MrSimon Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 Hi! About five months ago I sold a perfectly good 2001 Corolla with only 65k miles on it and got a 96 XJ with 150k miles on it. The wife thought I had lost my marbles. I don't know why I didn't do this years ago. I love the XJ as a DD. But that wasn't enough. I started watching Craigslist, and what do you know ..... two miles from my house I found this little gem. It only cost me $525 and it runs pretty well. '87 117k 4.0L 4x4 auto long bed. I don't know a whole lot about MJs, so I have no idea what transfer case, tranny, or axels I have. The interior and body need some TLC, but hey, thats the fun part, right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSimon Posted March 5, 2008 Author Share Posted March 5, 2008 I don't have a lot of time to work on the MJ, so this thread could be really slow. The first thing I did was rip out the entire interior. The seat and trim pieces are actually in decent shape, just dirty. I'll need to get a radio, speakers, interior lights, a headliner, and new carpet. But, like lots of you have seen, the floorboards went on strike .... about a decade ago. My plan includes the following: Fix the floorboards Fix interior - reupholster seat, clean all trim pieces, buy headliner, stereo, speakers, interior lights, carpet Fix Body - sand/grind off all the paint and primer, fix all the bad spots New primer and paint New wheels, tires, shocks, and a 3-4" lift (including other misc. suspension parts) Custom front and rear bumpers - nothing massive I have about a $4k budget which should be enough, I just don't have the time. I figure it will take me a couple years to get everthing done. If the interior and body turn out really well, I will consider a new engine/tranny/case etc. down the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bacon Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 wow, for $500 you got a major score there. good job. the rockers and floors on manches love to fade away, and yours are in much better shape than most out there. your front axle is a high-pinion Dana 30 with vacuum disconnect on the passenger side axle tube, t-case is np231, chain driven with 2.72 low gear. rear axle is a Dana 35. auto tranny should be an aw4, which is an awesome trans-very strong and should last forever, gearing in the axles with 4.0 and auto will be 3.55s. good luck on your project and keep us posted. you've got an excellent manche to start on :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WahooSteeler Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 Nice find and welcome to The Club! I think you got a hell of a deal for $500! You will find that this site is awesome with a lot of knowledgeable people and a fun place just to chat. A few things to hopefully help out with what you've shown and told us. You have a D35 rear axle, a D30 front, AW4 tranny and NP231 transfer case. With only 117k, you should have over 100k left in that engine. 4.0's are amazing and go forever, and your tranny and trasfer case should give you the same life if they haven't been abused previously. Stories of guys on here w/200k+ miles on original drivetrain (including me!) are a dime a dozen. So, unless there are hidden issues of abuse, I don't think you'll need to worry about replacing them any time soon. Your floorboards look like they could be saved, it doesn't look like they've rusted through. The rest of the body looks pretty doggone good, is there other rust prevalent? Cab corners, rockers, fender wells? Several options if the floorboards need to be replaced. Find a JY donor that doesn't have rust (hard to find that though) and cut out the floor pans to replace yours; have someone just fabricate them for you, or some guys have bought pans from www.shermanparts.com that work fairly well. They are still not a direct fit, but apparently they don't need much in the way of mods or banging. Talk to limeyjeep. As for the headliner, there is a guy on ebay who sells fabric kits for Comanche's for @$35 shipped. If the whole thing is gone altogether, he also sells them for $105 already made up. Again, a couple guys here have bought from him and seem happy. Talk to joshmillslane. On the carpet, you can get pre-molded color matched ones from JC Whitney and several other sites for @$100. Several sites to get that from, just a few below. Don't know of anyone that has bought from any of these. www.StockInteriors.com www.auto-interior.com www.MotorSouthCarpet.com www.autocarpetonline.com www.rockauto.com For interior lights, there are actually some for sale in the classifieds right now. They are somewhat hard to come buy, but pop up here and on ebay every couple of months or so. There is a great thread in Tech I believe on interior lights that blhtaz started and shows aftermarket lights that work well. With your budget, you could have one of the nicest rigs around and most likely you will still have a super nice one for a lot less than that depending on how much you want to do with your drivetrain and suspension when you lift it. Hope some of this helps. 99% of what I've written here I learned here. The #1 request of all us here is to keep us posted on any and all progress WITH PICTURES :laughin: :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSimon Posted March 5, 2008 Author Share Posted March 5, 2008 Thanks for the info guys .... very helpful!! I've been thinking about my floorboards. I won't have any trouble grinding and cutting out the bad stuff. Its welding in the new stuff that has me stumped. Option 1: Buy myself a decent MIG welder for ~$600 and learn to use it. Option 2: Take it to my buddy's father's place .... he does a darn good job with his stick welder. Option 3: Take it to a local weld shop. Option 4: Skip the welding and go nuts with screws or pop-rivits (not a fan of this option) Problem with option 1 is that I'm not sure I want to drop the cash on a tool that I may or may not use in the future. Problem with Option 2 and 3 is that I have no seat, seat belts, or inspection .... so I really shouldn't be driving it around - I'm currenty sitting on a plastic bucket to pull it in and out of the garage. And, I don't think my friend's father's set-up is portable. What do you guys think? Anyone live close to Downingtown, PA with a MIG welder :brows: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WahooSteeler Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 U-haul tow dollies are $30/day. Not too bad. Or, you could put a hitch on your XJ and fab up a temp pull bar to the MJ and there you have it. Hell, you might be able to find a tow dolly for sale for cheap. If you think you'll need to transport it more than say, 10 times (5 two-way trips), you might be better trying to buy a dolly. I'd think you could get one for $100-200? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1999MJ Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 U don't need to spend 600 on a welder just to fix those floors in that think. Get some pannel bond which is a 2 part epoxy and some premade floor bans. Body shops use the glue all the time and i think it's like $30 or $40 a tube. Not 100% sure where to get it. I used it before but got it from my cousins body shop. Just an Idea. Good luck with the project Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSimon Posted March 26, 2008 Author Share Posted March 26, 2008 Wanted to give an update. Unfortunately, all I've had time to do so far is spend money and order stuff :roll: This is what I've been doing: Dropped the bench seat off at the upholstery shop to have it re-done ... in two-tone.Ordered a bunch of Por15 and primer for the floor boards.Ordered a set of 31 BFG Mud Terrains mounted on black steel wheels from TirePackage.comOrdered a full 3" lift kit, shocks, and brake lines from MotionOffRoad.Ordered a new carpet kit from JCWhitneyOrdered a new headliner from eBay.Grabbed a bedliner, mirrors, and an XJ prop. valve from the J/Y The only real work I've done is to grind the rust out of the floorboards. It looks pretty good and is almost ready for the POR15. Stuff should start arriving any day now. I'll keep this thread updated with pictures as best I can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
layback209 Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 Nice looking mj so far. Dropped the bench seat off at the upholstery shop to have it re-done ... in two-tone. Ordered a bunch of Por15 and primer for the floor boards. Ordered a set of 31 BFG Mud Terrains mounted on black steel wheels from TirePackage.com Ordered a full 3" lift kit, shocks, and brake lines from MotionOffRoad. Ordered a new carpet kit from JCWhitney Ordered a new headliner from eBay. Grabbed a bedliner, mirrors, and an XJ prop. valve from the J/Y Thats a sweet order list. Looking forward to seeing pic's of the motion off road lift on the 31" BFG's. :popcorn: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 deleted it because it was dumb. Just be careful when driving around in a bucket seat. haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WahooSteeler Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 Mitch, what in the Sam Hell are you talking about?!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSimon Posted March 27, 2008 Author Share Posted March 27, 2008 Mitch, what in the Sam Hell are you talking about?!!! LoL! I was thinking the same thing .... but didn't want to say it ;) I don't even have bucket seats, but thanks for the good advice ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oizarod115 Posted March 28, 2008 Share Posted March 28, 2008 Mitch, what in the Sam Hell are you talking about?!!! LoL! I was thinking the same thing .... but didn't want to say it ;) I don't even have bucket seats, but thanks for the good advice ;) did he mean your bucket... seat? :brows: the plastic one? :popcorn: haha. lookin good man. like they said with no ridiculous abuse the whole drivetrain will last ALOT longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSimon Posted March 28, 2008 Author Share Posted March 28, 2008 did he mean your bucket... seat? :brows: the plastic one? :popcorn: LoL! Oh, right .... that makes sense. I'm a little dense! The shipping company called and something is arriving today .... its either the wheel/tire combo or the lift kit. Either way, I'm pumped! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSimon Posted March 29, 2008 Author Share Posted March 29, 2008 Tires are here!!!!! I don't have the lift yet, but I just couldn't help myself. I just had to put them on. They look great .... and I could drive around the block with no rubbing on stock suspension ..... as long as I didn't turn or hit any type of bump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xjcrazy09 Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 very nice...love the black steelies :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WahooSteeler Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 vurrry niiiice............cute girl, how old? 10-15mos I guess? keep us posted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watchamakalit Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 Looks good man. X2 on liking the black steelies. :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSimon Posted March 29, 2008 Author Share Posted March 29, 2008 cute girl, how old? 10-15mos I guess? Thanks, I think she is cute too, but she isn't that young .... she was born in 1987 so she is 21 now. I think she'll look even better once I get her lifted and painted. Oh ...... you were talking about my daughter ...... yup, just shy of ten months. I hope the MJ is still around when she turns 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSimon Posted March 31, 2008 Author Share Posted March 31, 2008 Been working on the floorboards: A good wire wheel on an angle grinder works wonders on rusty floorboards. I wouldn't want to use anything else. But, it is VERY important to wear GOOD eye protection, heavy gloves, and a thick mask ... I actually used a full respirator. I looked like a freak'n space man, but those wire wheels throw off some sharp little pieces, and rusty air isn't too good for the lungs. Anyway, after I ground off the rusty pretty good, I cut out some sheet metal to fit the holes. Then I sprayed everything down with POR15 Metal Prep. Awesome stuff. You just spray it on all the metal and it eats off whatever rust the wire wheel missed. Then I put on the first coat of POR15 Rust Paint .... nice and thin. Here is the progress so far: Next step will be to paint the patche pieces with POR15 Paint and then screw them in. Then put another coat overtop of everything. Stay tuned! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xjcrazy09 Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 very nice! how sturdy is the floor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSimon Posted March 31, 2008 Author Share Posted March 31, 2008 Its a pretty solid floor. Most of the rust was just on the surface and didn't eat through. I cut out the parts where it did eat through, and will screw in some sheet metal soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
500 MJ Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 If you have a Mig welder, that is the way to go for patching holes in a floor. Turn the heat down and run a thick bead all along the patch. Seals it right up and you don't have any screws poking through... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSimon Posted March 31, 2008 Author Share Posted March 31, 2008 If you have a Mig welder, that is the way to go for patching holes in a floor. Turn the heat down and run a thick bead all along the patch. Seals it right up and you don't have any screws poking through... Thats how I orginally planned to do it .... but I don't have access to a welder and the Jeep can't be driven to a shop right now. In the end, its a $500 truck ...... screws will work just fine, they just won't be pretty. I'll make sure to seal it all up so moisture can't get in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWLONGSHOT Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Pop rivet and panel adhesive is also a viable option. Its a bit more work to drill a hole then add a pop rivet..but the day your working under there and puncture your hand/head other body part, you will wish you had... YES this is experience talking!!! CW@ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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