2000 Jeep TJ Restoration Project

tquig01

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 12, 2018
Messages
359
Location
Brewerton, NY, USA
Hello everyone! I am new to the forum and thought I would begin by sharing my experiences as I restore a 2000 TJ Sahara.

Background: I bought this as a birthday present for my 15 yr old son last fall as something we could work together on so I could teach him automotive / mechanical skills. (that's how I sold it to my wife, anyway). When it is done, it is his, so I want everything to be done safely and well enough that he can enjoy it.

The Jeep: 2000 TJ Sahara, 165k, hard and soft tops. 3.25 Rough Country lift, 33" Dick Cepek Extreme Country tires.

The Good: Its a JEEP, nothing more to add. Seriously, aside from the below floor rust issues, the frame is solid and was painted with POR15. No engine noises and good oil pressure.

The Bad: It had typical maintenance needs. Leaking valve cover gasket, transmission cooler lines were rusted / leaking, oil pan was rusty, drivetrain shudder under acceleration.

The Ugly: Sometime during its life, the previous owner decided to "fix" the floor boards, which only made matters much, much worse.

Our goal was to get it safe and driving first, knowing we would have the winter to work on the bigger things. We did the following:

1- Replaced transmission cooler lines, gasket, filter and did full flush of tranny / torque converter
2- Replaced oil pan (it was almost rusted through in spots), did rear main seal while I had everything off because it was starting to seep
3- Added adjustable rear control arms to set pinion angle correctly - fixed shudder
4- Replaced all brakes, mostly because I wanted a baseline for how they felt when "new"
5- Replaced valve cover gasket and serpentine belt
6- Replaced radiator because I am an idiot. It started leaking right after I did the transmission lines so unless it is a coincidence, I must have did something to it when I was wrench in the lines.

Now that the temps have risen and it doesn't cost me a fortune to heat the garage, we are starting with the floors. I will put that in the following posts in this thread.
 
Here is how she looked when I got it:
jeep.jpg


I know some might object, but I hate the smoked signal light look, particularly when next to the chrome headlight bezels.

The KC lights are nice though, although the wiring job was terrible. Twisted wires with electrical tape wasn't going to work. The previous owner had spots and fogs running off same relay and a switch drilled into the panel below the steering column. I wired the fogs back up to the factory switch but a new circuit because the old fog wires were cut off. I also bought one of the vent switch setups and wired the spotters there. I have an empty switch for a future upgrade, maybe a winch (do people run them on a separate switch?) or a light bar (my son wants one because they are "cool").
 
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As I said earlier, we are starting on the floors now. As you can see, they are in really bad shape, compounded by the fact that the previous owner used every possible compound available to cover the rust, instead of removing it and fixing it correctly. I had to remove bondo, fiberglass (which wasn't mixed correctly so it never hardened completely, thank god), roof tar and silicone. Yuck!

Before:
20180301_171106.jpg

After hours of removal:
floor.jpg

Yes, the bottom of the roll bar was trapped between the factory floor and the crappy repair and it completely rotted off. Luckily I was able to find used replacement feet to be welded on to the roll bar.

This is how it looked after this weekend:
Picture1.jpg

Ignore the gaps between the parts, everything is a tight fit, just not aligned perfectly in this pic. Finished the evening by removing the gas tank before I tackle the driver's side.

Interesting note for people removing their gas tanks- the nuts are probably rusted on like mine were and you will have to cut them off. On my Jeep, they are carriage bolts that have a little square area on the end of the bolt that locks them into the support brace. It is probably easier to cut them off and replace them because they aren't welded in place. You will have to remove the body mount bolts and jack the body up to replace the ones that hold the front of the tank. The rear ones can be replaced once the tank is removed.
 
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Welcome to the forum! Looks like you have a bit of work ahead but a solid foundation.
Thanks. I assumed when I bought it that it would keep us busy. Up here in central NY the salt eats cars and trucks like crazy. Most of the ones we looked at had destroyed frames and tubs. Figured this was only half as bad as the rest that we saw. I thought about getting a new tub but really don't have the equipment and space to do the swap safely and efficiently.

Fortunately the other rear floor is only as bad as the passenger side and not any worse! ;) And then the focus switches to the front floors.
 
Good luck with your build. I’ll be exploring the extent of my rust this spring. I’ll be watching your steps to remedy the rust monster.
 
Hey, that looks familiar! A bit worse than I was facing though...
View attachment 35202

View attachment 35203

Good Luck! Isn't salt wonderful?
That looks like a fun project too. Glad to see you are jumping in before it gets as bad as mine is! Salt is just brutal, particularly with the TJ frame and torque box design. Are you in the middle of the repair or is yours done? How did it turn out? Pics?
 
Good luck with your build. I’ll be exploring the extent of my rust this spring. I’ll be watching your steps to remedy the rust monster.
My only advice is spend the time to do it right. I don't think this would be nearly half as big of a project if the previous owner had consulted someone on how to do it correctly. By leaving most of the original floor intact, he created a nice pocket for salt to be trapped in which led to the rust traveling to the wheel wells and front face of the center of the tub. Instead of removing the roll bar (admittedly a pain in the ass) he sandwiched the floor mount in with the rust and it literally disintegrated.
 
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Keep at it.I thought I was the only one taking on a rusty 2000 tj.I started in the middle of dec and just finished crawling out from under it.I was new to jeeps and never took someone with me to check it out. It looked fine at first glance but after realizing the skid plate was rusted on I almost got sick to my stomach. I cut it open and made up chanels to repair it.I got off the gas tank before welding and replaced the straps and tank skid plate before reinstalling the tank. Had to replace all the brake lines and brake hoses. I used eastwoods frame internal coating and then there frame coating on the outside. Finally out from underneath and on to the front fenders I took off. The one front floor was boggeled also. Got new floor pans and hope to be done end of this month. It has been at least 3 times a week for 3 -6 hrs since dec 15th.I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel finally. I almost wore my creeper out. I got a full 5 gallon pail of rust out of that jeep.Try to keep sane and don't give up.Just walk away when it gets too rough to continue.
 
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I'm happy to know that people are restoring these rusted TJs and not just letting them die out entirely.

I was looking in the Quadratec catalog the other day, and it looks like they now offer brand new frames for 97-02 TJs, to the tune of $3999! Spendy as hell, but I guess if you wanted a brand new, rust free frame!
 
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I think the worst part ranger bob was I had just started and was not sure to throw the towel in or not.Another person on a build thread had really stripped and spent a couple of years on his and then said he was 35 years old and could not imagine doing it at 60. I am 70 and after I read that I decided if I was going to continue ,to use the attitude I was building it for someone else and continue on.I have seen chrysler engineering first hand before at an r&d shop I worked at as a tool and die maker and used to shake my head at some of there so called engineering friendly designs.It really shows up on some of there vehicles. Guess we just carry on making them better.Enough of me ranting.Carry on.I will be checking out your thread for sure.
 
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Never posted any pics before.Rust from jeep in 5 gallon pail plus a lot in my shopvac.mount brackets I made for the centre mount and frame after I cut it opened and almost puked.I read your jeep rebuild ranger bob.You do have staying power I give you that.
jeep rust in bucket.JPG
body mounts.JPG
tj frame rust.JPG
 
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I'm happy to know that people are restoring these rusted TJs and not just letting them die out entirely.

I was looking in the Quadratec catalog the other day, and it looks like they now offer brand new frames for 97-02 TJs, to the tune of $3999! Spendy as hell, but I guess if you wanted a brand new, rust free frame!
No offense to anybody bringing theirs back from the dead, but if my frame goes to hell im gonna be buying a new frame and saving my elbow grease for something else. I just don’t have it in me to spend countless hours chipping and sanding away at rust.
 
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Hi Starrs
I totally agree but it was my fault as I said by not taking anyone to look at it that already had a jeep.I only have a single car garage with no room to take the frame off.One of my problems is I have been into vintage motorcycles for 50 years plus and never thought I would ever be trying to restore a rust bucket. I have been restoring bikes my whole life. I have a bike lift and really never in a million years would have thought I would be laying under a rusty piece of shit that most up here in the rust belt sorry to say are.
But life goes on and I am going to try and enjoy it when it is done. Now I know why so many people I mentioned to that I was planning on buying one 6 months ago said don't even bother getting one .They are all crap up here.Putting it into perspective I will have a total of $5000 canadian when done. That includes new fenders,frame repair,stainless brake lines and hoses, new front rotors and pads,new floor pans in the front, front u joints,new tires,used lower steering shaft and misc parts and paint supplies.OHHH I forgot .Way more hrs than it is worth.If I lived in the south I have seen the prices for what is considered a clean one. Usually $8-$12,000 American dollars. Translate that to about $16,000 Canadian.I really don't think any TJ could possibly be worth that so now at least for $5,000 I have a safe driver for good or bad. If it does not work out I will just cut my losses,sell it and that will be the last one I buy.Like I said I am anal about making things safe and nice but it is still just a jeep. My friends are still laughing and maybe when all is said and done they were right.I hope I can enjoy it and prove them wrong.
OHHH by the way anyone with a tj and no holes in the lower frame are just totally putting there heads in the sand if they truly believe there frames are fine.Chrysler engineers should all be f________ g shot and p______ssed on for there design errors.There I am through ranting.You guys keep restoring and enjoying them.