Re: 83 Cherokee education through restoration

Post by akwagoneer »

About the insulation in the roof - I just did it and love it, much cooler and quieter. When I had the headline out I bought some asphalt flashing at Lowe's and stuck that to the roof then I ran the foil bubble insulation over that. I ran teh from section side to side because teh roof support was still fixed to teh roof. For teh back section I was able to lower the roof support and run teh insulation from front to back and sandwich it between the roof and support. Not sure which spray adhesive I used (777?) but it is holding nice. Make sure you use a roller for good contact and have a second set of hands available.
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Florida83FSJCherokee
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Re: 83 Cherokee education through restoration

Post by Florida83FSJCherokee »

Its been a while since I updated the progress for the Jeep. Between getting the tools aquired for the new shop, working like a fool, and spending time with my family the Jeeps rebuild and clean up had to be put on hold.

Instead of tearing things apart I have been enjoying the things that have been fixed. Weekly cruises and fun nights out on the town have been the jeeps job as of late. Its running like a top, and just floats down the road. I even took the wife to dinner in it last weekend. I had a blast but truthfully I think she would have rather been in a vehicle with A.C. ;)

The shops coming together, to save money and get involved with the "upcycle" movement I built a huge work bench out of pallets scavenged from the dumpsters around the ware house. total cost was $8 in screws... My patients finally paid off with the score of the air compressor and a full tool set. Got it for a very fair price, and some barting of hoove trimming services. I love the barter system, and think its under utilized! Got a big boy drill press and all the necessary table/band saws and such as well. Still waiting to get the welder. Im trying to save up enough to get the miller, but that Eastwood in the "welder options thread" is starting to look pretty good. :roll:

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Finally something big enough to do the sanding and painting...I felt like a man when I unloaded this thing. lol :D
and....Yes thats a belt driven nerf gun. Im 32 and still enjoy a good nerf war!
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My current plan is to enoy the jeep for the rest of May and then start working on the stuff you cant see in the pics once I get the welder. Stuff like the holes in the floor boards, windshield rust, passenger vent window that isnt attached to the door but instead held in place by its locking latch. etc. etc. etc..... lol

I love the paint job but need to re do it as several spots are starting to peel and expose the other 2 coats of paint its had in its life time. 3! coats total... :oops:

So last night I went crusing around the lake and had one of those moments when I was really gratefull of everything ive been bleesed with, and really happy to be in an old Jeep just putting around for the fun of it. Not a bad sun set out of the window either.

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Enjoy everything and everybody you've been blessed with during this springs renewal, and I'll be back in a few weeks to announce the plan of attack. :-bd

JP


One last gratuitous Jeep pic.

last weekend after dinner.... I thought it looked so good in the downtown lights I just had to take a photo. My wife said, "you have a problem, your wife is standing next to you and you take pictures of your Jeep"... My wife is beautiful, but I dont have to leave her in the garage all week! :D

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rstep
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Re: 83 Cherokee education through restoration

Post by rstep »

Great work, like the WT.
1977 Cherokee Sold
I Don't own One
Stuff I Make.
http://fsjnetwork.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=5620

bruner1981jpce
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Re: 83 Cherokee education through restoration

Post by bruner1981jpce »

Nice work! Good looking truck, can't wait to see more pictures!
Andy
1981 Cherokee Laredo W/T 258/Weber 32/36 DGEV/T176/NP208 2" front springs with new stock rear springs and 2 1/2" blocks, sitting on 31's
Build Thread: http://fsjnetwork.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=2281
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Strode182
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Re: 83 Cherokee education through restoration

Post by Strode182 »

Bruner: Notice what he doesn't have that he wishes he had?

Cab lights. 8-)
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Florida83FSJCherokee
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Re: 83 Cherokee education through restoration

Post by Florida83FSJCherokee »

Down here in the South we those "Chicken lights"

Granddad says... "if you see those light pulling out and your gonna get there first, slow down... Unless you have some "Chicken Lights" yourself..... Then your probably the same size and the game is on. "

LOL

I do think they look cool, ... had a set on my 69 Chevy Truck, Ironicly its the truck I drove in college and come to think of it... yep, they were definitly drooling!!!. Man all this time i thought it was me they were excited about.

Im gonna go to the shop and pout now

; )

bruner1981jpce
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Re: 83 Cherokee education through restoration

Post by bruner1981jpce »

Strode182 wrote:Bruner: Notice what he doesn't have that he wishes he had?

Cab lights. 8-)
Hahaha too true
Florida83FSJCherokee wrote:Down here in the South we those "Chicken lights"

Granddad says... "if you see those light pulling out and your gonna get there first, slow down... Unless you have some "Chicken Lights" yourself..... Then your probably the same size and the game is on. "

LOL

I do think they look cool, ... had a set on my 69 Chevy Truck, Ironicly its the truck I drove in college and come to think of it... yep, they were definitly drooling!!!. Man all this time i thought it was me they were excited about.

Im gonna go to the shop and pout now

; )
Its only a matter of time now before you get them too 8-)
Andy
1981 Cherokee Laredo W/T 258/Weber 32/36 DGEV/T176/NP208 2" front springs with new stock rear springs and 2 1/2" blocks, sitting on 31's
Build Thread: http://fsjnetwork.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=2281
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Florida83FSJCherokee
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Re: 83 Cherokee education through restoration

Post by Florida83FSJCherokee »

Had some fun...




Had some foun the other day helping out my good friend and shop mate Jarrid, and towed his food booth to the downtown farmers market.
We work on his 66 Chevy and the Cherk together so when the transmission quit on his truck the Cherokee gladly answered the call! :D

First thing I towed with the jeep, and it was a shanty hut food trailer for selling "Beignets". Kinda thought it would have been my boat.... However, every guy there stoped to ask about the jeep!

LOL

Check out Jarrids site if you are into seeing good people changing a small towns vibe, and succeding with a business in the process.

http://www.thepoorporker.com

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Florida83FSJCherokee
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Re: 83 Cherokee education through restoration

Post by Florida83FSJCherokee »

MY GOD! WHAT HAVE I DONE...


It has officially gotten serious now. NO weekend piddling in the driveway to clean a small issue or change what can be changed before dark. Its now going into full blown restoration.

Im inspired by my fellow members and feel like if Im gonna do 75% of a resto I might as well do 100%... So today the real work began....


As of 2PM EST the "rustoleum Goddess" looked like this...
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by 500PM EST she looked like this... couldnt get the bumper bolts to quit spinning and hadnt found the three main bracket bolts yet... LOL... so I worked around it...
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And as of 630PM EST she looked like this...
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First I wanna give a big shout out to AIR TOOLS!!! un-freaking real... I cant believe I made it this long without them.

Second I wann give and equally big shout out to my main man PB-Blaster..."you complete me"... ;)


I started with a 1/2" wrench and socket, the air ratchet and a screw driver. I ended with this... unbelievable... look like that garage sale hardware drawer is gonna be worth the $.50 I paid for it. :)
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engine is gonna be much easier to get out this way
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Some noteable sections:

Rust was pretty minimal. As I suspected someone did this same process before. Definitly not recently but I bet somewhere late 90"s this thing got a real good going over.




This freaked me out when I first pulled the radiator away because it looked really bad, but after a quick look with a wire brush its not bad at all. In fact someone has used some maner of rust convertor/stop. Its peeling away at this point but it did its job.
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The other side couldnt be expected to be any better
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Under the fender panel overlap and directly above the drivers cowl vent box was the worst rust of the day. Definintly fixable and we will have to see how much replacement after the paint comes off. From my look today its not more than whats shown... also had rust convertor/stop caked on it.
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passenger side was surface only and the tapping test felt nice and solid
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The cowl was full to the brim on both sides with leaves, I expected that after reading everyone elses accounts of the bucket fulls they had removed. I used the shop vac and fed the hose into both sides. It literally filled half of my big shop vac up and I dont think I got any further than the top level... Ill continue that serach as I dissasemble further back...

only other rust to show was under the battery tray on the inner fender well.
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There is definitly going to be some nasty rust under the windshield seal and I know that the floor boards will need some attention as well, other than that it just depends on whats under that paint. I do however now have a key piece of my puzzle since rocky cut the whole A-pillar off a super clean 91 waggy a couple weeks ago. Im hoping for a little cut and paste project instead of cut and fabricate...


PowerTrain is gonna come out soon and I will post later about the plan of attack concerning the mechanicals.. Basicly I need to get everything pulled and broken down. Its a very good possibility that it already has had the 4.0 head swap and cam swap... Its also a very real possibility that when they did that they rebuilt the short block and went .030 over.... That wopuld explain why this thing runs like a scalded ape and has crazy power for a inline 6...

Once its dissasembled I will have it measured/micrometered and determine if its rebuildable... If its not and needs replacement then we will make the decision of which motor and how indepth at that point.

Time will tell.

Im gonna get this pic blown up ino a poster to hang on the shop wall... Going to be a LONG! time before I see this again...

The day it all started, before I found Stode82, WSHII, CJ5, Marcus, and evrybody else thats taken it to this level.... Ive said it before and I try to remember its appropriatness to this situation. "experience is the hardest teacher because she gives the quiz first and the lesson after"

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BRING ON THE QUIZES!

JP
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jaber
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Re: 83 Cherokee education through restoration

Post by jaber »

More motivation, cool. :-bd
Jeff

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Florida83FSJCherokee
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Re: 83 Cherokee education through restoration

Post by Florida83FSJCherokee »

Im JP and im a "teardownaholic"!

I never do this but I cancelled my appointments this afternoon and went to the shop to get dirty! The head mystery has been haunting me and I had to get my answer.

So here todays good and unfortunatly todays bad as well...

Tore down the engine to the basic long block (plus starter and water pump). Ill finish the rest once its out and on its stand.
This was my fist time breaking one down this far... Not saying much considering it was mostly the accessories and bolt ons. But with whats ahead I want to be invloved with as much engine work as possible. So..today was about me and the air ratchet (PB blaster visited a little as well)...

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The manifold bolts were a cinch! not a single stuck one in the bunch.

The head is marked with a 82 and the manifld has a tag listing 8/20/83 so its definitly the 4.2 head and manifold so at least I have my answer...

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Went ahead and removed the Fuel Tank...no photos of that... Its wasnt ugly but it wasnt pretty either...I will be much more ready next time (HA!) just thought I was droping the protective cover at first and then the whoel darn thing fell on me! But its out so I can grind, cut and weld in peace.


Also removed the doors and pulled the front windshield
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So that all went nice and fluid...Lots of pictures of where and how things were attached and I started a parts storage room that ill post below in a minute.

Unfortunatly, thats the end of fun meditative tear down time...

Enter RUST!!!!!!

So to be fair I was ready for this and have been researching and planning for it but this is the issue..

The seals under the chrome strips were cracked so I didnt bother trying to save them. I was a little bummed because I have read a few different times that the replacemnets do fit really great...

But there was no saving this...
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Once removed I lost me breath for a minute...

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and if those arnt bad enough here's the kick to the man junk!

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so I have a complete top half of the A-pillar and roof line so the next thing to start looking for is going to be a complete bottom half... Ill check with rocky and ask hime to keep an eye out...

Im pretty good at body work and patch work but this isnt worth trying to fix...Im gonna ponder it a while...i might cut out an entire a pillar and window frame in one piece.. At least that way if my allignment isnt exactly perfect the windshiel cutt out will be.. I can fudge a little on the body lines matchingup in the roof contour but not the windshield fitt.. any thaughts would be appreciated and considered.

So..on a happer note to finish for the day, I organized all the parts into theparts room in the office section of the shop... Its nice to have an A.C.'d area to keep everything.. Im gonna work at that room kinda as if it were my list..If I have a spare afternoon Ill pull out a fender and work on it, if I have a day Ill work on a door, or a few hours Ill polish chrome...etc.

Its also gonna be nice when I start priming the panels because I can keep them stored in the low humidity 80deg office while I work on the others.

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Ive been hording parts and buying stuff since last november so I actually have most of the interior collected and alot of the seals, door wipes, and replacement body parts. The old file cabinet was a dumpster score and is proving usefull for the saving of the bolts and hoses and stuff.

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So good day despite the window framework..

Thanks everybody and I will keep posting as I keep taking it apart..

Brad, just FYI, I took 266 photos today.. lol

Thanks

JP

Road Trip
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Re: 83 Cherokee education through restoration

Post by Road Trip »

Good luck with the rust around the windshield. Get some good measurements if you are going to cut out some pillar for better sections or the windshield might not fit. That rust needs to go. I know I've said it before, I hate rust and that is why. Again, good luck and keep the faith, it can be fixed. As you know, it's only steel.
Robert
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Raramuri
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Re: 83 Cherokee education through restoration

Post by Raramuri »

This is an awesome thread. Great work man. I wish I had some of that know how.
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Florida83FSJCherokee
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Re: 83 Cherokee education through restoration

Post by Florida83FSJCherokee »

well, I think somewhere im my first post I made the statement "this things is actually pretty good on rust for a florida truck"

Remind me never to say stuff like that without knowing the answer....

Got the majority of the interior striped yesterday eveving. It wasnt "hard" work but man was it annoying. The seats were all rusted into the floor... the dash wiring is a nightmare, and the rust, oh the rust... NOT as bad as others Ive seen on here but im going to be a sheetmetal worker for the next month or so...

so seats and dash are out

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Carpets out and ran the shop vac through it. Also, took the time to make lables on all the dash wires/connections so I can "possibly" get them in the right place later...

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Floor boards are at about 70% heathly metal. So untill they get sanded completly down I wont be toatlly positive that patches will be sufficient.

Passenger floor baord and some contamination on the side wall..

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Passenger center under seat mounts (pretty much anywhere that had a bolt through the floor had rusted out around it and will need replaced)

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Rear passenger floor panel

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Probably gonna be completly redoing the passenger side at this point. Driver side is suprisingly clean. makes me wonder if it had been done with the rest of the previous body work.

With the dash out I was able to get a full look at the windowframe and A-pillar... Lets just say the easy repair of the current pillar isnt going to be an option.

Brace Yourself!!! this is for mature audiences only

outer underside:
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inner underside:
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top: (please be sure and note the rust hole that has been filled with bondoglass, I am guilty of having done this when i restored my VW BUS in high school, I didnt know any better but this is obviously the Karmic forces repaying me for my sinful repair style of the past ;) )

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So I am calling in a couple favors at this point for assistance with the A-pillar. A good friend who is a professional welder/fabricator is coming to help decide where to make the cuts so that he can get the best access when attaching the Donor.
Im going Friday to look at the same Cherokee that the Tailgate replacement from earlier in the thread came from. I remember it having a couple little sections of issue but its worth a look and a fully charged Sawsall.

The reasonto not attempt the welding alone is that the A-pillar isnt a soild structure. Its actually 3 layers and the dip rail.

Heres a cross section of it
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If you simply butt weld it in place you cant weld the inner layer... This makes it tricky and is why we are looking for a complete A-pillar/cowl/roof line donor instead of using the half section I currently have and finding the bottom seperatly. There will still be some complicated welding in the roof line section and the cowl area but they are necessary no matter which method is choosen. The complet donor does however remove the hardest weld from the equation

Heres the roof, upper door weld difficulty
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In talking with a master sheet metal worker it is possible to use the brakepress, stretcher/shrinker, wheel, and dollys to create the entire A-pillar from scratch. Welding in each layer as you form it. Im not a master metal worker so this is so far out of my comfort zone Im choosing to push for the donor option; even if it takes a while to find the right (clean) donor section. His estimate was between 50and 60 hours of time involved in forming the entire A-pillar, roof line, and upper cowl replacement to the specific needs of the windshield, gasket lip, and body angels. While you may wonder is that even possible..you would be amazed at the stuff this guys creates from scratch.


I will be documenting this process very thoroughly. My search returns little to no availble or helpfull information on this type and level of repair in this area.

Now wheres my gorilla glue???
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Kinda had a moment when removing this fuel sender cap. Its the first thing I made for this jeep and at the time I had no idea this was going to be the path it was going to take. It was gonna be a fix it up, clean it up, and have fun in it truck but its just to special to let it waste away any further!

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So im gonna work a bit this weekend and try to finish getting the side windows out, roof rack off, steering out, and rear door removed. It needs to be ready to have the Body taken off by the time the next Florida Shop day happens so there are some able bodys to help lift it onto the dolly... ;)


Well, I guess thats it for now. Hopefully Fridays donor attempt proves sucessfull!

Thanks everyone for support, and feedback. I NEED IT!

JP
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Florida83FSJCherokee
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Re: 83 Cherokee education through restoration

Post by Florida83FSJCherokee »

Raramuri wrote:This is an awesome thread. Great work man. I wish I had some of that know how.

Thanks, Im affraid I currently only "know how" to take stuff appart. :roll:

Welcome to the Network

Jp
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Florida83FSJCherokee
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Re: 83 Cherokee education through restoration

Post by Florida83FSJCherokee »

Im affraid the cowl/windshield replacement is dead in the water... I traced the rust deep into the cowl, all the way down inside the door hinge channels, and down the front of the firewall. Thats how the rust under the fresh air vents top section got there...Its literally the same cancer as the A-pillar and its that way on both sides...Sad...

In order to fix whats damaged beyond repair I would literally have to cut the firewall about a foot down all the way across and the roof about 2' back. Thats way to much to try and realign... Im accepting the fate that is... Im gonna have to do a body swap.....

Im going friday morning to look at a possible canidate. Ill keep you posted... this is the same cherokee that the replacement tailgate came from. I remember Its got some rust in the flares but my flares are perfect so that is a repair and swap I can manage. Fingers crossed that this thing isnt to far gone in the areas I cant fix...

Thanks



JP

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Re: 83 Cherokee education through restoration

Post by jamesdart »

dont give up... can the donor be a wagoneer? id cut it straight across somewhere in the middle of the door. I did a 67 dart like that and it lined up awesome. it had awful rot around the door hinges with funky shape and multi layers just like that. they are uni body, frame rails were nasty. patches screwed and brazed on. inner fenders were hacked for fenderwell headers with what looked like a hammer and chisel.
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Florida83FSJCherokee
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Re: 83 Cherokee education through restoration

Post by Florida83FSJCherokee »

The advertised item for sale:

" 82 Cherokee Laredo, body and frame for sale, $400, Minimal rust! Inside the truck is full of random extra parts" ....


It was with excitment and anticipation that I awoke this Am. Ive been waiting all week to see this, the solution to my issues. Finally a break in the work schedule big enough to make the 75 mile trek into the St.Cloud Nothing lands.

Disappointment does not begin to express the feeling I have about this mornings outing...

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So yup well worth the trip.... I offered the guy $150, figured I could cut it up to practice... (I called rocky first to ask what a titleless body and frame was worth), the owner however, claimed it was worth $800-$1000 in scrap and did not counter! (exactly like Rocky said he would) ;)

So thanks to Rocky for the advice and in case you guys didnt know our Jeeps apparently weigh between 8000-10000lbs (just frame and body) LOL!!!!!!
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Re: 83 Cherokee education through restoration

Post by Florida83FSJCherokee »

Because I was a little angry I decided to take out some aggression on the rust in the Rustoleum Princess.


Drivers side:
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Passenger Side
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So...this whole A-pillar nonsense is made up of 4 seperate layers of sheet metal.The Dip rail, lower , middle, and upper curve. These are Bent and formed into various patterns and tied into an upper an lower brace section below the cowl cover. As you can see in the photos at least some of a section is left after debriding most of the pillars rotten metal. The passenger side is going to need an additional section removed but I cant do that untill after this top section has been re formed and attached..

here is a cross section. If you look its not hard to determine each layer:
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Sunday Im going to my buddys shop to use the hydraulic brake press and recreate each layer of the a-pillar in individual pieces. Im then going to go back to that truck and weld in each section, one layer at a time.. I cut away most of the nasty today and ist still solid! Which means it will not change angle by fixing it in the manner I have decided. I will start with the inner layer and then add the top. tieing each section into the appropriate brace section inside the cowl. After those two are complete the passenger side will need the lower section removed and replaced. This WILL work! Once the lower sections are rebuilt I will turn my focus to to roofline... I already have a spotless replacement for the top half so its all about measuring and finding a method of controlling the realignement.. I have some ideas...

To be fair the outer Dip rail and cowl sections I am going to have made by a sheet metal worker I have been talking with. The cowls contour is tricky without certain tools and the dip rail has to many tight bends for the press I have access to. Its possible that the cowl cutouts could be reused but the 1/16" loss on both sides equal a minimum of 1/8" missing material. Some areas might be as large as 3/16" and thats more than I am comfortable tying to weld across with 18guage steel.


If you cant tell Im pumped. The Surgury today showed me that its not to far gone! Just in the nick of time? Yes, but still repairable.

Thanks

JP
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cma
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Re: 83 Cherokee education through restoration

Post by cma »

By the way...i saw you are using a "Dremel" ! Could you recomment? Which Model do you use? I am thinking longer time about buy one....
Markus!

Member, FSJ Prissy Restoration Association

Jeep Cherokee Chief Laredo, 12/1982, AMC 360, black/black

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