MD Juan

I'm in the process of installing an MD Juan body kit on my 47. The fit is "OK".  I had to open up the brake and steering column holes about 3/8" of an inch to the right and also open up some of the bolt holes on the fenders a little bit but overall the fit is acceptable.   Oh, I also had to open up the transfer case shifer hole about 1/2" forward.  I  bought the kit last fall and was assured it was a recent kit.  I believe the crate had an August 2018 manufacture date on it.   Be prepared to do some body work - lots of spot welds to smooth out, etc. For what it is, I'm pretty happy with it.  It certainly beats trying to repair my old tub, which was a disaster.  Getting everything to sit just right and bolt up easily is a job, but with patience an a dremel tool it's coming along.   

Ol' Red is a MD Juan repro. The original body had too many "careful oilfield miles" on her for an inexperienced body repair person (can't say bodyman, anymore, don't you know) to correct. So...

MD Juan was the answer for me. Yes, there were mounting holes to locate, the steering shaft hole and clutch and brake holes needed some work, and the floor board at the transfer case lever needed some attention to remove interference when going into low range. All that was fairly minor though. No one promised me a rose garden.

Overall, I am satisfied with the end result. The fenders, tailgate and windshield all fit the tub correctly and matched the original grille very nicely. I could have done with a little less orange peel in my red paint job in a couple of places but that was on me, not MD Juan.

For someone that wants a showroom finish, there are many spot welds to correct, but as "harvey45" has posted, the finish on the original bodies were not finished to perfection either. In 1946, the emphasis was on utility and getting it out the door at Toledo than as a clear-coat "boulevard machine". Of course, if you want a showroom finish, you will have to do some work to get it that way.

I chose to leave the spot welds mostly alone, perhaps knocking down some of the high spots and leaving the dimples where they were. People will criticize that if you go that route out of ignorance. They have no idea about what kind of finish came out of the factory in 1946. I believe it gives a more natural original look. I restored Ol' Red to use offroad and while I would hate to see some damage from offroad use I know that eventually there will be a ding, scratch, or dent at some point. Knowing that is going to happen at some point kept me from using spot putty to fill spot welds. I want to enjoy the use of the vehicle, not obsess over potential damage. If Ol' Red is damaged, I will either repair it myself or pay someone to have it fixed. In other words, the original jeeps were work trucks, not show cars.

My advice is to get that tub out of the crate and get started. You do WHAT YOU WANT TO DO to produce WHAT YOU WANT in a finished project. It is yours, not someone else's. Everyone is going to have an opinion on the work you put in to your jeep, but your opinion is the only one that really counts. Always remember that.

Get started...

damar2yxr wrote: Don’t worry. The slight aggravation of making a few adjustments to make it fit right is very small compared to dealing with patch panels, rust, welding, grinding and pounding. Your life with this repop body has become infinitismally more carefree.

X2!   

Scratch wrote: JayBob wrote: Oh, I'm not going for a carshow showroom shine.  I'm more than likely going with a flat paint that might clean up fairly nice, but not too worried about weld marks or anything.  What I was nervous about was in the video I watched (and maybe he WAS going for perfection) he was relocating fender braces, cutting metal and relocating holes that were an inch off, said the tub was a little too long to match up, and had gaps...which I figured that's what welting is for anyway...lol. I'm not afraid to do a little cutting, grinding, elongating holes, drilling, etc and I pretty much expected that anyway.  I just don't want to, or have the knowledge to go full fabrication because that's why I bought my tub kit in the first place.  Do you have a link for the video.  I'm planning on a new tub for my GPW and am considering an MD Juan.

Greaser007 wrote: There was one of these listed in the Sacramento, California area a few months back for $3500, on Craigslist. I am sure someone bought it is my guess. I wondered if it were for sale by Ron Fitzgerald from Oregon.

I put one on my 47 a year ago and am happy with it.  It took some or more detailed a small amount of work to get it to fit on the frame.  A few holes needed enlarged and moved over some, then patched in the other side of the hole.  A few mounts and trial fit is all I did.  Looks good, I would do it again without another thought.  

Best advice....get your kit, mount it to your frame and get all your fenders, grill and hood fit. Have all your mounting hardware figured out. I would then take a lot of pictures and post them here. Everyone will point out what your're missing. Typically its some bracketry for the gas tank, top bow pockets etc. MD Juan has added many improvements to the kit but who knows if you get an improved kit or an older unimproved kit. One thing about these tubs is they are not actually a CJ2-A tub configuration rather it is a CJ3-A. This means your CJ2A seats wont fit exactly right...they'll be a bit short. You may need to source 3A seats for an exact fit. The 2A seats will work but a slight modification will be needed.