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What was done to YOUR rig(XJ/MJ) today MECHANICALY????

Well my front seat floors got soaked this week. :eek:

The header panel was soaked at the leading edge at the windshield. And the Pass side was wet along the edge front to back by the back door.

PUll what remainded of the screwsout of the 3 middle roof guard strips on the roof between the roof racks today.

:eek: Found a hole big enough fit two dimes side by side in it, hiding under one rail :eek:

I pulled all the screws, sanded and ground the crap and rust down to bare shiny steel, plugged the big rust hole with foam, sealed it and all the screw holes with caulk, and spray primed them all.

:yelclap:

The caulk along the edges replacing the dry rotted plastic under the runners was trapping water getting in from the top in recent years and ate a huge hidden hole in the roof under the runner!!

IF you have issues with rotted plastic up there on those inner runners that protect the roof paint from luggage etc, fix it to where water can NOT collect from the top side and stay under it near the bolts!!!! The big hole was about 4 inches from the front screw on mine.

All done in under 2 hours. And I think I finally fixed the Saturn leak today .

party1:

Next is sanding the entire Wagoneer roof and using primer on it. For starters to stop the rust. It is 40% rusted . :eek: In just 4 months.
 
Just a couple things, from 2wd to 4wd minus transmission in 10 hours
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Had to cut the exhaust off jeep today found big rust hole in right side frame rail where bump stop was bolted on.
 
My son's new to him (Jan buy this year) 2010 Liberty seems to think it is a Ford now.

2 weeks ago it blew the head gasket (they tried a new CPS first, jeep specialty place...I have my doubts about those goons?) then said it was the head gasket.

Now they say the fuel pump is bad????

Not even 100,000 miles on it IIRC. 2 months ago it was the oil Pressure switch, then weeks later a bad spark coil.
 
LOL, now they are trying to figure out why two cylinders do not have compression, they are thinking lifters, jesh, been years since I dealt with the moron level of incompetence at service facilities. This is On the 2010 Liberty.

One outfit did the head gasket, a second outfit everything else so far.

No way this much shit goes wrong in a few days on one jeep.

Even my 30 old XJ Wagoneer never had this much trouble this fast.

Next task for me is getting that last one front leaf spring bolt out on the quick fix :rolleyes: project spare-jeep I bought to fix up 2012, LOL. At least it runs, LOL.
 
I installed LED headlights, 3 electric fans for the radiator and 2 USB port with voltage gauge in place of my cigarette lighter. Still need to install the fire extinguisher, LED spot lights and CB radio.
 
Picked up another set of JK Rubicon wheels and tires. Really hated driving the jeep on 35’s.
 
Now, after replacing the head gasket again, and fixing what ever they forked up when they did a valve job on the head(s) just for grins, they now say it needs a crankshaft which they are going to do for free.:D

:wierd:

LMAO!!!:laugh3: Too funny.

Seems I need to send my son, who has a degree in Physics and has worked on jeeps and fords, etc with me back to mechanics school, LOL. But in all fairness he just told me what they told him.... He was at work, busy...

Who knows maybe the staff at Texron Motor rebuilders needs a refresher course as well.:twak:

My guess is whoever called him with the update has no idea what the difference is between muffler bearings and blinker fluid. And today's public/customer is just as clueless, it matters not what they tell the customers...

My guess is that the CPS is what they are replacing. Nothing to get all CRANKED up about LOL
 
Painted the rear bumper. The first bumper support bracket and all the u nuts are still getting electrolysis done to remove the rust. Found out I ordered the wrong wheel bearings and seals, so I got new ones today, along with gear oil, diff cover gasket, and new grade 8 yellow chromate fasteners for the diff cover and hard brake line axle bracket.

Hopefully tomorrow I can get back to putting parts back on. Unfortunately I'll still be waiting on the rust to be stripped from other bumper bracket.
 
I hate rust.

I have a lot planned to do this year on my rigs.

Leaf spring replacement. One front bolt left to remove, Also rear shocks..

Rust and paint work...... on 3 rigs

Engine work, may be on the Saturn (removing carbon from the head ports)

Finish the dash wiring / cleanup and debugging work on the 85 Diesel 4 banger XJ. Replace the brake MC, again.

Coolant hoses and bottle on one rig

Flush a heater core on one rig.

And drive the beasts!!!

Got to work some in my shop with the drill press last week with out hurting myself :clap: (R-Arthrtis)

Clean the mess up in my shop Harvey left me as a going away gift. :mad:

Got to visit and eat in Galveston on Christmas Eve!!!

leaftye, what are you using for primer and paint and top coats? What works and what does not?
 
leaftye, what are you using for primer and paint and top coats? What works and what does not?

When I paint, I use rust preventive paint like Rustoleum, Krylon and Ace Hardware's store brand. I'm not too terribly picky because either those parts already had paint, didn't have any paint before, or will get replaced soon enough. That bumper, for example, will be replaced with a tire carrier bumper when I install bigger tires.

For some parts, I'm electroplating a zinc coating. Zinc coatings are tough to paint, and I don't want to deal with finding the right type of paint that'll stick to zinc, so I leave it uncoated. I do have a yellow chromate kit, so I may use that too. I believe it's supposed to slow rusting up to 200x.

I'll take better care if I do body panels.

You didn't ask, but I'm using electrolysis to remove rust.
 
Sometimes I feel like I'm being crazy about rust. The bumper hardware is done, but I'm not installing it until I'm done with the drums. I took one side apart, and man did I want to strip the rust from the backing plate. For now I settled on blowing most of the flakes off and painting with high heat rust resistant paint. There's two pieces that get reused with rebuilding the drums, and those are getting the rust stripped right now. I went back to using Evapo Rust, mostly because electrolysis can be a pain when there's a pocket not facing an anode. The differential cover is getting rust removed right now too.

The rear axle hardlines have been disconnected. Tomorrow I see if I can build my own hard lines. I can't fail since I broke the drivers side line.
 
Rust is not your friend especially when trying to replace a leaf spring and the 2 bolts give you windows blue screen of death FU message, LOL.

I have one inner sleeve left to pry before using the impact again on the last front bolt to see if the Jeep Gods will have mercy on me yet.

I am trying to decide what top coat/color/formula and clear top coat to use on my 87 Wagoneer XJ roof, that will hold up to the nasty UV-sunlight summers down here (and other shit in the air).
 
One of those bushings gave me a real hard time. After that, I'd back the screw out a little, then spray as much penetrant as possible, along with rounds of atf/acetone. That took a long time, but nearly eliminated prying.

Today I finally got the JCR nut strips installed, then reinstalled the rear bumper, no-lift shackle boxes, leaf springs, trailer hitch and partially painted exhaust heat shield. Finished zinc coating the bumper brackets, and also the two reused parts of a drum brake rebuild. I also patched the filler tube I nicked when cutting out the shackle box.

A nice side benefit of the nut strips is that I can finally clamp down on the heat shield, which eliminates a rattle that's been bugging me for years. The studs holding that exhaust hanger were impossibly seized, and I ended up having to cut it out.

I should have addressed some rust issues on the body behind the rear bumper and behind the rear passenger wheel well, but I wanted to got on with it. I'm going to install a different bumper at some point, so I'll address it then. The rust wins that battle for now.

The diff cover is still getting rust stripped. I hooked up a wifi plug so I can occasionally remotely turn on a submersible heater to help the Evapo Rust work better. I should get an aquarium heater, but I already had the wifi plug, so that'll have to do for now.
 
Picked up another set of JK Rubicon wheels and tires. Really hated driving the jeep on 35’s.

Well my son is now getting ready to dump the 2006 Jeep Liberty that had all the recent engine problems, and is asking what to shop for. He likes jeeps, but he wants a reliable trust worthy easy to work on rig. He asked about Toyota Tacoma or Tundras, Nissan Altima, and a 99 Wrangler Sahara 2 door ($13,000??? OUCH!!!! I'm in the wrong business)

SUV wise, beach worthy, light duty off road, mostly DD road worthy for long cross country trips, SUV like what are good rigs and good years he should look for, and what should he avoid like the plague???

He wants something tough and long lived, easy to fix like our Cherokees, with decent MPGs (25-30 would be nice, but 20 might even be OK if everything else is there)

If anyone spots a local jeep 87-99 XJ, that does not need work on it, ready for DD service, maybe low miles with working AC let me know.
 
Well after spending 4 months, including the Harvey flood delays, LOL, we finally got the rear leaf spring 100% off the spare 87, then the rear bolt, it was a true die hard, had to cut it 100% in 4 places, then the outer steel bushing part, then rubber, and now after 3 weeks of using a torch, a BFH and chisel, and a massive electric industrial nut buster impact wrench, and finally a new air hammer chisel I bought this week, we finally got the inner steel sleeve on the front bolt loose enough to spin, LOL.

Now just need that massive industrial electric Impact back on loan (mt new air powered 600 ft-lbs tool just gets laughed at still).

But repeated heat on the nut, and water soaks to chill it, and then pen lube, and then the impact should finally get it loose now. May need to hit the sleeve one more time with the Dremel tool/diamond mini wheel to cut the sleeve open closer the rear nut to better access for heating and pen-lubing, as we were not able to open up and remove the sleeve, just able to detach/un-glue it from the die hard bolt.

Long story short, I see daylight on this endless one afternoon repair nightmare LOL.
 
Started making a list of things needed to get it back on the trails.
make bumper tie ins for front - apparently "weld that shit to the frame rail" doesn't mean what I thought it
Get exhaust massaged back into place and up out of the way
New tcase linkage from Azzy. Installed just need to adjust

Long term stuff:
Tube rockers
Build tire carrier
Seats and harnesses - harnesses ordered
Beadlock my 33s

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Almost got the *#^%@*&@!%$ Leaf spring back in. :)
 
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