Fins Up
This was a fun project that was a blast to drive.
I found this thing rusting away in a field. It was originally owned by the U.S. Navy. The body looked pretty bad but the odometer only showed 14,000 miles.
The top was off and the doors were laying in the top when I first looked at it.
A coworker went to look at it with me before towing it home. He looked at me like I was out of my mind when he saw it. I saw potential, all he saw was the rust.
The first thing to do was to clean out the bird nests and dead mice. Anything made of rubber was dry-rotted. The fuel pump was shot and the carburetor bowl had to be cleaned out with an old spoon. I rebuilt the carburetor, replaced the fuel pump, cleaned out the gas tank, changed the oil and it started.
The rear bumper and top had to go. It looked too much like a postal Jeep.
All of the electrical connections were corroded but most of the wiring was still intact. A day worth of cleaning connections and a few new switches had everything working again.
It was almost ready for paint. The ladder was used to support a tarp over the Jeep while the project progressed. Someday I want a garage.
A few coats of paint and it was like a different vehicle. The diamond plate was 3/8" steel, if anything went on the vehicle, it had to be functional.
The patches in the floor was the first time that I had welded sheet metal. It was a little tougher than I thought, but it turned out OK.
It turned out to be a pretty nice trail rig.
