So being new to this forum and new to Wrangler I thought I could start a thread to document at one place everything that I did and everything I'm planning to do on my '99 Sahara.
So, I got her sometimes in November after almost two years of looking around to find something that's not completely rusted and ridiculously overpriced. I was at the point where I started looking at vehicles in Florida and was getting ready to go down there and bring something back.
Then, suddenly this Sahara pops up and I did not think twice. Originally from Georgia and for the last two years and 3k miles was driven in Chicago.
Some surface rust, some scratches, bit neglected and dirty but I love to think I was able to see pass that!
Got her home and gave her a good wash and started pulling all carpets out during amazing weather we got around Christmas. Washed carpets and cleaned and detailed absolutely everything.
Some surface rust started showing on the passenger side floor panel. Sanded that down and sprayed some primer and it will wait for spring/summer to be repaired properly.
From the outside appearance worst thing was front bumper and ugly mirrors. Completely paled with peeling paint and I just could not watch it.
After weekend of sanding in my garage and treating it with phosphoric acid I was ready to spray paint it. Obviously it's to cold in garage so I thought basement was better idea. Oh well, it's not. I'm still cleaning paint and I knew I should not be doing that in closed space but it is what it is. Yes I had mask and glasses but somehow still ended up with stye on my eye that got infected. Nasty stuff!
Anyways, bumpers and mirrors came out just great after a week of baking in front of work quartz lights! I used textured satin paint and it's awesome! Mount it back and she looked so much prettier! (Wish I knew I could buy brand new stock bumper for $100. Where is fun in that right?)
Couple of small repairs meanwhile, some blown fuses, some white grease in steering column to get rid of squeaking when turning, painting door handles and plastic on the window corner.
All cosmetic stuff that were really bothering me were now addressed and after driving it around a bit I decided I'm going to sell my other beater and use this car for my daily commute (10 miles total to train station and back).
As it was getting colder shifting into 2nd gear was getting difficult. Following advice on this forum I drained transmission fluid and put some MT-90 inside.
Shifting is much better but still not as smooth as I would like it. I learned to live with it and literally just start moving in first and shift in 2nd right away.
Although I had maintenance record and oil was not due for change I decided to go for it. Replaced oil and filter and meanwhile cleaned engine bay as much as I could. This is something I will focus on also when summer comes.
As we all now, stock headlights are miserable. Ordered some amazon LED's that got good review here and I'm pretty happy with them.
Also, found a stock fog light that was broken when I got her and replaced that as well.
Next one was sound system. Those stock cardboard speakers are just miserable so I got Kenwood radio and Polk Speakers and got that installed. It sounds much better but I will need subwoofer for sure down the road.
While everything was out I also replaced all interior bulbs to LED. With that being said something happened tonight and light is very dimmed on AC cluster. I will have to open this again and see what's going on.
While doing all this I'm researching options for my lift kit and new tires.
I initially decided 2" was max I would go as my goal is to really enjoy this car on road more than off road. Again, with help of this forum I decided H&R springs and Rancho shocks are best choice for me. Ordered everything, sprayed Ranchos with couple of coats (heard paint is thin on them) and completed installation last weekend. Beautiful ride and it looks so much better!
______________
What is next?
—————————-
- Well, new tires (31's KO2) are being mounted this Thursday. I'm not fan of Canyons I got on her but I also don't want to spend $500 for new wheels right now.
- I need to flush cooling system and add coolant. Still in research phase.
- Brake lines - this is probably priority. While I don't have any issues they kinda look very rusty and I know I have to address it ASAP. Will probably open new thread to get some help with this.
- Check and probably replace oil in axles
Those are short term goals to be completed until March/April.
Summer goals:
- Clean frame, treat with phosphoric acid and paint it with something (still looking into best options for this, especially for inside the frame)
- Touch up couple of small rust spots and fix dent on the hood (dent is pretty big and previous owner did some sloppy job but at least he didn't left it unattended so it didn't rust)
- Buff & polish and get some shine back!
- Take interior out and paint it
- Clean up seats really well using some extractor
- Change carpet
- Repair lock on center console (bottom part where lock goes is ripped, gotta figure something about this)
Well, this came way bigger than I thought it will be.
If anyone reads all this, well, thank you! If you have any suggestion, please, I would appreciate that a lot!
Everything I listed above was me doing it for the first time! First oil change, first transmission fluid change, first lift kit install..
I'm enjoying it and I have a blast!
I am attaching couple of pictures of things I did so far.
P.S.
She got this name since my wife said since I got Jeep I'm spending more time with "Old Green Lady" than with her.
So, I got her sometimes in November after almost two years of looking around to find something that's not completely rusted and ridiculously overpriced. I was at the point where I started looking at vehicles in Florida and was getting ready to go down there and bring something back.
Then, suddenly this Sahara pops up and I did not think twice. Originally from Georgia and for the last two years and 3k miles was driven in Chicago.
Some surface rust, some scratches, bit neglected and dirty but I love to think I was able to see pass that!
Got her home and gave her a good wash and started pulling all carpets out during amazing weather we got around Christmas. Washed carpets and cleaned and detailed absolutely everything.
Some surface rust started showing on the passenger side floor panel. Sanded that down and sprayed some primer and it will wait for spring/summer to be repaired properly.
From the outside appearance worst thing was front bumper and ugly mirrors. Completely paled with peeling paint and I just could not watch it.
After weekend of sanding in my garage and treating it with phosphoric acid I was ready to spray paint it. Obviously it's to cold in garage so I thought basement was better idea. Oh well, it's not. I'm still cleaning paint and I knew I should not be doing that in closed space but it is what it is. Yes I had mask and glasses but somehow still ended up with stye on my eye that got infected. Nasty stuff!
Anyways, bumpers and mirrors came out just great after a week of baking in front of work quartz lights! I used textured satin paint and it's awesome! Mount it back and she looked so much prettier! (Wish I knew I could buy brand new stock bumper for $100. Where is fun in that right?)
Couple of small repairs meanwhile, some blown fuses, some white grease in steering column to get rid of squeaking when turning, painting door handles and plastic on the window corner.
All cosmetic stuff that were really bothering me were now addressed and after driving it around a bit I decided I'm going to sell my other beater and use this car for my daily commute (10 miles total to train station and back).
As it was getting colder shifting into 2nd gear was getting difficult. Following advice on this forum I drained transmission fluid and put some MT-90 inside.
Shifting is much better but still not as smooth as I would like it. I learned to live with it and literally just start moving in first and shift in 2nd right away.
Although I had maintenance record and oil was not due for change I decided to go for it. Replaced oil and filter and meanwhile cleaned engine bay as much as I could. This is something I will focus on also when summer comes.
As we all now, stock headlights are miserable. Ordered some amazon LED's that got good review here and I'm pretty happy with them.
Also, found a stock fog light that was broken when I got her and replaced that as well.
Next one was sound system. Those stock cardboard speakers are just miserable so I got Kenwood radio and Polk Speakers and got that installed. It sounds much better but I will need subwoofer for sure down the road.
While everything was out I also replaced all interior bulbs to LED. With that being said something happened tonight and light is very dimmed on AC cluster. I will have to open this again and see what's going on.
While doing all this I'm researching options for my lift kit and new tires.
I initially decided 2" was max I would go as my goal is to really enjoy this car on road more than off road. Again, with help of this forum I decided H&R springs and Rancho shocks are best choice for me. Ordered everything, sprayed Ranchos with couple of coats (heard paint is thin on them) and completed installation last weekend. Beautiful ride and it looks so much better!
______________
What is next?
—————————-
- Well, new tires (31's KO2) are being mounted this Thursday. I'm not fan of Canyons I got on her but I also don't want to spend $500 for new wheels right now.
- I need to flush cooling system and add coolant. Still in research phase.
- Brake lines - this is probably priority. While I don't have any issues they kinda look very rusty and I know I have to address it ASAP. Will probably open new thread to get some help with this.
- Check and probably replace oil in axles
Those are short term goals to be completed until March/April.
Summer goals:
- Clean frame, treat with phosphoric acid and paint it with something (still looking into best options for this, especially for inside the frame)
- Touch up couple of small rust spots and fix dent on the hood (dent is pretty big and previous owner did some sloppy job but at least he didn't left it unattended so it didn't rust)
- Buff & polish and get some shine back!
- Take interior out and paint it
- Clean up seats really well using some extractor
- Change carpet
- Repair lock on center console (bottom part where lock goes is ripped, gotta figure something about this)
Well, this came way bigger than I thought it will be.
If anyone reads all this, well, thank you! If you have any suggestion, please, I would appreciate that a lot!
Everything I listed above was me doing it for the first time! First oil change, first transmission fluid change, first lift kit install..
I'm enjoying it and I have a blast!
I am attaching couple of pictures of things I did so far.
P.S.
She got this name since my wife said since I got Jeep I'm spending more time with "Old Green Lady" than with her.
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