JP18 - Chicago - Frame off restoration - "Spared No Expense"

Post by **Raptor** » April 1st, 2012, 10:42 pm

I know I haven't been posting very much on this forum, but that is only because I spend most of my free time building and not so much online. I have been working on this 1994 Jeep Wrangler Sahara for just about 10 months. It has been a full frame off restoration, all work done by me in my garage. I have turned every single bolt on this by hand myself. It has been an awesome project. I thought I would share some pictures with the rest of you to see what you all think. I will post some before pictures up as soon as I get them off my old computer.

Post by **Boomerjinks** » April 1st, 2012, 11:01 pm

That is UNBELIEVABLE! Looks fresh off the lot! Positively gorgeous!

8bit Graphics, I'm assuming?

Post by **DrewSmith007** » April 1st, 2012, 11:04 pm

That looks great. Job well done!

Post by **Raptor** » April 2nd, 2012, 9:26 pm

Boomerjinks wrote:That is UNBELIEVABLE! Looks fresh off the lot! Positively gorgeous!

8bit Graphics, I'm assuming?

Thanks, the paint is not 100% perfect up close, but I am fixing the few mistakes that I made while painting it. I did use the 8bit Graphics off of ebay. In my opinion they are great for them money. I had a few estimates from local places and they wanted $100 just for one door graphic, so the whole ebay kit was definitely worth it.

BTW, when I saw the youtube video you had with the dog going nuts for the dino sounds, I had to make my own sound box. That was a great idea, definetely gets peoples attention. I am still finalizing mine but it's coming out pretty good. I have it coming out of an old police car siren box now. I chose the siren box as that way I still have that traffic chirper/electric air horn sound.

Post by **Raptor** » April 2nd, 2012, 9:28 pm

Here is some more information on it. I started with a 1994 Wrangler Sahara that I picked up after the previous owner had a low speed head on collision with a Chevy Trailblazer. I was looking for a project and the price was right so this was the perfect jeep to start with. The tires were new (but I replaced them with bfg’s), softop was new, and the transmission was freshly rebuilt. The body wasn’t too badly rusted (for a Chicago jeep).

The accident badly damaged the front frame as seen in the pictures below. The frame did not crumple at the designated zones, instead it broke before the shock tower and the front driver’s side portion got pushed within the frame. See the picture for a better idea.

Rather than try to repair the frame, I decided to replace it. I picked up a rolling chassis that was in good shape from a 1995 YJ. I was glad to find a 95 frame as those are galvanized from the factory and typically don’t rust as bad. I stripped the chassis down and painted the frame with POR-15 followed by a few top coats of chassis black. I painted/restored pretty much every piece that I took off the jeep.

The new chassis came with axles and suspension, however I replaced the factory four pack of leaf springs in the front, with the factory five pack of leaf springs from the rear of the chassis. I then picked up a set of the factory six pack of leaf springs from the rear of another YJ and used them in the back. So my spring set up now is five pack in the front, six pack in the rear, with a two inch shackle lift so I could fit the 31” BFG All Terrain tires.

I will post more pictures later as I sort through them (I took over 1000 pictures during the project). For now, here is a picture of the motor as it sits today. I pulled it all apart, replaced the gaskets, stripped the paint/rust and hit it with several coats of new paint to protect it from rust. I used only genuine Mopar colors on this build. The block is 426 hemi orange, and the blue seen on the intake and valve cover is 1968 big block 440 Mopar blue.

teckman02 · Post by **teckman02** » April 2nd, 2012, 9:49 pm

Very nice build

Post by **ImperialTrooper** » April 2nd, 2012, 10:01 pm

Very well done.

teckman02 · Post by **teckman02** » April 3rd, 2012, 1:31 am

have you thought about getting back bumper because if someone would hit you in the rear the hoops in the back won't do a thing. i have seen YJ's where they had been hit in the back at slow speeds and had major frame damage but if they had a real bumper the jeep would have been fine

Post by **Raptor** » April 5th, 2012, 4:02 pm

"We have a T-Rex"

Post by **cpltony** » April 5th, 2012, 5:54 pm

WOW, seeing a converted Jeep is one thing but seeing a rebuilt Jeep converted is totally another.

'Fresh off the lot' doesn't cover it. Fresh off the boat on Isla Nublar is where this thing is at!!

WOW, she is beautiful!!!

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