Colorado JP #29

[COBrian]

Well she is home, and the work has commenced!!! First on the agenda, get her cleaned up, and fully mechanically up to snuff!

She is a 1993 Wrangler Sahara. She has been repainted, with the original color. As there is some paint flaking off on the steps, revealing the same color underneath. Also instead of getting new sahara stickers, there is a circle around the logo, where you can tell it was taped off....

So other than original color it's got all the matching goodies.

The owner lied through his teeth to me, but then again considering the stupid things they did to the jeep maybe he was just a few screws loose...

For instance: Tell me the exact quality of the seats? "They are great there is just a small rip in the driver seat" Well you can see the photo that aint small.. Also passanger seat has 3 cigarette burn holes in it, and the back seat has an area the same size as the rip in the driver seat that is frayed through right in the very middle... Dog perhaps????

Instance #2: Can I drive it back to denver? "Sure it just needs a tune up, maybe a fuel filter. " It was backfiring and stalling/dying on me within 10 miles, I made it about 50 miles before she couldn't be coaxed any further... So after a tow and repair, which included an assortment of ailments, and 6 hours of labor, then she was running nice. Although she is still leaking a little trans fluid... and maybe some oil.

Anyway here are some pics. I have already removed all the green carpet so I can give the car a complete clean. It was filthy! All the leather pockets, except the one on the back of the passenger seat (which looks like a dog chewed on the corner of it) are in good shape.

Ac needs a leak test and fill, if I care to do so, but top off.. why bother???

Other annoyances. So it came with a Rally top, which is an aftermarket hard top, with HARD half upper doors. Sweet! I figure these will be nice in winter. But the idiots painted the top which was a spice hard top to ugly brown!!!! so I get to paint that back, or maybe Paint it sand beige... hmmmmm choices. I figure in summer topless all the time, and winter the rally top. I may not buy a soft top for a while. That way I can pay for other stuff first. All the seals/rubber are pretty much in need to replacement. The driver seat belt has a cut in it that goes about 1/4 the way across the belt... so I'll be replacing that.. No reason to chance safety.

[Boomerjinks]

Sounds like it got Maacoed? Did it have the pinstriping or evidence of where the pinstriping was?

I have a tear in my drivers seat as well, plus I'm interested in finding a solution for re-greening the seats, as they are faded to an almost cobalt blue. We should find an upholstery shop and try to get a deal!

Also, stating again, like the third time, you, me and AJ should try to find a good paint shop that will do the job for about $3k and just get them all done at the same time so our stripes are at the same angle, are the same width, etc etc.

What part of Denver are you in?

[COBrian]

Castle Rock, so opposite side of town from you guys. Though I don't mind treking over for a meet up. Yes I totally think it was maaco'd and not a decent maaco, but a $299. job. We all know (or should) that paint is all about the prep, and prep takes time and time =$$.

Yeah I agree on both paint jobs and upholstery shop. You would think if we can show them we will be doing 3 vehicles and multiple seats we could get some cooperation on pricing... Any leads from coloradomoviecars on either one?

That would really make it awesome when we show up together, having them all identical.

[Boomerjinks]

We're pretty central, actually. I'm off of 25 and Hampden, so not a terrible distance

I'm still researching paint shops.

[COBrian]

Well, I took #29 over to the emissions center this afternoon, and just barely failed NOX by 5%. So she is in the shop, getting a full look over, AC service, and checking for leaks, as I had a drop of trans fluid on the garage floor this morning. The gas cap failed the pressure test, whether that is related to failing NOX or not, I'm certainly not an expert.

I was thinking about taking her by an upholstery shop and getting a double quote... Fix existing issues in seats and Full replacement seats... maybe that knowledge can help someone else thinking of having seat work done.

[Boomerjinks]

Full upholstery has been done, and it's a good fix but the result is a far cry from the original seats. I'd re-dye my seats and lose the tan stitching before I got them entirely re-done

[COBrian]

Well my buffer $$ to go toward paint has been eaten up by mechanicals.... Wow did this jeep have issues.. Sad as these 4.0 engines are really supposed to be bullet proof IF you take care of them... obviously that's not what these people did. I had all sorts of seals and vacuum leaks that needed addressing (ie read lack of maintenance) They were also in a non-emission area and they had busted out all the catalytic converter internals, so needed that replaced. All the tie rod ends were getting loose, and Me no Likey "death wobble". Oh and the kicker.. the valve seals were falling apart, with their metal rings floating around; lucky they didn't work into the engine itself and cost me an engine.

Very relieved I have an awesome mechanic.

I'll just have to stash away some more $$ again every paycheck to build up my paint $$ again. Or do more of the prep work myself.

On the good side: I cleaned the carpets up, and they look almost new. With the carpets out, I scrubbed then with a hard bristle brush. Then sprayed them to saturated wet, and scrubbed both front and backs with the hard bristle brush again. Then used the shop vac on them to help dry them faster as well as get anything else out of them, that has been in them for the last 20 years.

I didn't get a chance to put them back in yet, and I need to see if HD or lowes has some well nuts to replace the "trunk" as 2 of the well nuts for the trunk weren't there to being with and 2 more are in very bad shape, so might as well replace them all while I have the chance.

[Boomerjinks]

Unless your guy is cutting you a KILLER deal, the two best shops in Denver are Edgewater 4x4 and Auto Know How. They are both unbelievably cheap, honest, and dependable.

[Railtech]

Good luck with your 29. I went thru similar issues with mine but got mine squared away pretty quickly. All my vaccum lines were cobbled together and it needed a few new sensors and a throttle body cleaning. It passes GA emissions just fine now. As yours did my gas cap failed but that was a $8 solution.

I sourced most of my parts online, which was a good deal. I have had about 6 4.0 jeeps over the last 20 years in various states of disrepair so I haven't had to send to a mechanic yet .

Is yours an auto? I have replaced several seals in mine but still have a few leaks. I'll probably rebuild mine here in the next 12 months, not since it wont shift just to replace the other 20 year old seals that are failing. My 4.0 is still leak free with 133k miles.

Watch your gas gauge, mine is empty when it shows about 3/8 of a tank. There is a little plastic bowl in the tank I need to remove that is a known YJ problem. The sending unit arm gets hung up on a cup inside the fuel tank. Just need to drop mine and fix that. Every time I plan on doing it my wife ends up filling it up and I am not dropping a full fuel tank .

Good luck, if I can be of any assistance let me know.

Those nuts you need are called nutserts and you can source at your Jeep dealer for a few bucks.

I bet your death wobble is a result of bad ball joints. I had another YJ with the same issue, not a hard job just time consuming. Worn rod ends usually just make the steering a little more sloppy not usually DW issues. Check your unit bearings too, those are another "tend to wear out" item.

I'd suggest sourcing a YJ shop manual. There really isn't too much a person who can turn a wrench couldn't do at home with hand tools. Might save some $ on the back end.

[COBrian]

Yeah, I am fine with maintenance, or the 1 or 2 issues, but when I first buy a car I rely on a good mechanic to catch all the things I don't even know to look for, plus when you have 7 different things getting fixed I don't want to spend that many weekends wrenching. The one thing I didn't have them fix was the slow leak in the rear main crank seal. Thats one I can keep my eye on, and while it is a day to drop the oil pan and get back there to replace it, the parts are cheap it is the time that gets you on that one, So I'll save about $600 on that repair doing it myself. So I'll be setting aside some weekend to do that in the not too distant future, until then just checking the oil regularly.. but it is really slow leak, so far 4 tanks of gas and I am still in the full section of the dipstick.

Mine is a standard, woohoo! so much fun to drive! I didn't get to the point of death wobble, but it was pretty loose in the front. SO much nicer now. My wife was like WOW! this is smooth, when I took her on a drive after getting it back. Now she wants to drive it to work tomorrow.

I just accidentally let it get to the top of the red, went to fill up and put 17.5 gallons in it, so my gas gauge appears to be reading pretty spot on.

Weird the exact same part on my Jeep Grand Wagoneers was called a wellnut. This was my Grand Wagoneer. I miss this truck So nice! but dealing with a carberator and emissions as well as vapor lock with either heat (and ethanol gas which makes it worse) or altitude just got too much for me to deal with and I moved on. She was a 91, Final Year of these big beasts!