TJ2
TJ Expert
I am reading - watching - looking for all the works that you have done and I feel like I want to quit working and feel tired already 
Project: Probably Shouldn't Be Alive AKA Sue
- Thread starter Bennythebull
- Start date
If you've ever worked on a project like this, then you will know the phrase "scope creep" well. One day in September of 2019 while I was looking at the Rear control arms I thought... You know, that rear axle is pretty gross. Heck, while I'm at it, I should really take a look at those shock mounts. And that front axle doesn't exactly look pretty either. Hmmmmm.
So one thing led to another, and I guess I accidentally de-rusted and re-finished the front and rear suspension. New gear oil for the differentials as well as a POR-15 paint job, new control arms upper and lowers - front and rear, and picked up some really cheap, and basically new, JK shocks and springs (temporary cheap lift I swear). You know, just the basics. And we haven't even gotten to the ball joints and u-joints yet!
So one thing led to another, and I guess I accidentally de-rusted and re-finished the front and rear suspension. New gear oil for the differentials as well as a POR-15 paint job, new control arms upper and lowers - front and rear, and picked up some really cheap, and basically new, JK shocks and springs (temporary cheap lift I swear). You know, just the basics. And we haven't even gotten to the ball joints and u-joints yet!
Sweet! Those of us in the rustbelt always seem to have major issues with these!
Now that I think about it, this is probably a really good idea. You can shake out the rebuild first without introducing new issues.
Have fun!
After finishing up the axles I took a bit of time to clean up the knuckles and the axle ends. Put brand new Spicer balljoints in to be safe as well. And you know... While I'm at it, I might as well throw in new U-joints on the entire vehicle. Needless to say I'll be pretty sad if I get some mean driving vibrations after all of this hah!
I also threw on a cheap ~2.5" lift via JK springs and shocks as well as some bump stop extensions. After all that was done the car was really starting to clean up! But man did that steering look kinda crusty... I know! A ZJ tie-rod conversion and all new balljoints! Man this is starting to get expensive. At least that frame looks pretty good next to the Gladiator.
I also threw on a cheap ~2.5" lift via JK springs and shocks as well as some bump stop extensions. After all that was done the car was really starting to clean up! But man did that steering look kinda crusty... I know! A ZJ tie-rod conversion and all new balljoints! Man this is starting to get expensive. At least that frame looks pretty good next to the Gladiator.
After finishing the suspension and driveline work, I thought it might be a good idea to change out the clutch and bearing on the transmission. Well I can tell you it wasn't exactly pretty. I ended up replacing the flywheel, the pressure plate, throwout bearing, and rear main seal. I used Luk parts for all of the transmission components as I have seen about 100 different threads where they are recommended! I'm excited to see how this thing shifts once I get it back to one piece!
After a compression test on all of the cylinders I cleaned it up (or as much as I could anyway), and prepped the engine for a quick paint job. Honestly I wasn't looking for anything huge out of this, just better than peeling, chipping grayed paint. I think it turned out pretty well. A weird thing I found out while looking at the engine is that this is actually a 2.5L out of a '93 YJ based on the production stamp. So that's strange, I guess the PO had replaced the original for some reason.
boostedv6
Member
WOW! Damn my wallet hurts just reading this thread. Good job, cant wait to see it all back together!
Honestly it's been pretty cheap in terms of materials. According to my spreadsheet I'm about $4K into it, including the cost of the Jeep. The most expensive part is the hundreds and hundreds of hours of labor haha.
Don't use self-tapping screws when replacing the floors. There was basically nothing supporting these sheets, as the floor supports and the original floors were rusted through. Check out that mouse nest! There will be more of those...
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For those of you who have thought about replacing your floor, let me tell you it is a lot of work. When you do all 4 panels and the torque boxes it can be a real pain. I would say the best thing to do is sand/grind back any rusted metal and FIND THOSE SPOT WELDS. Your job will be SO much easier if you do that rather than grinding away at the body. So here is the passenger side.
Thanks! I would say that the panels are well made to fit. The hardest part was the rear floors. You only have the body side flange to align the panel, so there is a lot of check, cut check. The torque boxes are good as well. The bolt holes on it are all SAE and they fit reasonably well to the body. Some bending was needed and they were not perfectly OEM, but with some self-tappers they went in well enough.
Good to know. I'm on the cusp of pulling the trigger on the 6pc set for the "Shoulda been a partout" project that my son, BIL, and I are currently working on.
Quite a bit of work on the passenger side. Again - don't use zip screws to patch stuff, it won't last. Had to basically rebuild the wheel arch and side rollcage mounts. I certainly feel a lot better about it now!
Here is the driver's side. It took me a solid 2 months to finish the passenger's side just because I had to keep coming back to fix little things. After I learned to attack the spot welds and started to just cut rust rather than trying to repair it went a lot faster.
Osgood
Member
So what's up with the rear? Well the floor is solid, but the body mounts were completely toast. Ended up making my own, man that worked pretty well!
Nice to see someone taking a project on like this and not cutting any corners to get it finished.
Proud of you and it looks really FUN !!!
Proud of you and it looks really FUN !!!
The passenger wheel well took a lot of work to get close. The biggest pain was those holes. Thought I had them measured out until I put the flare up to it. Had to fill in my first marks and re-drill.
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