With events luckily falling into place with wheels and tires and several week nights of hanger fabrication along with well placed windows with weather, all systems were go for a Thursday morning delivery to Jecks Service Center to finally have exhaust installed. I am sure the surrounding neighbors were also happy. Transportation was supplied by my cousin, Dave Lehr who operates his own business Classic Junkyard and just happens to own a rollback. (Isn't family great?) Delivery was uneventful and after a few minute wait the CJ was driven unto the lift. After a brief description to Scott Aungst (one of the owners) of what we wanted it was left in his capable hands. Jeffrey wanted duel 2

 1/2" aluminized steel pipe to the back running through Flowmaster HP-2  mufflers and exiting with Magnaflow tips along with a threaded fitting for an O2 sensor for AFR readings to tune the carb. These mufflers were the largest/quietest that would fit into the confined space that was available. Since space was restricted, especially on the passenger side, hanger locations were fabricated and hung in the proper locations. Hangers of choice were Walker 36518 at all locations except the one used at the front of the transfercase which is an OEM style, simply made from a length of angle iron, drilled to hang from the pins and a simple 2 1/2" U clamp around the pipe. the Walker hangers were

mounted using a short section of pipe for location then drilling and tapping the crossmembers for 5/16 - 18 bolts. A mark was made on the hanger where it met the pipe then removed and bent on a simple fixture mounted to my welding table. The hanger rod was clamped, heated and bent. Scott called later in the day for us to give the OK before final welding. The slip fit joints on both ends of the mufflers were handled using Band Clamps for ease of removal for possible future Jet Hot Coating. Early Friday morning got the call that it was ready for pick up. Scott did a remarkable job with the confined available space bending the pipes, and the sound, quieter, but still had a nice throaty sound, and

those tips looked awesome protruding out the back. Just the sound and look Jeffrey was after. Now since Dave wasn't available to transport, the decision was made to drive the 8 miles of back roads home. This would be the longest trip to date. First though we traveled the mile to the local truck plaza to get this thing weighed. Curb weight for a stock CJ7 is listed around 3000 lbs. Ours came in at 3480 lbs. Trip home was tense trying to keep an eye on everything but everything worked well, nothing fell apart. The larger tires did cut down on performance slightly along with the fact that it appears to be running rich, which will be determined once the O2 sensor in installed. A stop was made at Jeffreys'

grand parents (my  parents) to show them the progress which they have not seen in quite awhile. His grandfather was and still is a source of knowledge and was helpful in several areas of this build. Altogether a product able weekend utilizing the services of committed individuals. Thanks guys.

 With an exhaust system install bearing down on us  in a week and the possibility of driving the 8 miles or so back home instead of rollback, the need for tires was a definite need. The tires that have been on this build for the past 16 yrs were worn out studded snow tires from my J10 plow truck. One has a slow leak for all those years and another just recently developed one. The wheels are just as old with lots of rust. New tires would not be going back on these wheels. Instead we retrieved 5 from our stashed inventory. A story on these wheels is that it took several years scrounging junk yards wheel by wheel to find 5. They had to be factory chrome 15 x 8 6 lug which only came on full size Jeeps, usually the

 Laredo version. With not many made you can see why it took so long. Fortunately these wheels were clear coated from the factory which was fairly durable if maintained. When acquired these wheels looked rough, but knowing that they were clear coated, and the coating removed there would be nice chrome underneath. Years ago Jeffrey had painstakingly removed the clearcoat from the fronts using a method of heat gun, paint remover and steel wool and alot of elbow grease with rather satisfactory results. Seeing the quality that this build turned into, the backs of those wheels, which are viewable through the slots was not going to cut it. They had to be stripped. Doing some searching we

 found Blue Mountain Metal Polishing in Bethel Pa. Gave them a call, emailed some pics, dropped off the wheels and got a quote. Gave a timeline of 2 weeks. So tires were ordered from Kens Tires  Mickey Thompson Deagan 38 All Terrain in 31 x 10.5 x 15 was the choice. We have been doing business with Kens for a lot of years. Best prices and great service. Tires arrived, Blue Mountain calls and wheels are done. Picked them up and could not believe what I saw. They did a fantastic incredible job. I had initially told them to strip 5 wheels and polish 4 because we weren't sure if we were using a spare, but they ended up polishing 5 and still stayed within budget. Wise choice. Wheels were then delivered promptly to Kens and they mounted and balanced while I waited. The choice was made to mount the raised white lettering to the back. Once home, we scrubbed off the blue coating and put a coat of wax on the backs for now and then mounted to the CJ. Everything mounted up ok but I must point out the tie rod ends just, and I mean just clear any weights on the inside of the wheels. So far what little driving

 we did, these tires are not noisy. Although hard to tell with open headers. Steering is light and tracks good. Didn't check the air pressure yet which could be responsible for the light steering. Tread is just about even with the flares which is good. It did raise the height slightly so side steps are going to be mandatory.

 More plating from Librandi's this time the front turn signal trim rings. These started out as non stick coated pie tins that we picked up at a kitchen supply that were modified to use new Wrangler turn signal housings. These gave us the recessed look to go along with the headlights. Clear lenses were chosen to go along with the clear side marker lights then amber bulbs installed to keep things legal. Next up was the console trim. These 3 pieces were machined from aluminum and then plated. A little extra time and expense was put into these pieces to compliment the shifter boot and black paint on the console top surface. I must point out though that the plating is thicker than expected. the

 counterbored holes were reduced in size enough that the button head screws had to be turned down to fit. That alone shows the quality of the chrome plating. All in all the interior turned out better than we expected. Jeffrey had a vision of what he wanted and designed the dash and console and this was the end result. Everything is functional and within easy reach. A white shift knob replaced the red 8 ball to compliment the white seat stitching.

 The chrome plating returned from the platers and wow what a nice job they did. We used Librandi's  near the Harrisburg airport. Did the whole job over the phone. Initially called them, sent email pics to them, received a quote, mailed parts, took less time than they told me, got a call on a Monday that it was done, paid them and received parts Tuesday afternoon. That was pretty hard to beat. So with parts in hand we moved onto the tailgate assembly and install. Once again Gary's Body Shop did  their usual fantastic paint work. The fabricated linkage was installed. A prior post we explained that we wanted an outside handle instead of the inside CJ type mainly because we anticipated using a YJ hard top. Honestly I don't think this build will see a hard top now but if it does then we will be prepared. A latch was sourced from a previous Carlisle buy but found they can also be purchased through McMaster Carr. To make it work an aluminum housing was milled up and then plated. Once the linkage and handle was installed the stainless hinges were mounted to the gate with rubber gaskets cut out of some roofing rubber that

 was stashed in the shop for future use. Gaskets were also used between the body and hinges. 3/4" x 3/16" stainless steel was used instead of nuts to secure the hinges to the fiberglass body instead of nuts to give a greater area of support. These were simply drilled and tapped 5/16 - 18 for the stainless button head bolts. Everything lined up well then the support straps were installed using stainless shoulder bolts again from McMaster Carr along with some wave washers.