1989 Cherokee 2dr restoration
 

Hello all. I am brand new to CF. I am making a thread for my Jeep restoration. (I say restoration loosely) I am kind of in the middle of the project, so I'll do my best to bring everybody up to speed.

I bought the Jeep about 2 months ago. 2dr Cherokee Laredo with the renix 4.0 and 5 speed manual. It is my first car and I'm definitely working on a budget. The interior was pretty decent and it ran mint. 150,000 miles. I got a great deal on it but it's pretty rusty. So far I have pulled out the interior, and removed the exterior trim to see the extent of the rust.
I will post pictures. Thank you for reading.

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Great XJ to start a build !! Nice score... Looking forward to your progress...:thumbup1:

I have started tearing into the rust... Passenger rear quarter was rusted out. I unfortunately didn't get any pictures beforehand. I just bought a welder and I've never done bodywork, so if problems jump out at you feel free to give me advice. I am looking to learn. I know the welds are rough... I sprayed it all with rust converter, and am going to seam seal.

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I have started on the passenger floors. Pretty rusty, but really not that bad... Not many holes, but I'm still going to replace all the pans. You can see where someone replaced the front pan in the past and seam sealed with bondo.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...e58d588eeb.jpg

New C2C pan beside the old rear passenger pan.
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Frame looks great underneath. I cleaned it up and sprayed with rust converter.



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Once I'm done fixing the rust issues I am planning to give it a 3ish inch lift. I don't want to go too crazy with modifications, because other than the rust it really is in great condition.

It is also a rare model I believe. I've never seen this set up before. 4.0 paired to AX-15. Laredo trim with almost all the options. Two door. Also came with the OEM swing away tire carrier that is bumper mounted.
If anyone has suggestions for which lift to get, fire away. Or parts for sale. I am not going to get a rough country because of all the bad things said about them. I'm considering BDS. I would like to get an old man emu kit but I'm pretty sure they're out of my budget.

Looking good! If you want any ideas on the rear quarters you can check out my build where I did pretty much the same thing... also don't skimp on the seam sealer! Important to keep the stuff that caused the rust in the first place OUT!

Do you have a link to your thread? I would definitely check it out. What brand of seam sealer did you use? Thanks for the help!

I have started on the other quarter. Again I forgot to take pictures before I started cutting, so I apologize. It wasn't as bad as the other side, but rust was hiding under the factory seam sealer.
Fortunately the rust didn't move up the metal around the filler neck.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...20fd18e25c.jpg
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https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f46/my...-build-272139/ That's the link to my build. I used Berkland seam sealer... seems to be holding up well!

Also you've mentioned lift suggestions and how you're considering BDS... I've heard lots of good things about Zone Offroad who is pretty much BDS's sister company. They're a little bit more budget friendly but make some great stuff I've heard. I have their shocks and rear 1" shackles on my XJ and love both of them so far.

Thanks. I have actually been reading your thread already. You and I are in the same boat. I just purchased my first welder as well. I have found that the hardest part of this rust work seems to be mental. It seems like an impossible task to rid my Jeep of rust and it's hard not to get discouraged.

Yep I get that... a lot of times It's hard to start cause you just don't know where to. I would recommend chassis saver for the spots that aren't rotted though. There's no saving rot... if it's just surface rust or you can paint over it with that stuff or POR-15. Both those paints truly stop it from getting worse by curing with the moisture in the rust and sealing it from the air. For places that it just wasn't worth cutting out all the metal I just put a thick coat of that over. That's what I did with the undercarriage.

Also started on the driver side floor pans. The driver side is definitely worse than the passenger side.
The rust continues all the way up the firewall to where the fuse box is. I don’t want to pull that stuff out so I’m not gonna cut it out that high. It’s just surface to rust up there so I can convert it and leave it.

Unfortunately, the rust ate up some of the trans tunnel as well, so I will have to do a good bit of cutting, fabricating, and welding before I can put in the floor pans.


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You can see the hack repair I will be cutting out. Someone replaced the front pan, fastened with booger welds and sheet metal screws, and seam sealed with Bondo.

I removed the fuel tank today. I wanted to really be able to get at any rust in the rear. It came out surprisingly easy. Since I have a Laredo, it came stock with the gas tank skid plate. The bolts came out without breaking. The skid plate was prettty rusty on the inside, but it looks fine on the outside so I think I'm going to keep it.

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The tank was simple to drop thanks to my jeep being an '89. I was pleasantly surprised by how clean the underside of the cargo area was. Almost perfect. Just some rust converter in a few places, and fluid film, and it should be all set.


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Tank looks pretty good. I think the skid plate saved it from rusting out.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...84c093f3b5.jpg

The only serious rust is the hole in the frame for the gas fill tube. I need to cut this out and replace it. Fortunately the frame around is just fine.


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...84a2c80120.jpg

I have finished up the driver side quarter panel. I am pretty happy with how it turned out, considering I have never done this before. I also fixed the few small spots on the cargo floor and painted them. The back is ready for bedliner.
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I have realized that I am going to need and air compressor so I can run pneumatic tools. I looked on marketplace and found this beast for $220. Perfect condition. It looks like it's been stored all it's life.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...892f1a9f5b.jpg

I know, the HP rating in nonsense, but the scfm isn't. It should be plenty for my needs.

I mostly bought it because I wanted a die grinder to get in all the places my full size angle grinder can't.
Picked up this IR for $70 and I love it. It's not super powerful, but there is nowhere under the vehicle it can't reach. It's already my favorite tool ever.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...4ab65ae20d.jpg