sprowley's build thread!

**sprowley** · 07-14-2009, 02:01 AM

Time for me to start my thread.

My YJ started as a stock 92 Islander that had been neglected and abused for several years by the looks of it. I got it for 2400 bucks with 600 in parts in the back seat because the dude's wife made him sell it. Since it ran so bad it was cheap, and the missing driver's floorboard. One of the idiot POs had rattle can lined EVERYTHING without taking anything apart - over the seat risers, all the bolts, the door lips, tailgate, fender flares, bumper and bumperettes.... it was all peeling but soo hard to remove, and I had to in order to paint a lot of it, or to get the entire interior's bolts out to put the carpet in.

Turns out that its in beautiful mechanical condition, just needed new spark plugs in a bad way (I have no idea how it sparked at all actually) and fluids changed. Now she makes power like she's a day old and gets 21mpg.

Since this is my daily driver and I like my fuel economy, it's a hybrid build. I've got Firestone Destination MTs on it (LOVE these to death btw) but alloy rims and trying to keep the weight down so I have power/economy left as well.

SO FAR what I've done is to change the crappy paint job and Islander decals to black, add new flares, paint the stock alloy wheels black as well, get her a new top, and modify the airbox. I also redid the interior with black carpet and black seat covers that I've since gotten rid of.

Here's how I brought her home:

Here's some of the painting:

Here's how she sits now with the new tires:

By this winter I will be adding up to 1" greaseable shackles, new shocks, removing my trackbars, repacking the leaves with teflon, and trimming a LOT of the wells. I might even highline the front fenders, I've some pretty cool ideas for that. Some spacers too, cause i love my wheels but the 5.5" bs is nerfing my turning radius with the 31x10.5 MTs.

ALSO adding an Aussie locker to the D30 and a yellow emergency light bar, gonna be a plow/recovery vehicle this winter.

And lastly she's getting painted again - light tan with a black grille, rockers, hinges and flares.

Later on I'll be swapping in a TJ rollbar and all that jazz so I can use a TJ top - so much easier to put up and down, and I don't need a new top for different doors, and a lot quieter. I have a Rugged Ridge replacement top now and I hate that POS. It's still new too.

I've also got a crazy idea for swapping in a nice big rear seat and lots of room, but I think I'll do it first and post a write up later so some people here don't burst a gasket asking WTF ARE YOU THINKING??? Trust me, I've thought it out

That's all for now!
Sean

**fratis** · 07-14-2009, 02:21 AM

wow your sand there sure is white!

not a fan of the black wheel thing but those factory alloys look pretty cool painted. wish i had done that when i had those.

**sprowley** · 07-14-2009, 02:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fratis

wow your sand there sure is white!

not a fan of the black wheel thing but those factory alloys look pretty cool painted. wish i had done that when i had those.

Yeah I think they look much much better in black - I actually like them a lot now. And they're alloys... so I'm keeping them unless i get a bigger tire. Then I'm getting a 16" rim because the Destination MT (my only tire from now on) has very very few sizes for 15" and I don't want a 12.5" wide tire, both for the weight and for the footprint - this thing gets me around in deep snow all winter so I like it to bite down in stead of float on top.

Alvy · 07-14-2009, 05:20 AM

Awesome photography. Do you market photo shoots for Jeep people and their rigs? I would. Good job too! You're going to lose some mpg's with the Aussie up front. You mentioned you loved great mileage but the future Aussie install will make the front drive shaft turn all the time which will cut it down some.

**sprowley** · 07-14-2009, 05:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alvy

Awesome photography. Do you market photo shoots for Jeep people and their rigs? I would. Good job too! You're going to lose some mpg's with the Aussie up front. You mentioned you loved great mileage but the future Aussie install will make the front drive shaft turn all the time which will cut it down some.

That's a good idea. Maybe I'll go to the Jamboree here in northern WI and hand out some new cards. I wonder what would be reasonable to charge? Could do lots different too, on location trail action shots or just poser shots like these. Hmmmm......

As for the front drive shaft, I don't think that will provide a very significant amount of resistance. We shall see. I've kept enough torque down low that I didn't have to change my shifting habits, throttle, or cruising RPMs when I went to the 31" MTs, I think there's enough extra torque left to mitigate that. Even if it did drop some, that's no worry. I can deal with 18mpg or something like that, just not the 12 and 10 and 5 I see people mention so often on here. Seriously, 10 ton busses don't get 5mpg.... wtf man.

**Nates93yj** · 07-14-2009, 09:42 PM

Very nice jeep.
those are some of the best tires ive had and thats all my dad buys for tires now. firestone m/ts

**scott5star** · 07-14-2009, 11:12 PM

Sweet Jeep

**sprowley** · 08-30-2009, 08:08 PM

New Painting!!!

Today the Jeep turned green! Thats how I wanted it to begin with, but I made it black back when I was trying to sell it. No one offered the price I wanted, and since I was just going to buy another YJ with the money, I kept it.

All the hardware, windshield, and grille are still black, and look fantastic (took the masking off already, but no pics yet)

I also picked up a set of '83 CJ-7 full doors and hard top. Just needed some paint - 300 bucks for the whole lot! Top is painted now, tan, and the doors will be two tone green and tan but I haven't gotten to those yet.

So here's the progress. I need to put clear coat on it and then buff and wax yet, but it's pretty much done.

WalrusPaul · 09-07-2009, 12:26 AM

wow you really did rattle can the whole thing.

How does that hold up? Looks good, that's for sure!

Paul

**sprowley** · 09-07-2009, 12:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WalrusPaul

wow you really did rattle can the whole thing.

How does that hold up? Looks good, that's for sure!

Paul

pretty darn well actually. It's clear coated and waxed - scratches really no more easily than a normal automotive paint job.

A better way to do this would be to get the cans, thin it out, spray or roll like 6 coats, but I didn't have the time or space for that. Rattle cans don't do too shabby either, both the black and green jobs look really sharp.

Alvy · 09-07-2009, 06:19 AM

Good job on the paint Sprowley. I think we need to start a new club for all the "rattle canned" paint jobs. Mines 100% rattled from Krylon spray cans and going on a couple years now. Keeping it in the garage does help though.

**sprowley** · 09-07-2009, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alvy

Good job on the paint Sprowley. I think we need to start a new club for all the "rattle canned" paint jobs. Mines 100% rattled from Krylon spray cans and going on a couple years now. Keeping it in the garage does help though.

Hah good idea! Let's start that.

To be fair it is quite different painting something matte or high gloss, but it can be done. There are restored show cars that have $100 Rustoleum paint jobs on them.

**sprowley** · 09-11-2009, 02:16 PM

HOLY CRAP!

I took the sway and front track bar off today. What a difference in the ride!!! It's 5x smoother on the road now. Oh, and there's absolutely no difference in the cornering or body roll either. I drove it like a sports car to test it out, drifted a few feet around a corner even, she stayed really level.

Seriously, this is something EVERYONE needs to do. It's kind of a pain though... Sway bar came off quickly but the damned torx bolt on the front track bar, frame side, just wouldnt move. One angle grinder's wheel and half a hangar later it's still there, so the front track bar is zip tied to the frame for the time being >.>

I'm tackling the rear soon, after it soaks in some PB Blaster for a day or two.

HUNTER_DENTON07 · 09-11-2009, 02:26 PM

Sweet Jeep.

**sprowley** · 11-04-2009, 05:20 PM

Update! I just finished painting the doors to match the top and body, so here it is:

The handles and hinges still need to be painted black, I ran out of daylight today.

Tomorrow I highline the fenders and put the TJ flares on, and if I'm ambitious enough my set of 06 Rubicon shocks and steering stabilizer go on as well.