brdhntr

if you want cheap, but not a rattle can, do it yourself job, dupli color and plasti coat (as well as a few others) make a paint that is ready to spray. there is nothing to add. prep, prime, paint. doing it that way would run you about $120-150 for primer and paint. the prep is the key and the expensive part. take the time, do it right. for a high quality paint and everything that goes with it, plus primer, you're looking at $500-1000 depending on brand, color, and number of coats. again, the prep is the key. if you don't have the equipment, it's gonna be expensive. a good air compressor alone is going to run you $300 or more (of course you'll use it for other stuff). a cheap automotive spray gun will run you $50 or more. a good gun is going to run you $300 or more. then the tools for body work (orbital sander, straight line sander, grinder, da sander, etc) is going to run you about $200 for cheap stuff. the good stuff is going to run close to a grand or more. then you have the equipment for the metal repair like a welder. they fill, glazeing putty, sand paper, grinder pads, etc, will add up. if you do the job yourself and have some experience or a pretty good knowledge and the equipment, it's going to be the cheapest way to get an excellent paint job. if you don't, it may be cheaper to have it done. if you're somewhere in the middle, a ready mix paint like the duplicolor is a good option. i have heard of people having good results with these paints. they finish out nicely with some wet sanding and buffing. the paint is around $50 a gallon i think. if you're going professional, you may be able to save some money and make sure the body work is done to your satisfaction by doing it yourself. talk to the body shop though, some won't paint over prep work done by others, and they won't warranty the paint job. others will charge you a reasonable price to just shoot it. it all depends on what you want to do yourself, and what quality you're looking for. ;)

:agree: i recommend dawn dish soap to remove wax and wax build up. use a scotch brite pad to scrub it. when done, wipe it with rubbing alcohol (cheap). make sure you apply a plastic adhesion promoter. then paint it. with plastic, it's best to paint in lite coats. then apply the next coat when the previous is still a little tacky. when done, let it dry then sit in the sun for several days to bake it on. the paint will stick better and last longer. :thumbsup:

8) now i have the cartman in me. i have a hat with his line "you must respect my authority" on it. i say it all the time. my wife got it for me when our first kids were born. trouble is, they don't respect my authority. :ack:

wow! that's one hell of a deal on some beautiful seats. :drool:

i picked up my 87 in june with 93k miles on it. it is a 2.5 and now has 95k. it is totally stock. everything is stock/original. i mean original. original: plugs wires cap rotor brakes etc. the only thing that has been done (and i have the records) is a set of cruddy car tires (white wall) in 08/96, regular oil changes every 2000 miles, a flush n fill of the cooling system, a new belt, a new stereo system, and a crappy trailer wireing hook up. :huh???: i have now put a new alternator in and belt. i checked the brakes but they are actually pretty good. i plan a ton of stuff when the weather warms up. new brakes, plugs, wires, rotor, cap, tranny filter and fluid, coolant flush, tires, k&n air filter, and a few other things. for 96k miles and not having much of anything done, it is really in good shape. the guy i got it from had a philosophy that you only fix it if it breaks, otherwise change the oil every 2k and it'll run forever. we'll see. :dunno:

i have and have had lots of dogs. i do dog training. i'm an active member of 2 local dog clubs and 1 national. i have hunted some of the dogs in competition. :smart: i would check the brake on the wheel he is biting at, it may be making some noise. if everything there seams fine, try washing the tire with a strong degreaser. i would do this with the wheel off the vehicle. spray on the degreaser and scrub everything with a scrub brush, tread, sidewall, wheel, and both sides. it is possible another dog marked the tire or you ran over something that is leaving a scent the dog doesn't like. most likely, you'll need to go to serious behavior modification. go get yourself an electronic dog training collar (shock collar). since you're just useing it in a small area, you don't need to spend alot of money. put the collar on the dog and start backing out, when the dog goes for the tire/chase, give it a zap with the collar. start the stimulation level light and go higher until the dog is noticeably effected by it. leave it at that leavel and zap him anytime he goes towars the vehicle. i would recommend doing it with all your vehicles and have a few friends in theirs. even though the dog isn't chasing others yet, you don't want it to start. if the dog doesn't go for the chase, you don't need to apply the stimulation. you'll do this for a short time and the dog will be broke of the habit. if the dog isn't stopping, you need to go higher with the stimulation level. it sounds mean, but increase until the dog is yelping and can't chase. it should learn pretty quick. now, for anyone who feels electronic collars are mean, they are not. they are actually one of the best and least harmful training tools. if a dog does something wrong and you hit it on the butt, the dog feels that sting for a little while, it doesn't immediately go away. plus the dog sees you give it the pain causing the dog mental pain as well as the physical. the dog may also learn quickly to fear hands coming at him quickly as a potential threat. if you get hit by your buddy in the stomach on a regular basis, wouldn't you learn quickly to avoid or be aware of what your buddy may do? then there is the effects of yelling or harsh scolding as a punishment. dogs do feel emotional pain as anyone else would. it doesn't want to get yelled at. when it does, it feels bad for a period of time. it may cower and walk away. think of your boss yelling at you, does the emotional sting go away as soon as he's done ripping into you? no, it stays with you for the rest of the day or longer. so now you see how these methods work on a dog. now think of the electronic collar. you hit the button, the dog feels the pain instantly and the pain goes away instantly. the dog has no lasting sting or emotional pain. it's on and it's off instantly. the dog doesn't see you inflict the pain, so the dog doesn't gain fear of you or anyone else. it learns not to do the action because he gets a little pain and he learns quickly how to avoid it. it is probably the most humane way of disciplining a pet. good luck. :thumbsup:

nice pic!!!!

thanks for the tip. that would work well on the roof under the headliner. :thumbsup:

before spending the bucks on new tires, have her old ones siped. siping can make a big difference to get the extra biting edges in contact. normally that runs $10-15 per tire. i'd give that a try.

i just put some armor all on them every now and then. works great. :thumbsup:

yes. i think you're correct. :oops: i don't think they use bfg only. i'd be interested in what your buddy has to say about them. i don't know how much cheaper they would be after shipping, mounting, and balancing.

spray wd40 inside with the nozel on the end so you can get at the seal. if that doesn't do it, you can buy several cans of gas line antifreeze and dump them on the door, inside the crach so it will run down the seal. rubbing alcohol will work as well.

i've done frame offs on 2 waggy's, not as much fun as building one up. it's more work to make everything original. price wise, a guy around the block bought a white one out of a restorer in texas. he paid just over $30k for his. it's beautiful though. i only see it out a couple times a year. he has alsheimer's now and can't talk about it. i have heard that one of his kids has it somewhere out east now, but i'm not sure. i've seen them go into the 50's at some high end auctions. there are several "stars" that have bought them. i know it was a female actor that bought it in one of the auctions for over $50k. i had about $8k into one of mine and $12 into the other. keep in mind that that was me doing ALL of the work. they sure were nice though, i should've kept the last one. :doh:

just checked it out today after class and it was sold :( o well was gonna use it just for the body anyway bummer!!! :(

Don't forget that most 30" tires are actually closer to 29" tall. :D :agree: yep. that's a very good point. just because it says 30x9.50x15, doesn't mean it's 30" around. and 9.5 isn't the true width, and defenitely not the actual tire footprint. about the only think that is accurate in the 15. :D

on the tire thing, i am not in total agreement with everyone else. :dunno: i think cheap tires can be fine, even great. you just need to compare tire to tire and forget what it says on the side. there are really only a few companies that manufacture tires. the cheap ones are made by someone else. if you go into some of the websites, some will actually tell you the manufacturer of the model tire you're looking at. others won't let you know. so when you look for tires, educate yourself on tread design, sipeing, sidewall construction, belts, and footprint. compare each tire, not the manufacturer. bfg's are great, i love them, but there are other great cheaper tires out there. as an example, look at sport compact and road race cars. 10-20 years ago, you wondered what fusion, avon, or hankook tires were. you knew goodyear, bfg, yokahoma, and perelli. now, some of the most popular and "best" tires are what used to be off brand "cheap" tires. unfortunately, that means the "cheap" tires, well, aren't. the off brands gained popularity when buyers started looking at the tire design and make up to chose the best they could afford and that would fit the need. i also wouldn't worry too much about the mileage warranty on tires unless you spend the majority of your time on paved roads. off road wears out tires. driving alot of gravel destoys tires very quickly. unfortunately, most tire companies warranties only cover "normal" wear. they decide what "normal" is, not you. we all know that companies aren't out to give you free tires. i will say that, as far as warranty, i have had the best luck with uniroyal. i've been running them on my audi for about 12 years now. i used to live in the country and drive alot of gravel. i was/am running their "rally" series tires. i have had them replaced with a new set 3 times, no charge. i couldn't beleive it since the wear was obviously due to excessive gravel use. i am not saying that off brand tires are better or the way to go, i'm just saying you should decide what you need and find the tire that fits that need (no matter what brand). :smart: on a sidebar, has anyone here tried the retread tires from tread whrite? http://treadwright.com/default.aspx they are using bfg's as their base. i have actually heard alot of good things but haven't tried them myself. i read some reviews over the last few years that have been pretty good. they are a cheaper option and still have the bfg sidewalls that make bfg tires so great.

235's are 28". i think a 30 inch tire would look perfect with a 1-2" lift. i think tires should look like they will "work" rather than look "big". stuffing a tire under a truck that is not functional for the intended purpose, off road. if the truck has too big of tires, they don't allow the suspension to articulate, they rub, they look like you just stuffed them in there. i much prefer a functional look. :chillin: the tire shouldn't be too big or too small. i think a 29-30" would look "right". it would also be totally functional. by the way mvusse, i like the look of your combination of lift and tire size. i would think it would be great off road and running around. :thumbsup:

another one for me is a good tire deal i came across. a brand new set of 33x12.5x15 general grabber at's on new white american wagon wheels. my wife made me stop by a rummage sale, i saw a set of tires stacked up so i went up with her. 20 minutes later i had a set of 4 brand new rims and tires for my cj for $150. the guy had just sold his truck and his wife was ticked he had parts around and "advised" him they would go that day or in the garbage the next. lucky me!

well, i will be introducing my mj soon, but i'll tell some of the story now. i've come across some incredible deal over the years, an 81 audi 4000 comes to mind. i got that for $100 cause the guys said it wasn't driveable. i drove it home. i still have alot of parts from it. i sold a ton of parts off it, then the wrecking yard gave me $200 for what was left (nothing). the best deal though has to be my 87 mj. i was selling some gm parts after parting out a 91 suburban. i mentioned in one of the craigslist posts that i may be interested in a trade. well this guy came over and wanted some parts. he needed some wiring connectors and a few minor things. most of it would've gone to the scrap yard with the truck, but he wanted them. i just started throwing prices around. he was happy with $300 for everything he needed (of which i could've sold maybe $60). :D then he asked if i'd be interested in a trade for a little jeep pick up. i figured i could part it out if it was too bad. we went to look at it and i wanted it right away. he told me that menekie charged him $180 the day before to tell him the rear main was out, the starter, and several other things to get it started and make it run. i jumped in and turned the key and knew right away what was wrong. i shook his hand and took 1 set of keys and left the other set with him so he could get everything out of it and i'd pick it up in the next few days. :banana: a couple days later i went by to see if he was there (i felt a little guilty about the deal) :roll: . he wasn't so i popped the hood, turned the battery cable a bit to tighten it. it started right up. i drove it home and put cardboard under it to see what kind of leak i was looking at. no leaks at all. it has never leaked since i got it in june 08. i cleaned it up and found what kinda shape it was in. it's in excellent condition, no defects in the interior other than a missing headliner. not a single rip or tear. this rig only had 93k miles on it. no serious rust or holes. i took it on a road trip to mayo and hauled some stuff with it last summer otherwise didn't do too much with it. i ended up replacing the battery cables, alternator, belt, and it needs tires. to really make the deal sweet for me, it had 6 huge chrome kc lights on top of a homemade light bar. i sold those for a total of $200. then i removed a raccoon tail that was hanging from the rear view mirror. my wife bet me i could sell it on ebay. i did. next i used it to deliver parts for gas money and a $25 fee per hour. so long story short, i ended up trading for $300 worth of parts that i would have maybe gotten $60 for. then i sold the lights and tail for $220. the parts deliveries added up to be $125 plus gas. doing the math (even if you figure the full $300 trade) makes it out that i got the truck and came out $45 ahead :D :D :D :D . now that was a good deal. since the truck was basically free, i'll be keeping it for a very long time.

:agree: even they took some safety precautions. they weren't crane climbing dumb. :yes:

i like it, i love it, i want some more of it!!! ok so i quoted a song. i still like the truck. :thumbsup: with some of the jeeps coming out in china, i'm thinking i should move over there. well.............not really. :yes:

ok. now i'm insulted!! i used to do some of the wiring on cop cars! :fs1: well, ok, i just had the shop they came to at the dealership. i only did a few, the rest my employees did. my guys were top notch at running the electrics on them. i had 1 guy that was incredible with them. i had to pay him dearly for it though. it was more money out of my pocket. :( i'm not really insulted. i wouldn't want one i "learned" on. by now they are all in the graveyard in the sky. ;)

that sucks. i hate being bored. :fs1: the problem is, i am disabled full time. that means i have nothing but time. you'd think that would be fun right? well it get's old fast. i look for stuff to do. i'll go run the dogs extra just to give me something to do. i'll go jump on the tractor at the dog club and mow or move snow. i build things i don't need. i volunteer to do about anything. i fix anything and everything in the neighborhood. when it snows, i snowblow 7 of the neighbor's places. i change oil and do repairs to the vehicles, just to do something. i spend alot of time on the laptop chatting since i'm not a big tv guy. when it's nice out, i just sit in a chair in the front yard to people watch and keep an eye on the kids. yep, being bored sucks. i'd rather have something to do than not. ;)

if you have beer and cigarets it could be yours. :yes: :yes: http://fargo.craigslist.org/bar/1028433614.html

yah, the parts are easy to come by. there are some excellent companies making bodies now, including the original willy's overland. he can go with 31's without a problem. 32's will rub a bit unless he changes the offset on the wheels. the 1" body lift will clear the 32's just fine and will be an easy job. with a 1-1 1/2" body lift, you shouldn't have to change much at all. the brake lines, etc, do have the length to work with that height. if it is going off road, i would extend the lines a bit though. or you could just make up a limiting strap quick. an idea for him as far as the back seat is to make safari jump seats. they work great in cj8's. you can put them on the sides facing each other or make them up to sit in the center and face out. i have actually seen 6 people in the back of one set up for desert touring. there is room for 2 bench seats in back if you do things right. cj8's are just plain cool. i've had 1 and i regret selling it almost everyday. :shake: