craigjacob1

Hey everyone! This is just an introduction, as I believe I will be spending quite a bit of time around here in the next year or two.


I found a 1990 Cherokee Laredo at a local auction, and took it home for $1000. Pretty much a steal for this time of year in ID.
Right now it's all original with 189k.






The exterior is an easy 8/10. No crazy dents, just a few small areas to repair. No rust on the body.
The motor is solid, just a small oil leak (most likely from the oil pan), and the trans seems to be doing well.

The exhaust is leaking out of the header, under the oil pan, and out the muffler. It's pretty much coming out everywhere except the exhaust tip.
Otherwise the struts, leaf springs, and a wheel bearing need to be replaced.

I degreased / pressure washed the motor bay twice now. I don't see any issues exposing themselves atm.

The heater was only running warm, it turned out that the hvac heater control was corroded. I replaced it and hot washed the heater core, then ran detergent through the cooling system and flushed it. A+ now.

It looks like it has a factory tow package. I will have to check it out a bit more to see of it has a Dana 44 rear.
*edit* I checked it out, it actually looks like it has a C8.25 rear. Maybe I will browse the junk yard this weekend, and see if I get lucky

I am pretty excited about this thing, and plan on keeping it for years. The first big changes are going to be high quality suspension and most likely a stroker motor. I usually try to keep a "less chatting and more doing" attitude, so I will withhold any plans that are not in the immediate future.
The next step in the process is to stock pile until probably next spring when the actual build starts. I also want to make sure everything is done correctly.

I will have a lot of questions to ask, and lots of research to do as well.

Thank you all in advance for the help / support!

cruiser54

Congrats and welcome.

Easy and worth doing for sure. Go to www.cruiser54.com and do Tips 1,3,4, and 5.

craigjacob1

Well it's been about a year since the purchase. The jeep actually turned into my DD.
A large portion of my time and project funds have gone into shop setup, supplies, and some actual high end tools.

The real work is just around the corner. I figured I would give an update on the progress before I start the build.

A few changes to keep it road worthy:

Bosch 746 Injectors
Optima Yellow Top Battery
Tefzel 2 AWG Mil-Spec Battery Cables
New Water Pump
New HVAC Heater Control Valve
Cleaned / Flushed Coolant Lines 3 Times
New Coolant Reservoir
New Upper / Lower Radiator Hoses
Added Pentofrost A2 Antifreeze (seems to be working great)
Replaced Necessary Ball Joints
New Front Track Bar Bushings
New Steering Stabilizer
Updated Front Bearing / Hub Assembly to 91+
New Napa Premium Front Brake Rotors
New Napa Premium Ceramic Front Pads
New Front Brake Calipers


Recent Purchases:

GE Nighthawk LED head lights:
I am extremely happy with this decision. They are identical to the truck-lite 27450c, with the exception of the chrome strip in the front.


Borla SS Exhaust Header
DYNOMAX 44171 2.5" SS Tail Pipe
2.5" SS exhaust elbows & flanges for fabricating the front pipe
* Pairing with the Magnaflow High Flow Cat. + Borla SS Turbo Muffler

295/70-17 General Grabber X3 tires.
I jumped the gun a bit here, but they were on sale. I figured having these laying around will motivate me to get the suspension done.

Next Purchases:

Frame stiffeners
Raptor Bedliner for undercoating
Metalcloak or RE lift (still undecided)
SYE for the NP242 transfer case (I do a lot of winter driving)
Drive Shaft Upgrade
17" wheels
Detroit limited slip diffs
I am also looking at options for upgrading the existing axles
Quad disk brakes with dual piston calipers are being considered as well

After that I will be rebuilding the motor, transmission, and transfer case.

Bumpers and other parts will be fabricated as time allows. I haven't made any decisions beyond the mechanical side of the vehicle.


Hopefully my next post will be in the builds section!