CJ3A Body kit

[calvinhunt]

CJPilot,
The last three posts (athawk11, macrisel, and Gunslinger) have answered your misaligned fender very well.  You can see from my earlier response on this thread that I used an old tire to cut rubber mounts.  I got the body where things line up and then custom made the thickness of each rubber spacer.  I especially like the boat trailer roller idea by Gunslinger. Wiksh I would have thought of it. I completely assembled my Jeep before I painted it.  That way all cutting, grinding, and welding was done first.  Then I completely disassembled everything, painted it, and reassembled it.  

PS. I PMed you about the AC43-13 question a few posts back.

[macrisel]

My body kit came with the rubber mounts and like Gun, I also used a bandsaw to cut the rubber.  When I got close with that, I would fine tune the thickness with a table belt sander with a 120-180 grit belt.  Just don't hold the mount on there too long at one time or you end up melting it instead of cutting it!

[CJPilot]

Thanks for all the great help guys. I'll be going to the marina. �I�ve been very busy at work and trying, but failing, to get our skating rink going.



It's hard to see much detail in this picture but, I mounted both fenders, put the bolts in at the grill and clamped the fenders in the proper orientation / location to the tub. It looks pretty good. �My hood lines up nicely as well. Of course by doing that most of the holes don�t line up so I have decided to weld in some plugs and move the holes were they need to go.




Making the 5/8" plugs after I couldn't find any at the hardware store

I have mounted both the repo and my original windshield and I�m going to go with an original I think. �The original just looks better. �Unfortunately my windshield is in rough shape. �I�ll use it until I can find a better one.


Steve

[garage gnome]

I hope the visit out here helped too! Keep messing with the repop kit and you will get it right.

[CJPilot]

Had a little time to work on my Jeep today.
I have made good but slow progress on the body kit and I�m now attacking the front fenders. �My driver�s side fender wasn�t too bad, I had to move or enlarge a hole or two and I could make it work. The passenger side fender is a different story. I had to move and fill holes but I ran into a bigger problem with this fender. �The brace that bolts to the frame was off by over ��. That made it impossible to get the bolts in. So I had to remove the brace.








I drilled out the spot welds





Here is a picture of the brace in the correct location. You can see how far off it was.


Next I�ll plug weld �the brace in with everything bolted up.


Steve

[calvinhunt]

Steve,
  I had the exact same issue on my CJ-3A MD Juan body kit.  However, surprisingly I restored a Willys MB for a pilot friend (you may have seen the pics with his Jeep in front of the B-17 on another post) and the tub, fenders, grill, etc. all lined up perfectly.  I guess they have more old Army Jeeps in the Philippines than they do CJ-3As.

[CJPilot]

[size=14]Calvin, I�m hoping MD Juan makes good on their attempt to improve the quality of their reproduction body kits. �This amount of error has no justification. �I wouldn�t buy another one without reading some positive reviews from people using a repo body kit. �Funny thing is if they straightened out the quality I feel they would sell a lot of them.

At least I think I have �turned the corner� and I should be in good shape moving forward. I was delayed by family obligations, some good, some bad. And now that Youth Hockey is over for the season I should have some time to devote to the 3A.

Steve
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[CJPilot]

I did a little more test fitting the body.� Front fenders line up good.�

I will now need to rework the area around the transmission and transfer case shift levers.� They seem to be off by about an inch.

I drove it out side for the first time in a year. � �



Steve

[garage gnome]

That looks familiar!

[CJPilot]

[size=12]Hi Nate, That�s funny. I guess we all go down the same path more or less as we rebuild these Jeeps.[/size]

Steve

[Ryan_289]

This is a little late but here is another suggestion for body mounts.  I work at a John Deere dealership and I used old round baler belt that we had laying around.  As these are used the tread wears off and you end up with varying thickness.  Worked perfect for me.  These are just scrap pieces from when we replace sections of belt in the shop.  I could cut up some for anyone wanting some.  If you walked into the local dealership shop one morning with a box of donuts you could proabably get some scrap pieces for free.

[garage gnome]

This is what I do for body mounts. Very inexpensive and works very well.

[ZekeD]

Nate,  is that a hocky puck?

[CJPilot]

[size=12]I had to move the cut out for the transfer case shift levers about �� due to my shifters hitting.


I marked the area I planned on cutting and cut it out with a saw.


Once cut out I welded it into the proper position






Steve

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[CJPilot]

[size=12]This doesn�t look like much of anything but I spent a lot of time measuring, filing, drilling and fitting the switches, plate, light and gauges.� If you are considering a repo tub, plan on this taking some time. It�s not a fifteen minute job.�

Steve
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