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97 TJ Heep to Zombie Killing Jeep Build

438K views 825 replies 181 participants last post by  cpia84 
#1 ·
So I always wanted a Jeep Wrangler and recently had an opportunity to pickup a 1997 TJ for cheap. Being that it is an SE with 4cyl and auto trans dana 30 and 35 cheap is really all it was worth anyway:laugh: But now i had a platform to start with and with our first child just being born I will be selling my motorcycle which will help fund the build. Along with what I had sold of a collection of 1/5 scale RC cars, one of which paid for the Jeep. But still looking to do this build on a budget and so I won't be buying $900 bumpers. The Jeep is taking place of the motorcycle as a toy and I still have my F-150 daily driver so can afford to have it down(torn apart for days or weeks at a time).

What I purchased in October of 2010


What I sold to buy the Jeep


First thing I did was gut the carpet, it was trashed. Also took out trunk thing to remove rust and repaint.


Parked next to the daily driver.


Took off the fenders to repaint and removing the stock steps. Also cut off front bumper jugs


With the carpet torn out the floors revealed some rust but not as bad as I would have thought with the condition of the top which would be my next purchase.




Brought it by a friends house to put some H2 tow hooks on the rear bumper:rofl:


Home in the garage for the first time. Took off mirrors and wiper blade arms and sanded and repainted. Let the money spending start. Did alot of tune up things like plugs, cap and rotor, new battery, O2 sensor, TPS, valve cover gasket etc...............


Put new black top on with tinted windows and removed rusted spare tire and spare tire holder. Added NRA sticker.


So after putting a black top on I decide I wanted the interior to be black (slate) so I purchased a dash out of a wrecked 06 TJ to install.


Painted the headlight bezels black with Krylon Fusion. And took off the front bumper to expose the rust under it. Ground it down and repainted, then installed smitty bilt stinger.



 
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#195 ·
I really like your build. I'm shopping craigslist daily for deals too. i got a Warn gas tank skid for 225, delivered. guy installed it and pulled it back off. apparently he changed directions during his build and I saved a hundred buck$.
 
#199 ·
Well had alittle time to work on the Jeep this weekend and made some progress worth noting. I had a spend $100 get $50 off at Advance Auto so I bought some Sylvania Silver Star headlights basically for free. I heard alot of good and bad reviews but figuring the next time I drive the Jeep at night will be the second time ever I couldn't justify spending to much on lights:laugh:. Which is why I went with the cheap Northern Tool SPS fog lights as well, more for just in case than anything I will use often.(have to install them as well)



Then I started on the install of the smittybilt rear fenders. Was going well until I noticed they don't come all the way down in the front and leave some of the hole and the bottom bolt hole exposed. So looks like I will end up getting the corners to cover this up at some point.



now off to install the Currie Anti-Rock:2thumbsup: Maybe it will cool down some in the garage for this evening, I've had all I can stand of this heat.
 
#200 ·
I think a good set of rocker gaurds will take up that space the smitty bilt corners don't. Ive been looking at warrior products they seem to have some nice rocker gaurds. Gen right makes some really nice ones too. That would probably cover the difference....unless Im looking at something completely different than what your talking about.
 
#203 ·
Well got the locks rekeyed and back in the doors, really easy and love being able to just have one key.


Painted my riddler cover for the 35 with my favorite paint (Rustoleum bedliner) thinking about making the logo red.


Got both the Smitty Bilt XRC seats in. Not a perfect fit but they work, just rub on the roll cage some.


Garage is filling up with spare Jeep parts, time for some Craigslist selling


So drove the Jeep to work today to have my door windows tinted. Upon arriving at work and parking the Jeep immediately noticed a problem. Fluid dripping from the front diff, but turned out to be tranny fluid. Lines going from tranny up to radiator had rubbed a hole in one line and it was everywhere. So a quick fix of cutting out the hard line where the hole was and replacing with some tranny hose fixed it. Would have replaced with a new line but with thoughts of a 4BT going in the Jeep not real interested in spending money on things I will be doing away with. Then got the front windows tinted, love it.






So much more to do, but little by little it keeps getting better.
 
#205 ·
Thanks Brian, It is coming along. I've known from the minute I bought it that a motor swap was in it's future and have thought about alot of different options. But really like the idea of a diesel and after doing hours and hours of research I have started the search for a good donor bread truck. I'm sure it will be awhile until this swap happens but it is destine to fuel up at the green pump at some point.
 
#208 ·
I've been hunting for an old bread truck with a 4Bt but no luck as of yet. Have seen some engines for sale but also may have an opportunity to pickup a complete running Ram 1500 with a 5.2L in it for cheap so thinking hard about that. Either way hope to have a donor vehicle by the end of the year at the latest. The heep is at a sort of stand still until I decide which way to go, basically until i buy the donor.
 
#209 ·
I like the 4bt idea alot. I started looking into one myself, and found acouple options. You may pay a little more, but hit up ebaymotors and see whats out there. I found a 4bt cummins still in the crate for $1000.00 about a month ago, just didnt have the funds to buy it myself.
 
#211 ·
Yeah I like the idea of a 4BT but the idea of a 5.2L Magnum V8 has its benefit's as well. Just going to come down to which donor I can find on the cheap. Still leaning toward a diesel but we'll see what happens.

Looks great! What camera are you using to take your pics? And are you using any software to enhance them?
Well i have a decent camera, Nikon D90. But I would say 95% of the pictures in this thread were taken with an iphone4 and fixed up on my Mac. Just never seem to have the camera when messing with the jeep.
 
#212 ·
Well got the A/C working today for alittle while anyway. Replaced the pressure switch had it charged and blowing ice cold then sat for the day only to have lost the freon and blow hot again. So doing a leak test tomm. and hopeful to have a resolve to my A/C problems. Still on the endless hunt for a donor vehicle and it has everything on hold. I want to do a SYE but will be doing axles but not sure what gears to put in until I know what sort of motor I'll be running. Can't wait until the heep is capable of 80mph long distance interstate driving. Then I can join in on some trips to Ocala and other long distance wheeling trips. Looking to get more painting done in the mean time and repairing my floor. Which leads me to my other issue of late, which welder to get. I should just buy one and move on but keep getting information that steers me toward a different welder (more expensive one's).
 
#213 ·
Alright found the leak in the A/C, small o-ring replaced. I now have ice cold air, 53 degrees at the vent to be exact. I did have to pinch off a heater core line because for some reason a blend door isn't operating properly. But I'll worry more about that when I drop in the new motor what ever that is going to be. So of course now that the A/C is functioning I have another issue. I backed up the jeep and then when I shifted into drive the torque converter locked up and stalled out the jeep. So now I need a donor even more than before. I put some additive in the transmission and the fluid looks good but it is just buying me time. But it did help and now it shifts and moves forward without incident. Will be driving it some back and forth to work now that the air works. If the tranny lets loose it will just push me even harder into buying a donor of some sort. I feel like this build is on the verge of getting interesting:2thumbsup:
 
#214 ·
It has been alittle quit as far as working on the Jeep lately, but for good reason. I've been hunting a donor vehicle hard with the torque converter in the 4cyl tranny on its way out now is the time to do a swap. Wouldn't you know it a year tothe day from buying the Jeep I found this beauty. (both were bought on my birthday:2thumbsup:)

2002 Dodge Ram B1500 5.2L auto of course 44RE runs and shifts like new.


The Barney mobile runs so great I almost don't want to gut it. But it is it's destiny, and so a 5.2L is what I'll be putting in the Jeep. picked up an engine stand today and plan on getting the motor, trans, PCM, harness etc. out tomm. and then scrapping what is left of this beast to get my money back out of it. Stay tuned as I will try and do a write up on the swap and when done I'll put together a thread of this swap alone.

Oh, also bought a smittybilt G.E.A.R. overhead deal to mount the Cobra 29 from but the engine has taken priority of course. By my next birthday this thing should be fairly bad a$$.
 
#224 ·
sweet jeep, what was that bike in the garage? 08ish r6?

you'll have to check out the interco m16s to make that a real zombie killer.on of my offroad mags did a write up about how they will help you survive the zombie apocalypse and the super cool bullet-shaped side lugs would have ur jeep rockin.

also idk how you feel about the shiny jk wheels but lo2ay with the spider build had his stock wheels sandblasted and painted 10% gloss black. gives them a black/gray look in different lights. prolly look sick on ur jeep
 

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#226 ·
not to hijack but i wonder what kinda truck? several buddys of mine trashed my nokys cuz they wore out fast on my buddys truck...which was a 2nd gen cummins ext cab 2500 pushin 600hp and he used a 32 ft bumper tow a few time a month doing haul jobs.i know these nokians are a softer compound rubber but time will tell how they wear. i think tires on a jeep(lightweight) wear much diff than on a truck.

good to know about the m16s. have to see what reviews they get. i will prolly never buy another set of tires that arent nittos. :drool: woulda bought mud grapps if they had a 35x15inch rim that wasn't 14inch wide. cant run em that wide on the road around here in the winter, but even the terra grapps are a great tire that wear like iron.

awesome jeep north50
 
#227 ·
not to hijack but i wonder what kinda truck? several buddys of mine trashed my nokys cuz they wore out fast on my buddys truck...which was a 2nd gen cummins ext cab 2500 pushin 600hp and he used a 32 ft bumper tow a few time a month doing haul jobs.i know these nokians are a softer compound rubber but time will tell how they wear. i think tires on a jeep(lightweight) wear much diff than on a truck.
F150 To be fair they weren't well balanced though
 
#230 ·
Well like the rest of this build the motor is coming out of the van slowly. After dismanteling the front some I raised it up in the air (benifit of working some where with lifts) and disconnected the trans, exhaust, starter, motor mounts, drained the radiator and removed hoses, steering pump lines etc. so it should be ready to come out on Monday.
 
#231 ·
Once again spent alittle time after work removing parts from the donor. It is ready at this point to come out. will drop the trans then pull the motor and send it on its way to the crusher by Friday.





Items to find and/or buy:
Durango/Dakota air inlet
Dakota Radiator Hoses
Motor Mounts
98' Jeep GC 5.9L fan & 4.0L fan shroud
Radiator
Throttle cable
summit racing Headers SUM-G9064
etc. etc. etc..........
 
#232 ·
Well it is out of the van and after alittle cleaning and typical tuneup items being done will be ready for it's new home. I plan on getting it in the jeep and running well then after awhile doing some modifications to add power if needed. Plan on new valve cover gaskets,plugs,wires,cap,rotor,water jacket kit, rear main seal etc.... just easy things to knock out while it is out on the stand. Also looking at headers from Summit Racing or painting these stockers up. Would also like to find Jeep valve covers for cheap just to keep it looking as stock as possible.


Also have the 44RE out and setting up someone to switch out the cone so it mates with the transfer case in the Jeep. would have been nice to find a 4x4 donor but they want to much for them. Also have looked into doing a 46RE that's 4x4 ready in it's place, just a more heavy-duty trans.


That's what I'm talking about


I have to say this would have not been a problem in my garage at home (other than the van wouldn't fit) but was very nice to have access to a lift. But nothing at this point you couldn't tackle on your own (I did have them evacuate the AC system for me) in the driveway.

So tomorrow it's off to the scrap yard for the shagin wagon to recoup my initial investment of $300 and hopefully $100-$200 more. Have a few parts I took off as well I'll try and craigslist for a few bucks and add to the funds needed for conversion parts. Then Saturday or Monday should be starting on the disassembly of the Jeep. Plan on painting the engine bay while the motor is out of the Jeep and cleaning up the frame and such.
 
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