87MJJeep

Then I buffed it with 3M's Perfect It III compound. And it rained just as I finished it up that first afternoon owning it!

This was "Morelli" the day I brought him home. 9/10/2007. Hard to believe it's nearly been 13 yrs. Owner #1 was elderly man whose son bought it for him (son was a doctor). Son had it for some unknown period of time after his father passed away. 3rd owner is 2nd generation owner of well-known auto repair shop. 4th owner lived in neighborhood behind the auto shop and stopped one day asking if it was for sale. It was not. Guy needed a truck to haul his audio equipment to gigs. He wouldn't take no for an answer. He got it. Owner #3 said, "I'll buy it back if you ever want to sell it." 4th owner didn't do that. He listed it on Craiglist, and my intern coworker who scoured CL for 70s Cherokees and 80s Grand Wagoneers saw it and told me about it. Two days later it was mine! That day or the following day, I found my mom's handwriting in the owner's manual. She had sold it when it was new (back then the sales person filled out the new owner's details in the owner's manual). It' was then named after another salesman that was like a big brother to me the years they worked together. He had a blue Comanche back then. I spent 3-4 nights a week at the dealership hanging out with the sales team. The sales manager would hand me a $10 bill, and I'd go make sure every unit on the lot was locked. Fun times for a 14-15 yr old that loved cars! 71K miles, and other than one small tear in the vinyl on the bench seat, the interior was flawless. It had a ton of dings where 3rd owner used it as a "farm truck." He must have thrown a lot of stuff in the bed and missed. Grrrr. SporTruck decals on driver side were much worse -faded, cracked, than passenger side. There was a noticeable dent under the passenger side "SporTruck" and a nearly as bad dent on the driver's door that the decal had hidden. I just lived with them.

One teaser!

Thanks for the additional replies. That is good to know about the transfer case slinging oil. I will give an update on the paint with photos. Cliff notes, first painter was fired for bad attitude. 2nd painter painted tailgate and said, "If I put this tailgate on your truck, the truck will look like crap." So, truck got repainted by painter #2! It looks awesome with zero buffing. He even said to bring it back in a month for him to buff a few imperfections. Imperfections that require a keen eye to spot!

After many voice mails and emails after I started this thread, I got strung along for a few more days after actually speaking to someone. Then with no follow-up communication, I got an email from Paypal saying a credit was applied to my account (on 7/10). Thankfully, the passenger side part is OK enough to re-use. Then over the weekend I realized that with the Wipe kit (they bag it up, not their manufacturer) I bought, for the inside wipe contains two of the same side. Since both original inside wipes are OK, I will reuse whichever one I need. Moral of the story: I won't ever buy from Team <insert prostituted Jeep Model name here> again.

It was overspray underneath, basecoat and clear!

I hope your next update is even more positive than this one.

I drove my MJ home from the paint shop last Thursday, and I had some pretty stong smells. At first I wondered if overspray got on the exhaust. With the door stuck shut and other things on my mind, I forgot about the smell until I drove it again today. I had not driven but a few miles before I started smelling it. It was so bad, I pulled over to look underneath. I saw nothing out of the ordinary. I have the carpet out, and the heat coming through the floorboard did seem excessive though, but this last two drives are the first two summer/hot day drives I've had in it since last summer. Maybe the heat was not that excessive. I dunno. Once I got home, I could only smell the scorch smell when I stuck my head over both rear tires (inside the wheel well). I know brake pad material smell, and it's nothing like it. And it doesn't smell like burning oil. No sign of smoke anywhere. Engine bay just has a little oil smell where I need to replace the valve cover gasket again. Any thoughts? I drive it back to the paint shop Monday morning, and I'll be sniffing it again. Whoever buffed it out must not know what they were doing. Swirl marks on every panel, and multiple spots where the clear was not fully buffed out on every panel as well. But where it is buffed, and when seen at an angle that hides the swirls, it sure is purdy! I did just post in a cooling thread, but this smell was occurring when the coolant temp reading was on the left side of straight up, where it normally is while in motion and doesn't idle for several minutes.

That is about where my gauge is hitting if I idle too long, but the first time I noticed it, it almost got to the red. I had no idea the aux efan was not coming on. Then until today, I would just turn the AC on and it seemed to everytime force the aux efan to run and the temp would come down within a couple of minutes. I tried that late today, and it didn't kick the fan on.

Thank you for the photo. After comparing both doors, I realized the Latch Link had leaned behind the window track. It was stuck in there. Once I got it freed, a small push down, and the door opened. Whew. I was afraid it was some that was going to require micro hands to reach.

My paint shop removed the exterior door handles, so everyone has been reaching in to open the door via the inside handle. I just went to get in, and the inside handle feels the same whether it is locked or unlocked. I went to open the passenger door, and it opened once then it gave me fits to open the second time. I'm scared to shut it now. My power door locks have always clicked really bad. Is it locked when the forward portion of the button is pressed down or up? When I got the passenger door to open, the forward portion of the lock button was up. I'd swear that is locked. That is the position on the driver side that makes the locks click. The lock cylinders are out, too. When I am pushing them up and down as far as they will move, and that's still not releasing the door.

Thanks for the advice! I have a 3-heat setting heat gun. Should I use the middle setting?

Has anyone here painted their black door handles with long-term success? Mine are black and faded. While I am painting the other plastic parts such as the fender flares, would it be wise to paint the door handles, too? Would the Krylon Fusion stand up to repeated contact?

That's good to know about the zinc levels. When I was in college (mid 90s), I was driving my '72 Grand Prix 400. It had 20W-50 Castrol GTX. On cold winter mornings, yeah, dipping into those bitter-cold 20s and 30s we here in Memphis, it turned over like it was sucking up a frozen milkshake. Oil pressure stayed HIGH for my entire drive to school. I switched to the then all-new Syntec 5W-50, and that engine spun over like it was summer again. Is that T6 available at Wal-Mart? I assume so. If you ever get bored and need to kill time, go to oil section and start comparing. Eagle's posts about all the Mobile oils reminded me of my last trip to Wally World. I "needed" oil meeting the FCA MS 6395(?) spec for my 2017 Cherokee in 5W-20. There were several I could have bought for $25-$30 for 5 qts, but the 6th qt would be another $8-$10. Then there it was. The 6 quart "box" (cardoboard surrounding a big thick plastic bag) of Havoline Synthetic something-or-other for I think $20! Met that silly spec. SOLD.

They do have a FB page! I sent a message to it, and while there I saw a "parts@teamcherokee.com" address, so I forwarded my email to it. Then I noticed my tracking number came from shipping@teamgrandwagoneer.com, so I forwarded my email to that one, too. Hopefully, I'll get a reply now.

Thanks for the replies. 89MJ, I knew it was you I messaged with, but I had forgotten to look them up on Facebook. I'll go check out their FB page and see if I can send a message that way.

Thanks for the replies guys. I'll tell my buddy and ask him if I can speak or email/text with his glass guy before he arrives to do the work and make sure we're on the same page. That's interesting my old window is their first gen!

A couple of weeks ago I sent a private message to someone that I could tell was definitely regular here to ask what is Team Cherokee's reputation. I was told it's good. I was curious as I have not received any feedback to three calls and two emails. It was suggested to make a public post to get opinions, but I wanted to wait a little longer. I am not the "squeaky wheel" type. I ordered several parts, and it took about a week for the order to ship which was fine, but once it arrived, one part was missing. I emailed their "sales" email address and left a voice mail referring to the email. I wasn't totally sure which one was missing when I sent the first email, so I questioned it and included photos in that email. That was around 5/13. That weekend I saw my truck, and I realized the missing part is the passenger side and not the driver side as I originally assumed (the rubber/felt trim that goes around the door windows). On 5/16 I sent a correction email with better photos of the part I received and left another voicemail to refer to the updated email. Nothing. I finally called again this past Monday, and once again had to leave a voice mail. This whole time they have had reduced hours due to Covid, closed Wednesday and open M-T-Th-F 11-4. I understand that is a hardship, but I would expect someone in management/ownership to be handling emails and their phones. Remote access to voicemail and email seems rather common today. Does anyone know the size of their operation? Has anyone else had calls/emails go unanswered? Does anyone know a method of contact other than their main phone number and sales email address? Sorry if this should have been posted in the Pub. I wasn't sure where to put it.

@Smokeyyank and anyone else that has used the CR sliding rear window, did you follow the instructions where 6(?) holes are drilled in the cab for screws to go through and into the rear glass frame, or did you just trust the urethane to hold it in place? My shop's owner said his glass guy will probably just use urethane and ignore the screws and instructions that came with the unit. I'm curious if that's a wise or not.

If this forum had Like/Thank buttons, I'd be wearing them out in this thread.

I might be interested in a Laredo set. Will they be the factory gray color?

Well stated. I seem to recall many arrested protesters in Ferguson, MO were from far away.

If only Eliminator wheels were growing on the same trees as these Gladiator take-offs...

Thanks guys!

Gotcha. What are the common locations to find a build sheet? I have had the carpet out twice (thanks to you warning of leaks) and have the door panels off for the same reason. That was years ago. I don't recall seeing any build sheets then. I would have known what it was when I saw it and stared at it in awe.