Brickmiata Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 Thought I'd start a thread for my latest acquisition and first ever jeep. An 87 lwb 4.0 5spd base. The goal of this build is to have a winter truck to plow a few driveways and have some fun with in between. It was a hell of a ride from Worcester, MA to Buffalo,NY but it was originally a Virginia truck and the only rot is a all spot on the drivers floor so I'd say the ride was worth it. At this point, I thought I had gotten a pretty good deal on a largely rust free 27yr old piece of history. I new it needed some brake attention as they were spongy on the test drive so I started by looking into that. I replaced all rear components down to the lines, and then found the master was leaking. Instead of replacing it with the same 80s style, I put in a 96 cherokee booster/master. While working on that, the clutch went out and I poked my head around until I found the leaking master. I replaced that and then bled and bled but the clutch never came back. Ok, I thought, I have to pull the transmission but why put back the same 200k French crap with internal slave? So in went a new HD clutch for plowing and a low mileage ax15 as well as new ujoints, new exhaust/intake gaskets, and a larger battery. When I got to the battery, I decided I didn't need a/c for my winter vehicle and I hated the location of the alternator, so out came the entire ac system and up went the alternator. I also deleted a good half of the vac lines in the bay and replaced the hood at this point. Next came the Fischer MM1, BDS 2"lift coils and timbrens up front (remember, it's a plow truck). Also installed at this time were four skyjacker shocks bought at a great sale price. This round of changes completely changed the way the truck rides. Goes down the road like its on rails now. Very impressed. Here she is as I brought her home And a few days later when I found a front bumper for it Here it is in the middle of bed-lining the lower strip and installing the plow, springs and shocks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brickmiata Posted December 27, 2014 Author Share Posted December 27, 2014 Next on the list is a pair of WRX seats, a headlight upgrade and metric ton springs out back because, in addition to plowing, this truck will be a parts and firewood hauler. Oh and a set of turbines because I love them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wesleypipesyo Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 Where are you going to source the WRX seats? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brickmiata Posted December 27, 2014 Author Share Posted December 27, 2014 I picked up a pair of very nice 03 wrx seats for $200 at the local lkq. Now I just have to get the saggy old buckets out and fabricate something to attach them to the mj sliders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brickmiata Posted December 27, 2014 Author Share Posted December 27, 2014 Ok, I lied. On the way to Home Depot this morning, I had quite a bit of oil vapor come through the vents so I took the time to replace the valve cover gasket and mod the vent pickup tubes while I was at it. Also for those interested, here is one of the wrx seats waiting to go in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjy_26 Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 Nice seats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wesleypipesyo Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 Does the mounting brackets need a lot of adjustment? I randomly pulled some fiero bucket seats out of a junk yard as a joke for an older ford ranger once. They bolted in perfectly with zero adjustment. I was amazed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brickmiata Posted December 29, 2014 Author Share Posted December 29, 2014 I have not looked to closely at the seats yet. I don't expect it will be too difficult. I have a bunch of plate steel and a welder. Today I finish welded my exhaust and replaced the fuel filter which helped startup even more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brickmiata Posted December 30, 2014 Author Share Posted December 30, 2014 New picture of the front end for the fun of it. Also, the coolant leak is no more. Aaaaaaaannnnndd a quick pic of the worst thing the PO did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brickmiata Posted December 31, 2014 Author Share Posted December 31, 2014 I still need to take it back out and lower it an inch or two but it's just about done and a hell of an improvement from the sagging stocker. Also removed the rest of the a/c system and fixed up the headlight harness today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tetrad Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Also, the coolant leak is no more. That coolant tank looks slick. Did you fab it yourself? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brickmiata Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 That coolant tank looks slick. Did you fab it yourself? No I don't have a lot of experience welding aluminum. The tank is the one from mac's radiator that people talk about around here. It's a very nicely made piece even if it's a bit on the expensive side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tetrad Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 That coolant tank looks slick. Did you fab it yourself? No I don't have a lot of experience welding aluminum. The tank is the one from mac's radiator that people talk about around here. It's a very nicely made piece even if it's a bit on the expensive side. Cool, thanks! Good luck with the build. What are your plans for the bed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brickmiata Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 Not sure about the bed. I'll have to take some measurements and either fabricate something or go cut some replacements from a Dakota or some other small truck. The bed is in pretty good shape otherwise so I'd prefer to keep it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brickmiata Posted January 2, 2015 Author Share Posted January 2, 2015 Got my seats finished up.If you look, you can see that the passenger seat is higher than the driver side. I spent an hour redesigning the drivers side to lower it down which helped get me where I wanted in relation to the pedals and wheel. The passenger seat did not get so much time invested but is at a very comfortable height nonetheless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brickmiata Posted January 2, 2015 Author Share Posted January 2, 2015 Got to drive it in the snow and plow for the first time Saturday night. I didn't do too much, just my driveway and my mother's but the truck handles snow with no problem. It wasn't deep but I didn't slip around or even grab for 4-low once. During the snow, I was reminded by a friendly neighborhood officer that I still don't have a license plate light and that I'm still running around with the 3yr old Virginia sticker on the windshield :rotf: but got off without a warning. Next up, license plate light and a fix for my front passenger turn signal which blinks at half strength and stays illuminated on the dash as long as the headlights are on. I've been told this is likely the socket or wiring in the area so I'll be ripping through that and replacing everything that looks at me funny soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Gregory 89 MJ Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Along the lines of the turn signal, could it be your flasher? I replaced mine and it solved the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brickmiata Posted January 8, 2015 Author Share Posted January 8, 2015 The flasher is brand new and did solve part of the problem. It used to be both front turn signals staying lot on the dash and the passenger side wouldn't blink at all. Now only the passenger side stays lit on the dash and the front blinker/marker doesn't light up unless the blinker is on and then it is very dim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88AKChief Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 I had the same issue and it did turn out to be the front lamp holder, however in the hunt to find that gremlin I found the wiring harness connector behind the drivers headlight to be terribly corroded as well. Might wanna pull that apart as well maybe just clean it even. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
relyt120 Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 mine had this issue. make sure your rear bulbs are correct. some of them are dual filament and some are single. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brickmiata Posted January 11, 2015 Author Share Posted January 11, 2015 Well, the front harness connector was deleted when I bought the truck with crimp connectors. I soldered and heat shrunk in place of the crimps as a first step to solve the problems. Between that and refreshing grounds, the headlights and drivers turn signal now work properly. The rear lighting harness was removed and cleaned up and all of the rear lights work properly and at full strength. I bought a new socket today so I'll soon find out if that's the issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88AKChief Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Well, the front harness connector was deleted when I bought the truck with crimp connectors. I soldered and heat shrunk in place of the crimps as a first step to solve the problems. Between that and refreshing grounds, the headlights and drivers turn signal now work properly. The rear lighting harness was removed and cleaned up and all of the rear lights work properly and at full strength. I bought a new socket today so I'll soon find out if that's the issue. yeah, mine was not deleted but it was badly corroded (pins not even there) but as I soldered it together and cleaned up connections it started fixing the rampant gremlins. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brickmiata Posted January 14, 2015 Author Share Posted January 14, 2015 It's been a slow weekend/week due to 15 degree weather every time I'm home. I have a garage but of course the summer autox build is hiding from the cold in there. I may not have even mentioned it but the float switch in the plow controller was bad and as such, I had a jumper wire rigged so I could simply push on it and it would go to float position. I had looked for a new controller and found them for $150 used to $350 new. Instead, I did some research, got a new switch and desoldered/soldered the new one onto the board. While I was at it, I relocated the controller away from my left knee's line of fire. Hoping for some good snow soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brickmiata Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 It's pouring pretty good here in central MA but I got some wiring done on both of the winter rides today. Comanche lighting all works and I have a trailer plate light on the way for the tailgate. Hoping to fix the nonoperational windshield washer next. Eventually it will be painted some sort of forest green color. The ten shades of red and maroon are less obvious in the rain but pretty obnoxious looking up close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brickmiata Posted January 25, 2015 Author Share Posted January 25, 2015 During Saturdays stormRight about here I realized that my alternator had gone belly up.The battery did a great job getting me home by itself. I replaced the alternator with a 100 amp unit this morning. Also replaced the temp sensor and oil pressure sensor to get the gauges going and replaced the thermostat and flushed the coolant for good measure.All set for the Blizzard of 2015 coming Tuesday!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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