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In June of 2004 I purchased a new Wrangler Rubicon and traded in my '87 Wrangler.
It's slowly coming along and not much to show for other than a few exterior dress
up items. So for now, here's the pages of my '87 build-up.
I didn't know much about Jeeps before I purchased this one on July
4, 1999. Since then I've read everything I could about this particular
Jeep, Jeep history and of course the aftermarket parts and modifications
web sites. I got lucky buying this Jeep as I didn't know at the time
it has quite a few additional options from the dealer. It is a 4.2L
inline 6, 5 speed tranny, A/C, power steering, power brakes, full
doors and hardtop, intermittant wipers, spare tire carrier. The information
below is just a timeline and discussion of the things I have done.
Whenever buying a used vehicle, I make it a point to change out all
the fluids ASAP. I knew the coolant and brake fluid were just changed
before I purchased the Jeep but axels, tranny, transfercase, and engine
oil all must be changed. I also put a rebuilt Carter 2bbl carb on
there as the stock one had a faulty electric choke and the throttle
linkage would get stuck open. Replacing just the carb (and removing
the manual choke cable) gave me back about 20 HP, fixed a vacuum leak
(from between the carb and manifold, improved gas milage and operating
temps (it would run lean with the vacuum leak) and really started
my quest to make this run/function better than stock.
I also put on new air/fuel/oil filters, PCV valve, rubber fuel and
vacuum lines, and greased all the fittings underneath. This gave me
a good starting point and peace of mind knowing the Jeep was now in
good mechanical condition. These items I replaced were necessary,
but I did go over the entire vehicle.
The previous owner added the 3" body lift, 31" tires and American
Racing Gambler rims. He also put on a brush bar on the front chrome
bumper, both of which were going to be replaced. The chrome door latch
and windshield hinges were also added by the previous owner.
The first modification was to replace the stock shocks with 4 Rancho
RSX shocks. These are the self-adjusting version of their 9000 model
shock. I am very pleased with them. I also added tow hooks to the
front. Next on the list was adding the Jacobs Omni Magnum Ignition
system which included the computer/coil unit, a secondary trigger
and solid core 8.5mm plug wires. I installed new plugs with Jacob's
recommended gap. The entire installation maybe took 1 hour. The Jeep
gained definite torque improvements and improved MPG. I still have
an occasional miss at idle when warm that I was hoping would be cured,
but nope. (I'll figure it out though :)
The Jeep needed some new bumpers. Actually, it didn't even have a
rear bumper, and I don't like chrome front bumpers. I bought the rock
bumpers from www.thinkjeep.com with the Rubicon black finish. I got
the 50" up front and the 57" with 2" receiver in the back. That same
day I equipped the Jeep with BC fire extinguisher. I still like chrome,
so I added a chrome grill and light bezels.
So, it's November and the jeep now has a 2.5" ProComp suspension lift,
and the 3" body lift has been replaced with a 1" Daystar lift (finally).
I had to buy new Rancho RSX shocks and the Steel Horse tow hook bolts
have been replaced with Zinc bolts instead (since the SH bolts rust
after the first rain). I need a new picture now that the rig sits
much better, and the rock bumpers are really nice.
Well, a lot of time has gone by since I updated this page. I've done
a lot of work on the jeep in 2002. I sold off my 31's and rims to
a buddy that needed them and I replaced them with 33"x12.5's on some
new rims. I installed a 8000lb winch and a tomken winch bracket. Uncle
Sam was kind this year so I decided to start my frame-on restoration
project. Repainting was of course needed after 2.5 years of FL sun.
I wanted all the existing paint stripped off and new primer put on
bare metal. This would reveal all rust and "trouble" spots as well.
The windshield frame was rusting around the glass, the glass had several
small pits and needed replacing as well. I bought a brand new steel
windshield frame to be painted and have a new piece of glass mounted
with all new rubber mouldings. Lots of other parts and work was performed
during all this....
Here's a picture of the jeep in 2002 before I started tearing it down
for a frame-on restoration.
I started by removing everything on the jeep that wasn't going to
be painted. I also put back on the original tires/rims to avoid overspray
getting on my BFG's and rims.
The fender flares in the pictures here are fiberglass. I cracked the
right rear once when I stuffed the tire into the well. The flare cut
the tire in the process. Fiberglass flares had to go but the hardware
was rusted and covered with years of grime. I told the body shop once
they got the jeep to cut the flares off and throw them away.
Just about everything on the outside is now gone. I removed the glass
from the doors, all the key locks and door handles and weather stripping.
I had to duct tape the doors closed to keep them from flying open
when towed to the body shop.
The Jeep looks horrible, heh. I ended up cleaning and repainting the
grill infront of the radiator and the front part of the frame with
a gloss black rust preventative paint. The name escapes me but it's
in every autoparts store.
I will be replacing the carpet and working on some of the wiring and
other broken parts/leaks behind the dash so I ripped out the original
carpet and then the dash. You can see the door panels gone too. The
glass is still in there, thus the need for the window handle. All
these pics were taken the same day and show about 80% of the stuff
that was removed before send the heep to the body shop.
Here's the first pic I have of the jeep back from the body shop. I've
already started to put things back on before I realized I didn't have
a pic yet. You'll notice the windshield is missing. The glass was
placed into the frame after the jeep was flat towed back to me and
the entire thing was in my garage on the floor until the urethane
dried around the glass. When the body shop removed the original windshield
frame, there was considerable rust of the metal dash. I now understood
how the water was getting past the rubber cowl seal into the passenger
compartment. I found a donor YJ with very little rust and got the
entire dash assembly for $50. The dash pad and plastic parts were
gray which was fine because the new carpet was gray instead of the
original black. I disassembled the donor dash, sanded down and repainted
the metal dash. You have to pull the steering wheel to remove the
original dash and install the new one.
This pic shows the new dash, and carpet installed (bad lighting).
Everything around the cowl now looks brand new. All the rust is gone,
there's fresh paint on everything and the new rubber cowl seal just
arrived and the windshield frame is ready to be installed. I sanded
and repainted the cowl vent cover as well. Came out very nice. The
windshield hoops and hood catches are all brand new Kentrol equipment.
Much nicer than Steel Horse stuff I originally used that rusted after
the first rain. I had also replaced the chrome windshield brackets
with stock equipment that was sandblasted and painted with the jeep.
I found a passenger side bracket that accepts a side mirror and found
a new side mirror assembly for $10. Since I have full steel doors,
I lose my mirrors when the doors are removed. Having a right side
mirror was one of my new additions with this restore.
The jeep is about 85% complete. I've put the doors back together,
installed all new weather stripping around the doors and windows,
and replaced the chrome door paddles with new black paddles. At this
point I was driving the jeep again but still waiting on the Xenon
6.5" wide flares. I hadn't finished hooking up the stereo equipment
or antenna, but she was back on the road. The paint looks so good
in person, people were walking up to the jeep in the parking lots
to get a closer look. The body shop wet sanded the entire jeep after
painting, nice!
My only problem at this point (since I spent the last 3 months fixing
everything else, heh) was keeping it clean. In south FL, there's a
water sprinkler on somewhere 24/7 and driving through any water caused
the BFG's to throw up that water onto everything. Man what a pisser.
As soon as those fender flares arrive, I won't have to crawl through
water like a wuss anymore.
Here's the final product. Six months of work. The fender flares are
on finally and look and perform great. I bought some extended stainless
steel braided brake line for the front and during the install, I ended
up replacing the steel lines going to the master cylinder as well.
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