Build Thread: Chief Laredo

[CJ5]

10/5/11
We made some progress. We have the roof finished. Basically the same process and the underside, with the exception we used epoxy primer for our based rather than the rust encapsulator.





We wanted to add something to the blank slate so we polished the luggage strips and put them on temporarily.


I still did not get the paint perfect. I am going to try a different gun. I worked and worked to get the one I have dialed in to my satisfaction but just cannot. It just doesn't seem to lay the paint down perfectly and I am left with some coverage issues. I still have the opportunity to get better when I paint the inside and misc. parts. It may end up being my paint skills but I am blaming the gun right now.

Next step will be to flip it back upright and finish sanding the inside and getting it prepped to paint.

[CJ5]

10/24/11

We have reached another milestone. The body, inside and outside has now been blasted! We only have a few parts left to blast and we can be done with that torture.

I was orginally not going to blast the exterior but decided yesterday to just get it done and I am glad I did. It went fast and we completed it in about 1 hour or so. Nyx did most of it so she is taking a break and checking Jared's work.


We are going to go around the inside and remove all of the loose caulk and fix any dings or rust issues. Then we will give it all a good coat of epoxy primer. We have some filler to put in on both floor boards but everything else is good. We will then recaulk every thing and then add additional caulk where needed.


Before we expoxy prime the inside, we will also pre-prep the outside and shoot it also. Like mentioned before, there is very little body work needed so from now until paint should go pretty quick. Before we do anything we have to find a good way to remove those pesky stripes. Obviously, the didn't blast away nor does that jelly like paint remover touch them. If anyone has any good ideas, I am all ears.


We will cover and tape off the roof, of course. Once I moved it outside, I was very happy with the paint choice and look. It really looks good and will work real well with the nutmeg interior and stripes. We both are pleased. I will use the inside to finish my pratice skills then I have to decide if I am going to paint it or find someone.

I got the call today that the motor is ready. I will pick it up this week and give you all the details. The tranny will also be also ready to pick up next week. It will not take much to get those mounted in the chassis. That will be a huge boost.

[CJ5]

10/30/11

Another milestone.....how but some good old-fashonied, grease monkey red meat!!

Our rebuilt 360....courtesy of Chuck and Jason at Hesco.


We had the regular machine work done. Bore block .040, machined heads, new valves and springs, guides/seals, polish/prep crank, pistons, rings, bearings, oil pump, new water pump, timing chain and gear, etc. Everything, cleaned and assembled. I went to thier shop a couple of times but didn't think to snap any pictures of assembly. I wish I had.


We went with stock pistons. We did install new matching springs and lifters with our cam kit. We used an Competition cam 279TH
http://www.compcams.com/Company/CC/c...csid=1447&sb=2


We also went with an Edlebrock Preformer intake #2131
http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive_...ormer-v8.shtml

and matched that with an Edlebrock Preformer carb #1406
http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive_...erformer.shtml

This all will be powered by an AMC HEI Distributor #6512-B

It was all dressed up with some old school AMC Blue Metallic engine paint.


We are in love! I have spent several hours just gazing upon it...lol
There will be plenty of work to be done by getting brackets cleaned and painted..may even powder coat a few. We will test fit everything prior to putting it into the chassis. We also have to decide on how we dress it up from here. Braided hoses, Hi-miler blue hose or whatever.

Yes, I could have done it myself. I have built a few motors and have the skills but for this project I wanted it to be as bulletproof as possible. I am not a pro engine builder and I wanted this project to be as good as I can make it for Jared.

Even Nyx is overwhelmed. RIP Nyx passed 11/12/12


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[CJ5]

11/20/11

With the holidays coming upon us our work weekends are limited but we were able to get a few things done.

We finished with the epoxy primer inside and out and began apply some body filler in a few areas on the outside but mainly we are working to get the inside finished. We reinforced the underside floor boards earlier where there was some rust through. We are now patching the inside floor boards. We are using a metal body filler. There were some small holes but it is mainly bad pitting. We are using regular body filler on some small pitting areas, elsewhere.





We are staying with the factory exhaust manifolds so we prepped and painted those. We are using Tech Line Coating, a high temp manifold paint for the manifolds and y-pipe. It is a ceramic spray on product. I hope it works out well. We will spray the exhaust pipes with a VHT high temp spray paint.



The finished product. They will have to be cured by running the motor. You can also cure in an over but I don't have access to one for 750deg setting.



I hope this product works out. I will give future updates on all of the products I used. The tranny should be here this week and hopefully, we can get it and the motor installed over the long weekend.

[CJ5]

12/4/11

Well, we have reached another milestone!

Tranny back from the shop. World Transmission, owned by my buddy Chip, went through it and the transfer case. They found no major issues and just refreshened them. He did install a new 2000 stall converter. He believes with the motor work we did this would be a excellent choice.


Jared and I painted it up and got it ready for the install.

Before


after






I researched and on older stock AMC vehicles they painted the tranny and engine the same color. 1981 is quite old but since we went with an old original AMC color we would follow suit. We painted the transfer case with Eastwood Alumiblast. It turned out nice. With the tranny and motor done, we could now get the drive train reinstalled in the frame.

[CJ5]

12/4/11

Engine and transmission now installed. We have a basic rolling chassis now.

Jared and my nephew John helped. We installed the motor first so it would be a little easier.


Oops...didn't upload the tranny install shot. It took a little work but bolted up fine. Everything aligned perfectly. I wondered which of the motor mount holes to use on the horn since it had two rows. I consulted the board and two guys agreed the front holes and one showed pictures of the rear holes. I guess right and used the front holes.

I wish I knew of this mythical tool called a flywheel turner. The most frustrating part was getting the torque converter bolted to the flex plate. Inching the flex plate around was tedious. I made a mistake by getting two bolts in and tight and then the other two would not align. I spun it a few more rounds and just started two bolts and it still would not let me get the other two in. The final try, I pushed the converter back towards the tranny so I could barely start a bolt. Then inched it around and they all final went in. I then had to continue around until I could tighten them all. Done.

We took it outside today and gave Chief Laredo his first wash.





this is a before



There isn't much to be done on the chassis...which means I HAVE to keep working on the body.

[CJ5]

12/17/11

We have now completed the inside painting. We did the same as the other areas we painted; epoxy primer, primer, primer, sealer, base, base, pearl, pearl, clear, clear clear.

It turned out good. I switch from a conventional to HVLP gun and my pearl layer came out much better. I am not sure I am going to pearl the outside myself but I feel much better about it.

Epoxy, primer and sealer complete



Base complete


Pearl/Clear complete


before


after


I think we are going to go ahead and put the body back on the frame to begin working on the inside and prepping the outside for paint. We have the chassis basically complete. We will spend the next week getting the small things done on the chassis and then marry it back to the body.

[CJ5]

12/27/11

We were able to get a lot done lately.

I found a package from BJ's when I got home the other day...Carpet Kit!! Of course we had to lay it out to see how it would look.



I seems like a good quality kit. Complete with the mat backing and even some wool pieces to lay down first. I bought extra to do the bottom of the seats. I may even add some to the bottom of the door panels. It looks good against the pearl paint.

We also began the task of redoing the headliner. I just bought material locally since I was trying to match seat belts. I could not get nutmeg belts so I got tan and will do the headliner in tan and add some tan to the seats.

We cleaned the board first using a wire brush. Then made a few repairs.



Then we sprayed glue on both material and board, waited until tacky and smoothed it out with light touch. We worked only half the board at a time.


It came out OK. I see some dimples. I could not clean the board any better. The cardboard material had small divots in it and I thought they would show. I may redo and had heard you could just use the reverse side of the board. I may try that if I cannot live with the job.


Jared and I cleaned up all of our wiring in the roof and made sure all connections were soldiered well and in good order.


We also added our dynamat knock off from Eastwood and then installed our wiring.


We painted up our trim pieces and also painted the rear arm rests to test how the paint would work on the vinyl.


Then we installed our headliner. It came out good. The previous crease can still be seen a little but overall it came out good.


Next step will be to put the body back on the frame. Adding anything else is just going to increase the weight and make the job harder. We only need to fill the diffs, tranny and TC and install the driveshafts. Should get all the done by next weekend.

[CJ5]

1/16/12

We are continuing to make progress on finishing the chassis. We decided to halt any body work until we have the body back on the frame. There are still a lot of things to do to get the body done. We blasted the fenders and grill and still have the doors and hood left.





We also gathered up all of the small parts and brackets and got them sand blasted as well. Hopefully the blasting will be over soon. I have had my fill of it.

We finished coating the manifolds, Y -pipe and heat valve. I mounted these but still may send them to be baked if I can work it out. It would provided a better finish later, if I could.



Right now, we are mocking up all of our motor parts and brackets. We want to make sure everything fits and we have all of the proper nuts ad bolts, etc. Once this is complete, we will send these parts over to a buddy to have powder coated. We think we will just do black on all the brackets, including the power steering pump bracket.


I have been working with several guys on the board for the CS144 alt conversion and have gotten it test mounted. This will be a much better charging system than the stock one. I also am waiting on the stock Sanden AC brackets I purchased on the board. I will test fit those with the new Sanden compressor and get those brackets coated also.


You would be suprised how many small things need to be done. I thought we would have the body back on the frame but the more I review everything the more I find things to be done. It is much easier to knock out everything we can before the body goes back on. We finished the wiring harness on the tranny and TC, we placed all of the tranny cooling lines and shifting linkage. Drive shafts are in, hitch installed, everything lubed and full of fluids. There are still a few more things but the body should go on soon. I will get plenty of pics of the chassis once complete.

[CJ5]

2/12/12

It has been a month since I updated. It has been a little slow going. I have been trying to get the paint on the roof line fixed and I am not that good at blending...especially, tri-coat blending. I want to finish this before we put the body back on.

So, we are working to get anything and everything done on the chasiss while I fumble through the painting.

We sandblasted all of the brackets for the motor. We also aquired a sanden A/C bracket from the board so we can convert from York. We also got a lower alt bracket so we can do the CS144 conversion.



Pay no attention to the YJ. The tires give away how long it has been since we had it out. I am going to get it ready to sell. No since in it sitting there wasting away.

A buddy has set up a powedercoating syste, so we got the parts ready and spent a day at his place. I opted for the black mirror.


Powdered all of the brackets. Then we assembled everything. We have pretty much done all we can on the motor and chassis. There are a few little things we will finish. I just need to get the body back on and get back to body work and paint prep. Here are pics of where we are.








The progress is slow but it is steady.

[CJ5]

2/19/12

We have made another milestone today!










We still have a long way to go but having the body joined to the frame will give us plenty of things to piddle with and move along at a good pace. I also want to give a shout out to Crist! I have his air cleaner sticker placed.

[CJ5]

3/13/12

Sorry, I have not updated in a few weeks. Baseball started and I am coaching my 12yo so time is more limted.

We are working on the body. There are about 5 spots that need filler. They are not too large but my skills are lacking. It seems I put on 5lbs of filler and sand off 4.9lbs.



The good news is that the passenger side doesn't have anything that I have noticed, yet. Since I am terrible at body work, I fill time doing other things.

We are prepping small parts for assembly later. We diassembled the heater core plentum and cleaned it. Also put in a new heater core and fixed the resistor. One of the spades was trying to break through the backing so we JB welded it.

before


after


We also are in the process of diassembling and cleaning/painting the fan/moto housing, condensor, wiper motor and linkage, emergency brake mech., and power brake booster among other things.

We have the fenders, tailgate and grill sanded and prepped for paint.

Last weekend we went on a big family camping trip. It rained hard the first night but was beautiful for the next 3 days. It was a nice relaxing break.

[CJ5]

3/25/12

Thanks, Cory.

Finally, sandblasting is done. We moved on to getting the other parts ready for painting.

We were able to get the hood, fenders, grill and tailgate epoxy primed. The only left to expoxy are the doors. We did body work on all of these pieces so they are ready for paint when the time comes.





Pay no attention to the striped paint job on the hood. We were using up extra primer we were using on the tail gate and other parts.



We prepped the fenders and grill for paint. Epoxy, primer, sealer, base, pearl and clear. They are complete. We went ahead and pre-fit everything prior so we don't run into any issues. We made sure all of our bolts where accounted for and attached so they will be painted. Everything turned out great!



The more we paint the more we know we will have to have someone paint the outside to get a great job. I still think I can get the primer, sealer and base on. I will want someone to shoot one coat of base, the pearl and clear coat. This should save some money. However, I have an issue. First, to get the body ready I need to assemble. Right now, none of the interior is done, incuding steering. Will someone take it like that? If so, good but it would be best after the paint is done to remove the front clip so I can complete all of the things in the engine bay. If they will not, I will need to complete a lot of the interior and engine bay prior to sending it out. I wouldn't think it needs to run or anything. If it has too, that presents another set of problems. I am going to decide on a paint shop and discuss with them before I go any futher.

[CJ5]

3/27/12

Front clip in..still a along way to go but I had to give you guys a teaser. Lord knows I have stared at it long enough.






__________________

[CJ5]

4/9/12

We are adding some things to the engine bay while we complete the body. BTW, we have the body work done. We are taking our time and glazing anything we find is not perfect. Hopefully that will pay off with the final painting.

Anyway, new canister, the starter relay, battery tray added.


Cleaned evaporator and added new dryer and new seals in all. I have located someone local to crimp the new lines and also provide a new line from dryer to condensor. Also added new radiator and shroud.


There is a gap between shroud and radiator and the radiator pressed up against the grill so we put some pipe insulation on both surfaces. Maybe it will work out.



There isn't much progress on this side. We did add vacuum storage canister and wiper motor. We will not add anything to this fender yet since we will need to remove to work easily on th steering, wiring and a few odds and ends on this side. The washer tank is nice and clean so we will use it. I tried a bunch of tricks on the overflow tank including the rock salt, muratic acid, and even tried rit dye to dye it brown but no go. I ended up ordering an aluminum overflow from BJ's.



The best addition since last update are the new tires. We went with 32/11.5/15 Yokohama AT. Nice tread pattern but not to aggressive. They look nice.

I need to finish the doors. The hood and tailgate are finished and have a coat of expoxy primer, as well as the hinges. Once the doors are done I think we will hang everything and begin the final stages of primer, sealer and base. Then pearl and clear in the inside of each and the jambs. This will leave the final base, pearl and clear on the exterior. Then we can begin the final phase of the interior.

My son got his permit last month so he will be driving before long. It is a good thing I started this project when I did. I still have a ways to go. I have not been able to do anything in the past few months. I coached baseball for my youngest, then we did 3 weeks of all-stars, a downstairs den and bath remodel (gotta keep the wifey happy) then vacation then our annual July 4th bash. I put the finishing touches on the remodel last week.

I did begin the engine bay wiring rework this week, so I have started back. I hope to be able to move along and get some things knocked out. I will have some updated pics soon.

[CJ5]

7/28/12

Finally, an update. We are back on the project.

We had our a/c hoses redone to go along with the new compressor and other parts. The plan is for a conversion from the R22.


Are there any rules about the a/c hoses touching the heater hoses? I image the temps will not affect each other but I am not sure. I located one a/c hose so it rides on the clamp of the heater hose. I would like the other a/c and heater hose to loop next to each other but was not sure if them touching would be an issue. Thoughts?


With all of the talk of vapor lock, I wanted to reroute the fuel hoses. I ran a hard line from the pump just long enough to clear the distributor and p/s pump. Then we ran braided hose. We will be adding dress up end clamps but this shows what we are planning. I cut the hard line (return) so it ends just at the bottom of the body and will run the return hose down and along the firewall to the hard line. This will keep that hose neat, clean and out of the heat. I will run the braided line as shown, up and away from the valve cover and away from the intake and manifold and then up to the firewall. I mounted the filter to the firewall by making a "clip" using a piece of cut PVC. I added a spacer and that gives it some breather room away from the firewall. Then the hose will be a short length to the carb. Anyone see any issues here?


I also began working on the engine bay wiring. There will be a few wires I can remove like the module wires. We will begin checking and soldiering all of the joints and removing/replacing any fuseable links.





To get my head around the wiring, and for future reference, I draw my own schematics. I will need to show what I removed and what I added but here is what it looks like stock. Maybe this will help others.



We have just a few more things to finish before we put the other fender back on and start the final process for painting the exterior. Anything I can do besides paint and body I am doing...urg!
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[CJ5]

8/8/12

We are currently getting our doors in shape. A few door dings to bondo out and sand smooth. These are the only pieces I have to epoxy primer. Then we can move on to getting the tailgate, doors and hood primed, sanded and painted. The plan is to then install and do a final coat of paint then pearl/clear the insides and door jambs. That will leave only the exterior to finish.

We cleaned and prepped all of the door parts and recieved our replacement parts; wipes, channels and gaskets. The vent window gaskets were fine so we just need to relubricate them into great shape.



We took the vent window structure apart. Had to drill out th rivets. Found a source through another thread for the rivets, etc. The window channels are riveted to the channels as well as the side rubber weatherstripping.



The Eastwood polishing kit was worth the money already. The stainless parts shined up nicely. I am not 100% happy with the mirrors since I cannot replace the plastic portion and I can only do so much with what I have. The mirror did polich up nicely though.



We also completed our fuel system by relocating the filter and running new brainded lines. They are the cheaper kind but dressing it up nicely.



We will clean and prep and test fit the hood and tailgate parts and that will let us move along quickly once the final painting is done.

[CJ5]

8/19/12




We hung the doors and checked everything for fitment. All of the door parts have been cleaned, painted polished and test fit. It is all in a bin awaiting installation. Did not adjust yet since we will remove them one last time to prime and paint the inside. We purchased all of the necessary door channels, seals, etc. It should be a clean install once everything is painted.



I went ahead an put the driver fender back on, as well. Everything left over in the engine bay will have to be done the hard way now. We also installed the washer fluid resivoir and our new BJ's overflow tank. I tried to save the original but it was just to stained.




We spent the day tackling the tailgate parts. We are test fitting and cleaning, painting these. Trying to make sure everything works and fits properly. We will take inventory of the replacement parts needed. I had already purchased door channels and wipes. We will also have to rework all of the wiring and switch.





I appreciate all of the nice words, the techincal assistance and cheering section. It makes the project fun knowing others are doing, have done and'/or enjoy the same passion. I hope this build is intersting. If I am not posting enough info or you would like to see something specific let me know. Tips and advice are always welcomed![/img]

[CJ5]

9/3/12

We have all parts finished with the expoxy primer and have just about finished with primer.



First coat of primer on the body and we went around and sanded and fixed every little nick and scratch we could find. We alos hung the hood and tailgate and did the same.





We put a second coat of primer, and hopefully the last on the body. We will double check all of our work and get it ready for paint. We still have to doors to prime but we did all the prep work on them already so it should be just add primer and done.





I think we may be ready to paint in the next couple of weeks. The plan is to get at least one coat of paint in the inside and edges the tailgate, and doors and the jambs. Then hang them and give them another coat. I think this way we can make sure get the paint even and don't miss anything. With them hung the bottoms and insid corners will be harder to get.



The door, hood and tailate parts are all prepped, painted and polished so once the paint is done we should make some serious progress.

I have asked around, sent pics to shops, etc and have not been able to find anyone who wanted to do just the top coats. I even checked with my paint supplier trying to find a guy with experience who would be willing to spray it for me. I have not had any luck. Most don't want to spray the paint and be responsible. With today's economy you would think someone out there could use the money. I am sure I could go to a maaco or the like but I am not sure I would get best results. The custom places I did get responses gave me quotes in the 9-7k range. The tri-coat pearl really jacks the price up.

I had an experienced guy I talked with on Pirate who said he would do it but after several conversations he has never made any contact with me. That tells me his interest is not that great.

My plan is do the paint. I can do that part. It will take longer than normal and I will use much more paint but I know I can get that done. The problem I have, and the part I was seeking help is the pearl coat. I did the interior parts and it came out good but the body is huge and there is a lot of surface area. I am afraid I cannot get it perfectly even. If I mess up it will be noticed. But, based on my inability to find someone, I have decided to do it myself. I think I can set my gun low, take my time and really concentrate I can get it right. I am watching a lot of you tube video's and reading a lot. This is about the best I can do right now.

[CJ5]

9/26/12

I have an update but it is not the one I wanted to post next.

I had everything primered and ready to go but did some more internet reading and talking to people and decided to block sand one more time. Well, I am not happy I did but I am glad I did...does that make sense?

Based on how it turned out, I know I will get a better final product.





This extra work now means I will need to apply another coat of epoxy and two more coats of primer. Urgggg!





I am pretty happy now with everything. I just have the tailgate to finish and I should be back where I thought I was a month ago. The good news is I have talked to several guys, and on inparticular from the autobody101 board who have given me great advice and help. I feel like I can do all of the paint myself and they will walk me through it.

I hope to get the inside doors, tailgate and hood and the associated jambs painted in the next 2 weeks. Then I can hang everything and get ready for final paint....I know, I think I have posted this same thing for about 3 months.