beater!
- Thread starter ehall
- Start date
- Location
- Southern Maryland
Only recent mod is that I swapped in a 136 amp ZJ alternator. I also looked at the NSS and decided to pass on cleaning it for now.
I've spent the past week working on getting the S-10 seat brackets engineered. They may be too wide to go down past the hump far enough. I'm going to the welding shop tomorrow and see if I can knock that out.
I'm trying to find a place to paint the jeep. Unfortunately I will have to do it in the yard, since the garage space is not available. I'm looking at buying a 12x20 portable garage like this one, for use as a paint booth:
It'll cost $400 give or take $100 and will take a couple of weeks to deliver by truck. I have not bought paint yet, since I don't know if I'll have a place to do it.
I've spent the past week working on getting the S-10 seat brackets engineered. They may be too wide to go down past the hump far enough. I'm going to the welding shop tomorrow and see if I can knock that out.
I'm trying to find a place to paint the jeep. Unfortunately I will have to do it in the yard, since the garage space is not available. I'm looking at buying a 12x20 portable garage like this one, for use as a paint booth:
It'll cost $400 give or take $100 and will take a couple of weeks to deliver by truck. I have not bought paint yet, since I don't know if I'll have a place to do it.
5.2poweredxj
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Abbotsford, Wi
what wrong with electric blue? Mine jeep came from the factory with the midnight blue and someone before me painted it electric blue. It also had lots of chrome on it when I bought it.
- Location
- Southern Maryland
I got the seat brackets mostly finished and the seats are installed.
Here is the driver's side seat
Here are a couple of shots of the passenger side controls--it is as far back and as far over as it can go (limited by B-pillar), and it clears the map pocket okay.
I have to do some a little more work then will post a write-up.
Here is the driver's side seat
Here are a couple of shots of the passenger side controls--it is as far back and as far over as it can go (limited by B-pillar), and it clears the map pocket okay.
I have to do some a little more work then will post a write-up.
Jimbo_1321
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Santa Cruz
have you looked at costco for one of those car ports?
they're pretty cheap there and then you could just pick it up
they're pretty cheap there and then you could just pick it up
- Location
- Southern Maryland
I did some more cleanup work, replaced the serp belt with a new one, and replaced the Accel plugs from their tune-up kit with Champion Truck Plugs (no noticeable difference; still has the same slight skip it's always had). Ordered some more replacement parts too.
I am trying to find another garage where I can swap the rear floor pan and paint the body but not having any luck.
I am trying to find another garage where I can swap the rear floor pan and paint the body but not having any luck.
- Location
- Southern Maryland
I decided that the floorpan was beyond my abilities so I'm having a friend with a body shop do the work for me. Here are some pics from this morning.
We did not chop out the whole floorpan but instead just cut out the deck area with the rust. This way we don't have to mess with the seat brackets and all that crap.
Unfortunately there is another rust hole by the rear left door which he forgot about
Here is the replacement floorpan--it looks and feels like factory (because it is factory) with all the holes in the right places. You can see a snip on the right side where the decking is being cut to overlay the cutout. We also cut off the left dogleg to use as a patch for the forgotten spot.
Some good news too--I pulled the shock bolts while the floorpan off just in case we had to weld new nuts on and they all four came out real smooth.
We did not chop out the whole floorpan but instead just cut out the deck area with the rust. This way we don't have to mess with the seat brackets and all that crap.
Unfortunately there is another rust hole by the rear left door which he forgot about
Here is the replacement floorpan--it looks and feels like factory (because it is factory) with all the holes in the right places. You can see a snip on the right side where the decking is being cut to overlay the cutout. We also cut off the left dogleg to use as a patch for the forgotten spot.
Some good news too--I pulled the shock bolts while the floorpan off just in case we had to weld new nuts on and they all four came out real smooth.
- Location
- Southern Maryland
Here's a pic of the decking installed... lots of spot welds and edge folding and seam sealer, plus they cleaned up some of the spot welds around the wheel well from the rear-end collision. They are using the "hump" part of the replacement floorpan to repair the gas fill shield.
This is a top-down view of the left rear door area showing the dog-leg patch in mid-install, and another rust hole that was found by the front-rear seam. You can also see where the rear deck was joined to the existing floorpan in the upper right corner of the picture.
A shot of the mandatory 3M undercoating
I should have it back tomorrow sometime
This is a top-down view of the left rear door area showing the dog-leg patch in mid-install, and another rust hole that was found by the front-rear seam. You can also see where the rear deck was joined to the existing floorpan in the upper right corner of the picture.
A shot of the mandatory 3M undercoating
I should have it back tomorrow sometime
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- Location
- Southern Maryland
I got the Jeep back on Thurs. Today I started tackling the front floorpan, which had some pretty heavy surface rust, and also had some problems that I wanted to address.
First I cleaned it really good with vacuum cleaner and mineral spirits, then used a basic wire brush on the drill to knock the paint down. Then I used one of those 3M Rust and Paint Stripper pads to get as much of the rust off as I could, then used some Klean-Strip Rust Converter to neutralize what was left. Here is what the front floorpan looked like after that.
Here's a close-up of the passenger's side front. All the black areas are where the Rust Converter has changed rust to primer.
After the rust converter dried, I cut some patches from leftover metal and glued them over some unused drain holes and some areas that had developed pinhole rust. Then I covered the whole floorpan with Rustoleum Automotive Primer.
We should get three consecutive days of nice weather on Wednesday so I will do the Herculiner then.
First I cleaned it really good with vacuum cleaner and mineral spirits, then used a basic wire brush on the drill to knock the paint down. Then I used one of those 3M Rust and Paint Stripper pads to get as much of the rust off as I could, then used some Klean-Strip Rust Converter to neutralize what was left. Here is what the front floorpan looked like after that.
Here's a close-up of the passenger's side front. All the black areas are where the Rust Converter has changed rust to primer.
After the rust converter dried, I cut some patches from leftover metal and glued them over some unused drain holes and some areas that had developed pinhole rust. Then I covered the whole floorpan with Rustoleum Automotive Primer.
We should get three consecutive days of nice weather on Wednesday so I will do the Herculiner then.
- Location
- Southern Maryland
Last rain was yesterday morning so I did my masking and pegging yesterday afternoon.
I masked off the shifters and used toothpicks to peg the screw holes.
Did a final vacuum and a wipe-down with Xylene this morning. Man that Xylene stuff is strong... it really knocked the primer down.
Couple of hours later and it was pretty much done.
Here's the driver's floorpan and shifter area
When I did the floorpan work, I noticed that the two deck fill plates behind the back seat were rotted out pretty bad, so I picked up some replacements from the junkyard yesterday. I used the very last bit of Herculiner to give the top of those two good coats (will paint the bottoms).
Here it is all done with the tape and toothpicks removed. There was a wee bit of overspill under the tape in a couple of areas but not bad, and it should clean up with Xylene and a paint scraper pretty well.
Here is the shifter area, it mostly survived too.
If the nice weather holds up and I can keep the windows down, the Jeep should be driveable in about four days.
Next month I will get some of that vinyl/rubber floor covering and then start reinstalling the trim pieces. I have to do some additional electrical work (run a third brake light and some work lights to the hatch, etc), and I also plan to get the door panels covered in a charcoal vinyl, so the interior won't be fully finished for a while yet.
ps--I did not get any on my hootus, but I did get some on my cheek and nose. I washed my hands with Xylene to get the excess off there, an used a little bit on my nose but the fumes started burning my eye pretty bad so I abandoned that. I guess I will have a couple of beauty marks for a while.
I masked off the shifters and used toothpicks to peg the screw holes.
Did a final vacuum and a wipe-down with Xylene this morning. Man that Xylene stuff is strong... it really knocked the primer down.
Couple of hours later and it was pretty much done.
Here's the driver's floorpan and shifter area
When I did the floorpan work, I noticed that the two deck fill plates behind the back seat were rotted out pretty bad, so I picked up some replacements from the junkyard yesterday. I used the very last bit of Herculiner to give the top of those two good coats (will paint the bottoms).
Here it is all done with the tape and toothpicks removed. There was a wee bit of overspill under the tape in a couple of areas but not bad, and it should clean up with Xylene and a paint scraper pretty well.
Here is the shifter area, it mostly survived too.
If the nice weather holds up and I can keep the windows down, the Jeep should be driveable in about four days.
Next month I will get some of that vinyl/rubber floor covering and then start reinstalling the trim pieces. I have to do some additional electrical work (run a third brake light and some work lights to the hatch, etc), and I also plan to get the door panels covered in a charcoal vinyl, so the interior won't be fully finished for a while yet.
ps--I did not get any on my hootus, but I did get some on my cheek and nose. I washed my hands with Xylene to get the excess off there, an used a little bit on my nose but the fumes started burning my eye pretty bad so I abandoned that. I guess I will have a couple of beauty marks for a while.
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- Location
- Southern Maryland
Since it's still drying and airing out I decided to do some more work. Most important was making sure that hardware went back where it should, so I put the major interior pieces back in (seats, spare tire, etc,. but no trim).
A little while ago I bought a charcoal leather rear seat out of an older Limited from fellow
member 90PioSport99 (great deal at $40), and I got that installed without much hassle (only had to drill out a frozen nut and replace a latch). They are almost exactly the same color as the front S-10 seats and look just natural. They have carpet on the back and I want to get that replaced with heavy vinyl, then weld some nuts to the frame, and bolt a piece of Herculined sheet metal to the back of it so that it is the same as the deck, but that will all have to wait a bit.
I was at the local truck junkyard recently looking for third brake lights that might work on the XJ, and found some massive steel tie-downs in a Chevy Tahoe (I think), which I also installed today. These are nothing at all like the stock tie-downs and almost ridiculous in their heft. Right now they are screwed into the floorpan but I will add some nuts on the bottom soon.
Close-up view of a tie-down--that's a Torx T55 bolt, the same as the seat belts, btw
I had planned on replacing the old gas tank when I did the floorpan work, but since I had somebody else do that work I didn't do it until today. Here is the old tank, with major rust.
Here is the new tank, after I masked it off and hit it with 3M underbody spray
I also bought new straps because the old ones had rusted through in a couple of spots, and coated those with 3M underbody spray as well
I also bought a new pump and sender unit, and installed that today as well. The original was still working fine, but I figured it was close to death after 335k miles, and it would be easy to replace while the tank was out. It's an Airtex unit, so I am keeping the original parts around in case this one craps out.
Lastly, I also replaced the fuel filter with a new Wix unit, and also ordered a replacement filter bracket from Team Cherokee since the old one was held up with a zip-tie.
After all that, of course, the starter decided to take a shit and now the Jeep is sitting dead in my dad's driveway until I get another payday. But I feel good about the work I got done.
A little while ago I bought a charcoal leather rear seat out of an older Limited from fellow
member 90PioSport99 (great deal at $40), and I got that installed without much hassle (only had to drill out a frozen nut and replace a latch). They are almost exactly the same color as the front S-10 seats and look just natural. They have carpet on the back and I want to get that replaced with heavy vinyl, then weld some nuts to the frame, and bolt a piece of Herculined sheet metal to the back of it so that it is the same as the deck, but that will all have to wait a bit.
I was at the local truck junkyard recently looking for third brake lights that might work on the XJ, and found some massive steel tie-downs in a Chevy Tahoe (I think), which I also installed today. These are nothing at all like the stock tie-downs and almost ridiculous in their heft. Right now they are screwed into the floorpan but I will add some nuts on the bottom soon.
Close-up view of a tie-down--that's a Torx T55 bolt, the same as the seat belts, btw
I had planned on replacing the old gas tank when I did the floorpan work, but since I had somebody else do that work I didn't do it until today. Here is the old tank, with major rust.
Here is the new tank, after I masked it off and hit it with 3M underbody spray
I also bought new straps because the old ones had rusted through in a couple of spots, and coated those with 3M underbody spray as well
I also bought a new pump and sender unit, and installed that today as well. The original was still working fine, but I figured it was close to death after 335k miles, and it would be easy to replace while the tank was out. It's an Airtex unit, so I am keeping the original parts around in case this one craps out.
Lastly, I also replaced the fuel filter with a new Wix unit, and also ordered a replacement filter bracket from Team Cherokee since the old one was held up with a zip-tie.
After all that, of course, the starter decided to take a shit and now the Jeep is sitting dead in my dad's driveway until I get another payday. But I feel good about the work I got done.
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XbajajeepX
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- So. Lake Tahoe
wow great job!
- Location
- Southern Maryland
Lots of stuff done lately.
In order to be trail worthy, I added some modular front recovery stuff with Hi-Country tow-hook brackets and some class-III receiver stock (write-up here), which will let me interchange shackles, skid-plates, tow-bars, etc.
I also installed a Hidden Hitch in the rear. The beater had a factory tow package but the OEM hitch was rusted and busted. I was able to reuse the nut strips, but that was all.
For wiring I used a Hopkins 7-4 multi adapter, and an angled attachmeent box from etrailer. Since the Jeep already had the factory tow package, it had the seven wire harness already, so I was able to wire it up straight.
I found a good Kidde fire extinguisher at Wally World, and a Kidde VB-5 mounting bracket online, and put them under the rear bench on the driver's side:
Other work includes new starter solenoid, new NSS, and new O2 sensor.
I have bought the paint and have found a place where I can spray it, and just have to do some more body prep work.
In order to be trail worthy, I added some modular front recovery stuff with Hi-Country tow-hook brackets and some class-III receiver stock (write-up here), which will let me interchange shackles, skid-plates, tow-bars, etc.
I also installed a Hidden Hitch in the rear. The beater had a factory tow package but the OEM hitch was rusted and busted. I was able to reuse the nut strips, but that was all.
For wiring I used a Hopkins 7-4 multi adapter, and an angled attachmeent box from etrailer. Since the Jeep already had the factory tow package, it had the seven wire harness already, so I was able to wire it up straight.
I found a good Kidde fire extinguisher at Wally World, and a Kidde VB-5 mounting bracket online, and put them under the rear bench on the driver's side:
Other work includes new starter solenoid, new NSS, and new O2 sensor.
I have bought the paint and have found a place where I can spray it, and just have to do some more body prep work.
- Location
- Southern Maryland
The sender worked well but the pump was really noisy, and the Jeep also had a rougher idle than before. I was going to move the old pump back on, but everything on the Airtex unit was a little different (electrical connectors were screws instead of spades, filter sock was oval instead of round, etc), and the pump attachment was bent pretty bad. Overall the Airtex unit was basically junk, so I adjusted the original sender and reinstalled the whole assembly. FYI to anybody thinking about swapping--get the dealer parts instead.ehall said:
Oh I had to run the tank down to do all this, so I filled it back to the same level (just to where it splashed out). With a mix of in-town and highway driving (probably 60/40 or 70/30 split), I am at 15.9 MPG, which is not so great but not as bad as I feared.
- Location
- Middle Tennessee
You are right the Airtex unit is noisey. We pulled my tank to do the swap. After putting it all back together, the gas gauge doesn't read right. Maybe the dash, probably the pump. My sending unit housing had the soldered lines busted so the tank leaked and I had to replace it. Mine seems to run pretty good, netting 21 MPG. I really can't complain and the pump was cheap at $100.
- Location
- Southern Maryland
It's easy to get the float tripped up. Also the airtex sender isn't adjustable like the stock sender--if you want to tweak it you have to bend the arm, which isn't really a problem but it's not as precise.
The things I dislike about the airtex assembly:
--pump uses different connectors making replacement slower as I have to order special and await delivery
--sock filter boot has small ridges so the sock filter falls off real easy (I had to stick my arm in the hole and fish around for it every time I removed the assembly)
--the little cone foot fell off on it's own accord too
--fuel pressure was inconsistent producing uneven RPM at idle and load
--pump is loud
Overall the whole unit is just not up to par. It's not built the same as the OEM assembly, and the design changes have yielded lower quality instead of higher quality.
The things I dislike about the airtex assembly:
--pump uses different connectors making replacement slower as I have to order special and await delivery
--sock filter boot has small ridges so the sock filter falls off real easy (I had to stick my arm in the hole and fish around for it every time I removed the assembly)
--the little cone foot fell off on it's own accord too
--fuel pressure was inconsistent producing uneven RPM at idle and load
--pump is loud
Overall the whole unit is just not up to par. It's not built the same as the OEM assembly, and the design changes have yielded lower quality instead of higher quality.
OverlandZJ
NAXJA Member # 101
- Location
- Bristol,PA
Hadnt seen this thread before....nice resto you have going!
When you had the fuel tank out it would have been the perfect opportunity for Go-Jeep's mod adding 5gal. http://go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoFuelTank.htm
When you had the fuel tank out it would have been the perfect opportunity for Go-Jeep's mod adding 5gal. http://go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoFuelTank.htm
- Location
- Southern Maryland
I tried but couldn't get my forearms far enough through the hole to reach.OverlandXJ said:
The replacement tank has a short and high burp tube already and holds a full 20+ gallons without modification, so I didn't think the potential difference was worth getting all aggressive with it.