91 Jeep Cherokee Work In Progress
 

my buddy gave me this 91 cherokee. he said if i came and got it i could have it. it has been sitting in the same spot for six years. it needs a new transfer case and it smells horrible on the inside. i should have the new transfer case in a few weeks but for now i gota get rid of that smell and see what i can do to it. i just got the carpet and seats taken out today. im thinkin of doing the bedliner on the inside. any suggestions?

oh yeah definitely going to hit those rust spots to prevent it from spreading anymore. i think im gona take the headliner out and start that project since the mice decided to make a home inside of it over the past years. im gona have to take the motor apart also and make sure no mice got down in there since the filter for the cold air intake was removed. im sure that was a nice warm home for somebody. :oops: The transfer case will be my biggest job on it since i have never done anything like that before. i might need some help from you guys. i am after all a "newbie" to all of this.

ok...ive done a little more work today. grinded down some of the rust to find out that the rust goes all the way through the floor :furious: does anyone know the best way to fix this issue? ive included a picture of the holes and the underneath side of it. also is a pic of my tranny just hangin there where my transfer case should be. also is a pic of my engine and the cold air intake where im afraid there might be some mice. please let me know the best way to fix this rust. my best idea so far was to cut a piece of sheet metal to fit and tack weld it down in place. if i do that should i prime the sheet metal first so that it doesnt just rust also?

I just looked into this POR15...you think that i could use this and then put the bedliner over it? im still not sure what to do about actually filling in the holes. but i think i want to paint the entire floor with this POR15 just to be on the safe side. now to fill the holes...:sweatdrop:

Anyone know the best way?

In your case the best way to fix this floor is to cut out the rusty area and weld in a new patch. if your not into welding grind down both sides of the floor and use some resin and fiberglass.You can use bedliner over top of the POR during your prep work. Hope this helps..

that does help thank you... what about just welding a piece undernieth the holes and then filling in the top will a filler or something?

If you don't remove the rusted out part of the floor it will continue to eat away your jeep.If you grind away the rust and either paint or use some resin and fiberglass it will last longer.If you weld under with out removing or grinding away the rust its only a manner of time before it gets worst.Even a simple fix can last a couple of years depending on how much you drive in and out of deep water or the weather you have in your town(snow salt rain)..I don't recommend and filler like bondo in the floor..

I am going to remove all of the rust for sure. i was talking about grinding out all of the rust and then welding the sheet metal under it and filling it in with fiberglass. ive never done any fiberglass before

[QUOTE=richamc01;706299]I am going to remove all of the rust for sure. i was talking about grinding out all of the rust and then welding the sheet metal under it and filling it in with fiberglass. ive never done any fiberglass before[/QUOTE

That will work, Fiberglass is just as easy as bondo but a little more messy(sticky goo)wear latex gloves.

could i just fill it on top with bondo? i didnt think bondo on my floor would be a good idea. i guess if i cut out all the rust and put bondo down it would be ok right?

I pacthed rust in my 99 XJ, we ran out of wire for the welder and i had to drive it home that night. First we cut out all the rust and a little beyond it just to be sure it would stop. Then i primed it and we pop rivited a patch over the hole. Iwasn't a real big fan of this but then we caulked around it ro fill in the gaps and finally used por15 over the whole thing. It's been 2 years since that with alot of use and abuse and it's still holding strong with no rust. I was very pleased with the results however i plan to rip that all out eventually and weld new floor pans in. My point is that no matter how rigged of a patch job you do, it will last a fairly long time as long as you put the time into applying any and every overkill method into preventing the rust from reoccuring. I love jeeps aside from an Audi A4 (we all make mistakes) that i owned once i've only ever owned jeeps. They're bouned to rust out eventually for the most part. The bedliner sounds like a really good idea, i've seen a few CJ5's and 7's completely covered in rhinoliner and they look really good. Not to mention you don't really have to care about messing up your paint with trail rash (i consider trail rash battle scars though). Anyway i meant to say something about your transfer case issue. Putting a transfer case on sucks, i've done it a few times. Basically just have to lay under the jeep and manhandle the dang thing into place. Sometimes you can do it with a floor jack, transmission jack would probably be easier. The wors part is getting the splines to match up thats the only real hassle. Just make sure you got the nuts ready to thread on once you fanally get the two mated. Saw that picture of your trans just kinda hanging there, unless you plan on replacing the motor mounts i'd recommend supporting it with a jack stand or something cause having it hanging like that is no good for your mounts. Anyway best of luck with this project, hopefully you don't have a family of mice living in that 4.0. Might want to check the valve cover gasket, water pump, and thermostat while your working on it. Those are all good things to replace just for safety sake so you don't burn your rig up after it's been sitting for as long as it hac been. Happy wheelin.

dude love the thing of gettn a free jeep love the tire carrier

i finally was able to order my transfer case today :yes: i cant wait for it to get here. should be here wednesday or thursday, so ill be able to install it that weekend. ill post pics as i go. as for my tranny just hangin there like that, its been sitting like that for 6 years and i figured if damage was going to be done, then its already been done. i didnt figure another week would hurt it anymore than it already is. how should i go about checking my motor mounts? just make sure they are still intact? its really gona suck if i have to pull the motor out and fix those. and as for fixing the rust...im still undecided on what im going to do. no matter what i do im going to cover the entire floor with the POR15 and then hurculine the whole floor after they are fixed. but im still not sure if im going to cut out all of the rust and weld in new pieces or cut out the rust and weld a big piece under all of it and fill in the top or i hadnt thought about pop riveting some sheet metal down. that might be the easiest solution. how does it look with the caulk around it? can you post some pics please?