DISMANTLING STAGE OF MY PROJECT - Started in September of 2004. Took about 12 weeks (working weekends) to complete.
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Although Bubba did a nice job with the rear of the vehicle, the tailgate and rear bumper are incorrect, and need to be removed.
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I then attacked the incorrect tailgate, with more cutting disks. It brings tears to your eyes to see the orignal back that has been hacked by Bubba.
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Another shot of the welds and damage of that driver side horn.
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To start the project I needed a Grinder, Goggles, Gloves and cutting disks. I started with the back end on the body. I removed the wrong bumper, and need to see what was underneath. Original bumper has a bunch of holes.
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The rear floor panel and wheelhouses are pretty weak. The Wheelhouses have a 20 gauge steel plate welded to the sides, and panels on the sides to hide the rust.
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We moved to the front of the Jeep and removed that heavy channel iron. We were hoping to fix the front horns. My son Jake, is grinding off rivets to see if we can repair the horns before installing new gussets.
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Removed the front Fenders and removed the Tub bolts. Took 3 of us to remove the tub from the frame because of the weight.
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You can see the damage to this guy, thus, again proving to me I need to dismantle down to the frame level to repair.
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The Driver side front horn was beyond repair. Once we got this gusset off we found the horn would take lots of time to repair, better to replace them.
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Data plate shows DOD 6-12-1945, created for the preparation of invading Japan if necessary. To months later 8/15/05 Atom bombs were dropped in Japan to end the war. Fortunately, this jeep was not one of the ones on a ship headed for Japan, as those are now at the bottom of the Pacific
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Engine looked pretty good, and actually ran pretty well when I got it. About a month later it died on me in town, which gave me the deciding factor to rebuild from the ground up.
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The Emergency brake was not connected, some of the gauges worked, two need to be replaced with NOS parts. When you put it in 4 wheel drive, you hear a grinding occuring. Suspect bearings, or transfer case.
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With the tub removed, my anxious 16 year old wants to drive as is. In addition, we cleaned the grundge along the way around where the transfer case was located.
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Unbolted the transfer case, and used the hoist to pull this guy up and move it out of the way. Notice the interesting color. Its a baby blue color not gray like it will be.
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Unbolted the engine and hoisted it out as well, putting it on the engine mount.
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Now dismantle the leaf springs and all frame items. I took this frame down to a frame specialist to look at the front horns, and to get the frame straighted. Because the steel is so thin, the frame specialist had a hard time keeping the frame straightened.
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Engine is now mounted and will be looked at a later date. More grundge to remove.
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