92 MJ, 13 months to make magic

[case5412]

Hi, I'll start by introducing myself. My names Casey and I'm working on restoring and building my 92 MJ (best looking truck ever) to be my daily driving well capable off road crazy magic machine. I have no experience at all, when it comes to working on cars. Everything I've done with this truck so far has been my first. So I'll be asking a lot of yall crazy smart people.

:headpop: :headpop: :headpop: :headpop:

Sooooo, my wife left this morning for training then she goes to Afghanistan, and I'll have 13 months to make this truck "drivable" words of my wife, it means: (no spiders that are some how in the truck cause it's old). Although, I plan on doing much more than just that.

:drool: :drool: :drool: :drool:

Anyway, here's this show.

:popcorn:

 

The day we brought it home

 

It's a: 2WD, 5-speed, 4.0L, birthdate was Sept 26 1991, came stock with a black grille(doesn't look black to me), 138,000 miles, it's pretty much stock I really doubt the old owners have done anything to it. It needs a lot of work, it's been sitting for years, even the paint has faded and bleached from the sun.

 

At my apartment, see faded paint

 

Rear end, I believe it's a Dana 35

 

It will have to go. I'm on the look out for a 79/78 F250 Donor for axles and if possible a transmission

 

Here's two cats kissing. Aww so cute!!

 

More of the rear end. Check it out, never been touched

 

The first thing I did was start on the interior. I took out all but the front part, where the cluster is. I was happy with the rust I found in the floor. I've got a few things to fix in here.

 

Under the carpets. I plan on put a bed liner in the whole inside and making drain hole for the water. I don't know why, but it hasn't rained in a while and there's water puddled up under the carpet.

 

Next I had to learn how to do routine maintenance. The vavle cover was leaking oil real bad, it had a nice thick coat of grease on it that took me hours to scrub off with dish soap and steel wool. I ended up doing the gasket, the spark plugs, cap and wires.

 

Cleaned Valve cover

 

Painting it

 

Finished and in my engine

 

Thanks for reading. I'll be doing a whole lot more. Wish me luck.

[case5412]

Addressing an issue. The drivers side door was badly hyper extended. So I'm attempting to replace it and the fender. I went to a junk yard and this is what I pulled off a 95 XJ. Fender and door.

Sorry I don't have more pictures, it's limited to what I have on my phone right now. Don't worry though, I'll soon have more pictures than there is tea in China.

 

I also began to craft me up a wooden shifter knob. The selection for shifter knobs with the right thread is very limited so I used the threads from the stock one. When it drys I'll post a pic of it in my truck.

[knever3]

Great Job!

 

You are very lucky that you found the water from under the carpet. Now you have to find the leak. Remove the carpet and spray the cab with a hose until you find the leak, and remember there may be more than one. I wish mine would have been that rust free, it would be on the road by now.

 

Very nice truck,

[freakjeep93]

looks good check out my jeeep project theres a link in my sig.

these prokects are always fun when we don't realy know what ere doin and learn as we go.

 

but you sound like you do know what you doin with modifying it and stuff?

[case5412]

looks good check out my jeeep project theres a link in my sig.

these prokects are always fun when we don't realy know what ere doin and learn as we go.

 

but you sound like you do know what you doin with modifying it and stuff?

I've read about it and decided what I wanted to do, but as far as hands on doing it I am clueless. But I knew that, lol, and I'm planing on learning a lot.

;) ;) ;) ;)

[freakjeep93]

learnigs fun

[case5412]

Great Job!

 

You are very lucky that you found the water from under the carpet. Now you have to find the leak. Remove the carpet and spray the cab with a hose until you find the leak, and remember there may be more than one. I wish mine would have been that rust free, it would be on the road by now.

 

Very nice truck,

Thanks for the info~~

 

Here's the finished shifter knob

 

Here's the door damage. I hope it's a bolt in job

 

If you're wondering; Yes, it is raining.

[ricksjeepster]

Hi Casey

I'm just wondering if that door damage could have something to do with the under carpet water...

You said it wasnt raining lately but with that gap even a garden hose could be a storm

Lol

 

 

NICE FIND WITH THE TRUCK BY THE WAY

:cheers:

[case5412]

Hi Casey

I'm just wondering if that door damage could have something to do with the under carpet water...

You said it wasnt raining lately but with that gap even a garden hose could be a storm

Lol

 

 

NICE FIND WITH THE TRUCK BY THE WAY

:cheers:

It could be, but I also noticed the other day when I was driving in the raid that there was water leaking on the inside of my front wind shield. When I get the door fixed I'll do the whole thing with the water hose test.

Thanks,

[87Warrior]

To save you some headache in the future, you might want to consider replacing your new cork valve cover gasket with the more expensive rubbery option. The corks are known to start leaking again in relatively short order.

 

Your truck looks very solid. I will be following your build closely :typing:

[snowboard3r411]

Rear end, I believe it's a Dana 35

 

i have the same rear and was wondering what it is to can any help?

[freakjeep93]

Rear end, I believe it's a Dana 35

 

i have the same rear and was wondering what it is to can any help?

 

that is a dana 35

[Pete M]

and the prop valve rod is pointing the wrong way.

[MancheKid86]

Rear end, I believe it's a Dana 35

 

i have the same rear and was wondering what it is to can any help?

 

one way to tell if it is a dana 35 without the help is,

crawl under the truck, and if you see a 35 underneath the axle in the middle,

then its a dana 35 :D

[case5412]

Here's some progress... 8) 8) 8)

 

I began to think about painting and researching on "how to". I ended up with an idea of spray painting it. Cheap and easy to fix when scratched.

 

This is me testing it out on the fender I got from the junk yard. First I removed the stickers with windex and a razor blade then I scuffed the surface up with sand paper so the paint would stick.

 

This is the paint I'm using. I'm hoping the color will never change shades.

 

I was very happy with the results and it seems kind of durable... So... I bought a bunch more paint!!!

 

And then... I did the tail gate. I found out how easy it was to remove from the bed. It suprised me.

 

So... I started getting movtivated. I wanted to take my bed off and paint the whole thing. But, sniff... it started snowing.

 

lol, but I got my ski pants out and starting working in it. I stayed up to 4am that night and BAM... this happened.

My friend and my wife helped me carry it into the house. (my wifes back for a few days before she goes over seas)

 

Here it is in the dinning room

 

Then I unbolted the plastic black things on the wheel wells and cleaned them up nice, along with the mud flaps.

 

I ran into a problem. The support strips holding bolts that attatch in the plastic wheel wells had rusted bolts and half of them broke, unavoidably. I'll be searching for a solution.. I was thinking about buying similar bolts at Lowes and getting a friend to spot weld them on?

 

Uh oh... Looks like somebody worked too hard.

 

After removing the stickers from the sides and cleaning it a little I made a game plan. First I'll clean and degrease the bottom, apply a rust preventing primer and a rubberizing undercoating, once I'm finished with the bottom I'll work on the sides and paint them white and clear coating it. Then I'll make my way to inside the bed where I'll install a do it yourself bed liner that my wife bought me for Christmas.

 

It looks like it'll be a long process...

 

Sorry my pics are all jumbled up in a disaray. I'll work on my photos and organization when I have time later. Plus I keep getting those really wide pics that make it hard to read.

 

Thank you for reading so far. Please leave plenty of advice and feedback, so I can learn.

:cheers:

[case5412]

Holy crap! I some how made my tailgate pic very tiny, so here's the real size, lol.

[Darren]

That's classy.

[87Warrior]

Painting in the dining room? Good climate control!

 

I would suggest looking into a clear coat after it in painted. Will help retain some shine and prevent fading. Also, pick up some of those trigger spray can attachments. Should save your finger when painting the big sections.

 

Looks great! God bless your wife. Let her know that comancheclub sends their best.

[case5412]

Painting in the dining room? Good climate control!

 

I would suggest looking into a clear coat after it in painted. Will help retain some shine and prevent fading. Also, pick up some of those trigger spray can attachments. Should save your finger when painting the big sections.

 

Looks great! God bless your wife. Let her know that comancheclub sends their best.

I've got these cans of clear coat I'm going to try out. Do you think I should go get it professionally clear coated also?

I have some of those cap thingys.

Thank you for the advice and help. ;)

[Rymanrph]

I'm curious to see how this spray job will turn out. I'll be watching cause my truck could definitely use some touching up :popcorn:

[freakjeep93]

most people donty really clear coat their trucks when they are spray painting od like to see how it turns out.

good luck

[Pete M]

A common solution for the snapped fender flare studs is to remove the stud completely and replace with stainless steel bolts. :thumbsup:

[87Warrior]

I've got these cans of clear coat I'm going to try out. Do you think I should go get it professionally clear coated also?

No reason to get a professional clear coat on a rattle can paint job. Those cans of clear should do you good. Clear will help keep the truck sparkling and keep it from staining.

[case5412]

Well, I've been holding back. Did some work and haven't posted it. But I have been running slowly recently. You get caught up in things and soon you're in too deep.

 

I got the Bed Liner done. Used Hurculiner. I scuff sanded it and to top it off allpied a deglosser to enhance sticking.

 

Then... I began striping the bottom of the bed. This process is the most time consuming so far. I've been putting a couple hours in every weekend; and this is where it's got me. 1/2 done though. I'm happy about that.

 

 

 

My plans for the bed bottom.

These cans of good stuff are what I'll bee using. The POR 15 Rust is for the higher prone to rusting areas and also for any rust spots I may find. The Rust-Oleum is for everything else, basically a primer for the top coat. Then I was going to try the "FlexCot" from POR 15 to see how that works. If I don't like it I'm thinking of just grabbing some cans of underbody paint from wal-mart? Good idea I hope...???

[Automan2164]

Wow. I guess a few of us need to stop griping about not having a garage. Good work man, keep it up. :popcorn:

 

Rob L.