Good day ladies and gents, as the title suggests this is my first post on this forum. I'm not new to jeeps though (wife and I have a JK and two Gladiators as well). I have been on the lookout to add a TJ to the stable for various reasons. Picked her up yesterday and I'm pretty sure the one I landed is solid, but could use some input from y'all.
Backstory: 2001 TJ with the 4.0 and NV3550, 168k miles, single owner from the Denver area. There's definitely some leakage going on from the valve cover and most likely the rear main seal. I plan to address those in the coming months, as well as replace the oil pump and will likely replace plugs and injectors as well. As it sits now, engine runs well and sounds healthy. What I'm curious about is how to best address the frame rust? Photos below show what I'm working with. Of note, photos seem to make it look much worse than it appears in person. I inspected inside the frame as best as I could and it seems that this rust is mostly localized on the outside, but I'll be dropping the skid plate to do a more thorough inspection soon. Seems like odd rust patterns though, parts of the frame are immaculate while others show what you see below.
My thoughts are to drop the skid and wire wheel these spots before spraying with rust inhibitor, painting, washing out inside of frame well and then spraying 3M cavity wax. The hammer test shows that these spots are still solid with no holes. But what do y'all think? Any suggestions above and beyond what my above plan is?
Cheers,
Will
Backstory: 2001 TJ with the 4.0 and NV3550, 168k miles, single owner from the Denver area. There's definitely some leakage going on from the valve cover and most likely the rear main seal. I plan to address those in the coming months, as well as replace the oil pump and will likely replace plugs and injectors as well. As it sits now, engine runs well and sounds healthy. What I'm curious about is how to best address the frame rust? Photos below show what I'm working with. Of note, photos seem to make it look much worse than it appears in person. I inspected inside the frame as best as I could and it seems that this rust is mostly localized on the outside, but I'll be dropping the skid plate to do a more thorough inspection soon. Seems like odd rust patterns though, parts of the frame are immaculate while others show what you see below.
My thoughts are to drop the skid and wire wheel these spots before spraying with rust inhibitor, painting, washing out inside of frame well and then spraying 3M cavity wax. The hammer test shows that these spots are still solid with no holes. But what do y'all think? Any suggestions above and beyond what my above plan is?
Cheers,
Will
running some errands now and just left the DIY car wash where I sprayed the frame out well. Will let it dry off and check it out closer when I get back home later. I agree that it looks prettt suspicious, but when I finger the holes (naughty I know) near the rust, the inside is/was smooth with no crusties and just a bit of surface rust. Will try and get more photos later.
