JP22 Build Thread - Willamette Valley Oregon
Posted: April 1st, 2019, 4:11 pm
Hey Friends!
Probably goes without saying, but I've been obsessing over these Jeeps since I was a kid. Grew up watching the movies, and fell in love all over again when I finally read the novels as a teen. I was only 19 when I joined forum back in 2009, but I was enthusiastic about following people's builds and watching as people were researching and discovering details. I put the idea of doing this project on the back burner while I focused on LIFE things (education, house, car... Etc.). Nearly 10 years later, I finally fit the criteria of an 20-something-year-old with a bit of disposable income to throw at a project like this.
ANYWAYS. I finally managed to make it to step 0: Get a YJ. It's a little rough, but overall it could be worse. I found this 1995 2.5L SE locally in Oregon for about $2900, which felt like a steal (assuming there isn't some crazy mechanical problem I haven't noticed in the 8 months I've had it).
Here are my To-Do items!
To-Do - Short Term
1. Clean: Inside and out! The top is dirty, the seats are dirty, the dash is dirty, the roll bar padding is dirty.... You get the idea.
2. Get it Watertight: A SUPREMELY dumb issue, but my Rampage soft top has a zipper on the rear window that doesn't have a block to prevent the slider form just sliding right off. Original owner lost it, I'm just waiting on a replacement. And for anyone who needs to know in the future, a Rampage soft top for a yj uses a #10 non-locking vislon slider. It took me WAY to long to track down that info.
4. Sand/Paint/Body work: I intend to do this on my own. Obviously it needs to go from green to Sand Beige. The only quote I've got so far was from a local paint supplier. They are asking $700 per gallon, if they match it to PPG LJ1. Which is obviously insane. So I'm still looking around. Anyone in Oregon/Washington feel free to hit me with advice on where to source the paint! The body shops I've talked to don't wan to just sell paint, they just want me to pay them to paint it. :p
5. Get Side Steps: Already found a set on CL for about $60 up in WA. Got lucky on that one!
6. Get stock wheels: Again, already got a set of 5 off CL for about $125 total. Lucky again!
7. Get decal kit: I think I"m set on JP22. Just need to put the order in with kccaprice!
8. Get Whip Antenna
9. Replace Carpet: Going with Spice to match my current interior, please don't stab me! Not screen accurate, but accurate enough for me, lol.
10. Bring Existing Parts up to Parr: Cracked windshield, broken driver's side seat belt, broken nylon strap for driver's side door, broken stereo, missing zipper for rear window, cracked headlight bezel, and rusty hardware.
To-Do - Long Term
3. Get Sahara Seats (Ditch existing seats/covers)
4. Get Sahara fog lights (Ditch existing LED fogs)
5. Get custom light bar (Ditch existing LED light bar)
6. Replace soft panels (Ditch existing, but OLD Rampage top)
7. Get Ramsey Winch/custom tow hooks
8. Get/reproduce Sahara Interior Fixtures (center console, door panels, dashboard.... Maybe carpet again if I go that far. I'm probably leaving it Spice though)
I think that covers most of it! For those detail oriented folks, I know, I feel your pain. This has a LONG ways to go before it is screen accurate. I hope to hash out the details over time. Well... Maybe not a 4L engine swap... Or full interior replacement but who knows. "Screen accuracy" is likely something I'll never reach, simply because I will personally feel satisfied with getting it 95% there.
THINGS THAT WILL BE WRONG FOR A LONG TIME... Either because there's a cost/availability issue that I'm not able/willing to accommodate or because I simply don't intend to make a particular change:
1. Seats: I'm just putting covers on them for now. Sahara seats are impossible to find for a reasonable price locally.
2. Light bar/fogs: Simply put, I kinda like the look of these LED lights it came with.
3. Spice interior: I'm in no rush to replace the door panels and dash. Plus I personally like Spice over black/green (blasphemous I know)
4. Rear Bumper: Not pictured just yet, but there's a chunky after market bumper on mine. Again, I just kinda like it!
5. Winch: Just one of those details that's hard to track down. I'll be taking my time
6. Rear KC Hilites: Another hard to find detail. I DO have a set of random orange fogs that are SIMILAR that I might use. Again, I"m not SUPER concerned with total screen accuracy.
With that, I'll attach a couple photos, but expect more details in the coming days/weeks!
Probably goes without saying, but I've been obsessing over these Jeeps since I was a kid. Grew up watching the movies, and fell in love all over again when I finally read the novels as a teen. I was only 19 when I joined forum back in 2009, but I was enthusiastic about following people's builds and watching as people were researching and discovering details. I put the idea of doing this project on the back burner while I focused on LIFE things (education, house, car... Etc.). Nearly 10 years later, I finally fit the criteria of an 20-something-year-old with a bit of disposable income to throw at a project like this.
ANYWAYS. I finally managed to make it to step 0: Get a YJ. It's a little rough, but overall it could be worse. I found this 1995 2.5L SE locally in Oregon for about $2900, which felt like a steal (assuming there isn't some crazy mechanical problem I haven't noticed in the 8 months I've had it).
Here are my To-Do items!
To-Do - Short Term
1. Clean: Inside and out! The top is dirty, the seats are dirty, the dash is dirty, the roll bar padding is dirty.... You get the idea.
2. Get it Watertight: A SUPREMELY dumb issue, but my Rampage soft top has a zipper on the rear window that doesn't have a block to prevent the slider form just sliding right off. Original owner lost it, I'm just waiting on a replacement. And for anyone who needs to know in the future, a Rampage soft top for a yj uses a #10 non-locking vislon slider. It took me WAY to long to track down that info.
4. Sand/Paint/Body work: I intend to do this on my own. Obviously it needs to go from green to Sand Beige. The only quote I've got so far was from a local paint supplier. They are asking $700 per gallon, if they match it to PPG LJ1. Which is obviously insane. So I'm still looking around. Anyone in Oregon/Washington feel free to hit me with advice on where to source the paint! The body shops I've talked to don't wan to just sell paint, they just want me to pay them to paint it. :p
5. Get Side Steps: Already found a set on CL for about $60 up in WA. Got lucky on that one!
6. Get stock wheels: Again, already got a set of 5 off CL for about $125 total. Lucky again!
7. Get decal kit: I think I"m set on JP22. Just need to put the order in with kccaprice!
8. Get Whip Antenna
9. Replace Carpet: Going with Spice to match my current interior, please don't stab me! Not screen accurate, but accurate enough for me, lol.
10. Bring Existing Parts up to Parr: Cracked windshield, broken driver's side seat belt, broken nylon strap for driver's side door, broken stereo, missing zipper for rear window, cracked headlight bezel, and rusty hardware.
To-Do - Long Term
3. Get Sahara Seats (Ditch existing seats/covers)
4. Get Sahara fog lights (Ditch existing LED fogs)
5. Get custom light bar (Ditch existing LED light bar)
6. Replace soft panels (Ditch existing, but OLD Rampage top)
7. Get Ramsey Winch/custom tow hooks
8. Get/reproduce Sahara Interior Fixtures (center console, door panels, dashboard.... Maybe carpet again if I go that far. I'm probably leaving it Spice though)
I think that covers most of it! For those detail oriented folks, I know, I feel your pain. This has a LONG ways to go before it is screen accurate. I hope to hash out the details over time. Well... Maybe not a 4L engine swap... Or full interior replacement but who knows. "Screen accuracy" is likely something I'll never reach, simply because I will personally feel satisfied with getting it 95% there.
THINGS THAT WILL BE WRONG FOR A LONG TIME... Either because there's a cost/availability issue that I'm not able/willing to accommodate or because I simply don't intend to make a particular change:
1. Seats: I'm just putting covers on them for now. Sahara seats are impossible to find for a reasonable price locally.
2. Light bar/fogs: Simply put, I kinda like the look of these LED lights it came with.
3. Spice interior: I'm in no rush to replace the door panels and dash. Plus I personally like Spice over black/green (blasphemous I know)
4. Rear Bumper: Not pictured just yet, but there's a chunky after market bumper on mine. Again, I just kinda like it!
5. Winch: Just one of those details that's hard to track down. I'll be taking my time
6. Rear KC Hilites: Another hard to find detail. I DO have a set of random orange fogs that are SIMILAR that I might use. Again, I"m not SUPER concerned with total screen accuracy.
With that, I'll attach a couple photos, but expect more details in the coming days/weeks!