Hello all.
First update in my project. A lot had happened so far. I hope my English is good enough for you to understand and not to difficult to read. I am sorry for wrong words and bad sentences.
So as I wrote before I ended up buying the red jeep, that was easy. Collecting it was a problem. The owner needed some time to get a new MOT (car was stored in a underground parking lot) and had a vacation planned first. I was not in a hurry and we planned a date for me to collect the Jeep three weeks later in Den Haag, which is a 100 mile drive for me. After three weeks of waiting I was at the correct time in Den Haag to collect the Jeep. In the Netherlands you have to go to the postoffice to switch owners of a vehicle. You need several registration documents for that. The owner did not had the right documents do we couldn't transfer the Jeep to my name. The owner suggested just pay for the Jeep and take it home with me and he would send the documents when found. I Declined this offer which frustrated the owner. I suggested to come back to Den Haag (and drive another 200 miles) when he had the right documents. The owner did not like this but agreed with disfavor. The frustration of the owner translated in to a very angry and uncomfortable driving style from the postoffice to the owners home with high speeding in the city. My girlfriend and I where not amused.
Needless to say the fun of buying the car with a grumpy owner was gone and I regret my decision to buy this specific Jeep. However we had an agreement (on paper) and I couldn't just say I didn't want it anymore. Also Wranglers are not that common in The Netherlands and this one was technical in good shape with little rust and a solid non welded frame. I decided not let this incident spoil my fun and went trough with the deal. Next time I visited Den Haag the papers where there and the seller kind of apologized for his behavior. On my way home I had a big smile on my face and a nice red 91 Jeep Wrangler 4.0 H.O Laredo under my *ss
Here a picture of the Jeep a couple of days after collecting it:
Now a Laredo from 91 is not the best source to start a JP Jeep conversion. The only things right are the 4.0 H.O engine, color of the dashboard and the rims. But as mentioned before, there are not many Wranglers in The Netherlands and the most of them that are for sale are expensive and far from original. (lifted, lot of chrome, big wheels).
First I had the intention t make a screen accurate Jeep with everything the same as one of the jeeps used in the movie. Now 3 months later I dropped this idea as it would be to hard to gather all the right parts where I live. I still want to try to make it as accurate as possible, but with a fictional number, so I can forgive myself when something is not as in the movies. I wanted a two digit number lower than 30 (as I believe Jurassic park wouldn't have more than 30 cars). I asked my dad for its lucky number (as my dad means a lot to me and Is a car enthusiast to), it was 3 and unfortunately to short to use. After some discussion we decided to go for 19, which is the opposite of the year of manufacturing of the Jeep.
I am planning on doing a full restore, including a light engine overhaul. That means at some point I have to lift the tub of the frame. I think it would take 2 years to get the Jeep on the road again and 3 to get it near screen accurate. I got a full time job and am in the middle of a complete restoration of my home, which I perform with my girlfriend. This costs a lot of time and money, so just a little of both is left for the Jeep.
The following things have to be done:
[*] Disassembling of al the parts. Replace what is worn. Clean and paint the good items
[*] Light engine overhaul (gaskets, belts, fluids) and clean the complete engine bay.
[*] Complete check of every mechanical and electric components. Special attention to the brakes.
[*] thorough clean of the frame and tub. Adding new rust prevention.
[*] Search for the right parts to get perform nearly screen acute conversion
[*] Full respray of the Tub\fenders in sand beige (including sanding and smooth out all the little dents)
[*] Applying decals
[*] Enjoy the ride!
I started searching for parts to get the jeep screen accurate. My biggest concern was finding a Family style rollbar, half doors (as non of the jeeps here seems to have hem) and the right interior.
A couple of weeks after buying the red jeep a green 93 "limited" jeep came for sale in a town nearby. It had an beige interior and the family rollbar. I regretted having the red Jeep as this green one seemed to be a much better (and cheaper) base for performing the conversion. I decided to take a look and to buy it when it was ok. Once there I saw how lucky I am with the red jeep, it is in much better shape. The green ones tub was in a little better shape but the frame was really rotten. A lot of rust and spots of bad welding on the back of the frame. Also It drove bad as the steering was heavy and had a lot of space\play (is this the right English word?)
I had two options. walk way or buy it for a rollbar swap. I decided to go for the last. So I swapped the sports style rollbar with the family rollbar. A fun but heavy job to do. I am lucky to have a pneumatic tool to loosen the bolts that hold it. I don't think I was able to remove them without.
I swapped some more items from the green Jeep that where in better shape and sold it with some loss (more as I hoped).
Most of the dents are in the hood. luckily I found a cheap one for sale that is in better shape. still two small dents but better than the red one. It is a much better candidate for the paint job. on the picture below the Jeep in its currents state with the new hood on top of it.
I bought half doors in Miami trough ebay. Needless to say it costs a lot of money to ship them to The Netherlands. Also the Customs fee is very high. unfortunately they suffered some damage in the mail. It will be repaired next month by a local body shop who told me it was 10 minutes work.
The door panels are really faded and I planned on restoring them when I saw an for sale topic on the forum from Scrambler_CJ8 having two new dark green panels for sale. I decided to buy them as restored painted panels will never look as good as those new ones. Together with the ordered pouches from ProjectVIC I will have awesome and nearly screen accurate doors! Thank you guys. The rest of the interior will be painted the right color. I will ask an upholstery guy to redo the seats and make them look like sahara ones. I don't think I ever will be able to buy them here or get them in the USA (to big for shipping) but they are very important for the looks of the jeep.
That was all for now. I will keep searching for parts and I will really appreciate your help. Do you have items that are (nearly) screen accurate and I could use please let me know. No matter how small or big they are. Or if you see something on a local scrapyard. I know I cant complete this project on my own as there are just no parts available here or in country's nearby.
The Jeep is stored dry and waiting in my garage for the overhaul, protected by a small JP T-Rex
Thank you all for reading!
Below the green jeep I sold. Notice the sports style roll bar. It now is for sale at an Jeep\wrangler shop for an absurd high price (almost 3 times I sold it for). Just to give you guys an idea what those things cost over here. Remember this Jeep is not in good shape. They just painted all the rusted items black again and polished it. €8.999 is at the moment equal to $10.000
