It's pretty easy to do just a very time consuming project.

 

any interest in rausch june 25th ish, naxjafest thingy is then and i wanna cruise there and go with someone!

 

holy crap what kind of job did u have when u were 16 that paid $4500? i only amke $8 an hr

 

Hmm... Possibly lol as long as I can get my extended brake lines in first

Started working when I was 13 and just saved everything from working summers and birthday money so that I could get something semi decent once it was time to get a vehicle. Pretty happy my dad talked me into doing that lol

 

I did the same thing, saved money all my life. Now I'm 18 with a vehicle I love. Once I got the car I got a full time job and thats how I pay for the poor gas mileage and all the goodies.

 

Yup gotta have the cash for these things lol I still work 40+hrs/week all summer and then work on my campus, found a job during winter and spring break too. Can't stand to not have a job. Still trying to figure out which costs me more; Jeep or girlfriend

 

So true about the girlfriend. Having both is tough. Haha

 

Lol I'll never let her know it though cause then I'll never hear the end of it

 

Haha most definitely

 

Hey Jersey,

Just read all 16 pages of posts and you've had quite a ride! I'm about to buy a 98 four door cherokee that is going to be a project car. I know there's some rust in the floor and I'm a little afraid of what I'll find when I take up all the carpets. Is the spray-on bedliner intended to address water intrusion?

I'm new to Jeep and look forward to this project. I've done a builds on VWs and an Audi, so I'm looking forward to getting into something that doesn't require entire pay checks!

-Patrick

 

First thanks for taking the time to read my build. As far as repairing floors goes, it really depends how bad it is as far as rust making holes. I ended up with only two small holes and was able to grind all the rust down and patch the small holes with a small sheet of steel. I didn't weld it because it was too close to the gas lines and I just wanted to do it quick so I used a bead of silicone around the holes and the edges of the patch so water sitting underneath wouldn't be a problem. Then I screwed it down using stainless screws.

The reason I put the bedliner down was because I had previously taken my XJ for a swim lol The carpet padding was soaked and started to cause the floors to rust. So to kind of prevent it from further rusting I wire brushed all the rust off and put the bedliner down to coat it kind of like what you would use POR-15 for.

If you're going to be taking up the carpet I highly recommend removing the padding because that is what holds all the water and causes the rust. Most times wet shoes from rain or snow will make the padding just as wet. My passenger's side carpet had never been under water and even that padding was wet.

As far as building goes, like all projects somethings are pretty cheap and somethings are really expensive. Like everyone says Jeep stands for Just Empty Every Pocket. Lifting can be done on a budget for sure and other things can be done for not a lot of money.

Jeeps are easy to work on for most beginner or intermediate do it yourselfers. I've worked on a few mkII and mkIII dubs and they are kinda the same level of difficulty. My best advice I can give to you is just like the VW has a Bentley manual, find something like that for your Jeep. A Haynes manual works well, but there are better ones out there like a Chilton I think is the name.

Any other questions don't be afraid to ask. Good luck with your build an I hope to see some progress.

 

Did some little things today because I had some time after work today. One of my fog lights was out so first I checked the wiring because the fuse was good. Turns out that the ground was actually so corroded from the road salt that it broke away from the connector. After I fixed that I moved onto the center console. It had been bothering me for awhile because it had a dead spot in it from where I rest my arm all the time.

First I pulled the lid off the console.



I then unscrewed all the screws and pulled off the backing plate.



You can see here it actually dips down in that location which was what was causing me to feel like there was a dead spot.



I pulled off the vinyl part from the inner plastic piece and placed a piece of left over carpet padding in that spot.



Then reassembled everything and it was as good as........well fixed I guess.

I also got really tired of my rear shackle rattling on my hitch so I tried to think of something to stop the rattle. Then I came up with a ring made of electrical tape. I rolled a bunch up in a snake like shape then wrapped the outside together.

Here's what it looks like up close.



And here's a full view shot.



So far it has stopped the rattle plus it was free and you can't beat that.

 

Sunset over the Barnegat Bay in NJ.

 

hmm..... i love that pic! nice work. and i hate the XJ center console. i just got the replacement latch thinger and it finally stays closed!

 

Thanks I really like it too. I'm actually on my 3rd console latch lol now I don't let it slap down anymore.