PO did What?

[BajaEdition]

do i really want to get in to this? i am looking for my first jeep
he@@ yes i love it looking at a rusty for 700 now lol:drool:

yes you do want this
nothing will make you prouder than once you start driving it and it gets stares, owws, ahh and such
and when finished, and you decide you will never sell it, you are hooked for life.
Cjs do that to you, they become part of the family as memories of fun times with family and friends are made in them.

 

[W7NB]

My current CJ was a repo, so I got no stories from the PO, just a jeep with a really nice body and a lot of cool stuff on it that would hardly get out of the driveway. When wound up it ran ok and went in a straight line, so I figured what the heck.

Turns out the PRIOR PO lived in AZ and was a jeep nut, took great care of it. Then he swapped it for a newer jeep - I was able to talk with him after a little research and he was like WTF did the moron do to my jeep?

It was lifted 4" and had 33's, but in doing so the brake lines were too short, so the PO just unbolted them from the frame and left them hang. Driveline angle seemed unimportant, so the u-joints were thrashed in no time. The headlights only worked on low, the turn signals did not work and the heater worked on one speed - high.

Oh, and did I mention the aborted nutter job using a 500 CFM racing Holley that drowned the poor thing? How about the nutter job using twist wrap and electrical tape?

Good news was, the stereo worked!

 

[LongHorn]

My current CJ was a repo, so I got no stories from the PO, just a jeep with a really nice body and a lot of cool stuff on it that would hardly get out of the driveway. When wound up it ran ok and went in a straight line, so I figured what the heck.

Turns out the PRIOR PO lived in AZ and was a jeep nut, took great care of it. Then he swapped it for a newer jeep - I was able to talk with him after a little research and he was like WTF did the moron do to my jeep?

It was lifted 4" and had 33's, but in doing so the break lines were too short, so the PO just unbolted them from the frame and left them hang. Driveline angle seemed unimportant, so the u-joints were thrashed in no time. The headlights only worked on low, the turn signals did not work and the heater worked on one speed - high.

Oh, and did I mention the aborted nutter job using a 500 CFM racing Holley that drowned the poor thing? How about the nutter job using twist wrap and electrical tape?

Good news was, the stereo worked!

Of coarse, that is the important thing!

 

[BajaEdition]

Stories like this sometimes make me shake with fear when I see some tech questions. I see guys who are looking for the cheapest way to do this or that with no idea about how much other things need to be changed because they will be effected by the change. Axle changes are the worst. they have no idea how much it is going to cost, just that they got a DXX housing for AMC 150 dollars and want to put it on the Jeep, soon they find they need a regear and the backing plates from the old brakes do not fit, oh and the brake lines are now to short, did I mention if you hit a small bump you can hear the drive shaft trying to go through the T case. And now they end up running one set of rims to match the back bolt pattern and one set for the front.
Not to mention engine swaps, how many jeep projects get sold in the middle of a V8 swap or a few hundred miles afterword?
Sometimes things look so easy, but the total cost can get huge and take longer than most imagined.

 

[Old Dog]

Stories like this sometimes make me shake with fear when I see some tech questions. I see guys who are looking for the cheapest way to do this or that with no idea about how much other things need to be changed because they will be effected by the change. Axle changes are the worst. they have no idea how much it is going to cost, just that they got a DXX housing for AMC 150 dollars and want to put it on the Jeep, soon they find they need a regear and the backing plates from the old brakes do not fit, oh and the brake lines are now to short, did I mention if you hit a small bump you can hear the drive shaft trying to go through the T case. And now they end up running one set of rims to match the back bolt pattern and one set for the front.
Not to mention engine swaps, how many jeep projects get sold in the middle of a V8 swap or a few hundred miles afterword?
Sometimes things look so easy, but the total cost can get huge and take longer than most imagined.

Yep, people just don't have any idea what they are getting into when they start swaping in non stock parts. they read some slick mag. and say I have to have that.

 

[LongHorn]

I've swapped Ford, Chevy & AMC V8's into Jeeps of various years.
I've even swapped a Ford 4 banger into a Jeep.
Granted they each have their own issues to work out.
I try & find a cheap clapped out old Jeep with a solid body & frame.
Then try to fix all the factory shortcuts & mistakes.

I will agree, you should not try to do a swap over the weekend on your daily driver. Though if you take your time, think out the process & try to do it right.
You can have a Jeep that's more reliable than stock.
That the parts are cheaper & easier to find than stock.
And fit's your personal needs better than stock.

 

[IOPort51]

Murphy's 3rd law "Nothing is ever as easy as it first appears."

Stories like this sometimes make me shake with fear when I see some tech questions. I see guys who are looking for the cheapest way to do this or that with no idea about how much other things need to be changed because they will be effected by the change. Axle changes are the worst. they have no idea how much it is going to cost, just that they got a DXX housing for AMC 150 dollars and want to put it on the Jeep, soon they find they need a regear and the backing plates from the old brakes do not fit, oh and the brake lines are now to short, did I mention if you hit a small bump you can hear the drive shaft trying to go through the T case. And now they end up running one set of rims to match the back bolt pattern and one set for the front.
Not to mention engine swaps, how many jeep projects get sold in the middle of a V8 swap or a few hundred miles afterword?
Sometimes things look so easy, but the total cost can get huge and take longer than most imagined.

 

[IOPort51]

Horn; 65% of the population goes out to buy a car and ends up buying the radio and /or the video screen on the back of the seat. I will not waste time explaining the difference between yourself and that 65%.
Yes, you can have an absolutely incredible ride or you can have a recurring add in CL with a slowly descending price. We should be grateful, thats the used parts supply.

I've swapped Ford, Chevy & AMC V8's into Jeeps of various years.
I've even swapped a Ford 4 banger into a Jeep.
Granted they each have their own issues to work out.
I try & find a cheap clapped out old Jeep with a solid body & frame.
Then try to fix all the factory shortcuts & mistakes.

I will agree, you should not try to do a swap over the weekend on your daily driver. Though if you take your time, think out the process & try to do it right.
You can have a Jeep that's more reliable than stock.
That the parts are cheaper & easier to find than stock.
And fit's your personal needs better than stock.

 

[W7NB]

Yes, you can have an absolutely incredible ride or you can have a recurring add in CL with a slowly descending price. We should be grateful, thats the used parts supply.

AMEN!

I am working with a young gent who wanted a built XJ. He bought a very clean 99 to start with, and had purchased a lift kit (4") to go on it. Called me and admitted he had no idea where to start.

Fast forward 30 days. He now owns the 99 Cherokee with 89k miles that had been rolled that I found on CL for $750.00. So far we have used the axles (it had 4:10's for the tow package), the driveline (shop for lengthening) the power steering pump etc. That $750 jeep has probably donated $1000 worth of parts so far.

And I MAY be able to talk him out of the engine for my CJ....

 

[Old Dog]

I've swapped Ford, Chevy & AMC V8's into Jeeps of various years.
I've even swapped a Ford 4 banger into a Jeep.
Granted they each have their own issues to work out.
I try & find a cheap clapped out old Jeep with a solid body & frame.
Then try to fix all the factory shortcuts & mistakes.

I will agree, you should not try to do a swap over the weekend on your daily driver. Though if you take your time, think out the process & try to do it right.
You can have a Jeep that's more reliable than stock.
That the parts are cheaper & easier to find than stock.
And fit's your personal needs better than stock.

Longhorn, your right, if you have the fab skills and or the money. It's just that the average guy that goes out and buys a cj doesn't have either one.
They try to do something without knowing what they are getting themselfs into.

 

[BajaEdition]

I was just commenting on why a lot of POs do what they do.
Run a search on craigslist on cjs and there will be a lot of unfinished jeeps.
Why? People do not k now what it takes to build up a 25 year old vehicle, and it gets away from them.
Most of them make a short list and when the reality of cost and effort gets to tehm they give up and sell. They had no real plan, just a dream and never researched that dream.
My short list on my 67 would scare most builders, but I want a Sound mechanical system that will be able to do rock trails. Nothing fancy like the mags, infact I laugh at those big blingged out over built rigs they feature. They show up at events and the drivers usually are very inexperienced and do soft trails, or the beast are so modded they are top heavy and such, whatever, I want mine to be capable so my money does not go into the latest greatest mag articles but proven stuff, appearance is on the long list that somehow I get to very late, Paint and such is not important to me.
But then I do not drop a "project jeep" on some unexpected buyer. Stuff like those brake lines are some guy had money for springs, and not anything else. Or the knowledge of what he is getting into.
Check out craigslist for the project jeeps guys are selling and the story is told.

 

[dave123]

My Jeep came with a Crome Skull for a shift knob. The PO was so proud of it, that it was one of the pictures on CL. Did I mention the red eyes lit up? I took it off and let him keep it before leaving.

My last Jeep, someone had put bodo between the fenders and body (the line where the fenders bolt to the body under the windshield). I removed the bondo, fearing the worst, but they were both undamaged, and no rust. I guess the PO just did not want a gap there...

 

[brian613]

ha ha my 77 CJ5 had street sign floors all the way around but when i took them out there was very few rust holes he did more work getting those signs bent to the shape of the floors then it would have been to fix the holes in the first place.

just the other day the radiator started leaking. i have the skills to fix it but none of the tools so i opted to buy a new one. well as it turns out that radiator the PO put in was one he had just laying around and didnt even match the mount holes.

even better then that i went to service the breaks and the rear shoes didnt match... im talking about 2 different size drums and shoes on the same axle. the RR was smaller then the LR.... WTF!!!

 

[BajaEdition]

Wow, wonder how he got those to work, that is one of the best

 

[73CJ]

Some people should not own tools! Ever!

 

[CJKrawler]

You guys are making me feel better. When i brought mine home, there was galvanized tube that was welded from the roll bar down to the frame. The welds on the roll bar were really boogered up, but i knocked them off of the frame with a light tap of a hammer. The body was a hodge podge of sheet metal that had been screwed to the original body. When i pulled out the hundres or so sheetmetal screws, the body was flopping in the breeze. Good thing i was looking for a project.

 

[brian613]

Wow, wonder how he got those to work, that is one of the best

the entire break assembly on the right side was larger. frim backing plate to shoes springs adjuster and drum. what it turned out to be is there is 2 diff sizes of breaks for my year and i guess he replaced one side with what he had around. i dont know lol. but they work fine that way. im working on getting the parts i need to fix it correctly from a guy doing an axle swap on his CJ so till then im running it...

 

[cj5 guy]

ok here is my vent about the po of my 77 CJ5 . roll cage welded to the frame around the motor, full roll cage bolted to the frame thru holes he cut in the tub oh and not to mention the sweet sheet metal seats that the welded to the cage front and back, push button everthing that does nothing, went to put gas in it and spits gas everywhere from under the gas cap then i see the made the line to the tank out of old dryer exhaust hose, not to mention the poor man lift kit of stock leaf springs mounted over the axles with the u bolts just flipped over,and the poor man stearing linkage fix for the lift kit just bend the linkage so it goes around the axle, primer gray paint over the original paint, windshield strapped to the rollcage, plastic line from the oil pressure gauge resting on the headers(found out from the hole that melted in it on my way how and was spitting oil everywhere under the hood), figure 8 shifter on the tranny and rotating 6shooter for the Transfer Case , and dont forget the custom made rubber boot to go around the shifters... yeah she had one class act before but its ok im startin from the ground up to fix her right.

 

[LongHorn]

ok here is my vent about the po of my 77 CJ5 . roll cage welded to the frame around the motor, full roll cage bolted to the frame thru holes he cut in the tub oh and not to mention the sweet sheet metal seats that the welded to the cage front and back, push button everthing that does nothing, went to put gas in it and spits gas everywhere from under the gas cap then i see the made the line to the tank out of old dryer exhaust hose, not to mention the poor man lift kit of stock leaf springs mounted over the axles with the u bolts just flipped over,and the poor man stearing linkage fix for the lift kit just bend the linkage so it goes around the axle, primer gray paint over the original paint, windshield strapped to the rollcage, plastic line from the oil pressure gauge resting on the headers(found out from the hole that melted in it on my way how and was spitting oil everywhere under the hood), figure 8 shifter on the tranny and rotating 6shooter for the Transfer Case , and dont forget the custom made rubber boot to go around the shifters... yeah she had one class act before but its ok im startin from the ground up to fix her right.

WoW! Do you have pictures?

 

[Old Dog]

ok went to put gas in it and spits gas everywhere from under the gas cap then i see he made the line to the tank out of old dryer exhaust hose,.

Now there's one I've never seen before.:wasted: