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So.. I bought a beater jeep

10K views 73 replies 30 participants last post by  HackFabrication 
#1 ·
It's a '76. The suspension is shot. The seats smell like cat piss. For better or worse, its in my garage. As my uncle said after I handed him $700: "it's your problem now".

The good: no leaks. No rust. Original tub. Average miles (130k) on 258, 3 speed.


The bad: needs new seats. Straight pipe wakes the dead. Electrical nightmare. Suspension shot.

Lots of work ahead..
 

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#5 ·
A good deal but it always amazes what PO do to the original dash and wiring. Where do they go? Its not like I take my Ford F150 pickup, that has 180,000 miles on it, and decide to rip out the dash one day for the heck of it!
 
#6 ·
I had to have it shipped unfortunately ($699), so it was $1400 total.. Didnt drive it mostly because of the micky mouse electrical work. I re-grounded a few things and now it starts every time... But there's a short somewhere and I have to unhook the battery. Also, forgot to mention it needs a new fan. Looking for one from a ford contour, I hear they're a good fit.

First thing Im going to do is burn the seats. They're making my garage smell like an animal shelter.
 
#10 ·
I would love to say mine smelled like cat piss when I picked up the jeep..... I had a snake in the seat bottom that was very happy with where he was and was not keen on leaving
 
#11 ·
An entire nest of red wasps can survive a 150 mile trip at interstate speeds, no problem. For some reason, they don't get upset and come after you until AFTER you've pushed the heep in the basement and closed the door.
 
#12 ·
She looks pretty decent for her age. Nice roll bar. We had one here that was in a lot worse shape. The guy wanted $2700. It was a rusty piece of crap. He wouldn't budge $1 on the price. When he said no to $1500, I got in my Jeep and left not saying a word. It was still there 9 months later. He finally moved and I haven't seen it since.
 
#13 ·
I don't think she looks too bad either. Looks like a good place to start something special. Oh yeah, bought one one time that some chickens had been roosting in. Chicken crap and feathers everywhere, but that wasn't to bad. It was the egg that had been in there for no telling how long that I didn't see that got crushed. It would gag a maggot and make a buzzard puke.
 
#14 ·
in the phillipines, they call them balloots, and those people eat them.. you can smell them a block away when they crack them.. and chicken poop isn't much better.. holy crap, some of these stories are funny... snakes, chickens, cats, red wasps, mice.. geesh.. I started laughing at the original post, cat piss on the seats.. then you guys finished me off...
 
#24 ·
Burley,
Looks like a good base for a project once the fumigation and pressure washing has been completed. :shhh: I saw an AZ licence plate in one of the pictures. Is your uncle out here? God bless.
Jon In Tucson
 
#25 ·
Jon In Tucson said:
Burley,
Looks like a good base for a project once the fumigation and pressure washing has been completed. :shhh: I saw an AZ licence plate in one of the pictures. Is your uncle out here? God bless.
Jon In Tucson
Flagstaff. Got all the seats out and while sweeping and vacuuming I found about $.27, 7 zip ties, a bag of shag (bugler) with rolling papers, a fan belt from before I was born, and a bottle or rancid sugar water.

Even with a mask a couldn't help by gag. I need something industrial.. What solvent will neutralize the cat pee without burning a hole in the tub. This smell is unforgivable.

Dropped a YJ seat in for fitment.. Coming out for spray-bedliner. The front bracket holes don't align, looks like I'll be drilling more. Il guessing I'm not supposed to use the metal bar (front or rear) that was under my old one?
 

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#27 ·
Hey, great project to work on! Congrats! Believe it or not to get rid of some really bad smells .... use Dawn dish detergent. High strength or full strength on the spots that are the worst and you can make a diluted solution for everything else. It will kill most smells and degrease at the same time without melting anything or causing corrosion/tarnish that simple green and purple power can cause on some surfaces.

I have had 3 dogs direct sprayed by skunks on the body and face, the last time she ran in the house and rolled on our carpet!!!! The dawn is the only thing that really works on that smell and I have tried a lot of different things :) Wife wanted to throw the carpet out ... it was so bad it gagged you and burned your eyes. I took it out, did the dawn scrub on it 2 times and let it air dry. It's back in, clean and you would never know it was skunk funky before!

Good Luck!
 
#28 ·
The idle has been a little rough lately. Sometimes it idles at curb from a cold start, sometimes at fast. Dies after 10-12 seconds. Dies when I give it anything but very light throttle. Once I get it warm its better, but not smooth. Here's what it sounds like, its a straight pipe. Flowmaster's on the way!

 
#29 ·
Pulled the font axle and am rewelding the spring perches. I really haven't driven this thing at all, so I don't know how she feels. While I've got the front axle off, now seems like a good time to replace the shocks. No idea how old they are, but judging by all the other shortcuts the PO had taken I'm guessing these are shot.. Maybe not. Any way of testing shocks without driving? Springs seem fine.

I'd post picks but i keep getting an error.
 
#30 ·
I can't see any of the pictures but make sure you set your front caster within spec before you burn in new perches. If the SOA is as poorly done as everyone is saying, caster probably wasn't taken into consideration the first time.
 
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