When I picked up my jeep, I first started to get it going again. After a couple of hours the engine started. The brakes were functioning so I could go for the testdrive. After a drive of approximately 3 miles I discovered that everything was functioning properly. The engine ran good, the oil pressure was okay (then ) and no strange sounds came from the engine or transmission, which also worked fine.  I decided to take apart  the jeep and clean and rebuild all the parts one by one, exept the engine and automatic transmission. 

 

 

The further I took the Jeep apart the more I saw in which state the jeep was. Most parts of the body were totally gone, only the part of the floor above the transmission was usable. The frame also had many bad spots. The rear crossmember was totally gone, and after sandblasting big holes appeared in the lower parts of the frame. I had the luck that my brother Herman has his job in welding and other metal work, so after a few months all holes are closed and the necessary reinforcmentswere made to the frame.

 

 

 

When the chassis was ready I had it galvanised. They warned me about bending so we made some extra reinforcements. When the frame came back it was still straight. After that I painted the frame with two component zinc primer and another layer of two component epoxy paint. In this way I also treated all the parts of the driveline. After almost 10 years intensive use (parking outside, daily driving to work every day and some offroad driving) there is still practical no rust on the frame and the other parts treated  this way.

 

 

This is the start of building the stainless steel body. I wanted it to let it look as original as possible, so it took many hours of sawing, welding end grinding to get the floor and firewall in the correct shape. The final result is I very good. Everyone warned me about cracking of the stainless steel, but after ten years no single crack in the body is found

 

 

All parts of the jeep (except engine and automatic transmission) I have dismantled, cleaned and replaced where necessary. Everything according to the specifications of the workshop manuals. Here you can see the the rebuild of the carburator with the help of the workshop manual.

 

 

After approximately a year the frame and the driveline were ready. When the floor of the body was ready also it had to be fitted on the frame for the first time. The floor was unscrewed of the stand on which it was made and placed on the frame. Then it appearred that we did a good job copying the floor. The rather large TH 400 automatic transmission with quadratrac fitted exactly. Strengthened by this good result we continued  with the rest of the body. However it  lasted a year before the body was entirely finished.

 

 

Finally the body came back from the paint shop. On the frame there was a thick layer of dust, so I pushed the frame outside and washed it. Here you see  the frame ready to be reunited with the renewed body.

 

 

With the body back on the frame the nice work could begin, the final builbup of the jeep. All parts were fitted before the painting, so it was really simple bolting all the parts together. I planned to make the entire body out of stainless steel but after two years I ran out of patience so I bought the hood grille and fenders in polyester..

 

 

The outside of the body had been provided with a shiny layer "pasadena blue".To show that the body is made out of stainless steel, I decided to leave  the inside unpainted. The dashboard which I had made out of stainless steel also, was high gloss polished to give the interior the finishing touch.

 

 

 

At last after two and half year my jeep was ready for the first test drive to the road test station for the annual check. Without rollbar, because the polishing costed much more time then I thought. The jeep had to be inspected before the holiday to drive legally. I expectedfew problems because everything was new, but that was too optimistic. because of two years of standing the new rubber caps of the steering knuckles and the tie rod ends were dried and torn and there was to much end pay on one of the new tie rod ends. There was no time to repair it, so I went on holiday with an non approved Jeep.

 

 

In the holiday the problems started  after about 30 miles. There was a traffic-jam and then with the engine at idle speed the oil pressure gauge went to zero. What now to do? I was tired and I really needed that holiday so I decided to drive  on. The first days some PSI's showed on the gauge. But with the higher temperatures in the south, the first minutes after the cold start in the moring the needle moved. For the rest of the day it stayed in the left corner. Finally after 2000 miles the engine died. A broken connecting rod bored itself between the camshaft and the outside of the engine block laving a few cracks in the engine. after one week the Jeep came home with the recovery service. The new shortblock was ready by then so two weeks after the holiday the Jeep was driving again.

 

After 7 years six cylinder  I wanted more power and a  more beautiful sound. For a couple of years I had already a worn out AMC 360,8 cylinder in the barn. In the states I ordered a couple pistons, bearings  and a camshaft. The block was bored 0.03 over and the crankshaft was regrinded to fit undersize bearings..

 

When engine returned from the machine shop, I put all the parts together and I painted the engine in the original blue/green AMC colour.The valve covers were chrome plated and then on a saturday the the swap was made. When I turned the key  for the first time the engine started. It was running good but there was bad vibration  at higher RPM's. That was the hard way of learnig that a AMC V8 is  external balanced by the vibration damper and the flexplate. I used the six cylinder flexplate so I could remove the transmission again to fit the right flexplate. Finally ready for the first testdrive. The engine ran very well and everything seemed OK, but when I came back I heard a terrible knock coming from the engine. It appearred that the piston of cylinder two had obviously almost seized. Bad looking scratches were on the piston, luckily the cylinder wall wasn't damaged badly.With a new piston the engine ran well without bad sounds. 

 

At last my jeep was really finished with the 8 cylinder. Driving was great with the beautiful sound and the low end torque of the V8 engine. I made some necessary modification on the cooling system.  The engine ran good for two years, then suddenly a terrible noise came from under the hood. When I later removed the cylinder head I discovered one piston had disappearredl. The pieces of it were at the bottom of the crankcase. The connecting rod had beaten a couple holes  in the cylinder wall, so this was the end of this engine. Fortunately Jeepers help each other and after a few days I found another engine in reasonable state. With some undamaged parts of the old engine I put it all together and it's running well for 40000 miles now.