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Thought I'd share what I've been working on this summer. I just completed a restoration of a 1975 Jeep CJ6 for one of my best friends. His wife wanted to have the Jeep repaired and painted by someone else, as she knew it would not get done any time soon, if at all with him doing the work. She arranged for me to "steal" the Jeep from the storage unit so I could get it to my place to do the work. The project was supposed to be a complete surprise for him, but he kept trying to take stuff to the storage unit, so she had to spill the beans so he wouldn't report the Jeep stolen.
It took me longer (calender wise) than I had expected, but I had a good month of my own adventures where I wasn't working on it. So over 24 week period, I worked 90 days for a total of 440 hours. This does not include the time to research for parts, order parts, or make parts/supply runs.
The Jeep needed more work that we thought, it had had a hard life and was in need of more than a little body work and paint. The motor was sound, just needed new gaskets and a rear main seal, and a last moment water pump replacement. He had already replaced the front axle, but I found a lot of other drive train damage. The bellhousing, transmission and transfer case however all ended up having to be replaced. I also converted the Jeep to Power Steering and Power Brakes as well as a complete re-wire.
Until this past Saturday the owner had not seen any of the painted parts or re-assembly of the Jeep, only the repair process. We had led him on that the Jeep was going to be Hello Kitty Pink, but he was praying it would not be true. His wife arranged for a surprise party and we came down to deliver the Jeep as part of the festivities. She pulled off the surprise reveal party, 45 people showed up to see Phil's face as I drove the jeep through the back gate at their home.
You can see all the work and details at: Project Show-Time
As you can see it turned out very nice. Except for the new electronic (I know I should have converted it back to mechanical) fuel pump I installed to replace the old dying one, failing the Jeep was a hit. the fuel pump has again been replaced and is now ready for MO state Inspection and Licensing.
Will
It took me longer (calender wise) than I had expected, but I had a good month of my own adventures where I wasn't working on it. So over 24 week period, I worked 90 days for a total of 440 hours. This does not include the time to research for parts, order parts, or make parts/supply runs.
The Jeep needed more work that we thought, it had had a hard life and was in need of more than a little body work and paint. The motor was sound, just needed new gaskets and a rear main seal, and a last moment water pump replacement. He had already replaced the front axle, but I found a lot of other drive train damage. The bellhousing, transmission and transfer case however all ended up having to be replaced. I also converted the Jeep to Power Steering and Power Brakes as well as a complete re-wire.
Until this past Saturday the owner had not seen any of the painted parts or re-assembly of the Jeep, only the repair process. We had led him on that the Jeep was going to be Hello Kitty Pink, but he was praying it would not be true. His wife arranged for a surprise party and we came down to deliver the Jeep as part of the festivities. She pulled off the surprise reveal party, 45 people showed up to see Phil's face as I drove the jeep through the back gate at their home.
You can see all the work and details at: Project Show-Time
As you can see it turned out very nice. Except for the new electronic (I know I should have converted it back to mechanical) fuel pump I installed to replace the old dying one, failing the Jeep was a hit. the fuel pump has again been replaced and is now ready for MO state Inspection and Licensing.
Will
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