Project: Jeep of Theseus
 

Hi guys,

So wanted to start this thread to keep a diary of my Jeep project. This forum has helped me tremendously on so many of the things I’ve done already and I feel compelled to keep sharing knowledge learned.

Disclaimer, I am by no means an expert of any kind on automotive/Jeep anything, so for you veterans out there, feel free to correct me. I am just a hyped newbie learning along the way.

I’m calling her the JeepofTheseus after the Greek Paradox. Below are some of the before pics and hopefully in a couple of months my after pics.

First some details:
2000 Jeep Cherokee Sport
AW4 Trans
NP 231J Trans Case
Dana 30 Diff Front
Chrysler 8.25 Diff Back
Mileage when purchased 216K

Background: Bought the Jeep in NC January 2024. She barely had any rust except some minor surface. The previous owner was a teenager and it looked like the parents made the teen sell it. They told me that the person their teen bought it from put on a rough country 4.5” lift. The Jeep already had a light bar and a winch. She ran pretty solid and the parents had all the receipts from the auto shops that did their maintenance and repairs. The Jeep also had some body damage in the passenger rear panel but it didn’t seem bad enough to deter me.

Plans: Re-Build the Jeep while keeping all salvageable parts original. Creating a daily driver/offroad rig while I live in NC and then turn fully offroad and as rust proof as possible when moving back to NJ.


AND HERE… WE… GO!

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Welcome! What part of NC are you in? Seems like maybe Fayetteville given the sand & pines.

The Jeep looks solid! Looking forward to following along.

Nice. Are you eventually going with 33's?

Yes I do! Sorry this is the most late reply, life got in the way.

Yes, put on 33x12.5 15 BF Goodrich KO2 and American Racing AR23

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Changed my transmission mount to the SFR soft bushing one. The old one had a broken stud and uneven rubber.

Things to note, make sure the bracket is oriented to match your OEM mount either offset or centered (in my case).

Also make sure the top side of the bracket is facing the front of the car. Its the longer curve side of the bracket. I learned this the hard way, my crossmember was slightly off when mounting to the frame.

SFR unfortunately forgot to send some of the nuts and bolts that come with it so I had to use my own.

There was a lot of grease and mud on the cross member and trans case skid plate, it was also slightly rusting, so I deep cleaned, primed and painted them.

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Changed my motor mounts to the stock height Brown Dog ones with the rubber bushings rather than the polyurethane (to minimize vibration). The old mounts had the motor sitting way too low and was causing a lot of movement. I was surprised at how much I had to jack the motor up to set the Brown Dog ones.

To note, as per instructions i added the washers to minimize vibration and backed off slightly when tightening. It did not sit right with me how little of the bolt was fastened by the nut. So i went to McMaster-Carr and ordered M12x1.75 150mm bolts, nuts and washers. Because i had more room to play it minimized vibration transfer even more.

FYI remember to loosen the nuts on the trans before jacking the motor.

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