Building Homer (2005 TJ Build Thread)

[FarFire70]

Off topic: I've always had wolf spiders around the garage but they've been more this season so I put out sticky traps - I know they keep down the bugs but I hate spiders.

Little did I know I'd find new friends that have been visiting:

So far about 6 have been caught up in the traps and I've killed about 3-4.

Found out they are ringneck snakes. Essentially a cousin to the garter snake and fairly harmless. But, hate me for it, I'm not interest in having snakes living in my garage, especially when they can grow to 10-15" snakes... So I'm not doing catch & release for these border hoppers...

So I'm keeping up with the sticky traps and will be checking the garage door in daylight tomorrow to see if I can seal it any better (I just did the seals along the trim edges of the door a few years ago and the bottom seal a couple years ago - so it is fairly sealed but these are tiny snakes).

Just more friends to have crawling around while I'm crawling around under the Jeep....

 

[sab]

Off topic: I've always had wolf spiders around the garage but they've been more this season so I put out sticky traps - I know they keep down the bugs but I hate spiders.

Little did I know I'd find new friends that have been visiting:


View attachment 638301

View attachment 638302

So far about 6 have been caught up in the traps and I've killed about 3-4.

Found out they are ringneck snakes. Essentially a cousin to the garter snake and fairly harmless. But, hate me for it, I'm not interest in having snakes living in my garage, especially when they can grow to 10-15" snakes... So I'm not doing catch & release for these border hoppers...

So I'm keeping up with the sticky traps and will be checking the garage door in daylight tomorrow to see if I can seal it any better (I just did the seals along the trim edges of the door a few years ago and the bottom seal a couple years ago - so it is fairly sealed but these are tiny snakes).

Just more friends to have crawling around while I'm crawling around under the Jeep....

I only kill poisonous snakes in the yard. However, any unwelcomed visitor that breaches the perimeter of our home isn't leaving alive. That's an infraction that demands a terminal solution! I have friends who are too weak to dispatch a coon, snake, etc. Anything that finds its way in will do it again and the next time, they bring friends and family. No thank you!

 

[FarFire70]

Area is prepped for when I have time today to after paint removing and grinding to assess the rust below the surface.

Found additional spots to work on. It looks worse in this pic than in person - only about an inch of rust and then solid metal. Will be a pain to get at it so I may need to open up the torque box to give me room.

Pinch seam is rusty but metal is all solid. This is a northeast Jeep after all...

I figure I'll get it cleaned up and hit it with POR15. I'm leaning pretty heavy towards just painting the fenders black. May or may not add back in the liners - the did hide this rust after all so they're not on the christmas card list right now....

And a rust spot in the torque box - you can see where a pick went through... But the metal around the obvious rust spot was very solid when prodding with a pick.

Guess I'll be moving autobody work off my 'hate DIY automotive tasks' list and learn more...

 

[FarFire70]

I came to a revelation tonight that if I start doing body work and adding all the armor I will never drive this Jeep this season...

So I'm pivoting fairly hard to getting a rough Jeep ready to drive.

That will mean I get the interior back together minus any upgrades and get the minimal amenities available to drive on sunny days.

Here's my initial list that I want to focus on to try to drive this cheap within the next couple weeks:

 

[Wildman]

I came to a revelation tonight that if I start doing body work and adding all the armor I will never drive this Jeep this season...

So I'm pivoting fairly hard to getting a rough Jeep ready to drive.

That will mean I get the interior back together minus any upgrades and get the minimal amenities available to drive on sunny days.

Here's my initial list that I want to focus on to try to drive this cheap within the next couple weeks:

View attachment 639170

It always snowballs it seems to me. But I totally agree that if you just want to drive it this year then get it back together and running. You can fix rust & paint or add armor when it's running.

 

[L J]

I came to a revelation tonight that if I start doing body work and adding all the armor I will never drive this Jeep this season...

So I'm pivoting fairly hard to getting a rough Jeep ready to drive.

 

[FarFire70]

It always snowballs it seems to me. But I totally agree that if you just want to drive it this year then get it back together and running. You can fix rust & paint or add armor when it's running.

View attachment 639184

100%

I was too hyper focused on that. Perfect. Roll out of the garage.

I need to get it driving and enjoy it and the rest will come. I won't drive it if weather is predicted to precipitate but if I work it now I won't drive it for another year.

Plus I can't recall if I put stable in the fuel and I have no idea how much is in a tank so I need to get that fuel used.

 

[FarFire70]

That last part about the fuel was triggered by my post on the forum about where I should prime the oil (which I plan to prime) where someone mentioned I should worry about the fuel more than the oil which was a good statement.

 

[Wildman]

That last part about the fuel was triggered by my post on the forum about where I should prime the oil (which I plan to prime) where someone mentioned I should worry about the fuel more than the oil which was a good statement.

You can throw a bottle of octane booster into the tank too just to help that stale fuel out some....

 

[FarFire70]

You can throw a bottle of octane booster into the tank too just to help that stale fuel out some....

Thanks! Great tip!

 

[FarFire70]

Haven't had much time to wrench but I did run the vacuum on the hole into the driver rocker — Rust is way worse than I could have thought...

I still see this as a salavable tub because 95%+ is still in good shape.

This will be my learning to love auto body work (which I hate but I am willing to lean into learning and doing it right to save my Jeep).

 

[FarFire70]

On another note - I've been cleaning up the engine bay. Painted the throttle cable mount.

Removing the cruise control was tough - and it didn't want to bounce back. So I tossed a zip tie around the cable. I does nothing to lock in the cable - just push out the ears that lock it in.

 

[FarFire70]

(Posting on the correct thread this time... )

A while back I was rushing and clipped the wrong wire (18g White w/ Lt Green) trying to get the reverse-trigger for the radio rear camera. Luckily, I caught my mistake before I utilized the clipped wires.

So I fixed my error by adding some more wire (blue) to give myself room for a good crimp connection.

And then I clipped the correct 20g White w/ Lt Green wire and tied it into the orange reverse trigger.

Yup - same color wire in adjacent holes of the ~30 wire connector under the dash differing by 18 v 20 gauge...

Added heat shrink on a few of the wires I won't get to finish on my quick route to driving again... These are all switch triggered - but I wanted the heat shrink as a backup safety.

One thing off the list!!

 

[FarFire70]

3D Printed a OPDA alignment pin:

More details over on 3D Prints thread:

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/what-have-you-3d-printed-for-your-tj.55555/page-38#post-1787043

 

[FarFire70]

On Order: New headunit.

I figure I'll want the radio shortly after I get driving again. Headunit is the last part I need to buy.

I've been waiting to see if it dropped in price on any of the summer sales (memorial, 4th, labor) - but it actually jumped up mid-summer and then went back down to normal price. So I finally pulled the trigger, knowing it wouldn't drop for labor day sale...

Sony XAV-AX3200

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-oEXXo...F&cnxclid=17463886920160140552013821109008005


So - for anyone looking to buy the same one, wait a couple days and it will undoubtably drop in price now that I ordered.

 

[Wildman]

On Order: New headunit.

I figure I'll want the radio shortly after I get driving again. Headunit is the last part I need to buy.

I've been waiting to see if it dropped in price on any of the summer sales (memorial, 4th, labor) - but it actually jumped up mid-summer and then went back down to normal price. So I finally pulled the trigger, knowing it wouldn't drop for labor day sale...

Sony XAV-AX3200

View attachment 640289

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-oEXXo...F&cnxclid=17463886920160140552013821109008005


So - for anyone looking to buy the same one, wait a couple days and it will undoubtably drop in price now that I ordered.

Not knocking your choice but I at least want a knob for volume in my Jeep radio. When you're bouncing around either on road or off road it's hard to hit buttons sometimes. Just IMO......

 

[NashvilleTJ]

Not knocking your choice but I at least want a knob for volume in my Jeep radio. When you're bouncing around either on road or off road it's hard to hit buttons sometimes. Just IMO......

Wait - you are listening to the radio instead of your exhaust note? YOU ARE OUT OF THE HEMI CLUB!!!

 

[Wildman]

Wait - you are listening to the radio instead of your exhaust note? YOU ARE OUT OF THE HEMI CLUB!!!

Hey now.... And NO I wasn't.... I needed to hear the GPS tell me when I needed to turn....

I only recently started to listen to my radio again since I'd wanted to hear all the noises the Jeep might make..

 

[FarFire70]

Not knocking your choice but I at least want a knob for volume in my Jeep radio. When you're bouncing around either on road or off road it's hard to hit buttons sometimes. Just IMO......

I'm with you - it was a hard choice for me as I love to do the 'quick roll' and spin the dial to zero when needed. I haven't had a button volume radio for about 20 years - so I rolled the dice to try this one out.

If it really bothers me, there will be a discounted radio available on the classifieds.