"Patience" WJ Expo Build

[CJustin7]

Starting ....




So I've been reading up on a few builds .... Mainly thekSmith's build on Jeepforum.
It got me interested in building something worthy of going allot of places, long distances, and comfortably riding, and sleeping in my rig. (more to come on sleeping system and storage for the back).
I picked up a 160K 2002 Jeep GC Limited with a 4.7 HO and Quadradrive for a little over 2k. Guy said it was his daughters and had a blown head gasket, but everything else seemed to be really taken care of.... so I grabbed it. the first thing I did before driving it home was to rip the pink roxy sticker off the back window. Wasn't really my color...
Drove it home from Raleigh and everything seemed pretty good even with the blown gasket.

Brought it to Clasic Pro Automotive as I have family there, and there's nothing like being able to trust a good mechanic. They pulled the Engine and it was toasted. Rust in every cylinder ..... This was not good.

After talking it over with my Uncle, we decided to just get a newer engine and scraped trying to salvage it. Looked like it had been cooked a few times before someone had replaced the radiator and water pump..... (all new with new hoses). It had water marks in each cylinder and it did look pretty terrible. which was sprising because it drove fine and plenty of power.



yes ... the hood shocks are taost and I'll need to replace them ..... 2x4 works just as well

After a few months of looking for the right engine, we grabbed one with 90K on it and ran with it. While I was waiting on the engine, I got busy on grabbing parts and goodies. Gave Kolak (WJ GURU of the sorts) a call and ordered up a OME/IRO grab bag 3" lift with Adj trackbar and Moog SS.(Awesome guy with allot of good info and always available to answer questions via email) Ordered new headlights, taillights, ODB Bluetooth dongle, Black D-window 16x8" rims, Spring isloators, and a small lightbar. About 2 weeks ago we were able to get the engine in and all buttoned up. My Uncle drove it for a few days to ensure everything was fine and gave me the OK that the heart transplant was successful. Picked her up last Monday ....immediately thought "Man have I missed having a V8 and being able to see around traffic".... It was nice to be back in the GC to say the least.

This weekend we decided to start in on her and get the lift and tires. I did allot of research on the tires and needed some badly. I was torn between 32"s and 31"s ...
I don't mind cutting and trimming, but I wasn't trying to hack it all up just yet. So I decided on 31"s 265/70r16....... Until I spoke to someone running 32"s, who said he didn't have to trim.(WJRON351) I had not thought about running a slimmer tire (not really slimmer than the stocker) So I ended up chancing it and grabbing some 235/85r16 Duratracs. (also torn between cooper STT, KM2, and Duratrac). I chose the Duratracs due to the positive response everyone has about them and high millage tire that seems to pretty darn good off the pavement. All 3 look Bad *** IMHO, but the KM2s I think would have looked best (beast).









HOVER JEEP ENGAGED !!!








Once we got everything jacked up, we begin to take everything off. Wheels, springs, shocks etc.
Our first issue was the rear passenger shock bolt was seized up pretty good. We torqued it enough to get a full 1/4 turn on it without it budging. We tried PB blaster and torching it..... It wouldn't budge. So we ended up having to cut it out and grab a new one.





Then we came across the bigger problem. While there's no rust to be seen on the body or frame ..... There was an entire spring perch that was rusted out. As in pulling the spring isolators pulled the whole spring perch out.


This was NOT GOOD







More to come on that.

 

[Ranger Steve]

My front spring buckets on my wj had the same problem. Seems they had a bad design and the isolator traps water in there and rust out over time.

 

[CJustin7]

My front spring buckets on my wj had the same problem. Seems they had a bad design and the isolator traps water in there and rust out over time.

We were just talking about how bad of a design flaw it was.....

 

[CJustin7]

I had 2 options here .... A whole new assembly or make one (have Nick Fab one really)
Of course I went with the cheaper option here that required less work.















Total cost for this fix was around 7 bucks.

While he was actually making the perch ...... I had a chance to put in my tail lights..... I like em. Nice and clean and not to Ricey.




After that, I sprayed the hell out of the perches with Rustoleum, and we ended up getting everything back together pretty easy. We got everything on and took her for a test run on a few hills in the rain, and ran it through a nice muddy field. Trimmed the front ever so slightly as I was just hitting it when flexing. This is temporary and will need to Disco, run it, and trim again once I see how much needs to come off for full flex. Ended up calling it a night after that so we could catch the rest of the super bowl. I still need to adjust my DL and TRE to get my steering center ... and readjust my Track bar .... I'm about a 1/2 inch to far out on the right

 

[Lecoq]

Looking good! Jeep looks really clean. I'm guessing the tires are load range E. What made you go with that size over the 255-75-17?

 

[CJustin7]

Well, It was a mix of making sure I could get the max amount of flex and articulation.... while maintaining the max amount of clearance with a 3" lift and 32" tires. I was trying to save cutting the fenders and such, but I'm actually having to do that this weekend. By going with a slimmer tire, I do get a little more le-way in the wells as opposed to running a 255 or 265...... but now that I'm set on cutting , I could have just went with a wider tire. I'll live and the pizza cutters that are on there now work fine... Over all I'm happy with it.
Waiting on my new headlights, bluetooth ECU "dongle", and light bar to get here.

Here's a list of what's to come.

Full Trim (this weekend)
Move the front axle over to center (this weekend)
Alignment (Shop will do that)
New turn signal relay , or solder up the current one as it's wonkey

ARMOR : I currently have 3 OE skids that I'm replacing before anything too crazy
T-Case skid .... most likely IRO's
Rock sliders .... these are a must and like both JRC stage 3 and RRO Supersliders.
Custom built bumper and winch plate
Custom built rear swing out tire carrier
Custom Storage/Sleeping space

My blend door is stuck as well .... so the passenger side is stuck on cool. Not a big issue as it's almost spring here and will wait to fix that next winter.

 

[Ranger Steve]

Lots going on!m looking good

 

[CJustin7]

Fender Cutting Part 1 (Rears)

So this happend......



Which lead to hacking off my rear fenders.
I'll try to make this as short and sweet as possible, while providing helpful information where I can. The first thing we did was start cutting the pinch out, so we could get to the pliable pieces. Something to keep in mind here is ... we are taking out 1.5" around and 3" in the back.



Once that was taken care of .... we started in on the bending and cutting of the slits. A little hammer and dolly work here worked wonders.



One thing we did not do here is cut the slits before hand. We cut them as we bent in the metal where they were needed. I'm not sure if this helps, but it worked well.



The next thing was the welds. Again..... Nick runs the welding as I don't really know how, and he said it might be tricky with such thin metal. Big Thanks to him as he always loves to help out in the garage. You can see that it's just a few tacks here and the rest gets covered in seam sealer.









Started in with the angle grinder to get all that chipped paint off. Now it's starting to take shape and form.

A little Bondo.... then sanding





then more sanding ..... and after that ..... MORE SANDING. Got all the lines cleaned up this way. Also, not pictured is the seam sealer. Gooped it on and in everywhere pretty good. Then took some pain thinner on a brush to smooth it all like slick rubber. Will go back and paint all that black later.



That's how it stands now in primer. I'll have to pick up paint on Friday, sand it once more, then paint them. Over all, this wasn't hard or anything, but man is it scary hacking up a perfectly good fender. Just takes time and "Patience". Now you may be wondering about the fronts and if I'm cutting them out too.





Also this weekend worked on the front ever so slightly ..... Went from this



to this



Just blacked out the actual bumper and painted my hooks red..... nothing crazy, just something to do while the bondo dried.

I should have the fronts done and everything painted by next weekend, so I'll be posting up on that next week-ish :2thumbsup:

 

[Ranger Steve]

Rear cuts look good.

 

[theCREECH]

Looks great. I skimmed the posts, i didn't see what the total lift was? I'm guessing 3 or 4"? And you are running 32" tires? I'm about purchase a lift for WJ, I was thinking 31" tires and 3 or 4"'s of lift. But I didn't want to trim the body at. I would be willing to trim the bumpers.. but don't really want to get into trimming the metal.


yours looks really nice though. Seems like a good deal for a nice looking WJ despite some intitial fixes.

 

[CJustin7]

Thanks for the compliments.
It's a 3" lift with 32x9.5" pizza cutters w/ 4" BS. I would advise 31's for no trimming other than an inch off the front bumper. (wouldn't notice that being gone like what I'm doing here.)

Some things to keep in mind here...... 3" lift vs 4" lift is twice as much due to all the necessary components to keep it riding straight and stable...... and that's if you have the correct drive shafts and such.
What got me crunching on my fenders was the backspacing .... I ran 4" BS and a slimmer tire, but it still didn't stuff like I wanted to .... So I'll cut it until I can. LOL
This makes a very capable offroading vehicle with a relatively low COG at 3" lift with a much wider stance and clearance. and should still drive like a GC is supposed to drive .... COMFORTABLE !!!

 

[AZMP]

Very nice start man. I'm doing things a little different with my ZJ I'll be doing 31x10.5 with stock height and a bunch of trimming which I've already started on but am still waiting on tires to come in since I will only be running the 31s when offroading. And stock 225x75s for daily

 

[CJustin7]

Very nice start man. I'm doing things a little different with my ZJ I'll be doing 31x10.5 with stock height and a bunch of trimming which I've already started on but am still waiting on tires to come in since I will only be running the 31s when offroading. And stock 225x75s for daily

Nice man, I do love the ZJs. Rock solid V8s or I6 and the most comfortable seats ever. Throw some pictures up after you get the wheels and tires. I'd like to check that out.

 

[oscar the grouch]

any finished product pics of the trim job

 

[CJustin7]

Not yet man. I'll be finishing up the fronts on Sunday evening. So I may have some pictures come Monday. I probably won't paint until it warms up either (supposed to be in the 20's this weekend), so it will sit in primer for about a month until temps are within reason. I work slow and steady but I'm currently juggling finishing my house and the jeep. Hence the name of my build... lol. But I do like to get at least 1 day a week in on her.

The fronts look much easier than the rears too, so I'm thinking it should take only a couple of hours Sunday evening.