[FitchVA]

i haven't really posted this over here because, well to be honest, i've been embarrassed about it. lol. it's u-g-l-y. but it's getting to the point where i think i can associate it with my name. lol. but because i can see its potential, i call it my fugly duckling

i'm just going to copy/paste from the local 4x4 club postings so it might seem a bit odd with the wordings. ...just go with it

[FitchVA]

i just picked up this "gem" a week or so ago. i only have a 1.6 mile drive to work, so i really wanted to get a beater to put the hard miles on instead of my nice(er) white 98 xj. the plan is to drive it back and forth to work, parts hauler, and trash runner. it'll be getting a few upgrades, but all for looks - and as cheaply as possible.

stock specs:

1989 MJ
short bed
231 TC
Auto
d30/d35 (stock 3.55 gearing)




plans:
* fix some dents
* fix the paint
* fix the suspension
* freshen up the motor

[FitchVA]

the wheels that were on it SUCKED. mostly bald and looked like they belonged on a go-cart. and because i'm a pack rat, i still had my old eccos from the white jeep. the tires don't have much tread on them, but they are better than what was on it. plus, they will work for temporary.

before:



after:




edit: also in this picture in the foreground to the right is the d30 that's fresh and ready to be put in the green xj.

[FitchVA]

well i fingally got around to pulling the ugly ducklying into the shop.

first thing addressed: the boo-boo'ed fender:





it's nekkid!



now it's just the worng color and has the wrong emblem



i will be hackign the front fenders off just below the headlight buckets/bezels to accomodate a wraparound bumper.

[FitchVA]

yesterday i got the pinstriping off of the replacement fender, removed the badges, and fixed some dents. almost ready for paint

[FitchVA]

not much progress. the plan was to paint the MJ "John Deere Blitz Black" - it's a flat/satin black that looks really nice when done right. a coworker's father works for a paint supplier and was going to get me some for a good price. but my coworker has been dragging his feet so i haven't been really rushed to get stuff done. but i need to go ahead and get some paint down before it gets too cold. so i've decided to hold off on the Blitz Black until next spring so I can have plenty of time to do it right. in the mean time, i'm just gonna spray bomb it. i picked up the paint tonight.

the plan was to have it sanded, taped, and prepped for paint in the morning. but me being me, took forever to strip down the important bits. so i didn't even get a chance to sand. but here are a few shots. not much different, but a little.



and here's a closeup of my roof repair. it's still not perfect, but miles away from what it was.

before:



meow:

[FitchVA]

UGH!! what a hum-dinger past couple of days. i will fully admit to doing everything seemingly the worst way possible this weekend. first, i didn't buy and really agressive sandpaper because when i was going to do the Blitz Black, i didn't want to risk leaving scratches that would later have to be sanded out after the prier was on.

so needless to say, it took for-fraking-ever to sand down the paint. i'm not sure what kind of paint the PO used to cover the factory, but the parts that weren't peeling up were flipping tough as nails!!! lol took me all day saturday to sand it down. i think i started around 10 am and it was around 9 pm when i closed up the shop.

looks like the bed at least was a pioneer



how it sat this morning after the first whipedown today (sunday). the bed is darker only because it was the last thing i wiped down. the driver's side door was the first so it was dry at this point.



i read a trick to get better results was to warm the cans up in a bucket of hot water. my only hot water source was inside the house and all of my buckets were kinda dirty so i went with a cooler. it actually turned out really well because it kept the water warm all day



after a day much longer that it should have been







today took so long because of 2 things:
* my choice of masking paper
* my choice of masking tape

i don't get a newspaper so i bought some paper to mask off the glass. unfortunately, it was way way too thick and no tape i had would keep it down w/out it peeling up.

i chose to use some dollar general masking tape to hold all that on. THAT CRAP just doesn't work. i should have known better. once the first attempt at masking fell, i pulled out the expensive/good stuff. fighting with all of that probably cost me 2 hours.

i stopped when i did because i needed to do some laundry for the week. i'll finish up the color coats later this weekend hopefully. but hopefully all of this prep will pay off when it's done.

[4pointOH1998]

Any MJ is respectable. It's come a long way man

[Stout95YJ]

lookin good. my dad actually painted his Factory Five Shelby Cobra replica with John Deere blitz black paint and turned out great

[SparkyB]

That MJ is looking good. It's amazing what a little bit a paint will do for ya.

[FitchVA]

well i got the paint done tonight. well the body at least. i still need to paint up the flares and other trim pieces.

started with 1 light coat





aaaaaaand after 3 coats:



it's a tad bit darker in real life.

here's a pic of the hood. this does not do justice on how badly it turned out. i think i'm going to take it off and repaint it with it vertical.



some tips:

if you don't wear one of these the entire time, you're just stupid. and don't think that those thin paper ones are doing anything helpful enough.



spray can pistol grips - USE ONE.

here's my old faithful. i've painted a ton with this, but because you can only use 1 finger at a time, it'll wear you out in no time



i picked this one up because it had a larger trigger but i never used it because it couldn't hold the cans firmly enough:



i would HIGHLY SUGGEST spending the $7 and getting this. it's much easier to pull the trigger and you can use 2 fingers at once. and it really clamps down on the cans. it worked so well that the only time i had to switch hands was when i needed to change angles, not because of fatigue.





tape: for the love of pete - buy the good stuff.

i hope to trim the flares and finish the trim painting later this week or this weekend.

then it's time for lift and tires!

overall i'm satisfied. while doing the work i thought to myself that i'd never repaint it black next summer. but after seeing it, i am re-entertaining the thought. but i'll wait and see how it looks when it's 100% done

[SparkyB]

That doesn't look bad for a rattle can paint job. I appreciate the info about the trigger sprayers. I have the first one you mentioned but the last rustoleum brand trigger looks like a nice unit.

[FitchVA]

got the trim parts sprayed and mounted. did the flares, all of the grill pieces, and the wiper cowl cover all flat black

[Ronron2112]

looks awesome! love where this is going.

Totally crawled.

[RedZeppelinXJ]

awesome MJ!!!! i am so jealous i cant find one cheap anywhere but i want one so bad!