Cheap 98 daily driver build

[CowboyTex18]

Hey everyone this is my first post in the forum. I have been looking for a local XJ that met my requirements and price range over the last year. I was pretty picky and work weird hours hence why it took so long to find one. I finally stumbled upon one that I thought was a good deal and went and looked at it. It has its issues but for the price I thought it was worth it. I ended up buying a black 98 sport with 138k miles. It was filthy inside and out and definitely needs TLC. I got it for $850 and drove it home.

The first things I have to address is the notorious water leak. When I looked at it there was water standing in the passenger floor board. I peeled the carpet back after getting water out prior to buying it and it didnt look rusted through. It has a donut due to a tire blowing out so it needs a tire. The exhaust was cut off just behind the transfer case bracket. And I have to pull all of the interior and carpet out and super clean EVERYTHING cause it is nasty and smells like mildew. I plan on leaving the carpet ok it and bedlining the floors after repairing whatever rust damage I find. I will also service all fluids and do a full tune up on it.

My plans for the jeep are a 3" lift with 31" tires with bumpers, roof rack, etc. This is my first jeep and am looking forward to having something to tinker with again. This will be a slow build due to not having a time constraint and not having lots of funds to dump into it. This forum has already been super helpful in letting me k ow what to expect and look out for when I was buying this jeep and I look forward to talking with yall. Here it is the day I brought her home and cleaned her up a little.

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[Ralph77]

$850 and 138K? I am thinking you did really well.

With my '00 the leak was coming from the windshield. Dripping out just to the left of the passenger side visor. A remove and replace of the windshield took care of that. Got lucky though. Did not know what we were going to find when my glass guy did it.
Get a buddy and a water hose.

You might want to Google around about not putting the carpet back in. I read how guys can say it can be loud, heat off the tranny tunnel a little excessive, etc.

 

[devildog0]

If you're going to daily drive it put the carpet back in. You'll thank yourself later when your ears aren't ringing and your shoes aren't melting to the floorboard.

If you want to combat future rust problems, clean up the floors and hit any questionable areas with a wire brush, then put down a good coat of paint before the carpet goes back in. Or POR15 if you want to go nuclear option on it.

 

[4x4JeePmaNthINg]

Welcome and congratulations on your new jeep! Did they keep the downstream 02 sensor on or was it cut off with the rest?

 

[lazyxj]

Pull the seats and console, remove the one piece carpet and haul it to a DIY car wash or use a pressure cleaner and a lot degreaser on it.
They usually clean up well and will smell a lot better.
Unless you are building an off road only toy, put the carpet back in for all the reasons already mentioned.

 

[IslanderOffRoad]

Welcome!

I had a water leak issue on my 98 as well. It was a clogged drain line on the a/c causing the carpet to get wet.

I see you're in Texas, come say hi in the Red River Chapter forum as well.

 

[CowboyTex18]

Thanks for the responses guys I really appreciate it! I may try it without carpet first for a little bit and will probably just end up buying new front carpet online due to really not wanting to mess with the nasty thing. Found some online at a pretty decent price and I will only do the front and leave the back bedlined.

I took a picture of where the exhaust was cut off. Not sure where the 02 sensor is supposed to be, but I didnt see one so it's probably gone. Not sure why people feel the need to cut the pipe instead of just disconnecting it at the flange. Makes my life much harder.

Got a chance to pull everything out of the inside and pulled the carpet. Sanded on the major rust spots with a wire brush some and hole started to appear in the front driver's floor pan and a few in the passenger. Everywhere else looks fine. Went ahead and ordered a driver's floor pan and am trying to decide whether to patch the passenger or just get one for it too. Got some pics of it as well.

Yah I had already ordered chasis saver. I have used it in the past and liked it more than por-15. Also got the bedliner as well.

As for the leak, it is going to have to wait until I get the floors situation finished first. I will get my wife to use the water hose to target the common problem areas to attempt to figure out where it is coming from when I get to that.

Yah I am located right outside of Tyler, TX in East Texas. Will definitely be looking into meeting up with some local guys once she I'd up and going good. Thanks again!

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[smokeyyank]

Welcome!

I'd suggest lizard skin vs the bedliner route.

https://www.lizardskin.com/

It will give you some sound deadening and also helps with the heat. Most everyone that takes out carpet and drives more than on a trail regrets it. Check out DutchVdub on here. He put the lizard skin in his rig.

 

[smccollamjr]

Leave the rust holes for the water to drain out.

 

[devildog0]

Those passenger side flooboard hole should br able to be epoxied or siliconed no problem

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[Heavyopp]

I wouldn’t put a new floor pan in with that little of damage

I’m thinking of using fiberglass and using the chassis saver as the resin

There is a post somewhere here where that was done with por15 — seemed to work great

 

[CowboyTex18]

I wouldn’t put a new floor pan in with that little of damage

I’m thinking of using fiberglass and using the chassis saver as the resin

There is a post somewhere here where that was done with por15 — seemed to work great

There is more than this picture shows. There are pin holes com ok ng through on both sides along with the big hole and I am not done hitting it with the wire wheel yet. I figured it would be just as easy to just throw in a new floor pan and not have to worry about ok it its integrity.

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[CowboyTex18]

There is more damage than what can be seen in this picture. There are pin holes on both sides and I havent finished sanding it with the wire wheel yet. I figured it would be worth it to just throw a new pan in there and not have to worry about it.

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[denverd1]

Hey Cowboy! I'm in Tyler as well, welcome. Definitely check out the Red River chapter like John (Islander) mentioned!
Also shoot me a msg if you need another set of hands on the Jeep.

I think you made a great buy on it. Once you get a few things sorted out, great rig to build. Jealous of those low miles!



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[CowboyTex18]

Hey Cowboy! I'm in Tyler as well, welcome. Definitely check out the Red River chapter like John (Islander) mentioned!
Also shoot me a msg if you need another set of hands on the Jeep.

I think you made a great buy on it. Once you get a few things sorted out, great rig to build. Jealous of those low miles!



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Awesome man good to know! I may hit you up later on if I have any questions!

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[denverd1]

Awesome man good to know! I may hit you up later on if I have any questions!

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Do it. We have a chapter ride coming in Gilmer in March 22-24.

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?ur...hare_tid=1152704&share_fid=13728&share_type=t


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[CowboyTex18]

So it’s been a long time since I posted on this thread. I bought the Jeep and got all of the interior out to evaluate the rust damage and got a game plan for how I was going to fix it. Then life happened and it got put on the back burner. I just stared working on it again a couple of days ago and got one floor cut out. Got to looking at the passenger floor pan closer and found rust holes under the seat bracket along with the other holes and decided to go ahead and replace it as well. Ordered the pan and got the bracket out and need to cut the pan out probably tomorrow. Here are some pictures of where I’m at now.

How much overlap between the old pan and the new one should I leave? I am going to use panel adhesive and rivets for convenience and was thinking around 2”? I’m glad to finally be working on it again and am ready to have the floors fixed lol. Saving the seat brackets was super annoying. Thanks in advance!

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[CowboyTex18]

Well I finally got both floor pans in, got the chassis saver down, and got the bedliner on. It was a pain and I will have black specked hands and arms for a while but super happy with the results. I decided to put the large floor pan plugs back in from the bottom and seam seal them along with the under side of the pans. They look weird if put in from the top. I am waiting for the paint on the plugs to dry and will put them in tomorrow. I will also be putting all the trim back in tomorrow as well. Got them all cleaned up today so the inside of the Jeep should be clean tomorrow. Does anyone know what the small 2 pin plug under the console goes to? It has been to long since I pulled it apart to remember if it was plugged into something or not. Thanks!

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[Ralph77]

Driver's side seat belt buzzer maybe?

 

[CowboyTex18]

Yup that’s it I completely forgot about that! Thanks!


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