James' Jeep is a perfect example of a rescued
Jeep that holds true to an original Jeep both in
looks and function. It pleases us to see
Jeeps that are restored and kept in stock form
with maybe a few modifications to keep it
interesting. James story is so good we let
him do all the writing.
"I bought the jeep
back in 2003 after I had just finished a job
overseas. It was in running condition and really
in pretty good shape aside from a few minor
spots. The soft top snaps had either rusted thru
or been pulled out and the previous owner had
drilled new ones with out repairing the original
locations. I figured I would do just enough work
to it to get mechanically sound and use it to
run around on the weekends and do a little 4
wheeling. Well soon after I bought it, I bought
a Harley and the jeep took a back seat for about
3 years.
During all of
this I had been consistently working in South
Korea building tension leg platform hulls for
offshore rigs. I was in Houston for about 2
months during the summer of 2006 and got to
looking at the jeep and realized that I needed
to do something as it was starting to
deteriorate. I was kicking off a new job in S.
Korea so I started looking for someone who would
take a project on that could work on it at their
leisure. All I had originally looked at doing
was a basic engine and drive train rebuild to
get the jeep mechanically sound and then
have rusted areas fixed on the body and a fresh
coat of paint applied. A girl friend of mine
hooked me up with a guy to do the mechanical
part of it and another friend recommended a body
shop that specializes in custom builds. After
meeting with all the parties I delivered the
jeep to the mechanic with instructions that
while I wanted a few performance mod's I
basically just wanted the drive train gone thru
and any worn out parts replaced.
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Once he got the
engine, transmission and transfer case out and
got the axles rebuilt he took the jeep over to
the body shop while he rebuilt the engine
transmission and transfer case. This is where
things mushroomed. Once the body shop got a hold
of it we started looking at how much I actually
wanted to do and the decision was made to go
frame off. Once this decision was made I was all
in. The body was sent out for soda blasting and
all rusted areas cut out and replaced with
welded panels. The frame has been powder coated
gloss black.
The Hanson
bumpers, roll bar and numerous other small parts
were sent out for powder coating as well. The
powder coaters did an excellent job of matching
the paint.
I had originally
purchased an aftermarket decal for the hood but
after applying it, it looked like s___! I didn't
realize it when it was bought it (and they don't
tell you) that the decal is pieced together.
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So I had the shop
paint it on and change the lettering from block
to script. As I stated I wanted to keep the jeep
pretty much stock looking with some nice
upgrades and detail work done. An example of the
detail work was having the quadra trac vacuum
operated emergency drive switch relocated from
the glove box to the new center console.
The last details
are being completed which consist primarily of
the pin striping, jeep logo paint, soft top
installation, AC hookup etc."
Detailed
Specifications
1979 CJ 7 Golden
Eagle
Engine: AMC 304 w/ Edelbrock performer manifold,
Edelbrock performer cam, Holley truck avenger
carb, DUI distributor
Transmission: Automatic TH400
Transfer case: Quadra trac
Front axle: Dana 30
Rear axle: AMC 20 with Moser 1 piece axle kit.
Wheels: Original - gold powder coat
Tires: 31" BFG Mud Terrains
Highlights
Custom paint and
hood graphics
Lizard skin undercoating (tinted to match)
applied to underside of body, firewall, fender
wells and underside of hood
Spray in bed liner (tinted to match) applied to
the tub
Bestop Supertop
Bestop Aqua sport seats
Bestop sound bar
Bestop console
Vintage vibes AM/FM radio w MP3
Stainless steel accessories.
Hanson bumpers
Warn XD9000 winch
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