Paint time

Next decision was what color to paint it. The only color I knew I didnt want was military green. I used the Internet to see what colors other Owners had used and settled on a yellow body, with black windscreen with white rims.

My old boy from the Village did a few coats of primer and sanding to get it perfect, then he put on 5 coats of yellow, with black underneath and under the guards to keep it clean looking.

The result was quite the transformation, and I could tell by his shit-eating grin that he was really proud of his work. He had never even spoken to a foreignor before this job, and had never experienced a customer check up every day. Total cost for all prep work and paint, including paint was $600.

Next step was off to a little dirt-floor electrics shop to rewire up all the new parts. It took him 2 days and he did a great job with soldering and heat sealing all the connections. He even even drilled a new started switch (I forgot) and installed the new speedometer and 3 gauges, cable, fuel sensor and new indicator stalk. Total cost - $30.

I then rebuilt the windscreen myself, added retractable seatbelts, cleaned up the seats and she was ready to roll. I removed the windscreen wipers as I had no roof...rain on the windscreen was of little concern.

So, after about 4 months of work, and a total of about $3,600, I had turned that little sad Jeep on the side of the road into a pretty little fun car. I usually put the windscreen flat to the hood when I take her out and catch a lot of bugs in my big, dumb-ass grin as I drove her everywhere.

Most Thai people could not understand why a white boy would be driving around in an old Jeep with no air conditioning, let alone no windows or doors.

I'm not finsihed yet. I want to add a roll cage and a bikini top. It gets really hot here, but when it rains...it RAINS. Bigger wheels and tires for a better ride and grip in the dirt.

I am also on the lookout for another project car. I have absolutely no plans to sell Old Yella. After all that work I dont think I could sell her. But, I'd like to do it all over again now that I have a better idea of what I'm doing, a decent toolset and a good set of contacts.

At the end of the day, this story wasn't just about the Jeep. It was really about the untrained Thai people that helped me and took such pride in their work and restored my faith in Thai people. It was a lot of fun and I cant wait to do it all again.

The art of stripping

So, the car now had an engine and gearbox, as well as decent suspension and it stopped, which was cool.

Now it was to strip her down. Again, I didn't really know what I was doing, so I photographed every single step, before, during and after disassembly. I also clearly labelled everything an placed them in zip lock bags. Soon I had a big box of parts.

I had decided at that point to replace anything that needed it, including all the electrics, lights, rubber seals, gauges, switches and anything else that didnt look good. I spent about $1,400 in new parts from Kaiser Willy's in the US.

So I took off everything I could and ended up with a basic shell. At this point I decided not to remove the tub. Firstly, it scared me, and secondly, it didn't look so bad.

I then found an old boy in a nearby Village who fixed cars...kind off. I went to see him and told him in broken Thai what I wanted. I wanted every bit of rust removed, every hole sealed up, and basically, the body in perfect condition. I went there every single day for 3 weeks as he cut, welded and ground that body into a straight shell.

He then fabricated a new gearbox tunnel and readied for undercoat.

Heart and lung transplant

Not far from my house was a dirt-floor Thai mechanic who always seemed to have 4WD's in his "shop". I stopped in and asked him what he recommended for my Jeep, considering I wanted 4WD to work. He suggested a modified fuel-injected Toyota engine mated to a short Diahatsu 4WD gearbox. He said it would all fit with some more floor cutting and it would cost about $1,000 for the imported Japanese engine, gearbox and adapter plate and all his labour.

I was sceptical he really understood what I wanted, but I went with him.

I dropped in most days to see the progress and over about 4 weeks he transplanted that fresh little engine, gearbox, ECU, new radiator and battery under the hood. He also added a new exhaust for me....with a chrome tip...sweet.

The big day finally arrived. When he turned the key, she started right up and the new engine had a throaty little growl. I was imressed at what he had managed to do in this workshop.

I then asked him to change the shocks, replace all the crosmembers underneath, replace all the steering components and do a complete safety check.

Then it was time for the test drive. He took me down this back road, deep into the rocky jungle ravine with steep sides. It rattled a lot. He stopped. He reversed and I assumed he was doing to do a 3-point turn to go back. He looked at me and said "hang on" with a broad grin. Then he revved the fresh engine, dropped the new clutch, spun those little, narrow wheels and took off up the side of the ravine. It felt like 60 degrees, but it was probably 45 degrees.

It was incredible. This little Jeep was unbelieveable and the Driver was pretty good too. I could not stop smiling at the power and ability of my little Jeep. It was a great day and I changed underpants when I got home.

So, it now ran.

Bare naked metal.

Growing up, we had 2 tools in our house - a phillips head screwdriver and hammer. If the screwdriver didnt work. Hammertime.

So the first thing I did was order manuals for the Jeep, and go into town and buy a good set of tools in a cabinet, as well as a hand grinder, bench grinder and lots of wire wheels, brushes and sandpaper.

I really didnt know what I was doing, but I did it anyway.

I stripped her down as much as I could, then I just started grinding away the years and layers of paint in various shades of green.

There was surprisingly little rust, but quite a few repairs that had gone into the Jeep over the years. Nothing major and nothing that couldn't be put right.

It took me about 6 weekends to get the entire body back to bare metal. But you know what, I enjoyed every minute of it. It felt good to bring something back to life.

Ok now what?

And then I got it home.

I got the Jeep home and looked it over in more detail. First thing I had to do was find out what model Jeep it was, which wasn't too difficult. It was a CJ3B Jeep with its distinctive high hood and flat fenders. This model was built for export as it had "swing out" windscreen" that was a primitive form of air conditioning. The engine was a Toyota swap which is typical in Thailand as they are so easily available and easy to fix.

The dash was a mess of holes and broken switches and dials. The floor had been cut open to make way for the Toyota gearbox and the suspension was shot.

It was about at this point that it all started feeling overwhelming and I didnt even know where to start.

What was I thinking?

There isn't anything special about a restored Jeep these days. But what makes this story unique is that I live in the remote mountains of Northern Thailand, I have almost zero mechanical skills, there are no auto suppliers near me, no mechanics, I dont speak Thai very well and I've never owned a Jeep.

So, what was I thinking?

For 2 years I drove past this little sad Jeep. I had no idea what it was, but there was something special about this little car. One day it had a sign on the windscreen and it was parked out front. I doubled back and stopped to take a look.

It looked like a complete mess inside and out. But surprisingly, it looked reasonably sound with little rust.

I took it for a drive and it was just plain dangerous. Brakes didnt really work, steering was sloppy, gearbox was like stirring porridge and no electrics worked.

I bought it for $800 and let him keep the old Toyota engine and gearbox.

So, I had myself a Jeep. Now what?