JP18 in Northern Ireland

[Bryan]

I bought my Jeep back in July last year shortly after going to see Jurassic World. I had known about the Jeep for many years - it had been sitting in the same spot outside a local house for a long time never moving. I approached him and not long after I was able to buy it for a very good price. It's a 1995 Sahara 4.0 edition with the correct seats but it has a tan interior. I think I'll keep the tan interior though unless I can find a replacement. It only has 88,000 miles on the clock too. It was off the road from 2007 until 2015 so that explains the low mileage.

This was what it looked like on the day I brought it home:


I soon discovered that finding parts for these Jeeps in the UK is a nightmare. I couldn't get hold of a front bumper for a decent price so I had one made up out of 3mm sheet steel.



I had to order the bumper end caps from America



After a while I eventually found the correct set of wheels and the correct tyres

[Bryan]

Three weeks ago I started into dismantling the Jeep in preparation for its respray



Since then I have been busy sanding, priming, flating, sanding, priming, filling, priming etc etc.

I also removed the stupid european specification indicators and side lamps and welded up the holes in the wings



Continued to sand down...



And this is what it looks like tonight



I'm hoping to get the base coat painted tomorrow if it isn't raining and it's a decent temperature.

[mickep77]

Looking good

[Bryan]

The weather was great today so we were able to get the base coat colour painted.




It looks very silvery in the photos but in real life there is a tint of beige/gold.

I've still got the other fender flares, both side steps and the windscreen frame to paint. I've ordered a new windscreen frame but I'm still waiting on it to arrive from Germany.

You can get a better idea of the colour from this photo (iphone vs Android above!)

[ratrace427]

sand beige poly will do that in photos. at night with your flash on it will look gold.

[Bryan]

We've had a nightmare of a time with the base colour - painted it three times since the photos above. Just couldn't get a decent enough finish. Anyway today we moved on to the red. It took all morning to measure up and mask everything.

Major milestone reached though...





The red obviously needs to dry and then it'll be flatted back and polished so it won't be as shiney. It's too shiney at the minute in contrast to the beige.

[Bryan]

Got the side number painted on today although I got a run in the paint and it will need done again



Also took the roll cage out and gave it a lick of this lovely sand beige colour as well. I'm glad I took it out because when these jeeps were new they must put the roll cage in and then paint it so under the mounting points was covered in surface rust. I've already dealt with that and the roll cage is ready to go back in again.



Had to fabricate little brackets to mount the fog lights to the front bumper



And with the brackets painted the fog lights can be mounted to the bumper. The fog lights aren't the correct Jeep sahara fog lights but these are impossible to come by in the UK so these will do fine.



It's starting to take shape now. I'm just waiting on the seal for the windscreen and the adhesive to come in the post before I can put it back in again.

[Bryan]

Tonight's escapades...

Last night I repaired the dashboard frame - the corner had completely rusted off on the driver's side and really annoyed me. I was able to set a piece in and weld it flush.



I also flatted the half doors down and primed them (before running out of primer though). Dashboard frame also primed. I hope to get the half doors painted at the weekend.



And now because I'm trying to stick to originality the windscreen frame is painted sand beige on the inside and red on the outside. This meant a lengthly task of masking up the rear of it so that none of the red got onto the sand beige paint.



And finally, the wheel painted red - just 4 more to go now!

[Bryan]

Got the dashboard painted and fitted...



I know spice isn't original there aren't many of these Jeeps over here and finding a grey dashboard is next to impossible. I would change it in the future if I do come across the correct parts.

Then continued to build it up from the front to the back. The windscreen isn't fixed yet because I had to install the wiper motor before I can do that but otherwise it's starting to look like it should do...



The JP logo on the bonnet is painted so that it is the same colour of red as the rest

[Bryan]

Repainted the front bumper and the stainless steel thing satin black. All important JP number plate installed as well



I've just some tow hooks to make up to fill those gaps and that'll be the front done (for now). I hope to eventually get a Ramsey winch to sit in there.

Got the soft top fitted back on to stretch it back into shape and the newly painted wing mirrors. It could do with a new soft top but I can't afford that right now so that will have to wait.



The carpets are off getting professionally cleaned so once they come back I'll be able to get the rest of the interior installed.

Things still to do:
- Refit interior
- Wire in new indicators under headlights to replace the ones on the wings
- Source low power bulbs for spot lights to be able to use them as side lights as replacements for the wing mounted ones
- Fit side steps properly