If anyone's curious what a '98 TJ restoration looks like in mid project then here's a short video of "Daphne".
Restoration of "Daphne"
- Thread starter GASnBRASS
- Start date
Heck of a project you're taking on. Looks like you're going about it the right way, especially for the conditions you face up there. Are you going to keep it purple?
Thanks! It'll stay dark purple, with black fenders, black grill, black armor. The only chrome will be the headlight bezels.
What bedliner are you going with? Guessing Monstaliner since you used Chassis Saver on the frame?
Yep, monstaliner. I'm debating coating the grill and metalcloak fenders in monstaliner as well, thinking it would add some rock chip protection. The grill and front hood has some NAPA rattle can stone guard stuff meant for rocker panels and it's held up fairly well for 15 years so far, so I'm guessing a two part coating like monstaliner would last even longer.
bobthetj03 - Overlines, I'm not a fan of the arched, looks like the fender got crunched in an accident.
Nashorn101 - It's a ton of work, what was supposed to be just a 6 month frame swap is now going on 3 years repairing all the tub rust and replacing/upgrading parts. Figure how much it will cost, how much space you need, and how much time it will take, and double it all and that's what it'll really take.
Rob5589 - The tj frames are notorious for rotting from the inside. The outside of the frame looks good, but the inside the rails looks like the temple of doom. The bottoms near the rear lca mounts are actually rusted through, screwdriver just pokes right through. Instead of trying to find an ok used frame down south or patching this one, I bought a new frame direct from the local Jeep dealer a few years ago, about $2400 + tax.
Nashorn101 - It's a ton of work, what was supposed to be just a 6 month frame swap is now going on 3 years repairing all the tub rust and replacing/upgrading parts. Figure how much it will cost, how much space you need, and how much time it will take, and double it all and that's what it'll really take.
Rob5589 - The tj frames are notorious for rotting from the inside. The outside of the frame looks good, but the inside the rails looks like the temple of doom. The bottoms near the rear lca mounts are actually rusted through, screwdriver just pokes right through. Instead of trying to find an ok used frame down south or patching this one, I bought a new frame direct from the local Jeep dealer a few years ago, about $2400 + tax.
Wow, you're really going out with this thing, huh? That's awesome, I'm definitely going to be following this thread.
Like @Nashorn101 said, when I get a bit older and the kids are all grown up, this is something If fully intended to do!
I also know exactly what you mean about TJ frames. They look great from the outside at times, but the insides can be rotted to hell, and you'll never even know.
I can't believe you got a brand new frame from the dealer!!! They had that in stock?
Like @Nashorn101 said, when I get a bit older and the kids are all grown up, this is something If fully intended to do!
I also know exactly what you mean about TJ frames. They look great from the outside at times, but the insides can be rotted to hell, and you'll never even know.
I can't believe you got a brand new frame from the dealer!!! They had that in stock?
It was about 3 years ago when I bought the late model frame (early model frames are long gone), and there were 25 in stock at the Jeep parts depot in Milwaukee, but don't know if there are any left. It's an '04-'06 frame so I had to slightly modify the steering mounts to fit my old Saginaw box, and the center skid mountings are different but my Clayton skid works with either frame. Those are the only two differences between early and late TJ frames.
I'm super lucky to have a wife who not only accepts "Daphne" as the other woman, but is ok with me buying whatever she needs to get her done. She misses the jeep as much as I do!
Here is a picture montage I put together of all the rust repair steps and paint work so far:
I'm super lucky to have a wife who not only accepts "Daphne" as the other woman, but is ok with me buying whatever she needs to get her done. She misses the jeep as much as I do!
Here is a picture montage I put together of all the rust repair steps and paint work so far:
Mudguard2004
Member
Yes the salt eats everything no matter how often it's washed. I don't know how people can spend 30-40K on a vehicle and drive it in the snow, knowing it'll be a rusty mess in 10-15 years. Many people have two cars each, a good summer car and a winter beater. Wife has an '06 fusion that only gets driven in the summer and it's immaculate, but her daily driver '10 escape is rusting away. I bought my '98 in 2001, and foolishly drove it for a few winters when I was young and broke. Just those few winters was enough to do some serious damage.
The problem areas I've seen are:
Moisture gets into the torque boxes and eats the body mounts, which are not painted inside, just primer.
The floors under the roll bars are just primer as well. Water seeps under the roll bar mounts and eats the floor from the top down.
The rear cross member under the tail gate has huge factory holes on the bottom that lets water in to attack the rear body mounts.
Water collects in the bottom of the tub B pillars next to the roll bars and eats everything from the inside out. Floor/rocker/pillar.
The wheel wells of the front fenders have reinforcement plates that collect moisture and rot the top of the fenders.
Water will seep into the floor to rocker seams and rust.
There is no paint under the door or tailgate hinges.
The middle of the frame doesn't have drain holes, so it holds an inch of water and rots the frame from the inside out. The outside of the frame will look good, the inside is falling apart. Common areas are rear lca mounts and the center skid mountings.
Any hidden boxed section is not painted, just E coat or primer, with insufficient drain holes. If water gets in it'll rust.
Areas I found that are not too bad:
The large boxed A pillar section (behind the "jeep" stickers) had hardly any damage.
The firewall, cowling, grill and hood are ok.
Center floor areas, transmission tunnel, and the center tub reinforcement plate are ok.
Small boxed cross members under the bed were mostly ok.
The rear wheel well liners do a decent job of protecting all the seams and surfaces in the rear wheel wells.
As far as restoring a vehicle, this is my second attempt. The first was an old VW that I did a ton of body work on and repainted. But when Daphne needed a new frame and rust work, I had to pick the better project and the VW just had too many issues so it went down the road. What I've learned so far is THE BODY IS EVERYTHING. I don't care if the motor is seized, the axles grenaded, the transmission junk, the suspension sagging: if the body is good and clean then most of the work is already done. Also, whatever budget you've figured it'll take you might as well double it for all the little things like tools, small parts, prep supplies, etc that you find you'll need along the way. Figure out how much space you will need to do all the repairs, and once you start taking things apart you find you need alot more space to get it all out of the way while you work. Time: oh boy, it seems even the littlest thing that you think will only take an hour or two to fix ends up eating up the entire day. Easily triple your time estimate. And age? I'm late 30's, and after a long day of crouching, twisting, crawling, bending and reaching to fix stuff, my back and shoulders and knees are done. I couldn't imagine trying to do this when I'm 60 or retired. So if you want to restore a vehicle, it's a long tunnel and for much of it there's no light at the end, and I can see why so many projects falter and quit halfway through, so know what you're getting yourself into before you start.
The problem areas I've seen are:
Moisture gets into the torque boxes and eats the body mounts, which are not painted inside, just primer.
The floors under the roll bars are just primer as well. Water seeps under the roll bar mounts and eats the floor from the top down.
The rear cross member under the tail gate has huge factory holes on the bottom that lets water in to attack the rear body mounts.
Water collects in the bottom of the tub B pillars next to the roll bars and eats everything from the inside out. Floor/rocker/pillar.
The wheel wells of the front fenders have reinforcement plates that collect moisture and rot the top of the fenders.
Water will seep into the floor to rocker seams and rust.
There is no paint under the door or tailgate hinges.
The middle of the frame doesn't have drain holes, so it holds an inch of water and rots the frame from the inside out. The outside of the frame will look good, the inside is falling apart. Common areas are rear lca mounts and the center skid mountings.
Any hidden boxed section is not painted, just E coat or primer, with insufficient drain holes. If water gets in it'll rust.
Areas I found that are not too bad:
The large boxed A pillar section (behind the "jeep" stickers) had hardly any damage.
The firewall, cowling, grill and hood are ok.
Center floor areas, transmission tunnel, and the center tub reinforcement plate are ok.
Small boxed cross members under the bed were mostly ok.
The rear wheel well liners do a decent job of protecting all the seams and surfaces in the rear wheel wells.
As far as restoring a vehicle, this is my second attempt. The first was an old VW that I did a ton of body work on and repainted. But when Daphne needed a new frame and rust work, I had to pick the better project and the VW just had too many issues so it went down the road. What I've learned so far is THE BODY IS EVERYTHING. I don't care if the motor is seized, the axles grenaded, the transmission junk, the suspension sagging: if the body is good and clean then most of the work is already done. Also, whatever budget you've figured it'll take you might as well double it for all the little things like tools, small parts, prep supplies, etc that you find you'll need along the way. Figure out how much space you will need to do all the repairs, and once you start taking things apart you find you need alot more space to get it all out of the way while you work. Time: oh boy, it seems even the littlest thing that you think will only take an hour or two to fix ends up eating up the entire day. Easily triple your time estimate. And age? I'm late 30's, and after a long day of crouching, twisting, crawling, bending and reaching to fix stuff, my back and shoulders and knees are done. I couldn't imagine trying to do this when I'm 60 or retired. So if you want to restore a vehicle, it's a long tunnel and for much of it there's no light at the end, and I can see why so many projects falter and quit halfway through, so know what you're getting yourself into before you start.
See, if I lived in your area that's exactly what I would do. I would have a nice car that only gets driven in the Summer months, and a Winter beater that I didn't care if it rusted out eventually.
But you're right, how on earth can someone spend 40k on a brand new car and know that it's going to be rusted to hell in 10 years. That seems like a complete waste of money.
I also agree with you on the body being everything. When I look for a used car, I am more focused on the body. If the body is clean, rust free, and doesn't need restoration, I could care less if the engine is toast. That's simple to replaced compared to getting rid of tons of rust, re-painting, etc.
Also, I'm 34, and I feel your pain. After a day of working on the vehicle my entire body is aching. My arthritis in my hands will flare up, I feel like a train hit me, etc. So yeah, I can't imagine doing this at 60, I'll say that much!
But you're right, how on earth can someone spend 40k on a brand new car and know that it's going to be rusted to hell in 10 years. That seems like a complete waste of money.
I also agree with you on the body being everything. When I look for a used car, I am more focused on the body. If the body is clean, rust free, and doesn't need restoration, I could care less if the engine is toast. That's simple to replaced compared to getting rid of tons of rust, re-painting, etc.
Also, I'm 34, and I feel your pain. After a day of working on the vehicle my entire body is aching. My arthritis in my hands will flare up, I feel like a train hit me, etc. So yeah, I can't imagine doing this at 60, I'll say that much!
