Build Thread: Chief Laredo

[CJ5]

I did not save a copy of the IFSJA thread, obviously.

I will decide how to bring some of it back here but will update my current progress from here on out.

[Florida83FSJCherokee]

So sorry Tim. ,

You and Brad I feel for the most from this whole ordeal.

Thanks for lighting a new torch and not leaving the build in the dark ...

JP

RE-SUBCRIBED

[Road Trip]

Post as much as you can from the various phases of your build. I know I'd like to refer to them as I start out of the hole I'm in!

[CJ5]

10/20/2010
Well, it is time. This will be my second frame off restore project. This one is more special since it is my first father/son project. I wanted to pass down the coolness of one of my favorite trucks. This will be his first vehicle and he will be able to participate in a complete restore project, which I hope gives him some invaluable exprience. This will also end up being his truck when he turns 16 so he will be invested in it and appreciate it more, I hope. The good thing for me is he was open to a Cherokee. I just love these as they bring back a lot of good memories when I ran the roads and think it will be a perfect truck for a teenager. I really hope when he gets older and decides he needs to buy something on his own he will give it back to me. I tried to trade my Suburban to him already and he declined.

We started out with a near perfect jeep to begin. I purchased this from someone on the board. It is in almost perfect shape and bigdaddy sold it for such a good price I almost felt like I stole it from him. It has run flawless since I bought it nearly a year ago and I hate to start the project. We have a good timeline for the project since my son will not be 16 for another 2 years.

We called the project Chief Laredo since we both like the Chief badges/decals but we found a Laredo. Will will stay with the Laredo package and badges but add the Chief badge and decals. We plan on doing a complete frame-off. Th goal is to restore it back to btter than new quality. I hope to be able to document and share this from start to finish with my fellow jeepers. Your suggestions and input wil be invaluable!

The before pics 10/1/2010

[CJ5]

10/20/10
It certainly is a cream puff. The only thing wrong right now is the drivers seat is ragged. The plan is to make it like new. It is 27 years old. I want to get it back to new quality and make it a project for my son.

The plan is to do a complete frame off, to include new upholestry, new carpet, new paint in and out, new updated exhaust, refurbished bumpers, chrome and SS. Rebuild/Replace the hardparts as needed, new springs (which we already did) and refurbish and or replace the motor, wiring, etc.

We are about to finalize the outside color, order in the carpet and then decide what interior colors to go with. Unfortunatley, I cannot get the nutmeg carpet so we are going with the light tan, which may require us to change colors on things like door panels, seats, trim, etc.

I want it to be finished basically stock, with a few modern upgrades.


10/3/10
I read a lot of hesitation from you guys on my plan. I can understand and if I bought it for me I would run it. You cannot find one of these in this shape for $2800. However, the restore was the plan from the begining.

I have sourced the striping already. I have sourced a place to send the bumpers for replating. Every pirce of SS trim is perfect but some of the chrome has a little bit of pitting. All should cleanup well. Body work should be fairly easy, as I have identified only 7 dings/dents that need attention. There is absolutely no rust to speak of. He originally wanted to go with the smoke grey and chief badges/decals but I was able to talk him into keeping it white (or close enough) which will help.

I mispoke on the nutmeg carpet, we can get but decided to change the carpet to a lighter color. In doing that we have to decide how much nutmeg interior we can keep. Before we tear it down I plan on getting the carpet in so we can see what looks good. I hope to keep the dash pad the same. Everything else can be changed/painted or dyed. The hardest to replace is the piece on the top of the doors so maybe we can keep that. We will keep the dash original with the exception of upgrading the radio. Man I hate to lose the am/fm/cb. All of the trim is there but I need front arm rests and seat belt covers/trim.

We plan on keeping the 360. The a/c works fine and the engine and hardparts all seem sound. There are so fleeting thoughts of putting in a modern 6.0 liter but I don't really want to get into all that, though it would be nice. We will do new seals, bearings, hoses, through out. I don't anticpate a complete rewire but may need to do that.

Today, the color we decided on is the off white pearl found on the new cadillacs. I think it will go great with the nutmeg/brown striping. I am still investigating that. I can paint the interior but don't want to try to paint the exterior unless I have to. A complete paint job is a budget buster. I am estimating a budget of 10k. I will sell my YJ since we just don't get to go rock crawling much anymore.

Anyway, sorry for all the talk. I am excited and ready to get started. We will begin today with removing exterior trim and begin fixing dings and dents.

[CJ5]

We have stripped the interior, less the dash. The doors and windows removed. The read gate removed, hood, etc. The fenders are pulled off, the wire loom hase been labled and removed from the motor. I have run some compression checks on the motor to determine what work it needs, also. The next step is to remove the dash and parts. Hopefully in the next few weeks we can roll the chasis out from under the body and then begin the hard work.

I have some repair on the passenger floor board, due to A/C, I guess. Other than it looks pretty good.

[CJ5]

1/31/11
Thanks for the reply's.

I was lucky to find a great starting Jeep. If it was just for me, I would drive it like I bought it, which I did for several months. The main reason for the purchase and restore is for my son. I enjoy working on Jeeps and it is another thing him and I can do together. Plus, in this day and age working on vehicles is just lost on the last few generations. I think it is great experience for a kid to learn to work on vehicles. That knowledge can be used many ways as he grows older. Also, where we are most kids get new cars handed to them. I want my son to know the real world doesn't work that way. Like me and most people, you have to work to get something and sometimes it takes a lot of work. If I accomplish my goal, he will take more pride in his Jeep and be more responsible about how it runs it and what he does with it.

I am going to do somethings to the motor. I want to keep it original as possible which is why I am not going to drop in a "modern" engine. There are some things we can do to the 360 to make it more fuel effecient. It is a durable motor. We will freshen it up and then trick it out a little. I am still considering my build plan on it.

The Loredo stripes will be problematic but I have made contact with someone who says they can replicate them. If not, I know I can go back with something similar using pin striping in various width's with the exact colors. The style may not be exact but it will be close enough.

We are a few weeks from seperating the body from the chasis and then the real work beings.

[CJ5]

We reached a milestone...though many more miles to go!








Plan now is to remove the tranny and TC and send to the shop for refresh. Pull motor and decide what we are going to do with it. Sand blast frame and get it ready to paint and start work on the body. There is a lot to be done.

[CJ5]

3/6/11
Jared and I pulled the motor and tranny. I thing I know is I will not be reusing those 12 point, crappy, whatever they call u-joint strap bolts. Jeez



The transmission has a Jasper sticker, seems it may be a replacement from the previous owner. Jared helping pull it. Trans and TC going to the shop to be freshened up.



Everything else was removed. I found a good local supplier for abrasives and supplies (F&S Equipment). Tried a bag of the course Black Beauty and worked to dial in the sandblaster. I hope Jared can finish the frame during spring break. It worked well so far. Funny how the flash turned the sand white.



Motor is on stand as I plot a plan for it. A buddy has a good engine builder for me. I would love to let Jared actually help me build the motor but I want this thing to be perfect and have a useful life. We will tear it down and all and visit the machine shop to watch though.





....and what would a rebuild be without a shop dog hanging out and helping.

[CJ5]

3/7/11
I bought that sandblaster at Harbour Freight probably 10 years ago. This is the third project using it and he has done well. The first two projects I was using a 5hp portable compressor and it did ok but put to much pressure on the compressor. I now have a IR 20HP 35cfm compressor and the blaster works great. It can be a hassle getting everything dialed in just right bu once you do it works really good.

6/7/11
I have not updated in a while. Progress takes a back seat to baseball, wife, band, golf, and work. Not necessarily in that order..lol.


The sand basting has been completed on most all hard parts and frame. All hard parts for replacement are in stock, save for a few odds and ends.




We cleaned the frame well and then applied the after blast product from eastwood. I think it may end up working really good. You can see the color difference below. It really cleans and etches the frame well.


We did the same for the diffs, brake parts, spring hangers, u-bolts, calipers, shields, etc. All will get primer and top coat same as the frame. We are using the Eastwood extreme chassis primer and chassis blaxk satin products. I have used Por on my previous restore and was happy but wanted to try something different. The frame came out well.






I will get some pics of the hard parts and diffs next update.

I am glad this part is done. Now we at least get to start rebuilding something. Next step is to put on the springs and diffs. Then start reassembling the axles, ujoints, and brakes and getting back to a rolling chassis. With baseball over, and the boys out for summer I expect to progress a little quicker....maybe.

[CJ5]

6/24/11
We finally where able to get some more work done. This is the part I enjoy; putting things together.

We finished the frame and attached the diffs. We are putting a 2" lift on it. I did that prior to starting the project and I liked the stance. Like mentioned before, if he wants to go wheeling he has several other options.


As can be seen, the diff slide off the jack and pushed a dent in it. Heck, those things must be recycled pie tins. It barely fell. I will look at it and see if I can fix it. If not then decide do I go with something more study? He is a kid after all and I don't want to take a midnight trip to the woods because he hit a rock or stump. If someone has a stock AMC 20 cover let me know I may want to buy it.



The internal gears all looked good so I don't have to do anything there. It has 3.31 gears. I have not decided everything I am doing to the motor, so I am holding off on gears. I want best mileage, great torque, moderate speed/quickness and smooth sailing.....not much to ask for..LOL. I may get the seals and all replaced anyway but they looked good and I have no leaks.



This is the next step. We are prepping hard parts. We will complete front and rear axles; Axle seals and bearings, new drums, shoes, wheel cylinders, brake parts, rotors, same calipers, new pads, bushings, and ball joints. The hubs were fine so we will just rebuild those. Jared gets to do ball joints. He may learn a few cuss words with that job! He should get some good experience with brakes too. That alone will save him tons of money over the years!



So far, I think we are into it for about $1500.00, including bushings, front end parts like tie rods, new brake lines, hitch, etc. That isn't bad for a new and complete rolling chassis. I am doing my part to help the economy. At this rate the guys at BJ's won't have any problem buying the kids a new pair of shoes come winter.

[CJ5]

7/8/11

We are making progress. The rear axles are in, backing plate and wheel cylinders. I am waiting to finish the brakes with Jared. We didn't have any issues pressing the old bearings off and the new ones on.



Rear end buttoned up. I am debating a lunchbox locker for the rear but will deal with that later. A buddy owns a shop and we will decide when I send it for the exhaust.



We got the ball joints pressed in no problem, but we had an issue with a mismatched split ring seal so we could not install the knuckles.



Axles ujoints are in and ready to install once we get the knuckles installed.



We have the calipers, drums and rotors ready. We did paint using high temp paint and will clean all machined surfaces prior to install.



Once we get the ball joint issue resovled we can finish up front axles and button it up. We have the steering linkage, sway bar, spindles and rear brake parts prepped and ready to install.


We are awaiting the replacement brake lines to finish the brakes. Then we can blast the gas tank coffin and prep the tank and it get ready to install. While we wait for the final parts to arrive, we are going to start prepping the wiring harness than runs the length of the frame to the rear.

[CJ5]

7/16/11

We are begining to finish up the chassis by finishing the brakes and front axles. Finished the rear today and we are waiting on replacement ball joints to finish the front.

Hubs prepped and ready. Yes, an inner gear is missing but I do have it.


Rear Brakes prepped. I replaced the old springs with a BJ spring kit. Word of caution; the kit is missing the primary shoe down spring, adjuster spring and parking brake strut spring so don't chunk your old stuff until after you are finished with the install.


and the finished product;


I am not happy with the adjuster screw and the position of the lower spring as it rides on the screw adjustment wheel. I will inquire in another thread.

Will update again as we get the front assembled.

[CJ5]

7/26/11

We now have the ball joint issue resolved and was able to make some progress. We have the knuckles installed.



Axles, thrust washer and seal installed



and then spindle and disc brake backing plate installed





and finished the portion by installing the tie rod and stabilzer bar



All of this went as planned. I am a little concerned about the tight movement of the knuckles. They are not to spec with the manual (25ft lbs) at 40 ft lbs. I saw no real fix in the manual except to replace. I think they will loosen up as they get some movement and will recheck once it has some miles on it.



The next step will be to finish the rotors, brakes and hubs. Once that is done we will be back to a rolling chassis.

[CJ5]

7/31/11

We got a lot done this week. We were able to finished the front axles and brakes.





We got everything installed and in working order.



Hubs cleaned and prepped and then installed.







I think I have an issue with my axle seal. I thought about it while I was assembling it but for whatever reason didn't think to check my old rotor to verify. I put the inner seal in and tapped it in until it bottomed out. Today I was looking at my old rotor and saw the seal was flush. I guess I will need to disassemble everything and fix it.


Wrong..unless someone tells me otherwise


We also cleaned our wheels. I originally thought they were some kind of anodized pweter looking color but found out later they were just really bad oxidized. Some paint stripper cleaned them up well. We will finish with a nice polish. You can see the difference.

Before


After


We will finish the tank and skid, steering box and few odd and ends this week. I am waiting on new brake lines before I can reinstall the gas tank and finish the chassis.

Sorry for all the pics, I hope it isn't a drag to some.

[CJ5]

8/13/11

Continuing progress....

We basically have the chassis finished. We are still waiting on the brakes lines to arrive. Once they come in we can finish securing the gas tank and frame wiring.

Rear complete.


The front end complete and tourqued down.


A full view of the progress



The frame wiring cleaned and checked. Ready for fresh loom and reinstall.


This picture may be helpful to some down the road. It is the complete frame harness; starting from the bottom left going clockwise, 2 firewall connectors, rear window connector, defroster, rear lights, rear speakers, fuel tank sender (2), brake proportion valve.

I am having to do some thinking on this harness to see if there may be anyting I want to add. I doubt the speaker wires will be applicable to aftermarket stuff. I am also adding an amp in the rear. I think I will run the new stuff on the inside and let this go as is. I will be adding a class III hitch and wiring so I will add splice those wires into this loom before installing.

There isn't much left on the frame portion of the project. We are starting our work on the body parts. The engine will go to HESCO this week and in a few we should have it and the transmission back. I will keep you all updated with that.

[CJ5]

8/31/11

My past projects

[CJ5]

8/28/11
We fiished the frame and started on the body. Thankfully, there is not a lot of body work but there is ton to do to get the body ready for paint. I had to take the body of the carraige we made to rally get the underneath done properly. The plan is to sand blast and clean the underside of the body first.


We were able to complete the sandblasting. We will spend some time doing some sealing on the seams. There are plenty of those! I noticed there are also plenty of globs of putty stuck in all kinds of places. These things certainly have gaps in thier manufacture...lol.



The plan after seam sealing is to fill the gaps with putty and spray the channels with internal frame coating. Then w will spray the entire bottom with rust encapsulator. This will be our first coating. Then we will spray with primer and paint...later.


We also finished the frame, minus the drivetrain. The motor has been sent to the shop as has the transmission. We got the brake line, gas lines, wiring harness and tank installed. The only thing left is the motor and tranny.

Here are some before and after.

[CJ5]

9/13/11

Work continues on the body. We are doing the bottom and top since we have the tub in the best possible position to get these done.

We decided to paint the bottom. It will look much nicer and it will give us the opportunity to practice our paint skills and work out the details on our paint, specifically the color and amount of pearl coat we use. Once we are done with the bottom and top we can then stand the tub back up right and work on the inside and outside.

We blasted the bottom and fixed a few small rust issues. The sub-frame channels were solid so we welded some patches in and sealed. We also sealed the seams and applied frame putty where necessary.



Once all that was done we applied rust encapsulator to protect the bare metal.



We then applied a coat of primer. Our original plan was to apply two coats, then sealer then basecoat. I was not too concerned about the finish but I was not happy with the smoothness after the first primer coat so we decided to sand smooth. We will spray another coat and lightly sand, then the sealer coat, and 600 grit touch up and then base. I cannot get it perfect with all of the channels, bolt holes, brackets, etc but we are taking our time. I will update with more pics on these steps.




I am trying to figure out if I apply undercoat to the wheel wheels and then paint and clear coat or just paint it like the rest without the undercoat. I think the undercoat would give us more positives but I am concerned that using it may give it to rough of a finish and capture dirt and look bad after a while. Any thoughts?

[CJ5]

9/17/11

The underside is done. Primer, sand, primer, sand, sealer, base coat, pearl tint, clear coat.

Sealer


Basecoat


Pearl/Clear coat


Obviously it is hard to tell anything from the pics. I will get it outside in the sun and see if I can get a better pic.

We rolled it outside in the sun and I have been staring at it all morning. I think we a good on the color. In the sun, it does have a gold tint to it. I believe we got the correct amount of pearl sprayed. I can see severa spots where I didn't get good coverage with my basecoat but all and all I think it turned out good. I may need to invest in a better gun to get a little better spray and consistency.

Before



after


These are some close-ups. It is still hard to see the depth of the paint but it does look good.




We will next work on the roof. That is pretty much a straight panel so it souldn't take long. Once finished, it will be easy to tape and paper it to protect while we move on to the inside. There is a lot to do.

I did the underside to learn and I did figure out several things and the diffeent adjustments to my gun based on what I am spraying. I got a few runs spraying the sealer, I should have know it being a 1:1 mix. After that things went well.

The paint was an Infiniti/Nissan White Pearl #QAB. I chose it because it has a gold pearl and thought it would pop a little with the brown/nutmeg. I saw a car with the color. I am not too happy with it right now. It looks more gray/silver. The base seemed more gray than white. I will have to see it in the sun. The finis itself looks good and has that tri-coat look so that part I am happy with. I will just have to see the color in the sun against the nutmeg door panels or carpet. This is another reason why I painted the bottom first. I can change if I am not happy and no one will be the wiser.

I decided to undercoat the wheel wells. That decision didn't work like I wanted it too. The paint doesn't look good on it so I am going to have to find a fix.

It is hard to tell anything from the pictures but I will try some closeups and different angles in the sun, and post.