Alberta LJ

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Canadian Moose

Adventurer
Current Photo:
photo27.jpg


Table of Contents
History
Day 1 Clean it up!
Day 2 Chrysler is paying for a new cam and crank.
Day 3 Hard Top!
.... little behind on the table of contents.
 
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C

Canadian Moose

Adventurer
History and Specs

2005 Jeep Tj Unlimited
Warn 8274.5 Winch and Warn Winch plate
Very used 4" Procomp lift
ARB Safari Snorkel
Warn engine skid
Warn steering box skid
Locked front a rear
36,000Miles or 59,000 KM!!!!!!
In need of some TLC!!

I picked up the Jeep for a very good price. I was fortunate to know the owner, thus I pretty much bought the jeep unseen. There was a bunch of stuff wrong with it... but I wasn't too concerned... The previous owner had invested a lot of time and money into the jeep, which I appreciate. However, I always desire certain clean look. With each build I get better and learn tons more. For this build I strive to follow in the steps of Gunkle and Idaho Jeep. It also helps that my brother is a body man/painter.
For the first part of this build there will be a lot of maintenance to ensure everything is working properly.

2006/2007
1.jpg


2009 (wasn't used in 2010)
4.jpg
 
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C

Canadian Moose

Adventurer
The start of many problems....

He is a photo of the Jeep the day I bought it. Pretty Rough!
Picture1.jpg


I started driving it home.... it started to run really rich/black smoke, pinging and losing power! :( Crap! I parked it and went home to get the truck and carhauler. The only thing obviously wrong was that the battery wasn't connected. I figured the computer must have gone haywire.

I brought it in to Chris at Robins Automotive (Robin's Automotive > Home) ... the only mechanic I trust :2thumbsup: He scaned it and reset the computer. It seemed to run ok. Then it started pinging. He was familiar with the http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f9/c...-new-cam-2005-2006-owners-should-read-963235/ issue and proceeded to pull the oil pump drive gear (distributor type thing). He found lots of wear on it and the cam. CRAP! :(

I called a local jeep dealer, turns out I still have 5 months of warranty left! :2thumbsup: Finally some good news!!! I made an appointment @ Sherwood Park Dodge (earliest was a week later). I talked to a service adviser, she told me it would all be covered.
This too turned into a disaster :( I will try to summarize. During their initial diagnoses they found that there was a hole in the rad and no coolant. I am not sure when this happened, as the jeep gauge wasn't running hot when I attempted to drive it home. But the symptoms match. They couldn't get over this.. and wanted to charge me 1200 for a new rad. Then they said the issue was a recall and you would not be covered, please pay $200 (for telling me there is no coolant) and pick it up. I was persistent, then one day they said it was a modified vehicle and would not be covered my warranty (little to late, besides the engine isnt modified). Twice they promised to look at the cam/OPDG. Finally they said they would replace it but not the whole job (no new cam). Then they had the parts, then they never. 6 Trips to the dealer in 1.5 weeks. I was fed up. I took the jeep home unfixed. :mad::mad::mad::mad:
 
C

Canadian Moose

Adventurer
Cleaning!

Anyways continuing on with the LJ.

While actually having the jeep around... I started working on it. The interior was soo dirty!! Like several inches of mud in the tub. Carpet was removed.

Picture6.jpg


I am trying to decide... bedline it, install carpet from the 1997 in the front/ bedline the back, or order full new carpet. What do you guys think?
 
C

Canadian Moose

Adventurer
New Tires!

Since this is my daily driver, The bias ply interco TSL's needed to go. Its a shame because they were pretty much brand new. They were mounted on new 10" wide rims :thumbdown:

I sold the TSL's and bought some 33x12.5R15 BFG A/T's. These will be my winter tires. Got a good deal on the A/T's. The tires kinda look like balloons on the 10" wide rims but w/e. I cant afford to buy new rims now. Big thanks to Chris at Robins Automotive (http://robinsautomotive.ca) for mounting + Balancing. I know 10" wide rims with 12.5" tires arnt always the easiest.
2-2.jpg


Here are the TSL's on there new owners Suzuki!
suzuki.jpg
 
C

Canadian Moose

Adventurer
I bought a set of silver flares from kijiji (Think Craigslist) for $50. The original flares were all bent and cracked. I fixed the front fenders at the same time. I also removed the rear inner fenders. I dont really see any issues with this besides increased noise from rocks flying up. What do you guys think?

(PHOTOS in next Post)

I removed the chrome overlay on the grill and painted the rock sliders black. One day I will paint the headlight bezels black.
 
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C

Canadian Moose

Adventurer
New Soft Top

I sold the nitrous system (wet shot) out of the jeep to a tuner in a honda :2thumbsup: It doesn't belong in a jeep anyways lol.

Sold the stock soft top. With all that money I bought a new custom fastback soft top. Its pretty neat, the windows are bigger/ brighter. I like the look and I like that it is frame less. It is also a three in one top and can transform into just a bikini or one of those half tops (like a truck/brute).

I think the Jeep looks pretty cool, something different! The only issue I have with the top is the custom header bar. It makes some noise on the highway. Ill have to see if I can fix this. I have to keep my eyes out for a hard top.

2-3.jpg

2-1.jpg
 
C

Canadian Moose

Adventurer
Soft Top

I finally got the soft top as quiet as I can. Got a local shoe repair man to sew on some more velcro and tweaked the header bar a bit. I tried buying a smittybuilt header. The concept would have worked but the header sealed like crap. Worse then the homebuilt one the custom soft top came with.

Also got some extra keys (Strattec) made. I ordered them off ebay for approx $15 each. I got the dealership to cut and program them ($65 for both).


I have a seemingly endless list of things to fix
-Adj Track Bar (I need some suggestions!) My front axle is off center and I need a wheel alignment
- rear pinion seal
- get the 6 speed shifting better
- New tailgate (+paint)
- Repaint front grill
- Reinstall winch (+wiring)
- work on front locker

Hopefully in the next couple weeks I will get into some really cool fab projects. Build list:
-Rear tire carrier
-Tummy Tuck
-Tj/ Wrangler Trailer out of a old tub.
 
C

cdnabn49

Observer
I looked at that rig on-line before I bought my 04 Rubicon.... "Repo" on the title made me a little gun shy of it though... great looking rig now - nice that some TLC and cash will cure most DPO crap up... I really like the look of the LJ now I am kind of wondering if I should have gone that way as well... no complaints on the TJ - would have been nice for the dogs...
:smiley_drive:

Canadian Moose said:
He is a photo of the Jeep the day I bought it. Pretty Rough!
Picture1.jpg


I started driving it home.... it started to run really rich/black smoke, pinging and losing power! :( Crap! I parked it and went home to get the truck and carhauler. The only thing obviously wrong was that the battery wasn't connected. I figured the computer must have gone haywire.
<<< SNIP >>>
Click to expand...
 
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