Spared A LOT of expense #10 Build

Showcase your Jurassic Park vehicle, or build progress.
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ih8pepl
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Spared A LOT of expense #10 Build

Post by ih8pepl » October 16th, 2018, 11:17 pm

Been lurking for a while and figured id post my Jurassic Jeep progress. I have 2 other Offroad Jeeps that suck up a ton of $$$. So this was a side project built with the intentions of being a fun daily driver... when its not raining or winter. Still some minor finishing to do before its 100%.

I knew from the start I would do #10 because for one its my favorite JP Jeep, it has the best scene and most screen time in the film. Its also unique in that its a Jeep, but looks much different than other modern Jeeps on the road due to the lack of the rollbar. Plus its the cheapest to build. No light bar, no soft top or soft top frame, no rollbar padding to buy.

So......
Bought a 95 S model YJ off Craigslist for $650
Manual 4 banger. 129k miles. Started, ran surprisingly well, moved under its own power, stopped. Clean title. Had a frame. And RUSTY like you would not believe! Former plow Jeep
Immediately sold the full doors and hardtop for $350
Net starting cost $300 :mrgreen:
Started to instantly regret buying a rust bucket... It was discouraging to see how bad the rust damage was. This YJ was realistically a parts Jeep or Scrap. So I stepped away from it for a month
Watched Jurassic park and got re-motivated...
Removed the rollbars - no turning back!
Took the body down to bare metal & media blasted everything that was salvageable - even hardware
Taught myself how to stitch weld sheet metal and began patching holes. Ended up replacing 30% of the body tub sheet metal - and that's just the tub!
New: fenders, flares, bumper, windshield frame, tailgate, front floors, top cowl, rear valance, rear floors, body mount brackets, rear frame crossmember, brackets/hinges, odds and ends
Found some rough half doors on CL that needed TLC
Taught myself extensive bodywork & metal work using hammers & dollies, Fillers, body adhesives, and sanding techniques. Only filler used was to cover the stich welding imperfections
Monstalined the floors "Jungle Love"
Bought all the correct Sahara interior parts and carpet off ebay and CL over a year and a half. Replaced the dash backing plate and pad with like new old parts. Painted all dash plastics
Painted it - Already had some experience with DIY painting Jeeps so that helped a lot and I already had the guns and some supplies from previous projects - did it all in a home garage
PPG Low Gloss Sand Beige and Hot Rod Flatz "Tractor red" which I feel is a better match than Radiant Fire or Ford Performance Red, both of which look too deep in red color
New tires, brake lines, front brakes, lights, hoses, windshield, weather stripping, full exhaust, gas tank skid, cb radio. body mounts, seat belts. Lots of hardware. Full fluid changes
And of course, added all the Jurassic Park related stuff. DANG those Knaack boxes are pricy!

Total project cost including the price of the Jeep = $4500 bucks give or take 8-) I still have a few small holes in the frame to fix before I clean that up and call it good, so it will creep up a bit. Its was a lot of time and a lot of work but I think it shows that no matter how small your budget and bad your starting point is... you can still build a Jurassic Jeep without going broke.

Yikes... Its hard to see all the horrible bondo bodywork the previous owner did, and check out the rust holes. Notice it says "Jee" on the side because a 9" hole ate the "P"
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1 year later...
Not the nicest JP Jeep out there, but it gets the point across. Only visual differences are the REP8000 winch, whip antenna and Tow Eyelets on the front bumper which I like cause they look cool.
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Last edited by ih8pepl on October 28th, 2018, 11:13 pm, edited 18 times in total.
1995 YJ - JP #10 ~ Rollbars? We don't need no stinking rollbars!
1951 G740 Willys M38
2005 LJ Rubicon - Highlined, 37"s

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JP Junkie
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Location: Minnesota
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Re: Spared A LOT of expense #10 Build

Post by JP Junkie » October 17th, 2018, 12:11 am

Damn dude. That came out nice! I'm also doing a 10 (My favorite) I think I've spent that much on restoring my Jeep so far and I still need to paint lol

Have any more photos?
Jurassic Park Jeep 10: Completed - Location: Minnesota
https://www.facebook.com/JPMaintenanceJeep/
Remember... a correct font is as important as the correct paint color!
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ih8pepl
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Joined: March 25th, 2017, 9:17 pm
Location: SW Wisconsin
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Re: Spared A LOT of expense #10 Build

Post by ih8pepl » October 17th, 2018, 12:50 am

JP Junkie wrote:Damn dude. That came out nice! I'm also doing a 10 (My favorite) I think I've spent that much on restoring my Jeep so far and I still need to paint lol

Have any more photos?
Thanks! Ive checked out your build in the past - and it looks like its going to be amazing when its done.

I don't have a whole lot of progress pics because I was seriously bummed by how much work had to be done. Once I got going, I was going at it so hard I didn't have time to stop and take pics. I was pulling 10-14 hour days just working on the Jeep. It ate up 100% of my free time.

Im waiting on a new winch cable and once I get that Ill take her out and get some better pics before winter sets in and it goes back into hiding for the season.
1995 YJ - JP #10 ~ Rollbars? We don't need no stinking rollbars!
1951 G740 Willys M38
2005 LJ Rubicon - Highlined, 37"s

User avatar
JP Junkie
Posts: 212
Joined: January 4th, 2016, 12:29 am
Location: Minnesota
Contact:

Re: Spared A LOT of expense #10 Build

Post by JP Junkie » October 17th, 2018, 11:58 am

ih8pepl wrote:
JP Junkie wrote:Damn dude. That came out nice! I'm also doing a 10 (My favorite) I think I've spent that much on restoring my Jeep so far and I still need to paint lol

Have any more photos?
Thanks! Ive checked out your build in the past - and it looks like its going to be amazing when its done.

I don't have a whole lot of progress pics because I was seriously bummed by how much work had to be done. Once I got going, I was going at it so hard I didn't have time to stop and take pics. I was pulling 10-14 hour days just working on the Jeep. It ate up 100% of my free time.

Im waiting on a new winch cable and once I get that Ill take her out and get some better pics before winter sets in and it goes back into hiding for the season.
Right on! Thanks for checking mine out also! I totally understand about not having time for photos. I get in a groove working and forget to grab the camera lol

Looking forward to seeing them!
Jurassic Park Jeep 10: Completed - Location: Minnesota
https://www.facebook.com/JPMaintenanceJeep/
Remember... a correct font is as important as the correct paint color!
Image

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ih8pepl
Posts: 44
Joined: March 25th, 2017, 9:17 pm
Location: SW Wisconsin
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Re: Spared A LOT of expense #10 Build

Post by ih8pepl » October 21st, 2018, 2:53 pm

A few of the front... Still a project but im fairly happy with it.

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1995 YJ - JP #10 ~ Rollbars? We don't need no stinking rollbars!
1951 G740 Willys M38
2005 LJ Rubicon - Highlined, 37"s

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