You’re not a 17 year old kid. You’ve had time to learn from life’s lessons.
Please tell me how my frame is
- Thread starter Connor314
- Start date
You’re not a 17 year old kid. You’ve had time to learn from life’s lessons.
Connor, as someone who just like you got a jeep in highschool and it turned out to be a rust bucket. dont be discouraged by the rust, you could always make a project out of the frame repair to learn even more about your jeep. what I suggest is if you have another mode of transport i would take into consideration of learning how to weld and maybe attempting to do a safe t cap ( https://www.autorust.com/product-category/jeep/jeep-tj/ ) as i did with a bare minimum knowledge of welding and my jeep is still working with those safe t caps to this day. so moral of the story is dont be scared by a little rust... they're TJs they're all going to have rust somewhere, it is better to learn how to properly deal with it than just sell it and buy one that has a little less rust then the previous one
Well I have been. Soo... what is your point?
I certainly didn't toss $4k around freely when I was 17.
You can toss it out a lot faster with a shovel than you can put back with a spoon.
We are spoiled. The struggle is real for these poor rust belt guys
Like others have said, if everything else checks out and the vehicle is safe, used this one as a learning project and have fun with it. I suggest driving the Jeep as-is before you start trying to change things for random and unknown reasons. Make it safe and reliable, then have fun with it.
That coating is already on there, so use it for the winter and remove it in the spring. Over the winter I suggest you read up on where these TJs commonly rust, read up on how to stop rust, how to repair rust, and how to prevent rust in a restoration kind of way.
Yes, when you are out of college. In the mean time do what AndyG says. The G stands for Good advice. D
I rolled a vehicle of about that value at about that age.
Also learned how to buy another truck with a smaller engine and spend two weekends body swapping it to get my rolled one back on the road.
Learned selling the unused rolling frame with drivetrain made fixing my fuckup only a $700 fuckup and I had nicer product once done.
So here's a thought...if you're already contemplating a $10k ish LS swap then drop more cash on a Throttle Down Customs frame. They'll even send it all set up with LS mounts.
You can set up your engine, and get a lot of work done while driving your Jeep...then quickly swap over the tub, axles etc.
I bought a tub and frame in Oregon for $1300.
-Mac
You can set up your engine, and get a lot of work done while driving your Jeep...then quickly swap over the tub, axles etc.
I bought a tub and frame in Oregon for $1300.
-Mac
well shoot you guys got a bunch of thoughts on this. I dint expect this to actually get awesome feedback. i think I'm going to try and learn as much about rust and how to make this frame last as long as it can. would soda blasting or sandblasting be better for the coat removal (in the spring obviously)
I don't know what that coating is, so identification would be the place to start. Media blasting really will not be an option for you without major disassembly, which I highly recommend you avoid. When we're young, lots of us car guys get wrapped up in the ideas of a project, and it spirals out of control. Don't do that. You have a running/driving vehicle now, drive it and fix it as you go. Small projects here and there will add up. I suggest starting with mechanical maintenance, then move to rust containment and repair.
Step 1-
Drill 1/2" drain holes in the low flat part of the frame just before it curves up to the lower control arm brackets.this is important in letting the water out.jeep should have done that from the start
Step 2-
power wash,garden hose etc the shit out of the inside of the whole frame until all the crap comes out
Step3-
Have the inside of the frame sprayed with fluid film or some other rust prevention stuff.rust converter and or eastwood frame coating first if you have the money, NOT more undercoating!
Step4-
Have the brakes inspected.the steel brake lines can blow out if they get rotten. Change fluids,filters etc as needed and get to know your jeep.
Step5-
drive it and have fun! Be safe!
Drill 1/2" drain holes in the low flat part of the frame just before it curves up to the lower control arm brackets.this is important in letting the water out.jeep should have done that from the start
Step 2-
power wash,garden hose etc the shit out of the inside of the whole frame until all the crap comes out
Step3-
Have the inside of the frame sprayed with fluid film or some other rust prevention stuff.rust converter and or eastwood frame coating first if you have the money, NOT more undercoating!
Step4-
Have the brakes inspected.the steel brake lines can blow out if they get rotten. Change fluids,filters etc as needed and get to know your jeep.
Step5-
drive it and have fun! Be safe!
You're not complaining about it's driveablity SO as long as it's only giving you the average 90,000 mile problems (various not too major stuff) you got the perfect Jeep to learn from. Some of that will be general automotive mechanicals, some will be TJs in general, and some will be specific to this Jeep.
The first thing you probably now learned (here) is that undercoating like that isn't a good way to stop rust. I'll add that you should never allow whoever "coated" your frame do get near it again. I'm not trying to be mean about it but it's so friggggin' thick in some areas it looks like THEY were trying to hide stuff to help the Jeep sell, which I don't think it was your goal. The other part of it is that they failed to completely "coat" the easiest place to see rust (because it can be seen from 20 ft away) where the skid plate meets the frame. In your last posted picture I see not only rust but I also see what looks like bead between the two. That bead does have some coating but I guarantee that bead is pure rust. I suggest if nothing else, you want to spray as much Fluid Film all over that area ASAP to keep it from getting worse.
FWIW unless (or until) you have the place to do cutting and welding and the time to be without driving the Jeep (a weekend, a week, a month?) DON'T try to unbolt that skid plate. Yes it will need done at some point but that could be it's own rabbit hole.
Your Jeep also looks like the torque boxes (I'll NEVER know why that's the name) have been repaired in a couple different places. It looks like some pretty thick metal was used and it may be nothing to worry about but it's hard to tell under all that coating. It also has me wondering about the condition of where the roll bar bolts to the floor on each side.
We don't know how long you've owned this Jeep but since it's fairly low miles you're best bet is to get EVERY fluid and filter changed no matter what the seller told you has been done.
I also don't think I'd plan on spending more than what it ends up costing to deal with the frame/skid plate connections so I could save up for the next TJ.
Oh yeah,
of the whole Jeep!
The first thing you probably now learned (here) is that undercoating like that isn't a good way to stop rust. I'll add that you should never allow whoever "coated" your frame do get near it again. I'm not trying to be mean about it but it's so friggggin' thick in some areas it looks like THEY were trying to hide stuff to help the Jeep sell, which I don't think it was your goal. The other part of it is that they failed to completely "coat" the easiest place to see rust (because it can be seen from 20 ft away) where the skid plate meets the frame. In your last posted picture I see not only rust but I also see what looks like bead between the two. That bead does have some coating but I guarantee that bead is pure rust. I suggest if nothing else, you want to spray as much Fluid Film all over that area ASAP to keep it from getting worse.
FWIW unless (or until) you have the place to do cutting and welding and the time to be without driving the Jeep (a weekend, a week, a month?) DON'T try to unbolt that skid plate. Yes it will need done at some point but that could be it's own rabbit hole.
Your Jeep also looks like the torque boxes (I'll NEVER know why that's the name) have been repaired in a couple different places. It looks like some pretty thick metal was used and it may be nothing to worry about but it's hard to tell under all that coating. It also has me wondering about the condition of where the roll bar bolts to the floor on each side.
We don't know how long you've owned this Jeep but since it's fairly low miles you're best bet is to get EVERY fluid and filter changed no matter what the seller told you has been done.
I also don't think I'd plan on spending more than what it ends up costing to deal with the frame/skid plate connections so I could save up for the next TJ.
Oh yeah,
of the whole Jeep!
Before driving it too much up I would whack that whole frame with a hammer just to see how solid it is. My frame told me it had a rust issue when I had it on jack stands and stand punched through the frame.
As long as the top section of the frame is still solid it can be repaired. Either Safty T Caps (not sure of that name) or Poconos Metal sells weld on replacement sections as mentioned you cut away the bad sections and weld on the new. Can be done in your driveway but easier if you know a guy with a lift.
Best way to remove that coating honestly is going to be scraping by hand or using a wire brush attachment. That coating sucks because it traps the moisture.
Good luck and DONT SPEED (This is from a guy that totaled two vehicles before he was 18. Should have died in the second wreck)
As long as the top section of the frame is still solid it can be repaired. Either Safty T Caps (not sure of that name) or Poconos Metal sells weld on replacement sections as mentioned you cut away the bad sections and weld on the new. Can be done in your driveway but easier if you know a guy with a lift.
Best way to remove that coating honestly is going to be scraping by hand or using a wire brush attachment. That coating sucks because it traps the moisture.
Good luck and DONT SPEED (This is from a guy that totaled two vehicles before he was 18. Should have died in the second wreck)
Which decade was that? $4,000 today = $40 when you was 17.
Yep $23500 in todays dollars from 1975 when I was 17.
The Illinois minimum wage is $14/hr so $4000 requires 29 hrs of work before taxes today. In 1975 minimum wage was $2.10/hr so $4000 required 1900 hrs of work before taxes. $4K won’t buy much these days. It’s all relative.
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