rcpd34

Ok, I'm not sure this really qualifies as a true build, but this is where I'm at. I'm new to JK's, but not to Jeeps. I grew up with a CJ5, cut my teeth on a YJ and have had a few TJ's over the years. I just sold my most recent one to find a four door since that will fit the family needs a bit better. The idea was to look around for a few months and find "the right one" in the spring. Well, as luck would have it, I found the right one in a week on eBay. a bit higher mileage than I wanted, but the motor had already been replaced. I made an offer, it was accepted. The seller ended the auction early and I flew to NY and drove it home. It is a 2007 JKU with a hard top. I don't think it was born that way since there are no rear wiper or defrost controls. The ride home was uneventful, I found out the horn doesn't work, the radio sucks and the heat doesn't come out of the right places. Also, the top doesn't seat properly and it sounded like I was in a wind tunnel the whole way. There are also some cracks in the forward section of the Freedom top. If anyone has experience or tips on the top, please let me know. This build has been going on for a couple weeks, but I am going to bring anyone who may be bored enough to follow this up to speed in separate updates. I hope this will make it easier to follow. Here are a few pics of what she looked like when we first met.

rcpd34

Like I said before, the radio sucks. I started looking around and thought it would be cool to have a factory navigation radio. I was in for sticker shock. I wanted an RER radio, but I lucked out and found a MyGiG RBZ locally that was in a totaled mini van, that lives on as a donor vehicle. A quick trip to the dealer got me the unlock code and I'm in business. Unsure if I'll use the Sirius radio, but it's nice to know that I can. The touch screen is way cooler than the original. It went right in and was plug & play. I plan on uploading music and pics to the hard drive soon. Here are some pics of the donor vehicle and radio in the JKU.

rcpd34

Took the Jeep to my buddy's body shop to get the fender fixed. After pulling it apart, it was discovered that the core support is completely snapped. Ordered it. The grill also has some impact damage. Ordered a replacement. After a couple of hours of working the fender, it was decided to just replace it. Ordered that too. Under the LED shop lights, all the small dings and imperfections were very obvious so my buddy told his body man to just do the whole thing. Amazing; he pulled the door handles, glass, and mirrors; everything and prepped the body for proper. Here are a few pics of the progress. I don't know why some of the pics are sideways; they appear correct on my computer.

iJeremy

What are the Rubi pictures you slipped in there?... Looking good so far.

rcpd34

Which Rubi pic? I'm not seeing it on my phone.

**EDIT* I see them now that I'm home. I didn't mean to post those or any of the small pics. Dunno what happened.. That's my buddy's 2016 Rubicon. It just got new flares put on. Luckily for me, I can use his old factory ones and get rid of the painted ones that were on mine!

rcpd34

Primed and almost ready to paint! I can't seem to get these pics figured out. They all look fine on my computer, but many are sideways here and they load in a different order. Thoughts?

Darb24

Wow rebuilding the whole thing!

jkdoppler

This will be interesting and challenging project, way to go man!

rcpd34

Jeep is painted except for the fenders and hood. Came out awesome; looks like a mirror. I scored some 10th Anniversary bumpers and sliders, which are filthy, but very cool. The rear is attached, but not tightened awaiting the license plate mount. Here's a few pics.

BryanTheRed

Any further progress? I'm interested to see how she turned out!