The Guardian is alive again :)
- Thread starter Tigerman
- Start date
Very interested!!
OP
Got a few minutes of time at work 
. Where was I? Oh yes... the frame on wheels to the shop to check for straightness. Checked out! Hooray
Now to getting the engine off the frame. I struggled a bit with this one alone. I needed a second set of hands to sort of stabilize it while I was lifting it and especially when lowering it on the cart, but I finally managed.
Had to weld a stand for the engine to be able to securely place it on a cart and move it to the backyard. The frame was finally by itself.
Next step: Axels off.
Until now, everything was just disassembly, but with the bare frame standing on the jack stands, it was time do some actual work. I decided to wire clean the entire frame and repaint it. Wow! It took many hours of hard labor under and over the frame to get every little crevice wire brushed and sanded down. Luckily, being a pure California vehicle, there was only surface rust, with most of it in the rear, right above the axel. I guess the moisture gets trapped in this area the most. I went through several large and medium small wire brushes for the drill and a dozen of small wire brushes for the Dremel. Oh yes, I burnt down the Dremel and ended up finishing the job with a cheap Harbor Freight one, which surprisingly held up to the abuse.
It took several hours to thoroughly paint the frame and when that was finally done, I felt good!
Boom
If you think that wire cleaning a frame is time consuming, try the axels! Yes, I took the time and did the same to the axels. Voila!
Rear
If you are wondering why I have the rear axel on dollies, that is because it is an LSD Dana 44 and you cannot easily reposition the axel without dollies.
Front
I lied. i did have help. My dog was always with me, doing the sniff sniff test on everything. You can see the inspector hard at work here.
Ohh, almost forgot! cleaned up the brake lines as well... and yes wire brush and sand paper, coated the lines with matte clear protective enamel.
Finally I reached an important milestone. it was the first time since the start of the project that I was going to actually bolt things back together and not just unbolt them. Let me tell you: it felt really good!
To be continued later . It is time for me to hop into the Jeep and head home.
P.S. I will be replacing the rear hardtop wiper switch. For some reason the wiper works, but the water pump on the washer fluid tank gets no power. I could not find a separate fuse for it and with the switch always having a funky feel to it since day one, decided to replace the switch.
. Where was I? Oh yes... the frame on wheels to the shop to check for straightness. Checked out! HoorayNow to getting the engine off the frame. I struggled a bit with this one alone. I needed a second set of hands to sort of stabilize it while I was lifting it and especially when lowering it on the cart, but I finally managed.
Had to weld a stand for the engine to be able to securely place it on a cart and move it to the backyard. The frame was finally by itself.
Next step: Axels off.
Until now, everything was just disassembly, but with the bare frame standing on the jack stands, it was time do some actual work. I decided to wire clean the entire frame and repaint it. Wow! It took many hours of hard labor under and over the frame to get every little crevice wire brushed and sanded down. Luckily, being a pure California vehicle, there was only surface rust, with most of it in the rear, right above the axel. I guess the moisture gets trapped in this area the most. I went through several large and medium small wire brushes for the drill and a dozen of small wire brushes for the Dremel. Oh yes, I burnt down the Dremel and ended up finishing the job with a cheap Harbor Freight one, which surprisingly held up to the abuse.
It took several hours to thoroughly paint the frame and when that was finally done, I felt good!
Boom
If you think that wire cleaning a frame is time consuming, try the axels! Yes, I took the time and did the same to the axels. Voila!
Rear
If you are wondering why I have the rear axel on dollies, that is because it is an LSD Dana 44 and you cannot easily reposition the axel without dollies.
Front
I lied. i did have help. My dog was always with me, doing the sniff sniff test on everything. You can see the inspector hard at work here.
Ohh, almost forgot! cleaned up the brake lines as well... and yes wire brush and sand paper, coated the lines with matte clear protective enamel.
Finally I reached an important milestone. it was the first time since the start of the project that I was going to actually bolt things back together and not just unbolt them. Let me tell you: it felt really good!
To be continued later
. It is time for me to hop into the Jeep and head home. P.S. I will be replacing the rear hardtop wiper switch. For some reason the wiper works, but the water pump on the washer fluid tank gets no power. I could not find a separate fuse for it and with the switch always having a funky feel to it since day one, decided to replace the switch.
To be continued later
ahhh suspense... well played
alittleoff
TJ Addict
It looks like your pup just wants you to throw that stick, or just pee on it.
He’s got me to. Just a frame in that good of shape is impossible to find around my parts. Can’t wait to see more.
OP
I forgot to mention that I took every bolt that went back on the axles and the frame and rust-proofed it. I learnt this trick from my uncle. You take a bolt and heat it up with a torch. You heat it up until the metal starts to slightly change in color (decolorizes sort of). You do not get it red hot, no, no, no. Then you quench it in used motor oil. Repeat this process several times and you got yourself a pretty good rust proofing.
OK, so moving on.
Since the motor was out and it was easy to work on, I decided to put in some wrench time. Removed the air intake manifold and the exhaust manifold and did what? correct wire brushed and cleaned.
I knew I forgot to mention a major item... I re-wrapped the entire wiring harness.
Now that everything was pretty much mechanically ready, it was time to buy body parts. I sat down and made a parts list, but the part's list and the prices in the next post. It is time to grab a bite to eat. Happy dinner to everyone if you haven't had it yet.
OK, so moving on.
Since the motor was out and it was easy to work on, I decided to put in some wrench time. Removed the air intake manifold and the exhaust manifold and did what? correct
wire brushed and cleaned. - Replaced the gasket and the rusty bolts (one of them was a PITA to remove, but the heat eventually did its job).
- Cleaned up the fuel injectors and
- Repainted the fuel rail.
- Replaced the o-rings on the fuel injectors
- Wrapped the fuel injectors with heat resistant fiberglass cloth and taped reflective heat resistant aluminum foil over them. (Did you know that the 4.0 injectors when they get too hot evaporate fuel?)
- Noticed that the fan was not turning very easily. Figured the cost of the new fan clutch was insignificant next to all of the money I was going to spend and replaced that too.
- Finally, I took a Dremel with a wire brush to the transfer case and the transmission to clean. Half way through, I realized that it was going to get dirty in a single trip involving mud, felt like an idiot for a second or two (bah..meh..) and stopped half way.
- Sanded and repainted the skid plate
I knew I forgot to mention a major item... I re-wrapped the entire wiring harness.
Now that everything was pretty much mechanically ready, it was time to buy body parts. I sat down and made a parts list, but the part's list and the prices in the next post. It is time to grab a bite to eat. Happy dinner to everyone if you haven't had it yet.
alittleoff
TJ Addict
OP
I did not. I didn't even cross my mind, but wouldn't hurt
Looking fantastic! If you want more practice, I’ll send you mine on over to get the same treatment 
OP
Sat down, scratched the head and started typing... wait until I get to the fun part: finding them and searching for them
Parts List (I am going to try from memory, I will cheat and look it up later )
Solution? (I am a programmer after all )
Sat down and wrote a little python program with a database back end. I installed it on one of my machines at home and the program did all the searches in different places with the right options and choices every 15 minutes, from SoCal to NorCal and Nevada, Utah and Arizona. When one that matched my criteria appeared, it would email me a link with a description. I sat on this for a month, literally seeing every single TJ in the less than 5k price range in the western states. Only one actually was worth buying and I jumped on it, but too late. The person returned my call two hours later, saying that it was already sold. Damn (it was a 1999 4.0 with full doors and the right color hard top with a blown motor). It was $1500 and not too far either, only four hours away. Arrrggg.
Solution 2 (forget the donor vehicle, lets find all the parts, no dents or scratches and only OEM)
Started test fitting the body parts together, adjusting the door hinges, windshield hinges, fenders, hood... I could not wait to make it look like a Jeep again. On a side node, my dad suggested I assembled the Jeep as is without painting and drove around like that. I thought he was joking, but he was serious. few days later, after I recovered from a virtual heart attack, I was looking at this
Pauses.... deep breathe... awhhh, my Jeep (wife frowning from the kitchen window, feeling how she is loosing the battle to a piece of metal called something Jeep...)
It was time to find a body shop to paint this baby in and out, but I will tell you about this in another post. It is time for a glass of nice bourbon on the rocks.
Cheers
P.S. Replaced the rear wiper switch, yeap the washer liquid now sprays in the back too
Parts List (I am going to try from memory, I will cheat and look it up later
)- Windshield Frame
- Windshield
- Hood
- Grille
- Fenders
- Tub (body)
- Hard Top
- Doors (with correct panel color: mine got cracked)
- Fender Flares
- Side markers
- Driver side stop light
- New Fog Lights
- Hood latch (1)
- Windshield top weatherstrip
- Door seals
- Roll Cage
- Roll cage to windshield frame bars (both)
- Sun visors (lost both on top of the mountain)
- Rear view mirror
- Side mirrors
- Front Bumper
- Rear Bumper
- Winch Plate
- A lot of hardware (wire ties, push type clips, etc
- etc...etc...etc... (lots of things got added later)
Solution? (I am a programmer after all )
Sat down and wrote a little python program with a database back end. I installed it on one of my machines at home and the program did all the searches in different places with the right options and choices every 15 minutes, from SoCal to NorCal and Nevada, Utah and Arizona. When one that matched my criteria appeared, it would email me a link with a description. I sat on this for a month, literally seeing every single TJ in the less than 5k price range in the western states. Only one actually was worth buying and I jumped on it, but too late. The person returned my call two hours later, saying that it was already sold. Damn (it was a 1999 4.0 with full doors and the right color hard top with a blown motor). It was $1500 and not too far either, only four hours away. Arrrggg.
Solution 2 (forget the donor vehicle, lets find all the parts, no dents or scratches and only OEM)
- Windshield Frame (found it in a junkyard in Fresno for $250, everywhere else it was $350 or more)
- Windshield (the frame came with a shitty one already in it) - it will be replaced tomorrow morning for $180
- Hood (jeep dismantler in Palmdale $300)
- Grille (same as above $350)
- Tub (same as above $750) - came with the roll cage but no bars
- Bars(same as above - $40)
- Fenders (picked them up in Fresno while driving to a friend in San Jose $100 - score)
- Doors (with correct panel color: mine got cracked) drove all the way to Phoenix to get them $900
Started test fitting the body parts together, adjusting the door hinges, windshield hinges, fenders, hood... I could not wait to make it look like a Jeep again. On a side node, my dad suggested I assembled the Jeep as is without painting and drove around like that. I thought he was joking, but he was serious. few days later, after I recovered from a virtual heart attack, I was looking at this
Pauses.... deep breathe... awhhh, my Jeep (wife frowning from the kitchen window, feeling how she is loosing the battle to a piece of metal called something Jeep...)
It was time to find a body shop to paint this baby in and out, but I will tell you about this in another post. It is time for a glass of nice bourbon on the rocks.
Cheers
P.S. Replaced the rear wiper switch, yeap the washer liquid now sprays in the back too
Last edited:
I think your Dad's idea was a hoot! Driving a calico TJ would definitely initiate lots of dialogue, I'm certain. I think I would've done it, myself. Loving the story, and great photo documentation!Sat down, scratched the head and started typing... wait until I get to the fun part: finding them and searching for them
Parts List (I am going to try from memory, I will cheat and look it up later
After looking at this list, I realized that perhaps it was easier to buy a donor vehicle and just take all the parts from it. Enthusiastically fired up Craigslist, sat down and hit the search button. Moment of hmm... nothing? really??? nothing in a reasonable price range with possibly a blown engine, broken tranny or beat up 4 cylinder? What??? Everything over 5k? Started searching northern California and nothing, Arizona = nothing, New Mexico=nothing, Nevada=nothing. Wow. OK, I thought to myself, just need to be patient and the right one will come about. A weak later of searching all over the drivable places I got tired of manually searching every hour.
- Windshield Frame
- Windshield
- Hood
- Grille
- Fenders
- Tub (body)
- Hard Top
- Doors (with correct panel color: mine got cracked)
- Fender Flares
- Side markers
- Driver side stop light
- New Fog Lights
- Hood latch (1)
- Windshield top weatherstrip
- Door seals
- Roll Cage
- Roll cage to windshield frame bars (both)
- Sun visors (lost both on top of the mountain)
- Rear view mirror
- Side mirrors
- Front Bumper
- Rear Bumper
- Winch Plate
- A lot of hardware (wire ties, push type clips, etc
- etc...etc...etc... (lots of things got added later)
Solution? (I am a programmer after all )
Sat down and wrote a little python program with a database back end. I installed it on one of my machines at home and the program did all the searches in different places with the right options and choices every 15 minutes, from SoCal to NorCal and Nevada, Utah and Arizona. When one that matched my criteria appeared, it would email me a link with a description. I sat on this for a month, literally seeing every single TJ in the less than 5k price range in the western states. Only one actually was worth buying and I jumped on it, but too late. The person returned my call two hours later, saying that it was already sold. Damn (it was a 1999 4.0 with full doors and the right color hard top with a blown motor). It was $1500 and not too far either, only four hours away. Arrrggg.
Solution 2 (forget the donor vehicle, lets find all the parts, no dents or scratches and only OEM)
We will get to the rest of the parts later, but here I was, looking at parts, imagining the amazing day when those multicolor parts would actually be a single vehicle
- Windshield Frame (found it in a junkyard in Fresno for $250, everywhere else it was $350 or more)
- Windshield (the frame came with a shitty one already in it) - it will be replaced tomorrow morning for $180
- Hood (jeep dismantler in Palmdale $300)
- Grille (same as above $350)
- Tub (same as above $750) - came with the roll cage but no bars
- Bars(same as above - $40)
- Fenders (picked them up in Fresno while driving to a friend in San Jose $100 - score)
- Doors (with correct panel color: mine got cracked) drove all the way to Phoenix to get them $900
View attachment 140004
View attachment 140005
Started test fitting the body parts together, adjusting the door hinges, windshield hinges, fenders, hood... I could not wait to make it look like a Jeep again. On a side node, my dad suggested I assembled the Jeep as is without painting and drove around like that. I thought he was joking, but he was serious. few days later, after I recovered from a virtual heart attack, I was looking at this
View attachment 140011
View attachment 140010
Pauses.... deep breathe... awhhh, my Jeep (wife frowning from the kitchen window, feeling how she is loosing the battle to a piece of metal called something Jeep...)
It was time to find a body shop to paint this baby in and out, but I will tell you about this in another post. It is time for a glass of nice bourbon on the rocks.
Cheers
View attachment 140008
View attachment 140009
Great thread. Good work getting everything back together and giving the jeep some life again