A mudder is born...

jesseleikerjeep · 05-20-2009, 12:05 AM

Hey guys;

Proud to say that I have started building my YJ! As you know I went and picked up this heap in Denver last Friday and just haven't had time to really get on it - I've been just basically working on radio wiring and did a bypass of the heater core, which will be picked up at the end of the summer with a replacement of...but this morning I woke up super early and got started.

My first orders of business on a long long list of things to do are going to be the ones that don't cost any money (with the exception of some shop towels, a few high pressure washes worth of water, a couple cans of Simple Green Heavy Duty BBQ Cleaner, and a new TORX set, which pisses me off severely).

I started simply by removing the seat covers this guy had in it as I was told "the seats are trashed." Incorrect: with the exception of just a tiny scuff on the driver side drivers seat - these seats are brand new. I'm not super-particular to them...but hey: don't have to buy or re-upholster seats!

Tore all the carpet out, with the exception of the driver's foot-well, this bucket is rust free (and that's just surface rust...1/2 of it came up with some Simple Green and a Scotch scratcher....).

I than removed all the seatbelts, the back seat latches, and the seats...the whole front is dirty to bejesus from the heater core blowing gallons of antifreeze on everything....

- won't have that happen again.

Simple green'd the hell out of everything, sprayed a half can on everything in sight...scrubbed with the scotch pad for a while, re-sprayed the other half of the can on everything in site - and powerwashed the whole damn thing down...she cleaned up REALLY nice! Put the seats back in (waiting on the center console as I was about 10 beers deep and terribly sunburned), and crafted myself a two-piece box that can connect or ride separately in the back. Going to use it as storage while mobile...and set it upright with two hinged doors as a "kitchen Cabinet" for camping when it is that time! They fit relatively snug in the back so that they don't slide around, which will be resolved anyhow next weekend when she goes to herculiner.

This was basically just a chance to let me touch my girl the way she needs to be touched, and a general pre-cleaning...going to be moving this week, will finally have a 2-car garage and tons of space to work out of...so I'm going to herculine as soon as I get unpacked...break the garage in properly.

I will post straight through the lining, and let ya'll know how it turned out! Got rained on this afternoon with the top about six miles away too...guess there's a first time for everything! Anyone else in Colorado Springs get dumped on? Good thing I had just got done power washing...the Gods must have wanted me to rinse....

(Took one of the rear-end because she looked So sexy sitting out there...

and the girlfriend showed up just about than and caught me just as I was popping the pass seat in...and finishing the 12-pack...)

jesseleikerjeep · 05-20-2009, 12:07 AM

OH!......and I wanted to show you the heap I had when I was done....

Almost more beer cans there than carpet....you'll see a wet spot up by the carpet there too....yeah: That's about 3 hours of antifreeze that the sun drained out of that passenger foot-well carpet....and there was even more to clean up under all those seat covers, Le Bra (that looked stupid), and carpeting. Yuck!

Hockey1 · 05-20-2009, 12:29 AM

They clean up good. When you herc your tub, are you gonna herc your storage boxes too?

jesseleikerjeep · 05-20-2009, 12:39 AM

I think so. I'm thinking about lining the boxes, the bars, and than bringing it over the back-side of the tub as a "corner guard" type of thing...than put some thick black cages on the tail lights. I was going to rattle-can the grill black as well, and am trying to visualize the grill herculined...anyone have any thoughts on that? Think it will hold up to the elements of the road? or do you think it will just look stupid? haha.

jesseleikerjeep · 05-20-2009, 09:16 AM

The other thing is the Sport cage - anyone ever tried to rhino/herc those bars? I can't imagine it would cause any trouble, would it?

hillie4life · 05-20-2009, 09:24 AM

Its a pain if you ever want to get em off... i wouldnt recommend it. but plenty of people do it

jesseleikerjeep · 05-20-2009, 10:13 AM

Good point. I know I'll never switch from the Sport cage on that thing...maybe be best just to have them repainted white. We'll see. I do think they'd look cool black, at the very least.

jaywiz1977 · 05-20-2009, 10:35 AM

looks good man,i always end up with similar piles when i work on the heap!

Ra8erFan · 05-20-2009, 10:41 AM

Jeep looks good! The reason I say this is my jeep looks exactly like yours. White 90 YJ, I also have the sport bars and have been tryin to find a familey bar for it with no luck. Good luck with the herc liner, I'm going to do mine in June.

giggityjeeper · 05-20-2009, 11:53 AM

reading the thread I was expecting a Jeep in here that got an 8.8 swappedin and some swamper 35 or something......hmm

Was not expecting a freshly cleaned stock jeep........

hmmm thread lies

nice jeep tho

HilltopperYJ · 05-20-2009, 12:31 PM

haha looks just like mine, white , good seats , same colors, no backseat, and a little rust in the drivers side of the tub

keep it up brother

Edstu234 · 05-20-2009, 01:19 PM

Very clean Jeep and keep us posted on the herc.

jesseleikerjeep · 05-20-2009, 11:55 PM

Yeah - I was lucky. I came across a jeep that has 170,000 miles on it....never been modded or mudded...and though I have only spoken with two of the (presumed) 4 owners, none of them ever took a real interest in Jeeps...the two guys I spoke to it was a "fad that I didn't really get into."

That's good for me. This Jeep has seen a great deal of miles and years without anyone really giving her the attention that I think she deserved, and I'm proud to be the one that gives it to her. Thanks for all the comments, appreciate it!

Giggity; it's birth man, no lies intended. A well bred athletic mother/father combo might produce good genetics; it doesn't necessarily mean the kid is going to be dunking a basketball at six months....

And the 8.8 isn't all that is Jeep man.

jesseleikerjeep · 05-21-2009, 10:54 AM

Hey guys;

So I was tooling around on craigslist this morning and some dude bought a herculiner kit a few months ago, than traded his truck out before he could get it done and wants $30.00 for the unopened kit!!!

Looks like I'm going to be lining this bad boy earlier than I thought...and for a 1/3 of the price! WOOT! Craigslist FTW!!!

jesseleikerjeep · 05-21-2009, 01:03 PM

Hey guys;

So my passenger side soft window has a problem that I just can't figure out for the life of me. When you shut the door, all is well, but when you get up about 40+ mph --- the top back of the soft window just starts flapping in and out like crazy. I have tried bending it a bit and can't figure out where the crink is. I'm assuming the rods are just slightly bent up - it doesn't seem like there is a problem with how they slip into the half door...any suggestions on how to wrench this tight again? I suppose it could be a frame problem too --- but it seems that everything is set just like the drivers side door.

Could have something to do with the plastic bezel being broken that attaches to the windshield frame. It is missing the tiny plastic piece at the top that the soft-top alumimum window frame fits onto to hold it in place....if anyone knows where to get one of these (without buying a whole damn soft kit)....it would be much appreciated! Local junkyards are no luck. (the part I've highlighted in red)