We started the last leg of the body prep by painting the tub bottom undercoat, the hood and the grill Marine Forest Green.

After priming the tub bottom we added a healthy layer of rubberized undercoating to protect and preserve. It is a “paint over” coating which will allow us to cover it with the the original Marine Forest Green.

We prepared the hood, grill and tub bottom with rust prohibitive prior to the primer.

We’re used sandable grey primer for the first three coats and then add an additional coat of traditional red oxide color.

We applied the first coat of primer.

After prepping the tub we set up the garage for applying the primer.

A little dent repair, a little Bondo, and a lot of sanding and the preparations for painting the tub was complete. Thanks to all in the Motor Pool who lent a hand!

We had more sanding body filler. It took serval application and hours of sanding to flatten the panels.

We devised a good way to fill unwanted holes and large open areas. We spot welded a sheetmetal patch on the back and then filled it with Bondo. It’s a strong patch that will be virtually invisible.

We completed the hood repair and final coating of Bondo with a little help from Danny.

In preparation for installing the tub we completed repair and replacement of parts where it easiest to get at them. Today we replaced the rear pinion oil seal which had been leaking before the restoration. We should have replaced the seals in the transfer case as well. As it turned out we wound up replacing them later from under the jeep—much harder!

We needed all the help we could get! There were hours of sanding and filling to do!

When the rough stuff was done, it’ was time to start leveling the high and low surfaces. We used a combination of long and short fiber and Bondo.

We started adding the first application of body filler. We started with long fiber filler for all the holes and small openings followed by some Bondo and glazing. We hand many hours of sanding ahead of us!

We finished grinding all the welds; another milestone! It was a relief for our neighbors to have their nice quiet cul-de-sac again.

We completed all the welding on the tub; a milestone event! Two years ago we joined the halves then it was time to finish the grinding.