Project Shop Truck

[jbain]

I've always wanted to build an MJ Shop Truck and after looking for months I finally found the perfect donor.  First and foremost the truck needed to be cheap like less than 700 dollars cheap, second it needed to have a good cab and unibody and third it need to be as ugly as possible with lots of rust holes. After knocking the green off the truck from sitting under a tree for years I was really happy with what I had. 

[jbain]

So first and foremost was to start treating the surface rust on the cab.  I use a product called Rust Mort for rust conversion, you know it's finished doing it's work when the rust turns white.  I've decided to use red oxide primer for the color contrast. 

[jbain]

So my vision on this truck is pretty simple, I want to do a complete 4.0, 4wd, 97 interior and drivetrain swap to make it as comfortable and reliable as possible.  I would like to drop the front and rear about 2 inches to give it a little better stance and run a 235 tire.  I will not be painting but instead just priming the surface rust with red Oxide Primer, the rust will be cut out of the bedsides and patch panels will be pop riveted over the holes and also covered with Red Oxide Primer. There will be no bondo used in this build, so what you see is what you get.  Once that is finished the doors will get hand painted to show Bain Bros. Garage and given an old look.  Then the entire truck will be roughed up and clear coated. This is a picture of a truck that is similar paint wise as what I'm seeing in my mind. 

[jbain]

So has anyone swapped the 97 door panels to the MJ doors?  I'm assuming they are pretty simple but not sure if I've ever seen anyone do it. 

[jbain]

I hear the rear springs from a ZJ will give me a inch drop in the front, anyone ever try dropping a 4wd MJ?

[jbain]

Here is what I'm thing of for the door art.

[neohic]

5 hours ago, jbain said:

I hear the rear springs from a ZJ will give me a inch drop in the front, anyone ever try dropping a 4wd MJ?

 

Never dropped a 4wd but I have played with rear ZJ coils. Once settled the truck sat a little better than 2” lower than the clapped out 2wd coils it had.

 

I can’t imagine why you couldn’t lower the front with a 4wd axle. You might need to shorten the driveshaft? The control arms will be pushing everything forward as the suspension lowers though so... 

 

Looking forward to this build. 

[jbain]

Thanks brother, I'm thinking of only 2 inches so hopefully that won't impact things too much. 

[onebigmj]

I like the patina/unrestored shop truck idea. I had a similar but less ambitious plan like yours but haven’t started a thread for it yet. I saw that truck for sale, cool to see someone doing something awesome with it. 

[jbain]

Thanks brother, I've always wanted to build a shop truck and this one was a perfect platform.

[jbain]

Just a day and a half in and with the exception of the drivers floor pan the Shop Truck is officially rust free. I threw on my brother's old Caddy rims just to see how it looked.  I'm digging it.

[WahooSteeler]

After your last epic build, anxiously watching for updates on this too. The door art looks cool......simple but effective IMO, kinda Sandford & Son'ish lol

[Pete M]

those rims are pretty dang awesome on this build 

[jbain]

15 hours ago, WahooSteeler said:

After your last epic build, anxiously watching for updates on this too. The door art looks cool......simple but effective IMO, kinda Sandford & Son'ish lol

 

Since this truck will eventually be sold or traded off I'll have to come up with something more generic to replace Bains.

[jbain]

12 hours ago, Pete M said:

those rims are pretty dang awesome on this build 

 

Yeah they are definitely starting to grow on me.  LOL

[jbain]

Setting on the steps this morning trying to generate enough motivation to start stripping the interior out of the Shop Truck.  The plan is a complete 97 interior swap so everything must go..

[onebigmj]

Any good parts left of the tan interior you’re stripping?

[jbain]

Yeah but until I'm sure of what direction I'm going I'm going to hold onto it.

[jbain]

Took advantage of the sunshine today to pressure wash the underside of The new Manche.  I did find a bad spot in the x Crossmember when I dropped the spare tire but other than that I was very happy with the unibody on this MJ. It's gonna make someone a nice daily driver.

[jbain]

Cleaned the bed out today and was happy to find the inside of the bed in as good of shape as the bottom.

[jbain]

Finished prepping the floors today and I gotta say the floors in this truck are in way better shape than The Eagle.  Hopefully this is the last of the rust conversation.

[onebigmj]

Given the condition of the rest of the truck I’m surprised at the floors. Seems like you’re leaning towards flipping it rather than keeping it for yourself? 

[jbain]

Yeah, my wife is always reminding me that I can't keep them all, I sure wish I could though.

[jonb8]

I bought this off Jerry and I'm going to finish it. It will stay a 2wd, 8.8 rear axle, 4.0,  97+ interior and drivetrain swap.  Xj shackles and a xj spring pack under the MJ main leaf dropped me 2.25 inches, and a 2 in block got me down were I want it to be. The front I just cut coils and dropped it 2 inches. Then started working on the door lettering,  Not wanting to get serious on the project till after the holidays.

 

 

[jonb8]