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My YJ - rescued, rolled, and finally finished... sort of.

13K views 40 replies 28 participants last post by  Floppy 
#1 · (Edited)
I say rescued because, well, I did rescue this poor jeep from it's redneck previous owner. No it wasn't rolled over... I rolled the paint on. And I say it's finished but as I'm typing those words I'm planning my next moves. In fact I have a set of rocker guards on it's way to me right now.

The pictures are crap because I took them with my phone. It was the only camera I had with me at all times so it's what I used. The jeep is a 90 2.5. The only good thing the previous owner did was herculine the interior. I won't even go into the things he did wrong...

This is how I found the poor jeep when I went to buy it!


And this was the interior. There was no dash at all.


Here's where I started by fixing the messed up fender. I could have just bought a new one but this was easy enough to do myself.


Also had to repair a huge dent in the back. It was a lot deeper than it looks in the picture


My original plan was to just repair the dents and shave the holes from the tailgate. I also painted the wheels white.


While I was at it I ended up stripping everything off the body and repainting everything. I shaved all the body lines from the entire jeep except where the front fenders meet the tub.


And yes, I drove it down my street a couple times like this and my neighbors thought I was crazy.


This is after wetsanding but before polishing.


test fitting the new dash made by Dan - dislsmoke.


had a small problem when I put the stock gauges back in. I had to grind out some areas to make room for them to fit.


Painted the hood and the rest of the body


Starting reassembly


The blue tape on the windshield is holding some bolts so I don't lose them.


Installed a license plate bracket with lights so I could move the plate to the bumper. I shaved all the mounting holes where it used to be. Also installed a third brake light in the gap from the body lift.


Put the tailgate back on finally and reinstalled brake lights. Notice there are no mounting holes for the spare tire carrier. I also shaved off the license plate bracket holes and all of the body lines.


Needed more contrast in the cab so I painted the plate over the transmission


put in a cable to keep my dog in the back when wheeling


finally getting the dash installed and put together. Also have the new seats installed. The old black ones are crap! the drivers side rusted out so bad that the back fell off when I was moving it around in my yard. I love these new bestop seats.


after shot of the dash with gauges, toggles, lights and new steering wheel


After shot of the jeep today out at Corbett


My current plans for the jeep now are to install the rocker guards when I get them, lift the jeep another 3" (it's already lifted 3.5"), and get some 33" MT's under it.
Also, I have a new (to me) engine going in soon. I'm replacing my 90 TBI 2.5 with a 93 MPI 2.5 that I found for $200. As soon as I find a 4.0 for a decent price I'll be swapping that in. The good thing about swapping to the MPI 2.5 first is all the extra work involved with doing the TBI to MPI swap now is stuff I would have to do with the 4.0 swap anyway.
 
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#2 ·
How was the new dash install?

Did most of the gauges fit without any issues? Doesn't look liek it came with cutouts for the stock heater/radio either?

I've wanted a steel dash for so long!
 
#3 ·
The new dash was custom designed to how I wanted it. Dan (dislsmoke) did a great job on it. I didn't want any cutouts for heater/ac, radio, or speakers because I don't have any of those anymore. Everything that I don't use was stripped. The only gauges I reused were the stock tach and speedo, the rest are all autometer gauges. I also had Dan put in a small cubby hole area for temporary storage while driving around.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Thanks...

Forgot about these-
I think I've posted these shots elsewhere on the forum. This is a trunk box I have that locks against the tailgate for some secure storage


 
#12 ·
Thanks! I was hoping somebody would say something about that. I spent a lot of time making the body perfect again.
 
#16 ·
:D

Great job, what do you have for seats? Are those stock?
They're Bestop Trailmax II vinyl seats in Gray. When I bought it, it had some Rugged Ridge sport seats which are absolute crap! They were so uncomfortable and the previous owner had them mounted about two inches too high so my steering wheel was touching my legs when I drove it. I got the new seats, took out the seat risers and it is so much more comfortable now.
 
#19 ·
I'll have to take some more. I'm going to be taking new pictures of the whole jeep soon with a better camera anyway.
 
#20 ·
nice man



those wheels look nice painted

I really like seeing other modest projects - very nice man - who needs to dump 20 grand into a rig to have fun ? not us !





1 thing however , one of these days, you might REALLY regret not having a spare tire
 
#23 ·
nice man

those wheels look nice painted

I really like seeing other modest projects - very nice man - who needs to dump 20 grand into a rig to have fun ? not us !

1 thing however , one of these days, you might REALLY regret not having a spare tire
I bought the jeep for $1,100 and I've put probably another $1,400 or $1,500 into it so I'm right around $2,500 or $2,600 which was my budget for this jeep. I'm going to be going over my budget soon when I lift it higher and get some bigger wheels though. But it's plenty of fun how it is right now.

You're right about the spare tire. I have a tire patch kit, air pump and a tool kit in that trunk in the back just in case. I'm just hoping I don't bust a sidewall. I'm thinking about mounting a spare tire where the back seat normally goes but it will take up the room for my dog. My buddy that I normally wheel with has a spare tire though and he wouldn't mind me using it.

If you're gonna go to the trouble of moving motor mounts and all thats associated with a 4.0 swap, why not go for something with a bit more punch? Such as an 8 cylinder:cool: (<---note my "future mods" section :D)

Great looking jeep though, I love the super clean, simplistic look. Nicely executed!
I've thought about doing a v8 swap but the extra effort and money involved just aren't worth it to me. I'm not building the jeep to be fast, that's why I have my mustang and my motorcycle. Heck, even my daily driver (aviator) has 300hp. My jeep is my slow toy that needs to just be able to get me anywhere I want to go. In all honesty, I'll probably keep the 2.5 for a long time. I'll pick up a 4.0 if I find one for a really good price.
 
#22 ·
Also, I have a new (to me) engine going in soon. I'm replacing my 90 TBI 2.5 with a 93 MPI 2.5 that I found for $200. As soon as I find a 4.0 for a decent price I'll be swapping that in. The good thing about swapping to the MPI 2.5 first is all the extra work involved with doing the TBI to MPI swap now is stuff I would have to do with the 4.0 swap anyway.
If you're gonna go to the trouble of moving motor mounts and all thats associated with a 4.0 swap, why not go for something with a bit more punch? Such as an 8 cylinder:cool: (<---note my "future mods" section :D)

Great looking jeep though, I love the super clean, simplistic look. Nicely executed!
 
#26 ·
Just a quick update... Finally got some new shoes for the jeep- I'm lifting the jeep an axtra 2" in the next week or so.



and out at Corbett again-



I know I promised some more photos of the dash but I haven't taken them yet.
 
#28 ·
Just came across this -- Jeep looks great. Nice restore...dash is very cool as well!
 
#32 ·
Thanks guys... To answer a couple questions, I believe the wheels are American Racing Ventura wheels 15x10. And about the gauges, I left out the battery gauge. I have autometer water temp, oil pressure, and fuel gauges.

I'm finishing up my engine swap right now and I have a 4" lift going on as soon as the engine is done.
 
#33 ·
Finally got around to installing the lift and finishing a couple things so I'm back to post some newer pictures. I hate the fender flares but it sees a lot of trail time and throws up way too much mud into the cab without the flares. Let me know what you think.





and one more of my jeep doing its best impression of a boat
 
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