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My Purple People Eater Build

41135 Views 188 Replies 48 Participants Last post by  PurpleTJ
5
The Jeep's story: '98 Sport (no d44) deep amethyst pearl coat, I6, currently 64k. My uncle bought her from the dealer brand spankin new. My brothers and I, when we visited him in Illinois, would get to drive around on hot summer nights with the top down. I absolutely loved it. My uncle passed away from pancreatic cancer Thanksgiving '07. I turned 16 January '08. My dad inherited the Jeep, and I got her for my birthday. She had just under 60k, no body damage, minimal surface rust underneath, and virtually nothing wrong with her (reverse bulbs were out, thats about it). My dad and I drove down to where he lived in Illinois during winter break that year and tower her back up to Michigan on a trailer behind my dad's '06 F150.

Shortly after, we put on some 30" BFG ATs. I wanted to put a brush guard or bumper on it, and after researching for a long time, being careful about the cost, I found what I wanted. I decided against a whole new bumper due to the cost, and the fact that I didnt see the need for one. When I put this thing on, I had to remove the stock fogs, and while removing them, we busted the bolts that held them on. So I headed to autozone and picked up a pair of those Baja fogs for $25.

Here she is with the tires, brush guard, flares and fogs:



Some pics of the painting process for the flares:






Eventually, I will repaint both bumpers, and take the jugs off. I have already tried with the jugs, but the bolts just keep spinning :confused: If anyone has advice on that one, i'd love to hear it.

Edit: sawzall'd the jugs off, and painted the bumper. Page 3 for pics.

I have also replaced the factory speakers in the sound bar. I followed a guy's write up from here somewhere. I dont have pics, but i can get some if you want. (Edit: page 2 for a pic)

PLANS (eventually)
-Re-coat the frame -done
-Upgrade the d35/30
-BL, MML, skids
-Swing out tire carrier / bumper
-Possibly Raptor liner

Oh, and I also ordered a tuffy security console. The 3rd day I drove it to school, someone slashed the window and broke the console open (it wasnt even locked. there sure are some smart people out there). This was all during the school day, in the school parking lot. Sweet, right? :thumbdown: So i ordered new windows about 4 months ago, and just ordered the console.
Edit: Pics are a few posts down

Edit: also repainted the chipping passenger side mirror. Pics are a few posts down

Thanks for reading!

Daniel
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thanks! im actually surprised how many people have bothered posting in here already :laugh:

i just remembered, i also repainted my chipping passenger side mirror (the driver side is fine, since i replaced it after a ****ing semi took it off while i was parked on the street. he left the scraps in the road, no note, yet his destination was 2 doors down from my house. my dad and i walked over and saw the mark on the side of his truck. but of course we had no 'proof') anyway, i can take an after pic, but no before. im sure you all know what the before looks like anyway, thanks to your own mirrors.

i'll take the pic and post it once i get new batteries for my camera. i just used leftover krylon fusion from my flares
Good luck with your build. It's hard to believe that my Jeep basically started out looking like exactly like yours. I have a sport as well. I got lucky with the D44 out back, but the color was the same.

About your "brush" with the truck... Same thing happened to me in my mustang a few years back. I traced the truck's route to the driver, who denied everything of course! So I took photos, & went to the distribution center & showed the pics & damage to the car to the supervisor. I also lied a bit & said that I saw the whole thing. They repaired it, but the driver confronted me a few weeks later & threatened me. I guess he got in trouble? :hahaha:

By the way, thanks for those kind words on my thread. I'd like to know what other Jeeps are in your "legendary list" though... :D
Good job with the lift install! With all the work I've done to my Jeep, I'm still not brave enough to mess with a suspension lift -yet. Too many variables to consider.

I'm just curious, is a 2.5" lift the magic number before changing over to a t-case lowering lit, dropped pitman arm, bumpstop extensions, slip yoke eliminator, etc???
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