Dad's jeep

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Dad's jeep

My dad bought this 1978 Jeep CJ7 brand new. Less than 1% of CJ7's produced in '78 had the big V8 motor in it. The seats are in great shape (also rare), the motor purrs, it just needs some work to get it truly road worthy. Spencer has taken on the task nearly single-handedly. He's doing a great job so far.

Some stats: 1978 AMC Jeep CJ-7, AMC 5.0L 304ci V8, Tremec T-150 3 Speed Manual Transmission, Dana 20 Transfer Case, Dana 30 Front Axle, AMC 20 Rear Axle, All original interior (rare 60/40 split bench front seat)

The motor seized in the late 80's (NEVER use oil w/graphite in it... the graphite deposits in the rings and locks them solid). The Jeep sat in the back yard for years. One winter dad decided to rebuild the motor and go through and fix some other stuff on it that needed fixing. This was probably 12 - 15 years ago (not sure of the time frame exactly). He had purchased a straight 6 motor for it sometime between it seizing and the rebuild... probably before they bought the cottage. He decided to try rebuilding the motor that was in it first... glad he did! After he had it running, he did some patch work on the body (courtesy of the heating and cooling place down the road and their junk furnaces - perfectly good sheet metal), then painted it all with spray cans... some blue paint he bought somewhere along the line.

The Jeep ran for a few years, then came home from the cottage when it was sold a few years ago and has been setting since. Mom didn't know what to do with it... she hated to sell it, but didn't know if anyone in the family was interested in buying it to keep it in the family. I mentioned having the grandsons fix it for a spare vehicle/play toy, and she loved the idea.

So far it has a new fuel pump, new gas tank, new rear brakes, new tires, frame repair, some new bulbs and a few new switches. I am helping somewhat, but Spencer has done the huge bulk of the work. Let me tell you, it was a joy to see that old Jeep rolling down the road with its new tires. :)

10-18: First coat of paint went on today!

10-19: Arrived this morning to find the plastic curtain we taped up had fallen and bumped into driver's door and front fender. Had to wait for paint to dry more before we were able to sand it. Got the second coat on today and some of the tape and paper peeled off.

10-20: Paint is mostly dry, all the paper and tape is off. Mirrors reinstalled, windshield caulked, door hole filled w/bondo and ready for another fill-in today I hope, door sills painted w/first coat (will paint several coats in this area).

10-21: Hood installed with new stainless hardware, stainless cabin air vet grill installed. Bumpers and spare tire rack sanded and painted w/hammered metal finish paint (same as mirrors). We love how the hammered finish contrasts w/the smooth paint on the jeep. Did finish bondo work on hole in door, sanded, primed and one coat of paint on it. I now officially have bondo skills for anything else that may crop up. :)

To do list:
Sand and paint bumpers and spare tire rack (DONE)
Clean up flares and spare tire
Install new hood hardware and put hood back on (DONE)
Install new lights and caulk tail lights
Clean undercarriage and undercoat
Paint several coats in door sills (started)
Paint hard top
Paint speaker boxes

Album by Karen Bunker. Photos by John and Karen Bunker. 1 - 25 of 25 Total. 234 Visits.

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Oh its hard to tell the color from a picture, but I really like it.

Have fun and take care.
- dawn muscarella, Sat, 18 Oct 2008 8:39PM

What a wonderful labor of love and great family project. I can't wait to see it "unwrapped"! I know you wanted a darker blue, but I like what I see so far! I bet your Dad is smiling down upon you all...and his Jeep!
- Kathy, Sat, 18 Oct 2008 3:52PM

AWESOME JOB!!! Cant wait to see it come together!
- Lex, Sat, 18 Oct 2008 12:21PM

1 Spencer putting new brakes on the rear	2 The back of the Jeep	3 Spencer's buddy Ed helped w/the brakes	4 Ended up needing brake lines and more...
5 Spencer drove it a while and took it into his shop class.	6 The instructor checked the frame for rust and said to fix it He took it to a local auto repair shop and the guy said he was surprised the frame didn't give out and roll the jeep over. Frame is now repaired.	7 Masked and primed.	8 Hood all primed. Hope the old primer we used is OK!
9 We originally planned to spray it all w/spray cans. Dad did it that way when he fixed it up years ago (he also pop-riveted a bunch of sheet steel over some rust holes, so it's not pretty by any means).	10 Hopefully our paint job will look a bit better!	11 Rich, Spencer's buddy who is doing the painting. He graduated a year behind me at Kearsley!	12 Tires masked off, ready for blue!
13 The first coat looks pretty good! New lights and new hardware will make it look even better!	14 Not the exact shade we were hoping for...	15 But ooh, it's shiney and pretty!	16 Can't wait to see it w/a second coat and the paper and tape OFF! "It looks awesome guys! I'm..." View Comments...
17 Tape and paper all off Mirrors painted w/hammered finish paint (bumpers and spare tire carrier will get the same paint).	18 Windshield re-caulked too! We'll get the rubber flares cleaned up more, and plan to paint the top soon too. :)	19 Hood installed	20 Pretty new stainless hardware too!
21 Bondo and primer in big hole in the window frame	22 Painting bumpers, spare tire rack and mounts	23 First coat on the bondo job The paint we used is so forgiving - you can come back w/a roller and hit an area already painted... next day you can never tell!	24 The rear of the Jeep all painted up nice. just some touch up left here and we're DONE w/paint until the top.
25 The front bumper looks SO sweet!

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