Rear seat pedestal
When building a CJ, we have several options for dealing with the rear seat pedestal. Naturally, you want to make the right choice before you get your project underway. Here are examples of what can be done.
		First, a pair of bone stock CJs with the rear seat left intact. The pedestal is painted olive drab like the rest of the bike. This is the only way to go if your goal is a correct CJ750 restoration. But, let's face it. Purists make up a pretty small part of the CJ community.
				The majority of CJ owners remove the rear seat for cosmetic reasons. These pedestals are painted to match the sheet metal.
	This is a solo M72. The rear seat remains, but the pedestal is black like the frame.
			Another M72 and two CJs with black pedestals. If these bikes didn't have black frames, this probably wouldn't work as well.
			Chrome is another option, however you'll need a well-made pedestal with clean welds. Keeping it spotless will take some effort.
	This bike has a chrome plated pedestal with the rear seat intact.
		Or you can eliminate the pedestal altogether as on these two bikes. I recommend welding strips of steel to the underside of the fender to reinforce it. Without support provided by the pedestal, fenders can crack from constant vibration.
	If you choose to eliminate the pedestal, you'll be left with four empty bolt holes. You can fill them with weld, or you can retain them for potential future use. For the latter, you might consider using painted carriage bolts as seen here. They're actually quite discreet.
	This bike belongs to Ross Kowalski. The fender uses a BMW-style bracket for the hinged portion. There are similar fenders with an additional bracket that attaches the forward portion to the frame, where the seat pedestal would normally be bolted.