I just acquired a 98 TJ (with the 2.5, 4cyl) from a neighbor. The jeep was his first car when he turned 16 and although he hasn't driven it since 2012, it has been sitting in his garage with the hopes of one day getting it back on the road. He finally decided he wasn't going to do anything with it and GAVE it to me for free.... He told me that I was the best chance the Jeep had to ever see the road again. I told him that once it was fixed back up, I'd let him take it for a ride whenever he wants.
My plan is to fix it up, make it solid and driveable and only use it in the summer for banging around back roads up here in Vermont. There is too much salt loaded on the roads for me to want to drive this in the winter. I will not be off-roading the jeep since I have other toys for that (snowmobile, side by side, motocross bikes, etc...). I just want to clean it up, and put a few thousand miles on it a year.
I have started tearing into it over the last three weeks and here is what I've done so far:
Replaced the power steering pump and high pressure hose (it was leaking and ran dry...)
Replaced the rear shocks (I put some cheap ones on until I know if I want to lift it or not...)
Replaced the Battery
Removed the transfer case linkage (it was frozen, need to replace it!)
Replaced the fuel tank skid plate pan (the old one was basically non-existent and the tank was half falling out...)
Removed the oil pan (i'm in the process of ordering a new one as the old one was leaking and rusty)
Removed the exhaust (had to get to the oil pan and want to replace the manifold anyway)
Removed the front fenders (they were rusty and need to be replaced so figured it was easier to work on the frame with them removed)
I'm thinking about having the frame repaired with Safe-T-Caps by Autorust in Rhode Island. I have two thoughts on this, one is just patch it up myslef and POR-15 it (for the amount of driving I'm going to do) or bring it to Auto Rust and have them sandblast everything, replace anything that needs it and undercoat the entire underneath of the jeep. This would last the longest and since I didn't pay anything for the jeep, I still wouldn't have much invested to have a jeep that is fully functional and solid for many years to come. If anyone has used Auto Rust in Rhode Island, let me know what you thought of the work they did and how it has held up over time.
Here are a few pics of the progress so far.
My plan is to fix it up, make it solid and driveable and only use it in the summer for banging around back roads up here in Vermont. There is too much salt loaded on the roads for me to want to drive this in the winter. I will not be off-roading the jeep since I have other toys for that (snowmobile, side by side, motocross bikes, etc...). I just want to clean it up, and put a few thousand miles on it a year.
I have started tearing into it over the last three weeks and here is what I've done so far:
Replaced the power steering pump and high pressure hose (it was leaking and ran dry...)
Replaced the rear shocks (I put some cheap ones on until I know if I want to lift it or not...)
Replaced the Battery
Removed the transfer case linkage (it was frozen, need to replace it!)
Replaced the fuel tank skid plate pan (the old one was basically non-existent and the tank was half falling out...)
Removed the oil pan (i'm in the process of ordering a new one as the old one was leaking and rusty)
Removed the exhaust (had to get to the oil pan and want to replace the manifold anyway)
Removed the front fenders (they were rusty and need to be replaced so figured it was easier to work on the frame with them removed)
I'm thinking about having the frame repaired with Safe-T-Caps by Autorust in Rhode Island. I have two thoughts on this, one is just patch it up myslef and POR-15 it (for the amount of driving I'm going to do) or bring it to Auto Rust and have them sandblast everything, replace anything that needs it and undercoat the entire underneath of the jeep. This would last the longest and since I didn't pay anything for the jeep, I still wouldn't have much invested to have a jeep that is fully functional and solid for many years to come. If anyone has used Auto Rust in Rhode Island, let me know what you thought of the work they did and how it has held up over time.
Here are a few pics of the progress so far.