The lazy man's "build up" TJ

#1
Not much to do other than little nick nacks...

This is how I brought her home for 4g's.
Sloppy steering, clunking, a box of parts, and smelled like dog ***.
3-4" bastard lift complete with slight gangsta lean.
8.8 rear with long arms.
Stock 231 w/ sye.
iPod adapter and blown speakers.
Scariest ride home on I-26 from Chapin EVER!

spdve8.jpg


Cleaned her up and see what I had to work with.
Sloppy steering was fixed by tightening the steering shaft at gear box bolt(free, it was finger tight).
Clunk was fixed by replacing the missing right rear caliper bolts($6.00)
Bought a hand full of interior stuff like gear shift snap ring, shifter knob(the Hurst one had to go), door limiting strap, and interior lamp cover. Nothing big but about $50 worth.
The rims were in rough shape so I finally broke down and cleaned them up thinking I was gonna be stuck with 'em. Of course I bought black steelies for a bill yesterday.
I bought rockers, a front bumper, and was sent the wrong rear bumper but Amazon gave me a hellacious credit so I kept it(no biggie).
I cleaned up the flaking paint and resprayed the blue tailgate.
I've got a new bikini top and CRES ready to go on shortly.
I'm about the service all the fluids, filters, and plug/wires, etc. I'm sure I'll be taking off the Airaid and tb spacer soon so be on the look out.
I probably forgot a bunch but it's a lazy man's project.

Anyway, this is how it looks as of last Sunday.

x5oz89.jpg

Plenty more to do such as long arms in the front, lockers, and a winch. I'm in no rush since it sits in my garage and I drive it whenever. I also need to remove those hideous Sahara decals on the hood.
 
#4


The neighbors are gonna hate me while I get my black steelies mounted.

Btw, anyone wanna buy (4) Mickey Thompson simulocks(the ones in the other pictures)? Make me a reasonable offer. They'll be available tomorrow after 2pm.
 
#8
The hard top and doors are off. Full size spare put on last night. CRES is on. The new bikini top may collect some dust for a while. If the hard top sells tomorrow a Detroit, Lockright, and winch will be ordered.
 
#11
Personally, I liked it better with the other wheels and tires. It looks dang good either way!

I'm really starting to want a TJ. I just can't find one for that price.
 
#13
I'm about to dump a small fortune into it. Front and rear lockers, front long arms, new springs and shocks, ACOS front and rear, Warn winch, and the bowless soft top should be here tomorrow. I've gotta clean the Airaid and throw plugs, wires, cap, and rotor on. I should be ready for summer then.
 
#14
Since the weather kinda screwed up my plans today I managed to changed the plugs, wires, cap, and rotor. While I was doing that I managed to fix 2 major problems it had but I was willing to deal with over time. Luckily, and once again, they were free fixes. At times after shutting down then restarting I'd notice a dead miss for a short period unless I stomped on the gas which it went away until next time. I'd suspected a TPS or very dirty air filter. It turned out to be the coil was held in by zip ties, YES, effin zip ties and it'd bounce around shorting out. After BOLTING it back in place the problem no longer exist. Second, the a/c had never worked and wasn't a big issue to me. I'd never gotten around to actually trying to diagnose it. All I knew is the compressor wouldn't come on which could be several different things. As I was doing #1 plug I noticed a very sad looking wire that promptly broke in my had. I scratched my head and traced it. Guess what? It went straight to the a/c cycling switch. After a quick wiring repair my a/c blows cold as a mofo! SCORE! A quick 1 hr job turned into brain surgery as I poked around very thoroughly after that fix looking for anything else obvious but found nothing that stood out.
Very shortly, the adjustable control arms, shocks, gas tank skid, and front locker are going in. I'm actually excited about wheeling again. It's been a couple years and I sold a very capable XJ last year to Brian Miller. Net cost I've got about $5200 in it now. That's not bad and it was hard but worth waiting a year with money in hand to find the right TJ.
 
#15
Since the weather kinda screwed up my plans today I managed to changed the plugs, wires, cap, and rotor. While I was doing that I managed to fix 2 major problems it had but I was willing to deal with over time. Luckily, and once again, they were free fixes. At times after shutting down then restarting I'd notice a dead miss for a short period unless I stomped on the gas which it went away until next time. I'd suspected a TPS or very dirty air filter. It turned out to be the coil was held in by zip ties, YES, effin zip ties and it'd bounce around shorting out. After BOLTING it back in place the problem no longer exist. Second, the a/c had never worked and wasn't a big issue to me. I'd never gotten around to actually trying to diagnose it. All I knew is the compressor wouldn't come on which could be several different things. As I was doing #1 plug I noticed a very sad looking wire that promptly broke in my had. I scratched my head and traced it. Guess what? It went straight to the a/c cycling switch. After a quick wiring repair my a/c blows cold as a mofo! SCORE! A quick 1 hr job turned into brain surgery as I poked around very thoroughly after that fix looking for anything else obvious but found nothing that stood out.
Very shortly, the adjustable control arms, shocks, gas tank skid, and front locker are going in. I'm actually excited about wheeling again. It's been a couple years and I sold a very capable XJ last year to Brian Miller. Net cost I've got about $5200 in it now. That's not bad and it was hard but worth waiting a year with money in hand to find the right TJ.
sweet, cant wait to see it on the trail!!
 
#16
Me too! A few more odds and ends and I think I'll take her up to UNF when I get back from my mini vacation. We may head up for 4th of July weekend. I haven't really checked around and see what's going on.
 
#17
This 'lazy" build has got me aching now, literally. New shocks which I had to drill out 2 bolts in the rear. I ended up removing the gas tank for more clearance, plus I had to install my Kilby gas tank skid. After cleaning up some odds and ends under there I feel better about wrenching under there with minimal fastener breakage.
I picked up a Garvin bumper/swing-out last night. Of course I couldn't wait to install it so i went ahead and did that. I've gotta find or fabricate the bracket the tire actually bolts to then I'm done with it. I'm sore as hell right now but I may put my gas tank back in tonight so i can drive it.
 
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