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A Teenager with a Dream

213K views 2K replies 140 participants last post by  vwtipeii 
#1 ·
Alright guys! As promised, here is where I will start my YJ Build Thread. I'll start by telling a little bit about myself and how I became a jeeper, and then we will get into the humble build.

I am Carlos Chavira, A 2012 high school graduate out of NC and soon to be student at Southeastern University in Lakeland Fl. I will be studying Youth Ministry and later taking that where ever I shall be led! This is now my second jeep. My first was a 1986 jeep Cherokee XJ. Bought stock and built it up a little bit.



I loved that thing, but something else had caught my eye.. My girlfriend knew a guy who was trying to sell his wrangler, and I immediately made myself in the market for one. This one.


that is a picture taken from the PO's driveway.

I sold the XJ and bought the YJ in November of 2011.
It didn't take long to get that top and doors off, even if it was a December day in NC.



except for the wheels, it was pretty close to stock. It wouldn't be for long!;)
 
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#2 ·
What I now had on my hands was a 1990 Jeep Wrangler YJ with a 2.5l 4cyl motor out of a '92 and a 5 speed tranny. The jeep has had a few owners but I am told the original owner worked for a Jeep dealership, and was the one to remove the carburated 4cyl from 1990 and replace it with the fuel injected 92. When I bought it it had 115k on the dash and was only lightly wheeled. I am looking back as I begin this build thread so forgive me if I forget something along the way. I will try and type less, show more as the show goes on!


the first picture at my house


It was super clean. Decent paint. Zero Rust!!! and very little body damage. It does however need a new top.

The first thing I did to was get rid of those surface rusted chrome wagon wheels. The tires are 31x10.5 Dunlap Radial ATs and were in great shape so I began seaching craigslist. After a little while searching I came accross a set of black American Racing wheels that the guy only wanted $75 for. Apparently he had had them laying around forever and just wanted them out of his shop. they had 33" buckshots on them and took up a ton of space so I could see why. I offered him $50 and he said yes just get them outta here haha so I gladly took them off his hands. While I was there, he offered me the rear stock bumper off of a TJ and I said sure I will find a use for it. It came in really handy later on.

here is the wheels leaning against the jeep to see what a 33 looked like.


My dad had them mounted and balanced as a christmas gift.


a poser at my work
 
#3 ·
My girlfriend got me windsheild mounts for my KCs for christmas along with a pair of Raybans... She knows me too well..
I installed those soon after and picked up some new fog lights for the bumper mounts. HDI brand. I think its like the Canadian Hella. I got them from a truck shop for $30 since they were used. one of the cheapest most used mods to date..


next would be the crazy long lift shackles.. Temporary thing for sure! helped me keep some extra room for the 31s. Picked those up for about $40 at advanced auto. installed the same day.


Me and a buddy got together one day and he helped me shoot the whole undercarriage with some Rustoleum gloss black to help clean her up and prevent rust.. I'm sure you know by now, but I am really diggin the black and white combo.
 
#4 ·
I sold the old wheels for $100 and the buckshots that came on the new wheels for another $100 so I ended up making the better end of that deal!!

Somewhere along the way I picked up a CB, Rugged ridge center console (20 bucks) a steal! I love that thing and a couple other things I don't remember.

I ordered a Smittybilt CRES top while they were on sale at Quadratec. I keep it strapped up all the time with the soft top on or off. When I take down the top, it secures everything down and keeps it all with me in case of a sudden storm.. I love that thing! It gets a TON of compliments too from Jeepers and non-jeepers.




I also got it a little muddy one day. I like to keep it clean, but I have no problem letting it run for a week with 30lbs of mud either.
this isnt 30lbs however haha ;)

 
#5 ·
Got a 10" kicker and 400 watt amp that I installed in the back to be able to hear durring topless driving. I also repainted the fender flares! Eventually I would like TJ flares, or Flats/Tubes. Another day, another dollar. or alot of them. Tube fenders are expensive!
 
#10 ·
So far mostly everything has been Cosmetic, but I did come across a great deal on synthetic motor oil at O'reillys one day and now run full synthetic. I have seen about a 2 mile per gallon difference since doing so! that was awesome! I wouldn't recommended this however if you have an oil leak because I have been told it will make the leak worse because synthetic is just that slick.. Luckily mine have fared well!

for the interior I used some Krylon fusion gloss black for plastic and have painted the door panels, and soon the dash. trying to carry on the black and white theme.. the tub was rhino-lined when I bought it so carpet is one less thing to worry about.. I did however get a full carpet set from the same guy I bought the center console from for free. It is sitting in a box in the basement, I may use it one day..
The last thing I want to do for the interior is black and white seats. however, i have yet to find a set of black and white seat covers. That makes me sad:(
 
#19 ·
Here are a few pics of what I'm working with!

Almost couldnt fit the whole 2.5 in the picture haha

The interior:



painted door panels:

holds up well but has seen a couple scratches due to me taking them off a lot!

just for fun!
 
#98 ·
dude, I saw that you had some frisbee's in your back seat! I know this isnt about jeeps or anything but I LOVE LOVE LOVE to play me some disc golf! I grew up playing with my dad in California, then play whenever I have time, where I live now there is not a course readily available so my friends and I "make" one. We choose random buildings/targets that we have to throw too an make our own course! Awesome jeep by the way just had to get a word in about the frisbee golf discs lol :highfive:
 
#28 ·
Luck has been on my side for sure! but mainly because I watch c-list like a hawk! I've gotten the best deals yet to come as we catch back up to now.

Nice looking jeep! I like what you did with the krylon fusion, gives me some ideas when i get half doors eventually. i can never find them to match my black interior. Any good spots to wheel in NC? my family was looking to move to the holly springs area a few years ago. good luck!
Yeah the fusion worked great for me! I just need to finish the dash! And well for wheeling, uwharrie is gonna be the biggest place besides the coast but there are all kinds of small trails EVERYWHERE! I'm meeting up with some guys today to hit a trail in DOWNTOWN Hillsboro Haha (like I said, everywhere) Good luck if you do decide to move, I love it here in NC.
 
#27 ·
Nice looking jeep! I like what you did with the krylon fusion, gives me some ideas when i get half doors eventually. i can never find them to match my black interior. Any good spots to wheel in NC? my family was looking to move to the holly springs area a few years ago. good luck!
 
#31 ·
My uncle gave me his old CB and I bought an antenna at flying J. I have it all installed, but no power to the CB yet. Ill get to that sometime. I've been given some really cool ideas in recent days so hopefully I will have some new stuff to put on here soon.

Back to catching up.. There is a guy who comes in my work often who is restoring a CJ7. He knew I was all over craigslist so he asked me if i could find him some Full Doors for his CJ. After about 3 months of searching, the perfect set came up, 650 for full steel doors and a hard top. I told my guy and he hopped on it! had them by the end of the day.. As repayment for my searching, he GAVE me the hard top! SCORE!!! cant beat that.. here are some pictures of it. It was originally from a CJ



Shot it with a little spray magic and it's Good as new!

While he dropped off the top, he also offered me the old set of door he had. I gave him $100 and took those off his hands. I wasn't sure what I was in for.

No mechs, rusted out in the bottom of them, and no door panels. they did have working glass rollers and glass was in good shape.
I didn't feel like putting the money in them to get them fixed so I threw them on c-list. Sold one week later for $200. Good return on investment!

I decided I like the ease of the soft top better than a hard, and I am going to college in FL with no AC so there was no need for the Hard top, am currently trying to sell that as well.
Ill probably buy a new soft top and keep it the way it is for now anyways.
 
#32 ·
I started piecing together my new lift kit. Four new 3.5in SuperLift leaf springs for $255.52 shipped for free from 4 Wheel Parts.

They threw in some new bushings for free too! I saw a thread on here about using truck shocks for your yj after a lift so I hit autozone and got the rear shocks for a 97 f150 for the front of my yj and rear shocks from a 74 f250 for the rears. $89.00 for all four. I picked up a T-case Drop from a member on here for $15 also. Hopefully I will be installing soon!
 
#33 ·
Since it had been SOO long since I bought my springs without the install, I made a promise to myself that I wouldnt spend anymore money on my YJ until I installed what money I had laying in my floor. That didnt last long.. I got bored and ran to autozone and picked up some NightShades and tinted my tail lights and side markers along with the blinkers. I wasn't sure if I liked it at first but it has grown on me. Keeping my Black and White theme!



Also broke my rear drivers side shock mount.. Ill get that fixed soon hopefully. Man life would be so easy if I could weld.
 
#35 ·
And now we are pretty much caught up! Tomorrow is a pretty big day for me, I graduate from High School! That should be an awesome step in life! haha. Have Student Body President Duties to do such as giving a speech and whatnot so wish me luck!:)
 
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