Frankly my dear... I... do give a damn...

Okay, with Gracie coming back home I have been side tracked
with Scarlets rebuild. After some decision making I have decided
to keep her 2wd and focus more on her on-road heritage and leave
the bumpier roads to Gracie. Also I am just going to update
Gracie's build here as well instead of trying to maintain two
seperate threads.

Latest news - I drove up to Shippensburg yesterday to pick
up one of the rarer Mj-only OEM peices out there. Not quite
the Holy Grail of AMC upgrades, but its one of my favorites:



The LWB version for Gracie is going to be 10x harder to
hunt down... Bonus, LWB OEM gas tank skid plate thrown
in!

Projects will be limited from here on out as I have to focus
my time and $$ on getting the Ram snow-ready.

So I got boreded a couple of weekend ago and decided to tackle Gracie's sagging
smile.



(Enthusiasts will note the upside down grille.)

A few years ago she was caught up in some kind of collision in Hockessen - one
bad enough to mentioned in a police report - and it was what ultimately lead me
to believe she had been totaled. Getting her home I realized the damage wasn't
as horrific as I had imagined so, instead of waiting for the big teardown, I decided
to hit up Amazon to see what was available. I was not disappointed. Omix-Ada,
Evans, and Crown all came through with bargain basement-priced pieces...
delivered with Prime...

When I finally managed to break the bolts loose (and by "loose" I do mean "in
half" as per jeeping tradition) I could see the extent of the damage. Both frame
tips are bent in. The header panel is cracked in several places. The radiator
support it bent in. and the bumper brackets were twisted beyond use.





About four hours of research and a couple of clicks had a replacement bumper,
bumper guards, bumper brackets, and bumper end caps. A call to Team Cherokee
had to my door a $9 new grille, bezels, new screws, and a couple of side pieces.
While I am still on the bench with Team Cherokee, and their parts aren't exactly
flea market cheap, they do have a VERY impressive collection of hard to find OEM
replacements. Since they did eventually (and fairly quickly) get me every part I
needed I will give them the customary plug - if nothing else for the quality of the
parts.





I have some new pieces on order, but as of today this is where Gracie stands -
Running, driving, reliable... but still baby shit brown...