JP22 Build Thread - Willamette Valley Oregon

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Solace
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JP22 Build Thread - Willamette Valley Oregon

Post by Solace » 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!
Attachments
2.5L 95 YJ SE Interior.jpg
2.5L 95 YJ SE.jpg

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Dwight
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Re: JP22 Build Thread - Willamette Valley Oregon

Post by Dwight » April 1st, 2019, 5:41 pm

Solace,

First off, welcome to the forums. Be sure to apply for the JPMP Facebook "Workshop" ground as well if you use FB. Thanks for laying everything out there with a detailed post.

To address a few of your items:

Paint - Try Single Source for your paint. I was referred to them from Jurassic_Vic (he's on his third JP Jeep build) and they were very cost friendly. You can pay for them to ship the materials, or if you have one locally, even better. I had one locally and paid about $380 for all the paint (Sand beige & Ford Performance Red), primer, reducer, and hardeners. One thing to note, make sure you get the right finish for the paint. You don't want a super glossy Jeep.

Decals - I'm not too sure who kccaprice is, but if you look at the JPMP Reference Page, I would use 401 Graphics. Kevin makes quality decals that are 100% screen accurate, and he ships the product fast! Got my decals (Jurassic Park & Ramsey Winch) within a few days of ordering. I was originally going to go with JP15 for my build but I figured if i was going for screen accuracy, I should probably pick a screen used number.

Carpet - The carpet I don't think is too hard to find in the correct green color, and I don't think its too expensive. A few people on the JPMP Workshop Facebook page have posted about sources to find the carpet kits.

Light Bar - Again, going off the Reference Page, I used Jamieson's Fabrications and they delivered a 100% accurate product in less than a week. Highly recommend them!

Door Panels - Jurassic_Vic makes near perfect Sahara Door Pouches, and has a great how to guide to turn any Jeep door panel into a Sahara Door panel. Step-by-step instructions on everything, and even how to paint them.

One of the guys in the FB Workshop group recently repainted his tan dash to the spice gray and it looks really good. I know you said you'd be happy with a 95% solution, but honestly, it might not be as hard as you think to get 100%. Just take your time, do your research, and have fun with it. It can come along a lot faster than you think as long as you stay on it.

Let me know if you have any questions, need any advice, or whatever. We are all here to help!

Dwight

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Solace
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Re: JP22 Build Thread - Willamette Valley Oregon

Post by Solace » April 1st, 2019, 6:10 pm

Dwight wrote:Solace,

First off, welcome to the forums. Be sure to apply for the JPMP Facebook "Workshop" ground as well if you use FB. Thanks for laying everything out there with a detailed post.

To address a few of your items:

Paint - Try Single Source for your paint. I was referred to them from Jurassic_Vic (he's on his third JP Jeep build) and they were very cost friendly. You can pay for them to ship the materials, or if you have one locally, even better. I had one locally and paid about $380 for all the paint (Sand beige & Ford Performance Red), primer, reducer, and hardeners. One thing to note, make sure you get the right finish for the paint. You don't want a super glossy Jeep.

Decals - I'm not too sure who kccaprice is, but if you look at the JPMP Reference Page, I would use 401 Graphics. Kevin makes quality decals that are 100% screen accurate, and he ships the product fast! Got my decals (Jurassic Park & Ramsey Winch) within a few days of ordering. I was originally going to go with JP15 for my build but I figured if i was going for screen accuracy, I should probably pick a screen used number.

Carpet - The carpet I don't think is too hard to find in the correct green color, and I don't think its too expensive. A few people on the JPMP Workshop Facebook page have posted about sources to find the carpet kits.

Light Bar - Again, going off the Reference Page, I used Jamieson's Fabrications and they delivered a 100% accurate product in less than a week. Highly recommend them!

Door Panels - Jurassic_Vic makes near perfect Sahara Door Pouches, and has a great how to guide to turn any Jeep door panel into a Sahara Door panel. Step-by-step instructions on everything, and even how to paint them.

One of the guys in the FB Workshop group recently repainted his tan dash to the spice gray and it looks really good. I know you said you'd be happy with a 95% solution, but honestly, it might not be as hard as you think to get 100%. Just take your time, do your research, and have fun with it. It can come along a lot faster than you think as long as you stay on it.

Let me know if you have any questions, need any advice, or whatever. We are all here to help!

Dwight
Hey Dwight, thanks for the warm welcome, though like I mentioned in my introduction thread, I've been lurking here since 2009, haha. I think chronologically, I'm the 11th member of this forum! It's been interesting to follow the ups and downs :) The JPMP Admins have been sitting on my "application" for a good week. Hoping they are appeased by my photos sometime soon, would be SUPER nice to get access to the workshop!

Just to reply to your helpful responses:

Paint: Thank you so much! This is something that's been super hard to tackle since my local shops don't really seem interested in selling JUST paint. I'll check out Single Source.

Decals: "kccaprice" is just Kevin's name here on the JP Jeep Forum :) I do intend to order form his site, 401 Graphics. His original thread is here -> http://www.jurassicparkjeep.com/forum/v ... 32&t=19469

Carpet: I found several green options, but it's something I'll tackle if/when I can gather more of the correct interior pieces. That all kind of hinges on whether or not I can get my hands on a set of seats one day.

Light bar: Totally! I've seen their work and it looks fantastic. I'm just making it as a long term item since I already have the LED bar for now.

Door Panels: I've seen! Same thing as the carpet though, I"ll tackle them if/when I get the correct seats. I think there's still a "For Sale" thread open for pre-made door pouches.

Dashboard: That's awesome to know!!!! I wish so much that I could be following peoples hard work and creative solutions BEFORE buying the Jeep lol. Fingers crossed the JPMP guys process my application so I can start participating. Honestly that's one of the reasons I value the forum so much. It has always open to everyone and it's WAY easier to search than FB groups. Gives people who can't start just yet a way of tracking all the developments within the community. Oh well, the times change and I guess I have to as well! :) I'm just happy there's still a major gathering place for fans to do this kind of stuff, even if it's not open to everyone anymore.

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JP22 Build Thread - Willamette Valley Oregon

Post by jp41 » April 1st, 2019, 9:40 pm

Welcome to the chaos! You're off to a good start

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

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ratrace427
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Re: JP22 Build Thread - Willamette Valley Oregon

Post by ratrace427 » April 2nd, 2019, 5:20 am

The rear fog lights were mentioned by me one time before but with the forum dying no one talks about the new discovery. They are not KC hilites. Dick Cepek is the correct brand..crazy but i really dont think you will be getting those right. I would consider them hens teeth and i would buy a set of new KCs. Do a search and you should find screen shots of the dick cepeks. I have my ebay feed setup to notify me of any that come up for sale and i have never seen a set of Cepek but people are finding them somehow an ebay.
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Solace
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Re: JP22 Build Thread - Willamette Valley Oregon

Post by Solace » April 2nd, 2019, 10:30 am

ratrace427 wrote:The rear fog lights were mentioned by me one time before but with the forum dying no one talks about the new discovery. They are not KC hilites. Dick Cepek is the correct brand..crazy but i really dont think you will be getting those right. I would consider them hens teeth and i would buy a set of new KCs. Do a search and you should find screen shots of the dick cepeks. I have my ebay feed setup to notify me of any that come up for sale and i have never seen a set of Cepek but people are finding them somehow an ebay.
Ah, gotcha. Oh well,a boy can dream! That's awesome that you were able to narrow it down to a more specific version

As a teeny tiny update, the original driver's side seat belt clasp failed at some point. The previous owner took the rear bench seat clasp and just kinda bolted it down zip tied it in place :roll:

I tracked down a replacement but THIS STUPID TORX T50 WON'T COME OUT :x So far I've only used WD-40 and a hammer to encourage it. Next I step will be trying a better penetrating oil. If that doesn't work, I've heard heating it up with a map gas torch will help unbind stuff like Loctite. If that doesn't work, then maybe hammer drill (I'd start with this if I had one... But also I don't want to strip out that Torx). If THAT doesn't work, then it might be time to just weld a nut to the stupid thing and use a real wrench. The problem with a TORX head is that there's no depth, so your socket wrench is always tilting as you try to apply pressure. So you have to use your other hand to keep in lined up.

Vent session over. I"ll let you guys know what ultimately works! Fingers crossed that I just need a better penetrating oil, lol.
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20180812_132434.jpg
20190331_184231.jpg

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ratrace427
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Re: JP22 Build Thread - Willamette Valley Oregon

Post by ratrace427 » April 2nd, 2019, 11:42 am

I didn't discover the cepek rear fog lights and idk who did. no one said anything on here and I was blown away that it was common knowledge to everyone but the forum members. kinda seems like the knowledge is flowing backwards now.

a impact drill will get it.. are you soaking it from the bottom also
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ratrace427
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Re: JP22 Build Thread - Willamette Valley Oregon

Post by ratrace427 » April 2nd, 2019, 11:46 am

also... put valve grinding compound on the end of the bit for a damn good bite. I little mud works as a substitute.
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Solace
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Re: JP22 Build Thread - Willamette Valley Oregon

Post by Solace » April 2nd, 2019, 1:12 pm

ratrace427 wrote:also... put valve grinding compound on the end of the bit for a damn good bite. I little mud works as a substitute.
I'll give it a go this weekend! And yes, I had sprayed WD-40 on the underside of the screw as well. It's just very stubborn.

Another small update. Here are photos of the DUMB design of my rear window panel, which is a Rampage model 68217. As you can see, there's no block on either the window side or the top side of the zipper track. This means there's nothing to prevent the slider from simply falling off. I suppose I shouldn't assume that the soft top was always like this, perhaps there WAS a block and it just broke or fell off. It just doesn't look like it was ever there to begin with.
Soft Top Zipper 1.jpg
Soft Top Zipper 2.jpg
The rampage rep I was speaking to hasn't replied since I gave them the model number via email, but their initial suggestion was replacing the rear window, which is clearly not necessary at this stage.

To reiterate, this is a "Vislon" style zipper, this just means the teeth are flat and made from molded plastic. The slider is the #10 size. My only indication of this sizing was a tiny "10" embossed on the back of the OTHER zipper sliders. Otherwise, it seems zipper slider sizing changes depending on the type of zipper you have.

I went ahead and purchased this slider from amazon -> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005I5JA2G/

My hopes are high based on the reviews :D My only unknown is whether I should have bought locking or non-locking variant. From what I've read, a zipper can be identified as locking if there are metal pins between the teeth, which I don't see on mine.

If it works out, I'll get some of the interior stuff done while I wait on paint quotes. This will mainly consist of removing all the interior fixtures (Seats, seat belts, shifter cover, etc.), giving the tub a good scrubbing, laying in the new carpet, cutting holes IN the carpet for everything to screw back into, and reinstalling everything, including that stupid seat that's giving me a hard time. As a note that I will later elaborate on, I intend to secure much of the carpeting with durable adhesive 3M Velcro strips. This is to help make the tub area of the Jeep more serviceable.

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Re: JP22 Build Thread - Willamette Valley Oregon

Post by RustyRodder » April 2nd, 2019, 8:55 pm

Already digging this! For stuck bolts, I always have the same solution- fix it with fire!
JP25- Jurassic Park Maintenance, 1988 Jeep Comanche
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