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Project Jeep for cheap
06/28/05
My 15 year old now has his permit. Since I want to be able to drive my own jeep
offroad he will be working all summer on his 50 dollar 1991 Cherokee. It runs great
since we put a new flexplate in it but the body is in dire need. Mark will be chronicling
the buildup of his jeep over the summer and will be posting his own updates. We
hope to end up with a lime green , 6" lift w/ coil conversion sitting on 33's Cherokee
when it is all done.----
Dan
07/08/05
Hello, this is Mark typing. I am 15 and have had my permit since May. This being
my first vehicle, I may seem to be moving a bit slow as we repair and build up my
XJ. This is because I am having to learn how to do everytning as I go along. And,
no, it won't be for sale when it's done.(editor's note: looks like Mark is worried
because Dad sells everything).
The first thing we did after fixing the transmission was remove the front and rear
bumpers, which were completely bent out of shape. I will most likely replace them
with factory-style bumpers, as I can not afford heavier bumpers that would cost
$500-$700 a piece. Next, the exhaust system behind the header was removed because
it has suffered heavy rust damage. The muffler was rusted through.
When it got down off of the hoist, I started removing the doors. I now have new
(new to me) doors from Viking Auto Salvage that don't have rust damage. The current
doors are completely rusted through, and the Rust Perforation Warranty expired seven
years ago. The doors are all the wrong colors, one is purple, one is red, and two
are blue, so I cleaned the doors and prepped the jambs for painting. The jambs will
be painted in the new lime green color before they are installed on the Cherokee.
At the same time, of course, the jambs on the Cherokee must be painted as well.
That is why the old doors are being removed now.
Thus far I have removed the front passenger-side door. This was a real pain because
four of the six bolts could only be reached with a small 1/4"-drive ratchet, and
required too much torque to remove. They should have been able to be reached with
a larger wrench from the other side, as they have two holes going through the hinge
so you can do just that, but to get to the front of the hinge the front fender must
be removed, and to remove the front fender, the hood must be opened, which can not
be done because the cable for the hood release is missing. This will certainly be
a problem later, but I don't really need to open the hood now, so I'll be writing
about that some other time.----
Mark
07/29/05
All of my old doors are now removed and my new doors are still waiting to be painted.
We are waiting on that because we decided to patch up the rocker panels first. We
got two new rocker panels, cut out the rust on the old ones, trimmed the new ones
down to fit, and welded them on. There are still some spaces at the rear of the
panels, so some smaller pieces will have to be cut out to patch up those areas.
After the rocker panels and ground down and looking smooth, the door jambs should
be able to be painted. No promises, though.
The rust was cut out of my right rear quarter panel, and pieces have been cut, fitted,
and bent to be welded in there, but have not been welded yet.there is also a space
along the circumference of my rear wheel wells that will need to be filled, but
that will be later. My fenders have been cut out to accomodate my Bushwacker Cut-Out
Flares, but the flares themselves won't be installed until after the bodywork is
done and the Jeep has been painted.
I have good news about my hood! Our bodyman here, Dennis, suggested removing the
entire header panel off the front of the Cherokee to open up a 3/8" gap so that
I could stick in a screwdriver and trip each release individually, without using
the cable, which , as I wrote before, was not connected. This method worked, and
now I won't need to cut up the hood and spend a load of money to replace it. Unfortunately,
the bellcrank and connecting rods on the underside of the hood had been ripped out
earlier, so this hoo d still won't work. Fortunately, a customer at the shop read
my previous post, saw my need, and kindly brought in a new, flawless hood, as well
as a set of stock front and rear bumpers and taillights that don't have rusty sockets,
free! This really helps out a lot. Thanks, Clint!
One more thing. I ripped up the carpet in the cargo area to get it away from sparks
and the welding, and I realized there was way more rest on this thing than I first
thought. I will be grinding, cutting, and patch-welding for a while yet, no fun
stuff like lift kits and big tires until the body work is done. That's all I have
to say for this post.
Mark
08/03/05
The body is looking way better now. My XJ was parked up on the lift and our bodyman
showed me how to fix all my rust damage in one day. He started by welding on the
pieces I had made earlier for my rear quarter panel, which fit nicely, then moving
on to each available hole in the outer body, cutting out rough pieces with the sheet
metal nibbler and trimming them down very quickly, allowing for some overlap, and
lastly welding them on professionally. I had been taking forever trying to make
pieces that fit perfectly into the holes, when I should have just allowed for overlap,
which not only saves time in cutting, but also makes the pieces easier to weld on.
Patching the body is what takes up all of this posts pictures, but I would also
like to mention that I am in the process of ripping up my destroyed cargo area carpet
so it will be easier to repair the extensive rust damage in the cargo area, which
will be quite a task. ----
Mark
08/03/05
Mark is back in school so I will have to take over the updates for awhile. The suspension
has all been installed with the exception of the shocks. Those we will measure out
once all the weight is back on. The dana 35 rear axle was retained because the rear
upper control arm mount was made specifically for the dana 35 and making a new one
for an 8.8 Ford was going to be alot of work. Tera's front longarm was installed
as well. The suspension is quite flexy so for on road driving sway bars will be
a great idea. The rear sway bar needs modification to work around the new rear control
arms. The body is ready for paint so the next update will be showing the new color.
Also Mark replaced his exhaust header with a Crown replacement as his old one was
cracked. ----
Dan
01/11/06
Mark's jeep finally got painted. Mark also had time over winter break to come in
and start putting it together. The Bushwacker flares were painted to match and installing
those were a snap. He put all the doors together and got all the power windows and
locks working. Mark still has not decided which tires and wheels he wants to put
on. I do know it will be 33's or 35's on 10" wide rims. Gears and lockers will be
next on the list also.
01/30/06
Mark had some time off from school so he finished a few more things. Rears shocks
needed to be installed yet so we used a set of JKS shock mounts for the rear axle
end. We slanted the bottom of the shock out as far as possible to help with controlling
sidesway. The shock mounts have a replaceable stud and are welded up and out of
the way of any obstacles. The shocks have an extended length of 31" which should
work just right for the amount of flex this rear coil spring conversion has. Mark
also installed his rear tow point which comes in the form of a 2" reciever hitch
from Rigid Hitch. And last but not least Mark decided on 33" Swamper TRUXXUS MT's
for his tires. So this jeep is almost ready for the road. Just in time too as Mark
gets his license in two weeks. ----
Dan
03/18/06
Mark installed his new carpet which really brightened up his interior. The old carpet
was pretty nasty. Mark has his drivers license and has been driving his Jeep for
a couple of weeks now. Mark installed an Olympic front bumper that has a front reciever
built in. He also needed to build an additional rear bumper to legalize his bumper
height. Lockers and gears still need to be installed but that will have to wait
for a few more weeks. ----
Dan
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