97 TJ Heep to Zombie Killing Jeep Build by north50

8 minute(s) of a 286 minute read

more progress made today. Not alot done but it seems more like a Jeep now

Grille bolted on

Headlights & Right Fender with inner fender pieces mounted

Flare, turn signals, front bumper.

Wasn't really feeling the front bumper but have some things in mind to make it more to my liking.

Starting to get close to driving it which will be a first really. When I bought it the axles were shot and then when I got the good axles under it I only drove it in the parking lot. Which reminds me I need to get this bad boy registered and a plate on it. Just one more thing to add to the list of about another 100 things to do to the Jeep. Think I'll mount the license plate down by the gas tank skid now that all the bolt holes at the stock location and all the bolt holes in the tail gate have been filled.

Also started looking into a roof rack and think I will be adding a Gobi Ranger rack at some point. Looks very nice and starting to see this jeep as a camping family expedition type vehicle and the other Jeep to have the stinger and flat fenders setup for steep departure trail riding.

6-1-2012

Worked on getting the new wheels mounted up today and the put on the Jeep. Had to buy new slim line lug nuts but other than that it went very smooth.

Out with the old in with the new 

Had sent the full doors to the body shop to be touched up and so dug out the half doors I painted with bed linersome time ago, look decent on the white Jeep I think.

Also picked up a new ignition and ignition electric plug thing so now the radio works and the instrument cluster. I do have a check engine light on but will deal with that later. For now the Jeep won't start, I think I ran it out of gas so will be trying that tomm.

6-5-2012

So I've been putting things back together little by little and have had one problem after another. I replaced the ignition tumbler and ignition electronic sensor that sends the information that the key is turned. Also did the very slight twist of the prongs in the back of the gauge cluster so I now have gauges that work. Fixed the radio ground so I now have music. But despite all my efforts i can not get the engine to turn over. It just cranks and cranks but won't fire. So after some diag time this evening (and having already replaced the CPS) I believe I'm in need of a new fuel pump. Good news is I was going to drop the tank anyway to do the Rokmen GTS and had thought while it was down would be a good time to replace the fuel pump, now that's what I'm going to do. I swear one of these days I will get to drive this ****ing Jeep

6-12-2012

So Exhaust came in, went with a MBRP standard cat back exhaust. The banks exhaust on the Jeep is shot and needed changed out. Will also be replacing the down pipe and cat with a high flow version. 

No big hurry to install the exhaust though because the Jeep still will not fire. I have fuel at the rail and 49 psi of pressure, starter fluid in the intake doesn't fire it either so thinking it can't be the fuel pump. I have replaced the plugs, wires, cap and rotor as well as the coil and have spark. Battery tested out ok, fuses all check out ok. Really starting to get pissed at this POS. When I bought it the one thing it had going for it was the engine fired right up and ran great. I mean the body and paint were crap and the interior was a mess, axles were junk but the motor was strong. Now in my infinite wisdom to redo the whole damn Jeep I have f'ed something up and now the one good attribute it had is it's only down fall. The kicker is when the tow truck dropped it at the house I connected the battery and it fired right up so I could drive it up my driveway into the garage and that was with no grille, fenders, interior, seats anything. Sorry for the rant but it's this or burn that mf'er to the ground collect my insurance money and move on

6-16-2012

Well I've been finishing all the small details that you really don't notice in the pictures. But finishing the roll cageinstall and speaker bar. Also working through removing an old alarm and what is a sorry excuse for wiring through out the Jeep. The fog lights had been cut off but the wires that remained were only twisted into the main wires on the harness and covered with electrical tape. The PO doesn't seem to have been, well to put it nicely very smart. but after every evening spent tinkering with it I come away with a better Jeep and closer to a useable Jeep.

Setup some cheap fog lights and the winch to see how it looks. Also beginning to start thinking about the V8 Jeep again and want to hear that motor rumble so hope to finish this one soon and move onto the V8.

6-17-2012

A little more done tonight, started going through and double checking all bolts. Also got the rear seat belts put in. I had found a new set for cheap but they had wound up almost all the way. A quick search told me you can pull on them all you want but if they are not lined up ( straight up like in the position they sit when mounted) they would not release. Pulled straight up and bingo work like new. I removed the flasher relay from under the dash by the steering column and removed the little piece of foil since I have LED tail lights in and the turn signals now blink at a normal speed but still no tail lights. So I need to take a look at how I wired them up. Would like to have everything buttoned up and ship it back to work so I can get some help diagnosing the no start issue. Took my battery in today and it was in need of a charge but tested ok. It seems like something is drawing current from the battery and draining it. But that isn't my no start issue. Glad i bought this Jeep for next to nothing because it is sucking money out of my pocket on a regular basis now.

I have a JKS adj. front track bar I could use in it but it requires drilling out the chassis mount for the larger diameter mounting bolt. Does anyone have or know of a good adj. track bar that does not have this requirement?

Also still have the JKS adj rear track bar I never mounted that I will be using for the white Jeep. Along with the Rokmen GTS and rear bumper but most likely will be tackling these extras after I get it running.