MountaineerTom
LJ Enthusiast, Retired USAF Weapons Loader
Supporting Member
Ride of the Month Winner
Project Newfoundland - 05 LJR preservation
- Thread starter Coalcracker18
- Start date
I know! The engine has 140k on it I’d almost go as far to say they were never replaced or maybe only one time.
I feel pretty good about what I got done today. I was able to get the engine, transmission and transfer case installed this morning before I went to work. All said and done it was about 3.5 hours of work without any help.
There were a couple spots of rust around where the steering shaft mounted to the frame that I had to remediate while the engine was out. . I didn’t even see them when the engine was in there.
The load leveler was the best $45 I spent.
I added 1” motor mount blocks as well. I plan at some point adding a tummy tuck and keep kicking around the idea of just getting it out of the way now but I just don’t think the funds are there to do it at the moment. I have to keep some sort of budget, I feel like it’s just going to add another $1500 to the build cost if not more.
There were a couple spots of rust around where the steering shaft mounted to the frame that I had to remediate while the engine was out. . I didn’t even see them when the engine was in there.
The load leveler was the best $45 I spent.
I added 1” motor mount blocks as well. I plan at some point adding a tummy tuck and keep kicking around the idea of just getting it out of the way now but I just don’t think the funds are there to do it at the moment. I have to keep some sort of budget, I feel like it’s just going to add another $1500 to the build cost if not more.
Vtx531
TJ Addict
Nice build, great job on those rear frame rails. Any tips or tricks? I need to do mine too.
You really need a new Rolling frame for around $2k or just a frame only for $500-$750.
Just take your time with it. A good welder, plasma cutter and band saw are really all you need. I did it without the band saw and just cut the pieces with the plasma cutter and ground the slag. It definitely would have been easier and quicker with the band saw.
I also bought a rear frame rail kit from taboo customs. It comes as a flat pack meant to be used a a cap kit, I cut the pieces to fit the rot I cut out. He custom cut one for the LJ for me with some extra pieces it was $168 shipped. It was worth every penny to have all the pieces pre cut with the holes in them.
When you start doing the repairs only cut one section out at a time so you can fit everything up properly, a few c clamps help out too.
It was taking me about 2 hrs to do each piece from the initial cut of the frame to the final weld and grind so appx 6 hrs on each side of the frame. Like I said if you have the proper tools and the patience to get everything fit up nice and flush when you are done it will look like the original unmolested frame nobody will ever know there was a repair. There was no reason to use unsightly caps in this particular situation this was the only bad part of the frame.
So much has happened in the past couple weeks to finish up this build it’s pretty hard to jam it all into one post but I’ll try.
I replaced the two damaged nutserts on the drivers side frame with a new pair I got from Region Off-road. Honestly if I knew they were going to be so easy I would have replace all of them. I believe when I replace the OEM skid plate in the future I’m just going to replace the remaining one for maintenance sake.
I used a step bit to drill out the old ones and to size up the hole for the oversize nutsert, it was a piece of cake job.
As you can see the frame is still plenty thick here where a lot of Jeeps rot out. I got very lucky this frame wasn’t in bad shape considering how the rear section was looking.
I also threw in a new Savvy cable shift kit and new 4wd switch I picked from EBay. I was having the issue of the 4wd light being on when it was in 2wd and then going off when it was in 4wd.
I knew I was having a vacuum leak issue because the HVAC was in default defrost. I initially thought it was because of a cracked line on the manifold but there were multiple issues here. The second major issue being a mouse chew here on the main vacuum line.
I had to pull it from the fire wall to make the repair.
Here I just used a heat gun and a pick to make the hose a little bigger to accommodate for the splice. For the splice I used a piece of the sprayer from a brake clean can. It was what I had on hand and it works fine.
Another problem arose with the actuators. This one here the arm popped out and needed to be put back in place and the other one needed to be cycled by hand once to unstick it. It was stuck in defrost and floor mode.
The biggest problem I had with the Jeep was the emissions testing. Initially I had 4 incomplete when we hooked it to the scanner. I drove it a bit and got a check engine light. That revealed a bank 2 downstream O2 was bad. Replaced that and still had two incomplete. I drove it to work that night and gave it a cold start and drove it home and was able to clear the EVAP incomplete but still no luck on the O2 heater. One incomplete was good enough for a pass in PA.
Finally! The boys were so happy the Jeep was done.
I went with the Yokohama Geolander M/T in the 255/85/16 variety. I absolutely love they way the look on the Jeep.
As you can see here in this picture I also slapped on some original Warn bumpers and winch guard. Underneath the cover is a
Warn 9.5 XP that I acquired for $200 in need of some serious repairs. I’ll get into that in another post. One more thing I’m going to add is a spacer in the front springs probably 1/2 inch just to bring the front up a smidge. It doesn’t look terrible but I just want it to have a little less rake.
Needless to say this project was a serious labor of love for saving an LJ Rubicon. Believe it or not I’ve saved worse off Jeeps but in the end it was all worth it. I wish I would have stopped along the way more to get take more pictures but when I’m in the zone I just want to keep busting moves.
After all the replacement parts and repairs done I can honestly say this Jeep rides and drives brand new. It was worth all the blood sweat and tears and yes I’d do it again.
I replaced the two damaged nutserts on the drivers side frame with a new pair I got from Region Off-road. Honestly if I knew they were going to be so easy I would have replace all of them. I believe when I replace the OEM skid plate in the future I’m just going to replace the remaining one for maintenance sake.
I used a step bit to drill out the old ones and to size up the hole for the oversize nutsert, it was a piece of cake job.
As you can see the frame is still plenty thick here where a lot of Jeeps rot out. I got very lucky this frame wasn’t in bad shape considering how the rear section was looking.
I also threw in a new Savvy cable shift kit and new 4wd switch I picked from EBay. I was having the issue of the 4wd light being on when it was in 2wd and then going off when it was in 4wd.
I knew I was having a vacuum leak issue because the HVAC was in default defrost. I initially thought it was because of a cracked line on the manifold but there were multiple issues here. The second major issue being a mouse chew here on the main vacuum line.
I had to pull it from the fire wall to make the repair.
Here I just used a heat gun and a pick to make the hose a little bigger to accommodate for the splice. For the splice I used a piece of the sprayer from a brake clean can. It was what I had on hand and it works fine.
Another problem arose with the actuators. This one here the arm popped out and needed to be put back in place and the other one needed to be cycled by hand once to unstick it. It was stuck in defrost and floor mode.
The biggest problem I had with the Jeep was the emissions testing. Initially I had 4 incomplete when we hooked it to the scanner. I drove it a bit and got a check engine light. That revealed a bank 2 downstream O2 was bad. Replaced that and still had two incomplete. I drove it to work that night and gave it a cold start and drove it home and was able to clear the EVAP incomplete but still no luck on the O2 heater. One incomplete was good enough for a pass in PA.
Finally! The boys were so happy the Jeep was done.
I went with the Yokohama Geolander M/T in the 255/85/16 variety. I absolutely love they way the look on the Jeep.
As you can see here in this picture I also slapped on some original Warn bumpers and winch guard. Underneath the cover is a
Warn 9.5 XP that I acquired for $200 in need of some serious repairs. I’ll get into that in another post. One more thing I’m going to add is a spacer in the front springs probably 1/2 inch just to bring the front up a smidge. It doesn’t look terrible but I just want it to have a little less rake.
Needless to say this project was a serious labor of love for saving an LJ Rubicon. Believe it or not I’ve saved worse off Jeeps but in the end it was all worth it. I wish I would have stopped along the way more to get take more pictures but when I’m in the zone I just want to keep busting moves.
After all the replacement parts and repairs done I can honestly say this Jeep rides and drives brand new. It was worth all the blood sweat and tears and yes I’d do it again.
Last edited:
MountaineerTom
LJ Enthusiast, Retired USAF Weapons Loader
Supporting Member
Ride of the Month Winner
I like those skinny’s.
I’ve always ran the skinnies on my Jeeps they just work well for my part of the country.
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