danof76's 2000 Jeep Wrangler Sport

danof76

TJ Enthusiast
Supporting Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2018
Messages
318
Location
San Antonio, TX
I don't have much at all to post here as I haven't taken a ton of pictures, nor do I have a lot done... but I have a lot of plans, so there's that. So I'll make this a blog post on the history of the Jeep and what I've done so far.

Back story: this is my fourth Jeep Wrangler but my second TJ. I had sold a JK I had modified a fair amount and I've learned a lot from it and would have approached that vehicle VERY differently knowing what I know now. My goal is to just do modest, useful upgrades to the Jeep. I'm not looking to make a rock crawler but I certainly want to make it much more capable. Currently I am on 31" tires with a lot of life left, I may go to 32" but only whenever I need to upgrade.

Timeline:

June 2016: Bought a 2000 Jeep TJ 4.0L, manual 5-speed, in Solar Yellow that had 80,000 miles on it with a rear Dana 44 (as I found out much, much later). The PO was an FBI agent, a woman that was a friend of a friend of the dealer's son. She had taken perfect care of the Jeep: regular oil changes reported, no accidents, interior was damn near immaculate, so was the engine bay and the underside. Personally I wanted us to get a well taken care of vehicle that was as much of a blank slate (little to no mods) as I could ask for.​
Fall 2016: Custom order a leather shift boot from https://www.redlinegoods.com and install a Sony Bluetooth stereo.​
December 2016: Fender bender on the way to my dad's funeral (what a great day that was), bent the front lower OE control arms and brackets. I got HD brackets welded on and replace the OE CA's with a new pair I find on Facebook for $20.​
January 2017: Painted grill black. Looks best on a yellow TJ if you ask me!​
Summer 2017: generic battery died while out, replaced it with an X2Power (Northstar) AGM battery, best thing I could find in town on the spot, turns out it's a good battery.​
October 2017: someone T-bones my wife on her way to work on the passenger side (110% their fault) and the Jeep goes in the shop. Ends up looking like nothing ever happened. Except the passenger side flares don't match the driver's side. Insurance compensates me for that so I got a set of new flat Bushwacker flares for only $100 out of pocket.​
November 2018: After waffling over what kit to buy or what to piece together I finally decide to just get the OME 2" HD lift and call it a day. Get that installed and the TJ is now sitting pretty. Also purchased a T-case drop kit at the same time I didn't use that I need to post up for sale...​
December 2018, January 2019: Small accomplishments but I finally fixed the issue where I could pull the key out of the ignition while it's on, fixed the center console lid and removed the milk jugs (don't know why I waited so long). Also get cup holder mats, Husky floor mats, replace battery tie-down, clean up and protect battery terminals, buy spark plugs and still haven't put them in yet. Lastly I finally removed the vehicle immobilizer the PO installed after scorning it for years and triumphantly threw it in the trash can.​

Now for the future! Not sure when this stuff is coming down the line, if I'm being responsible (this is a new thing for me) the upgrades will be a handful a year, so I am trying to make them count and prioritize them. I am hoping I can get the first four or five done this year but I've got a lot of other things to take care of in 2019 (note: these are in order of priority).
  • Powertrax No-Slip lunchbox locker for Dana 30
  • Currie AntiRock in the front
  • Warn M8000 winch (winch plate as well for OE bumper)
  • Chromoly Dana 30 shafts
  • BL & MML
  • Savvy transfer case cable
  • All the other various things for a tummy tuck
  • When I get this far I'll figure out what I want to do next!
That's at least as far as capability mods go, I'll probably throw a hand throttle in there at some point (they're so cheap and easy anyway). I'll also be balancing those out with some feel-good mods, but certainly with a bias to capability. Honestly, I'll be surprised if I do any of these before any of the above unless I come across a nice deal (note: these are also in order of priority).
  • TruckLite LED headlights
  • LED auxiliary lights
  • Interior LEDs
  • LED taillights (yeah I know; lights, lights, lights...)
  • Bartact seat covers (front)
  • Bartact seat covers (rear)
  • Bedrug set
We're moving soon and I'll be able to work from home so the Jeep will largely be relegated to being a spare car since neither of us will have a commute (thank God, also saves hundreds in gas money). Also gives me peace of mind that I won't have to ever be in a rush to get the Jeep operational before I go back to work, I can let it sit until my wife nags me to finish what I started. Lastly, there isn't a lot of places to go in Texas unfortunately but I'll be close (two hours) to Monterrey, Nuevo Leon (mountains!) where you can go wherever the hell you want if your vehicle will take you there.

Anyway, this is how she is looking these days, this was taken shortly after I put the OME lift on. Planning to change this and my profile pic when I can take the top and doors off again (and drop the windshield).

IMG_8797.JPG


Here she is the day I bought her, my wife (then girlfriend) next to it as this was originally a replacement for her car until I commandeered it. That Solar Yellow sure does pop in the Texas summer sun!

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Sorry for the long-winded post, I even went and made it shorter. I'll try to keep it brief in the coming updates, thanks for sticking around!
 
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Looking good. What kind of paint did you use for the grill? Looks great from here. How’s it holding up?

I recently acquired a white 2000 sport and have been going through it replacing/upgrading parts. Fun stuff! Planning to paint the grill black once it’s a bit warmer.
 
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Nice looking Jeep!! :)

Nice yellow TJ you got there, yourself! Thanks!

Looking good. What kind of paint did you use for the grill? Looks great from here. How’s it holding up?

I recently acquired a white 2000 sport and have been going through it replacing/upgrading parts. Fun stuff! Planning to paint the grill black once it’s a bit warmer.

Thanks! I used this stuff here:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F87S5KM/?tag=wranglerorg-20

Just a quick how-to: taking the grill off the TJ is quite a process so I recommend removing the headlight bezels and covering up the surrounding area (and some between the grille and radiator). Picture for reference, excuse the handsome bald man off to the side (your's truly):

15826646_10158037783360596_2425270958486047879_n.jpg


I scuffed up the paint fairly well with a sanding sponge and thoroughly wiped it all down with some mineral spirits then zapped it with a few coats of spray paint from different angles (those slats in the grille are tricky) and let it dry overnight. I did the same with the bezels when I had them removed.

It's been two years, two weeks and two days to the day (literally) since I painted it. It's holding up from road debris and the South Texas sun, and I've not once touched it up since I painted it. Here is a picture I just took a few minutes ago:

IMG_8914.JPG


I was planning on hitting the bumper and the little sway bar cover thing as well as all the door handles with some of this same paint to give them a fresh look this weekend. Instead I got to help a buddy with some electrical work on his house so maybe next weekend I can update with some of that.

A white TJ with a black grille will definitely look pretty sharp, I'd like to see how it looks when you get it done!
 
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Nice yellow TJ you got there, yourself! Thanks!



Thanks! I used this stuff here:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F87S5KM/?tag=wranglerorg-20

Just a quick how-to: taking the grill off the TJ is quite a process so I recommend removing the headlight bezels and covering up the surrounding area (and some between the grille and radiator). Picture for reference, excuse the handsome bald man off to the side (your's truly):

View attachment 72690

I scuffed up the paint fairly well with a sanding sponge and thoroughly wiped it all down with some mineral spirits then zapped it with a few coats of spray paint from different angles (those slats in the grille are tricky) and let it dry overnight. I did the same with the bezels when I had them removed.

It's been two years, two weeks and two days to the day (literally) since I painted it. It's holding up from road debris and the South Texas sun, and I've not once touched it up since I painted it. Here is a picture I just took a few minutes ago:

View attachment 72691

I was planning on hitting the bumper and the little sway bar cover thing as well as all the door handles with some of this same paint to give them a fresh look this weekend. Instead I got to help a buddy with some electrical work on his house so maybe next weekend I can update with some of that.

A white TJ with a black grille will definitely look pretty sharp, I'd like to see how it looks when you get it done!


Thanks for the write up! I haven’t seen people use that paint before but it seems like a good choice for the grill. Yeah, I have a bunch of faded and peeling black paint that needs a fresh coat. And fender flares... But after 20 years it’s to be expected.
 
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Reactions: danof76
Nice yellow TJ you got there, yourself! Thanks!



Thanks! I used this stuff here:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F87S5KM/?tag=wranglerorg-20

Just a quick how-to: taking the grill off the TJ is quite a process so I recommend removing the headlight bezels and covering up the surrounding area (and some between the grille and radiator). Picture for reference, excuse the handsome bald man off to the side (your's truly):

View attachment 72690

I scuffed up the paint fairly well with a sanding sponge and thoroughly wiped it all down with some mineral spirits then zapped it with a few coats of spray paint from different angles (those slats in the grille are tricky) and let it dry overnight. I did the same with the bezels when I had them removed.

It's been two years, two weeks and two days to the day (literally) since I painted it. It's holding up from road debris and the South Texas sun, and I've not once touched it up since I painted it. Here is a picture I just took a few minutes ago:

View attachment 72691

I was planning on hitting the bumper and the little sway bar cover thing as well as all the door handles with some of this same paint to give them a fresh look this weekend. Instead I got to help a buddy with some electrical work on his house so maybe next weekend I can update with some of that.

A white TJ with a black grille will definitely look pretty sharp, I'd like to see how it looks when you get it done!


Here's the matte black grill. Thanks again for the pointers. I removed and painted the fender flares as well. The hood and cowl are a vinyl wrap to cover/protect failing factory paint. I didn't feel like I could do a good job painting that large of an area. I have a couple small sections to wrap to tie all the black together.

20190507_174030.jpg
20190507_174110.jpg