JP22 Build Thread - Willamette Valley Oregon

Showcase your Jurassic Park vehicle, or build progress.
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Dwight
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Re: JP22 Build Thread - Willamette Valley Oregon

Post by Dwight » April 6th, 2019, 3:35 pm

Small victories!

My old soft top had a small tear in it so it leaked at the corner when it rained. So thats why my JP18 is a garage queen for now. Im fortunate that I have a townhome with a 1 car garage I can store it in. After I buy a whip antenna, rear fogs, and ramsey winch, i'll get around to buying a new top. I plan on getting the Besttop Soft Top (sailcloth). Heard the sailcloth is a lot more durable and even a little less noisy.

So what are your short term plans for the JP conversion?

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Solace
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Re: JP22 Build Thread - Willamette Valley Oregon

Post by Solace » April 6th, 2019, 4:01 pm

Dwight wrote:Small victories!

My old soft top had a small tear in it so it leaked at the corner when it rained. So thats why my JP18 is a garage queen for now. Im fortunate that I have a townhome with a 1 car garage I can store it in. After I buy a whip antenna, rear fogs, and ramsey winch, i'll get around to buying a new top. I plan on getting the Besttop Soft Top (sailcloth). Heard the sailcloth is a lot more durable and even a little less noisy.

So what are your short term plans for the JP conversion?

One day my garage will have significantly less "Roommate" in it, not that I'm complaining about having a rent-paying friend hanging here for a while :) Til then, I've just been prioritizing the effort to make sure it's water tight. I've read very good things about Bestop, but I figure that since this one isn't significantly damaged, I'd just try to get as much mileage out of it as I can.

As for short term plans, I actually want to try to get the paint done by June. I've arranged to use my relative's covered parking area as a work space for getting everything pulled off the Jeep so that we can do all the sanding and priming there. When it comes time to paint, I'm going to rent some time in a spray booth OR just do it on my on my own in the covered parking area by putting up a bunch of tarps (With obvious considerations for ventilation and general protection).

I just had some normal maintenance done (Oil, brakes, rotors, engine cleaner, etc.) so I'm confident that it's still mechanically sound. Running pretty nicely for a rig with 189,XXX on the odometer!

In the super short term, gonna PB Blast that seat belt screw and any other seized screws in the tub so I can start pulling the interior fixtures out. I'll be cleaning it up, cleaning the seats/mounts, and laying in the fresh new carpet. I have some seat covers for it too (Until I can afford to get a hold of some Sahara seats!).

While I was outside organizing things today, I figured I'd take a few photos of the odds and ends that I've gathered so far.
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Pictured is the set of 5 stock wheels I picked up for around $125 on CL, the amber fog lights that were a freebie (not right, obviously, but hey they were free), and a set of fenders that I got for around $80 from a guy on FB Marketplace. Obviously I only need the steps, so I'll probably sell off the fenders themselves.

But yeah, paint by June, and just interior work between now and then, since that's all I can really do besides pulling unnecessary exterior pieces in preparation for sanding :)
Last edited by Solace on April 8th, 2019, 10:36 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Dwight
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Re: JP22 Build Thread - Willamette Valley Oregon

Post by Dwight » April 6th, 2019, 4:09 pm

Does your roommate know he is supporting your strange Jurassic Park addiction? Just kidding ;)

Those are some clean looking rims! Do you plan on sand blasting them or just sanding them down yourself?

I heard that as long as you do your regular maintenance, these Inline 6's will last forever!

I originally was going to remove all of my interior, and the complete roll cage, but realized that 99% of the interior is covered up by carpet. So I just removed the back seat and painted about an inch into the trunk. I also didn't remove the back part of the roll cage, mainly because the bolts were pretty stubborn and didn't want to even budge. Not because of rust or anything, but because of the paint on them. Wasn't too hard to paint it with the roll cage on though. Also left the front seats in and just back taped and covered the interior up very well.

Love seeing the pics though! The more the merrier!

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Solace
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Re: JP22 Build Thread - Willamette Valley Oregon

Post by Solace » April 6th, 2019, 4:38 pm

Dwight wrote:Does your roommate know he is supporting your strange Jurassic Park addiction? Just kidding ;)

Those are some clean looking rims! Do you plan on sand blasting them or just sanding them down yourself?

I heard that as long as you do your regular maintenance, these Inline 6's will last forever!

I originally was going to remove all of my interior, and the complete roll cage, but realized that 99% of the interior is covered up by carpet. So I just removed the back seat and painted about an inch into the trunk. I also didn't remove the back part of the roll cage, mainly because the bolts were pretty stubborn and didn't want to even budge. Not because of rust or anything, but because of the paint on them. Wasn't too hard to paint it with the roll cage on though. Also left the front seats in and just back taped and covered the interior up very well.

Love seeing the pics though! The more the merrier!

Oh my roomie is acutely aware of my weird and various obsessions :D

Leaving the interior the factory color definitely sounds like it's the best choice xD I don't intend to paint my interior either, I just need everything out so I can clean it up. The riser for the driver's seat has some rust that I need to treat and possibly repaint. Which is weird because there's no visible rust in the foot well, which is where you normally see that kind of damage. If I can't treat the rust (it looks like it's just on the surface where paint was chipped off) then I'll look into some new seat risers.

I will be masking off the interior when I paint. I intend to remove the black soft top mounting plates and give them a fresh coat of black. The transition between the stock green paint and sand beige will be beneath those plates or just over the lip into the tub. I'll leave everything inside the stock green color since it'll be covered by carpet. All but the inside of the windshield, which will OF COURSE be sand beige and NOT red ;)

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Re: JP22 Build Thread - Willamette Valley Oregon

Post by Solace » April 8th, 2019, 10:45 am

Dwight wrote:Those are some clean looking rims! Do you plan on sand blasting them or just sanding them down yourself?
I totally forgot to answer this! However, I'm not really sure yet. It depends on how much sand blasting costs. I'm leaning towards sand blasting since, like you mentioned, these wheels are in REALLY good shape. I don't want to mess them up!

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Re: JP22 Build Thread - Willamette Valley Oregon

Post by Dwight » April 8th, 2019, 11:55 am

So I paid $170 to get all 5 of my rims sand blasted. I'm glad I did because it resulted in some nice looking rims after painting.

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Re: JP22 Build Thread - Willamette Valley Oregon

Post by Solace » April 8th, 2019, 12:58 pm

Dwight wrote:So I paid $170 to get all 5 of my rims sand blasted. I'm glad I did because it resulted in some nice looking rims after painting.
I plan on reaching out for quotes later this week. I think I'll go this route as well, would make for a nice, easy painting process.

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Solace
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Re: JP22 Build Thread - Willamette Valley Oregon

Post by Solace » April 22nd, 2019, 11:58 am

Finally had a sunny weekend! I tackled a bunch of really small stuff.
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First and foremost, I finally got the rusty seat belt screw to come loose. I combined multiple methods I've read about with what some folks have suggested. I started by saturating the top side and underside with PB Blaster. Once it sat for a while, I cleaned the rust and grime off the head and the threads using a wire brush attachment for my drill. Then I used a small butane torch to heat it up from the underside. After a few minutes, I had my friend give it try with the hammer drill from above. Seeing that screw twist was sweet sweet vindication!
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I purchased a new set of window frames. I've laid the old frame on the panel to show how the cut of the fabric doesn't line up with the angle of the bar. The new frame is laid above, and you ca see the angle of the bar actually matches the fabric. I'm not even sure what brand of soft top would fit on the old ones. Maybe one of those slider windows? It was also nice to let the soft window panels fully dry in the sun. It's been a very wet spring here in Oregon.
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The previous owner had damaged/lost the original retainer strap. So I ordered a new set and installed them.
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This is a before/after of the biggest rust patch on the body. Since it was so severe looking, I hit it with the wire brush to make sure the damage wasn't too deep or beyond repair. Luckily it looks very salvageable, and will smooth out when I start sanding the whole thing down. (Hopefully next month!)
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This is a before/after of the rust in the footwell (I was mistaken earlier when I stated there wasn't much visible rust there). All I've done is scuff it with a wire brush and lay on 3 coats of Loctite Rust Neutralizer. So far the rust has turned mostly black, which means the chemical reaction has turned it into a paintable surface. Once fully converted (or sanded away in some areas) I'll lay a coat of regular Rustoleum to protect it in before laying in the new carpet.

I tracked down the leak in the footwell to the failing windshield cowl seal. I intend to replace it around the same time I replace the windshield itself due to a crack on the passenger side.

Something I haven't discussed yet is my struggle to get the alignment of the driver side door fixed. Currently you have to slam it hard to get it to close, and I thought this was due to a slightly bent hinge. However, while doing some more troubleshooting over the weekend, I realized that a good portion of the after market light bar cables run between the door and the frame. It shuts much easier after moving the cables out of the way, but there's still room for improvement.

That's all I have for now! Over the next couple weeks I plan to:
-Replace my dead battery (I think the after market electrical work is draining it slowly.... Then it died)
-Remove interior fixtures (seats, seatbelts, etc.)
-Treat/remove interior rust
-Lay new carpet (Spice carpet because I'm awful. I know it should be green. GOALS)
-Clean seats
-Clean roll bar covers
-Install seat covers
-Sand/paint driver's side seat mount (It's got some rust)
-Install my SICK cassette deck :D The existing CD player is shot, and all I really need is a Line-In. Which my fancy Sony cassette deck has <3
-Buy/Install sound bar (?) This one is a maybe. Still debating on whether I should buy the VDP after market sound bar or their rear wedge speakers. Gonna get the stereo working first before I think about upgrades.

As May approaches, I will focus more on the exterior. Removing all the bits and pieces and sanding. Lots of sanding. Definitely have a few places that will need body filler, so that'll be a fun new experience.

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Dwight
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Re: JP22 Build Thread - Willamette Valley Oregon

Post by Dwight » April 22nd, 2019, 5:31 pm

Looks like you're making some good progress! Cant wait to see the transformation when you start to lay down paint and such!

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Re: JP22 Build Thread - Willamette Valley Oregon

Post by JP Junkie » April 22nd, 2019, 5:38 pm

Looking good. I envy those rims... For some reason stock rims just don't exist in Minnesota. The ones I did get were in rough shape (can't tell now since I got them blasted).

I want to add that if you plan on removing any of the torx bolts, you should invest in a mini torch and heat them up so their good and hot before even attempting to unbolt them. If you don't use heat, you'll end up stripping the heads.
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