Project "It's a Jimmy Thing"

[JJH Jimmy]

I guess it is time for an update. It has been so damn cold here it is hard to get motivated to go out to the shop after work. I do have heat in my shop but i don't keep it heated when i am not working in it. It makes it hard to justify heating it up when it is -15 for just a few hours.

I cleaned up my gauge cluster with a new lens, bezel, 168 bulbs and put a volt meter from a square body in the place of the ammeter. I couldn't figure out how to wire the ammeter to make it work and i prefer a voltmeter anyways.

[JJH Jimmy]

I turned a rats nest of wires into something kind of presentable. I ended up mounting the ECM fuses next to the AAW fuse block.

[JJH Jimmy]

Gauge cluster pictures.

I also ran the speaker wires and amp wires out to the kick panels.

[JJH Jimmy]

I mounted the fuses for the electric fans on the fender. I also wired up relays to power the head lights and mounted those fuses next to the fan fuses.

[JJH Jimmy]

I started the jimmy for the first time using the ignition switch! Almost everything worked. The heater fan won't work on high (I think it is the switch) and the wiper motor wouldn't work. I spent about two hours replacing the switch checking for power and messing around trying to figure out what was wrong. Come to find out i had the transmission linkage on backwards and it was binding against the cowl. Flipped it around and it works great.

I also bought a OBD2 blue tooth scanner on ebay for $12.00 and downloaded the free Torque app on my tablet. I only played with it for a couple of minutes but it seems to work pretty good and you can get way more info than i thought you would be able to get. I think i will buy the $5.00 App.

[JJH Jimmy]

I have been trying to get some stuff done while waiting for the weather to break. I cleaned up my grille and painted it twice. Like about everything on this project it seems that everything I do the first time is just for practice. The first time i painted it i cleaned it up, taped it off and used some SEM self etching primer and Trim Black paint. But, even after i gave it a few days to cure it seemed like the paint scratched off of the chrome surface of the grille really easy. So i used my cheap harbor freight blaster and blasted off the newly applied SEM paint. This left the grill with a nice surface profile for the paint to stick to. The second time, i tested in a couple of spots the Etching primer and the trim black paint and just the trim black paint. After i gave it a day to cure i felt that just the trim black paint adhered better to the grille than the primer and paint method. I then stripped off all of the tape and retaped it so i would have nice sharp edges and applied just the trim black paint. I think that it turned out pretty good. There are still a few small dings that i couldn't get out and the chrome is not the best But, i guess it beats buying a repop that costs $600, came from China and doesn't fit.

Before

[JJH Jimmy]

During.

[JJH Jimmy]

After. Hung back on the wall where it will reside until it is time to install. Hopefully some time this summer.

[JJH Jimmy]

I also cleaned up the center console. I spent a ton of hours stripping it with a small wire brush and lacquer thinner. I then fiber glassed some small cracks from the inside and painted it with some SEM flexible paint.

[JJH Jimmy]

Finished product!

[skorpioskorpio]

If your work holds up to some wear, I'd be really proud of it. Right now, from the pics, it looks really really good, both the console and the grill. In that pic of the grill on the wall I don't even see where that double ding is on the cross bar from the first attempt pics.

[JJH Jimmy]

Originally Posted by skorpioskorpio

If your work holds up to some wear, I'd be really proud of it. Right now, from the pics, it looks really really good, both the console and the grill. In that pic of the grill on the wall I don't even see where that double ding is on the cross bar from the first attempt pics.

Thank you!

As for the durability of the paint on the console, i read a lot of reviews and the SEM stuff is apparently the way to go. But, time will tell.

I have a real crappy body hammer and dolly set that i got from Harbor Freight. I wrapped the dolly with a old leather TIG welding glove and used it on the face of the grille. I am not a body guy by any means but i feel that the trick is to not let the dolly bounce when you strike it with the hammer from the back side. I positioned the grille on my welding bench (1" thick plate) face down with the dolly between the grill and the bench and gave it a few well place hits. You can still tell that the dings are there if you get up close but it is way better than it was.

I am looking forward to seeing your build come together!

[jaros44sr]

console came out awesome, looks like it was worth the time spent on stripping...thanks for the product info., i bought one off the board and the paint is chipping off. Looks like ill have to do it your way. You still have to paint the eyebrows? Right?

always enjoy reading about your build progress!

never knew which way the GMC logo was supposed to face...but, now that i look at it, guess it can only go on one way

[Tom Vogel]

Originally Posted by jaros44sr

console came out awesome, looks like it was worth the time spent on stripping...thanks for the product info.,

x2

[JJH Jimmy]

Originally Posted by jaros44sr

console came out awesome, looks like it was worth the time spent on stripping...thanks for the product info., i bought one off the board and the paint is chipping off. Looks like ill have to do it your way. You still have to paint the eyebrows? Right?

always enjoy reading about your build progress!

never knew which way the GMC logo was supposed to face...but, now that i look at it, guess it can only go on one way

Thank you!

The nice thing about it if you are painting it black is that after you strip it it is black so if i do scuff it up a bit you probably won't hardly notice.

Yea, i have to paint the eyebrows still, but first i have to find a set. The passenger side one that came on my Jimmy was all bent up and the drivers side was a poor repop. I have been keeping my eye on the parts board for a nice original set but it seems they just don't come up that often.

[skorpioskorpio]

Originally Posted by JJH Jimmy

Thank you!

As for the durability of the paint on the console, i read a lot of reviews and the SEM stuff is apparently the way to go. But, time will tell.

I have a real crappy body hammer and dolly set that i got from Harbor Freight. I wrapped the dolly with a old leather TIG welding glove and used it on the face of the grille. I am not a body guy by any means but i feel that the trick is to not let the dolly bounce when you strike it with the hammer from the back side. I positioned the grille on my welding bench (1" thick plate) face down with the dolly between the grill and the bench and gave it a few well place hits. You can still tell that the dings are there if you get up close but it is way better than it was.

I am looking forward to seeing your build come together!

Well it came out great...both. Yea I'm looking forward to mine coming together too, it looks like things are finally starting to happen now though. I guess I hadn't realised how much blackout accent there is on the '71-72s, mine being a '70 is just a wall of chrome up front, just a little bit of accent around the headlight doors and of coarse I've ditched the eyebrows and gone with a 67-68 hood which gets rid of the grill top crown moulding.

[jaros44sr]

Originally Posted by JJH Jimmy

Thank you!

The nice thing about it if you are painting it black is that after you strip it it is black so if i do scuff it up a bit you probably won't hardly notice.

Yea, i have to paint the eyebrows still, but first i have to find a set. The passenger side one that came on my Jimmy was all bent up and the drivers side was a poor repop. I have been keeping my eye on the parts board for a nice original set but it seems they just don't come up that often.

Dang, i used to have that stuff laying around, let me look and see whats up....

[JJH Jimmy]

I decided that the Jimmy needed some tunes so i found these speakers on Amazon.com for $35.00 a set with free shipping! The same ones at Best Buy were $80.00 a set.

I first made a template of the kick panel area out of some card board and made the backs of the speaker enclosures out of 1/4" fiber board. I then cut some 1/2" MDF board for the speaker rings and laid them out on the board the best that i could trying top keep the both of them the same. Next, i stretched a t shirt over the molds and stapled it on the back side.

[JJH Jimmy]

Next i brushed on some fiberglass resin to the t-shirt.

Then i added the fiberglass cloth and more resin, sanded the high spots after it cured and then brushed on another layer of resin.

When all of that cured, i sanded again and added filler to any low spots and then one last sand down.

They are now ready for raptor liner!

[JJH Jimmy]

I made a bracket to relocate the dimmer switch and when the raptor liner cured i installed them.

I am not a big sound system person, but i want to hear a little bit of tunes cruising down the road with the top off!

I think they sound pretty good considering that they are just running off of the head unit and once i put two in the rear panels and a powered sub under the drivers seat i should be able to hear them going down the road.

[JJH Jimmy]

I had to adjust the cowl to door gap on both sides.

[JJH Jimmy]

And the finished product!

[VA72C10]

nice work!

[notsolo]

Speaker kick panels came out nice, Thanks for sharing. Door gaps, cowl and Fender all look great.

[JJH Jimmy]

Originally Posted by VA72C10

nice work!

Originally Posted by notsolo

Speaker kick panels came out nice, Thanks for sharing. Door gaps, cowl and Fender all look great.

Thanks guys!