What did you do to your TJ today?

It's been fun following along with your repairs.

I guess I'll take that as a compliment? I feel like I spam this forum a bit too much at times. But as someone that never changed my own oil in my Subaru, I'm getting into the guts of this Jeep and doing stuff myself. Since I am a newb, there's a lot that I don't know, and a lot to figure out how to do. I've learned a lot so far, and the highlight to my week or weekend is getting into the garage and doing something else to the Jeep.
 
As I mentioned above, I'm new to this working on a car thing.

Any tips how to remove this rust? This is on the frame where the skid plate mounts to the frame. It isn't bad, but I want to address it before it gets worse and while I have the skid plate off.

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As I mentioned above, I'm new to this working on a car thing.

Any tips how to remove this rust? This is on the frame where the skid plate mounts to the frame. It isn't bad, but I want to address it before it gets worse and while I have the skid plate off.

View attachment 449976

Is it actually rust? It's kinda hard to tell what I'm actually seeing. It looks like some type of greasy stuff smeared onto the frame that I think I also saw on your skid plate picture. Or maybe it's some thick paint slopped on them to help prevent rust from happening.

Whatever it is, you need to get the frame and skid plate as clean as possible in those areas to see what's actually there. Soap, water and a scrub brush would be my first step. That should remove anything "greasy" and let you know if you see any bare steel at that point. Whether or not you see bare steel, go lightly with a hand held wire brush and a putty knife to see if any area where the paint comes off. If it starts to come off, just keep removing it until all the lose stuff is gone then go over the whole area with a wire brush in a drill to get the whole area down to bare steel.

Whether or not i ended up seeing bare metal, I'd clean the whole area up with paint thinner, prime it and paint it. Adding a nice coat of Fluid Film over all that while bolting it back together will keep the rust to a minimum but if you're going to drive in the winter, loosen the skid plate and Fluid Film it every fall.

Whatever you got there, it doesn't look like rust has caused huge pitted areas so that's a good sign. The rivnuts being welded in place could be because they were loose or replaced because of rust but it is kinda hard to weld where rust causes problems so maybe someone was just adding those welds to feel better about it.
 
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Let's say that the engine in your Wrangler has had a long standing valve cover gasket leak at the back, and a lot of oil has dripped down all over the place. Any tips on the best way to clean that up?

I was just under mine doing the oil pan gasket and rear main seal and cleaning all that shit up. I just went in there with a roll of paper towels and most of that thick leaky oil sludge will just wipe right off. For the stuff that is a bit more stuck on you can hit it with some degreaser and let it soak a couple minutes. Simple Green is good and safe, but I've been using a lot of POR15's degreaser lately. I don't know what their active ingredient is, but I'm scared of that stuff it works so well.
 
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Is it actually rust? It's kinda hard to tell what I'm actually seeing. It looks like some type of greasy stuff smeared onto the frame that I think I also saw on your skid plate picture. Or maybe it's some thick paint slopped on them to help prevent rust from happening.

Whatever it is, you need to get the frame and skid plate as clean as possible in those areas to see what's actually there. Soap, water and a scrub brush would be my first step. That should remove anything "greasy" and let you know if you see any bare steel at that point. Whether or not you see bare steel, go lightly with a hand held wire brush and a putty knife to see if any area where the paint comes off. If it starts to come off, just keep removing it until all the lose stuff is gone then go over the whole area with a wire brush in a drill to get the whole area down to bare steel.

Whether or not i ended up seeing bare metal, I'd clean the whole area up with paint thinner, prime it and paint it. Adding a nice coat of Fluid Film over all that while bolting it back together will keep the rust to a minimum but if you're going to drive in the winter, loosen the skid plate and Fluid Film it every fall.

Whatever you got there, it doesn't look like rust has caused huge pitted areas so that's a good sign. The rivnuts being welded in place could be because they were loose or replaced because of rust but it is kinda hard to weld where rust causes problems so maybe someone was just adding those welds to feel better about it.

It is light rust. Definitely not deep rust by any means.

That goop just seems to be thick paint. I just went out there and it isn't grease. If it is grease, it is completely dried at this point.

At this point, I'm probably going to try to clean it again and put the skid plate back up this week. I want to drive the Jeep around! Later this fall, I am planning on putting in a Savvy TC shifter cable.. At that point, I'll drop the skid and do this rust mitigation then.
 
I was just under mine doing the oil pan gasket and rear main seal and cleaning all that shit up. I just went in there with a roll of paper towels and most of that thick leaky oil sludge will just wipe right off. For the stuff that is a bit more stuck on you can hit it with some degreaser and let it soak a couple minutes. Simple Green is good and safe, but I've been using a lot of POR15's degreaser lately. I don't know what their active ingredient is, but I'm scared of that stuff it works so well.

I'll check out POR15.
 
is this the bolt on version? looks awesome! did you end needing SYE?

This is the bolt on kit, Ive been running a SYE since I bought the TJ i changed it out as it had a lift with a drop spacer and that wasnt going to work me. Then I did the SYE and RMS and finally got this because im tired of getting hung up with the stock belly skid.
 
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I ain't doing shit to my Jeep today because the Amazon package that was supposed to be delivered yesterday looks to be lost and won't be delivered today either.

FUCK Amazon… so yesterday morning I ordered a Dana 35 Lube Locker gasket so I could service my Dana 35 axle (I already had a Dana 30 Lube Locker leftover from the wrecked TJ), Amazon said it would be here by 5pm yesterday afternoon, cool beans!… so I do the Dana 30 and take a break until around 3:30 then I start taking the Dana 35 apart and around 4:00 Amazon arrives… I open the package and guess what I find

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FUCK!!!… Ok so I start a refund/replacement order on Amazon and after all the hoops they say I’ll get my new one by 11:00am this morning… OK, that’s not too bad, I’m hungry anyway, It will be fine till morning…. At about 9:30 this morning I get a message from Amazon delivery saying “I’ll be there shortly with your package” so I go outside and start preparing the mating surfaces for the new Lube Locker and at about 10:00 he arrives… I ask him to wait while I check to see if I got the correct one and

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FUCK FUCK!… so after I throw A small tantrum I tell the guy my story and refuse the delivery and he says “ have you called in to complain“ and I said “call who” and says “oh yeah”… needless to say I did not be putting a Lube Locker on the Dana 35… RTV for the win! l’m done, that was cheaper than a therapist!