wheelerboy12

Well I wanted to wait till after I got the jeep to start the built thread, but I just could not wait any longer, I'm to exited and I wanted to share it with jeep people so I'm starting it today, and I get to go get the jeep on Thursday! literally so exited. im trading my current DD (!992 ford f150 4x4) plus $400 cash for it.

Also it should help me organize what I want to do with the jeep since right now I just have a napkin with a bunch of **** randomly wrote down on it in an unorganized jumble.

I guess next up I should explain the name, I do most of (I mean ALL) the driving in my group of friends due to the fact that my friend got his license suspended and his GF cant pass the drive test to save a life haha so I drive, no big deal, I love my friends and I love driving so I don't mind, but the joke gets tossed around that I'm a taxi driver, and I thought it would be a perfect for the build title so there ya go.

Here's a picture of her, this is what she will look like when I get her on Thursday minus the ski rack.



The first thing I'm going to do is paint the bumpers, flares, and cladding black most likely with bed liner. Then i wan to paint the chrome grill black, and put a wire mesh behind it and paint the mesh red. I'm also going to be buying some subs and an amp from my friend and those will get installed too and that will be it for this paycheck since 90% of the check will be going to getting the jeep + registration.

and since i worked 100 hours on my last check and that shot up a red flag (im 17, and this is technically a part time job lol) my hours got cut hardcore so my checks wont be much more then 250 each and mods will go slow, but next up will be the Rustys 2" bb lift, and then the rest will be split up and saved for wheels (black D-hole steelies from jegs) and tires (31x10.50 maxxis bighorns from my friend) and a Locker.

now for the list.

things that will happen:
2" bb lift
31x10.50 MT tires.
15'' black steel wheels
full skids
rock sliders
front winch bumper
8000lb winch
roof rack with lights
cargo area tool box/false floor
sick sound system (havent put a lot of thought into it yet, but it will be 90% Rockford Fosgate, and ran off of a 7" tablet)

Dream mods:
3" Long arm lift
33x12.50 Mickey Thompson Baja Claw TTC's on 15" Dick Cepek DC2 black rims.
Front and rear ARB air lockers
Exo cage

I'm sure there's **** I'm missing.

cleenrob

I love zjbuilds! Not enough of th em get the love they deserve! Lovin the red to

dnuccio

looks like a good start! us ZJ guys gotta stick together, we certainly dont get as much action on here as the XJ guys. check out my build thread if you want, link's in my sig. im almost 16, get my license in 25 days!!

wheelerboy12

yea theres no where near as many ZJ's as there should be, and nice! GL on your tests haha


Today is the day.... as son as my paycheck shos up at work im cashing it, getting my last minute bits of gear (going to salmon fish on the sandy river for the day since ill be up there) and head out....by 8pm tonight ill have my ZJ... SOOOO Excited!!!

wheelerboy12

Well i got the zj, and boom problems

Transmission slips worse then a drunke man on ice skates
Makes weird noises when turning left and only when you turn hard, i cant really describe it, its like a grinding clanking noise.
It needs brakes
And tires, and my back window on the passenger side wont roll up, it went down, but neither the switch on the door, or the switch in the drivers door will make it go up.

wheelerboy12

Well here we go, ive got a long list of things to fix before i can wheel her, or for that matter even build her

Transmison is shot, all gears gone except 2nd, $1500
Brakes need replaced, $100
Tires $400
Front and rear diffs need fluids changed and new covers $60
Hatch shocks $50
Rear window motor $100
Motor mount $40
Drivers side power mirror $50
Valve cover gasket $25
S-belt $30
Full tune up $200
Ignition switch $40

And i identified the noise when turning left, as it sits driving forward theres about an 1/8th of an inch of clearance between the muffler and driveline, and when i turn left harder it twists the frame causing them to rub, so i have to do somthing about that

wheelerboy12

well found a good 42RE for $125 in Coos Bay, going to go on the 4hr road trip to go get it this weekend, and then installing it on sunday, that should be fun.

other then that, i have a bunch of pics and such, painted all the cladding gloss black.

Flex, stock height, front and rear sway bars on, no trimming.





cleaned, interior and exterior



thought of making one of the false floor tool boxes that a lot of the XJ guys make, ideas?



Painted the cladding, Before and after shots, i planned on taking some during and prep shots but once i got started it was hard to stop and take pics












BTW, those lights are $17 harbor freight lights, they are so damn bright its insane im going to get 4 more for a lightbar up top, and i plan on making some sort of switch panel in the center console area that are easy to reach, because i love using them on backroads, but i need to be able to turn them off fast because they literally stop cars in their tracks. i know i could just not use them, but they are to awesome, and my headlights suck even with the brights, they need to be re-positioned but idk how to do that, they shine up in the sky at the trees, its weird.

OH and my friends girlfriend decided it shall now be called the "Red Rocket" id like to say its because its red, and fast like a rocket.... its not, its exactly what your thinking.

griff98xj

makes me miss my zj!

wheelerboy12

Got a transmission!!! drove 10 hours (there and back, **** stops, and food stops) down to Coos Bay to pick it up for $125, and me and my dad spent all of today working, and by 7:30 (we started at 9am... lots of little problems) we got the bad trans free, not out from under the Jeep but free, tomorrow after work I will be splitting the Transfer case and the transmission, swapping everything over, and putting it up into the jeep, hopefully I'll get to drive it tomorrow with the new transmission in.

dnuccio

so how did you make out with the trans?

i would not call it "red rocket". look it up on urban dictionary and you will know why.

wheelerboy12

not good, i have the command trac case, and i got my tranny out of a 96 with the selec trac, so i have to get a selec trac case to work with the new tranny, so its been up on blocks since sunday, and to add insult to injury i got laid off at work bc business is to slow, so im kinda SOL.

oh and thats exactly why she decided it would be called red rocket.....

NewJerseyXJ609

Did you test drive it before you bought it? Those trannys are notorious for being headaches.

Check the u joints on the axle shafts on both sides for the noises when turning. Then check all the steering components.

Hope it works out for ya!

dnuccio

you dont need a different transfer case. The transfer case doesn't know or care which transmission its bolted to

wheelerboy12

yea i drove it around a parking lot, but at the time it wasnt all to bad, there was no slip in drive, and i never went fast enough for it to shift, i just thought it wasnt to goo with accelerating, and of course i didnt even think to try the other gears, i just put it in drive and went, and the noise is my muffler rubbing on my driveline when i turn hard left.

NewJerseyXJ609

Ahh definitely the muffler bearing then

It's all good. You will learn to extensively test a vehicle when you buy them. I have learned the hard way over the years and now I know I do a thorough check on any new jeep I want to pick up.