Greg

Although I bought my CJ with fiberglass tub, it is only used for off road,
approx. 50 miles each weekend for the last 3 years, I've crushed both front
metal fenders twice, not fixable by me, probably not fixable after second
hits by anyone. My fiberglass tub has taken many hits, like Mike's it's
double walled with plywood, and mounted like Mike's with 1/4" plate on
bottom. The only hit that did any damage was when I slide sideways and
bashed my back corner tail light and cracked corner of tub above it, but a
couple hours with some epoxy and glass and it's better then new, if that had
been metal it would of been a lot of bondo. Anyone can work with glass, but
it takes a lot more to may metal look good.

"Larry W" <webb@removethisrovatune.com> wrote in message
news:4696614c$0$3158$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
> Mike Romain wrote:
>> You should have saved your firewall for a template.....
>>
>> I 'really' like my fiberglass body. I bought one made in Ontario Canada
>> with a one piece front clip that flips up out of the way. Basically I
>> can sit on the tire to change the plugs or tinker with the carb.
>>
>> CJ build http://www.imagestation.com/album/pi...?id=4292105877
>>
>> I did my restore back in 1999/2000 and have had lots of year round
>> serious off roading, twisting, tree smacking, rubber side up fun over the
>> years with it.
>>
>> It wasn't that hard to fit. The gent that made my shell really knew his
>> stuff and all the parts fit on exact. Hard and soft doors, hard and soft
>> top, roll bar, seats, dash, etc. I even got the chrome Laredo grill
>> insert to fit in the front clip.
>>
>> I had to do some part trimming due to the thick floors. The inside and
>> outside shell have a 1" waterproof plywood core and the firewall has
>> diamond plate sandwiched in it. Things like the steering support needed
>> a trim. A Dremil tool with a fiberglass reinforced cut off wheel will be
>> your good friend...
>>
>> The wiring harness is modular so it fit over really easily, I added a
>> dedicated 10 ga. wire to each loom to pick up all the ground tags leading
>> them to a central tap. I got a harness from a GM van from a friend which
>> has all the same light sockets and plugs on it so I could swap over any
>> rotted ones. I used solder, dielectric grease and heat shrink on all the
>> splices. I anchored things like the solenoid right to the engine block
>> and put the canister up under the brake booster out of the mud with the
>> washer bottle below it.
>>
>> I made a frame at the back, inside the fenders which cups the rear cargo
>> area and is anchored to the frame mounts to mount my spare tire carrier
>> and it's big cargo rack to so the body tub has no load from them.
>>
>> While it was a bare frame, I replaces all the lines, stripped it, used a
>> rust converter (red) undercoat with a rubberized top coat on it and
>> replaced ever seal every place I could find one.
>>
>> All in all It isn't a lot of extra work over a steel tub and then you
>> have no more rust....
>>
>> Mike
>> 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
>> 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's - Gone to the rust pile...
>> Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: Non members can still view!
>> Jan/06 http://www.imagestation.com/album/pi...?id=2115147590
>> (More Off Road album links at bottom of the view page)
>>
>> Larry W wrote:
>>> I'm in the process of restoring my 65' CJ5 plow vehicle. The drive train
>>> and frame are very good but the body tub was so bad I just cut it up and
>>> took it to the dump. For cost reasons, I'm leaning towards a fiberglass
>>> tub through quadratec.com (they are close enough that I can pick it up
>>> and save shipping).
>>>
>>> Can anyone give me some tips on the amount of work is involved in
>>> fitting a glass tub. I would love to get a steel tub but don't know if I
>>> can justify the extra $900.
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>> Larry
>
> Bill and Mike,
>
> Thanks very much for the information, I feel better about the decision to
> go with the glass tub.
>
> Mike - I did save the firewall - should make life easier.
>
> I paid $600 for this old friend 27 years ago and it has saved me a fortune
> plowing my driveway. It's normal for us to get over 100 inches of snow a
> year, so the Jeep has earned some much needed attention.
>
> Larry