Yeah so, turns out that price I couldn’t refuse for painting was too good to be true. Hahah. I picked up my bumpers and receiver hitch last week. When I got them home and unwrapped the saran he put them in to prevent scratches, this is what I found:
Looks like the saran had some sort of reaction with the clear. Maybe? No clue. I sent him the videos and I’m going back on Monday for a refund on the painting for these. The receiver hitch looks fine for some reason; I’m thinking he didn’t put clear on it. Anyway, I don’t want to mess around with these anymore and certainly don’t want to waste anymore time waiting for them to get done right. I called three body shops today who are all booking into August and I have zero time to try and get it done myself the right way. So what did I do? I ordered new factory bumper bars. They come painted and they’ll be here by Monday. Going to sell the others on FB marketplace; I’ve got a rear bumper bar that’s been primed and the front/rear that just got painted. I’m sure they’ll sell no problem.
Tomorrow it’s getting a full detail including the engine bay. And on Friday a VERY important package arrives from my buddy
@Jamison C: a brand new factory khaki soft top with tinted windows, complete with hardware and door surrounds. On Mother’s Day I went down to the basement and unboxed was was supposed to be a khaki Bestop Supertop NX (same shape as factory soft top) with tinted windows and instead was a khaki Bestop Supertop Classic/Squareback with clear windows. After going into a full on panic, I touched base with my guy at Collins Brothers and got a return label to send it back. My original ‘04 had a khaki soft top with tinted windows and that’s what I wanted. I spent 2.5 hours searching the internet for options, realizing that Bestop doesn’t make khaki anymore and thought I was SOL.
But then I happened upon this soft top listed on Craigslist not knowing that it was listed by a fellow forum member. I was sure it was too good to be true. Factory unused? Khaki with tinted windows? WTF. I sent a text practically begging the seller to consider shipping it to me, explaining what it meant to my build and including a picture of my Jeep. Immediately after, I hopped on here to see if anyone local to Sedona would be willing to help me out in case the seller didn’t want to ship it himself. But then I got a text back. The seller knew my Jeep looked familiar and we instantly realized who one another was. Ha!
Getting this top boxed up and shipped across the country was quite the journey and I couldn’t be more grateful to Jamison for doing it for me. Almost 6 weeks of chatting back and forth, figuring dimensions and custom box making. But, I made a friend along the way and I’ll never forget it. This top is truly the final piece of making this Jeep mine.
So yeah, big stuff in the coming week or so. Bumpers going back on, hitch receiver going back on, fogs and tow hooks getting mounted, new front rubber bumpers going back on, and SOFT TOP BEING INSTALLED! Only have a couple of task items left:
- Install reinforced interior door panels
- Paint and reinstall original fender flares
- Remove wheel well liners and pressure wash behind
- Waxoyl the undercarriage
Will post pics once bumper bars get here. Happy hump day, guys!
