Now for some paint

After all the mechanical work we have done we decided to put some time into the aesthetics of the Jeep. The first order of business was the rims. The boys decided that we should paint them black. So we removed the wheels, sanded off all the rust, masked off the tires and painted them gloss black. Then we masked off and painted the centre caps and finally Jason wanted some red striping on them, so he applied some pin strips to the wheels.

Next was the very faded fender flares. In order to paint the flares we had to mask off the entire Jeep to avoid any overspray. Once the Jeep was masked and the flares well cleaned they were painted with Krylon Fusion for Plastic paint. The results were very good.

The last piece of this appearance phase was the front bumper. We took it off, hammered, twisted and welded it straight. Then cleaned off the rust, removed the remaining "marshmellow" and painted it flat black (Plasticote T2 to be exact).

And finally the before and after photo's...

Continued.........

I seemed to have had a little issue posting pic's, but here are the old and new tranny mount photo's along with some of the tranny and transfer case oils.

After the trany and transfer case fluids were done we started on the diff's. Jason got right in there and removed both diff covers, helped clean off the old gasket material, then helped clean a paint the covers. He also reinstalled both.

Next we'll tell you about the wheels.............

Maintenence - Lube etc.

Well after a nice little break, it was time to do a few maintenence items on the Jeep. First of all we stripped 3 of the 6 "nutserts" in the frame holding the transmission skidplate (crossmember), when we did the brake line work. So in order to cut, air chisel and grind the old ones out we needed to jack up the Jeep and remove the skid plate. Once it was off, we decided to clean off the rust, grease and dirt and paint it up. Looks better doesn't it?















Turns out we had to order new nutserts which took a week. So, while the Jeep was in the air we decided to change the transfer case oil, the transmission oil, and the gear lube in both the front and rear differentials. We also replaced the transmission mount since the old one had completely separated. In the picture you can see the gap between the rubber and the metal piece...they shoud be attached. Hopefully this will elimitate some of the clunking when you move off.

Safety: Take Three

After fixing the hole in the exhaust I went back to CT on Thursday May 27 for what I thought would be the final check. The mechanic lifted the Jeep up looked around with the engine running, then started looking toward the middle and rear of the exhaust system. Finally he called me out to explain that the leak was mostly gone, however he found a small tear in the main exhaust pipe where one of the hangers was welded on. He said he could not safety it with that hole, but suggest I could get an exhaust shop to weld it quickly. Although I had already used up my alloted re-check for the safety, the mechanic implied if I came back soon he would check it again.

So, home we went to try and weld it ourselves, with the nice Lincoln Electric welder I purchased in Jan, in anticipation of welding on the Jeep. At home we discovered that the rip was on top of the skid plate that holds up the transmission. So the skid plate had to come off first. Jason helped me jack up the Jeep and secure it on stands, then secure the tranny on a stand, then remove the large skid plate from the tranny and frame. Once the rip was cleaned up I got out the welder. Only then did I realize the welder cord and gun were 3' too short. Damm. Being 31c outside and under the gun for time, I was not happy. We had to reinstall the skid place, lower the vehicle, back it up 4', rejack it up, remove skid plate etc. Then I had a chance to weld and it turned out quite nice. Finished welding, put the Jeep back together and headed back to CT.

Finally the mechanic was happy and passed the Jeep. The next day I transfered the ownership, got a new plate and insurance. Then the boys and I tried out the Jeep on a real ride to Charles' and then to the YMCA to pick up Jason from TKD.

Now I'm taking a little break before we tackle the broken nutserts on the frame........

Safety: Take Two

After the first safety attempt we were told we had 10 days to fix the issues and have the Jeep retested at no cost. By Wed May 19 we had finished the jobs, so I planned to bring the Jeep back after work on May 20. I called Canadian Tire that afternoon to ensure the mechanic that originally checked the vehicle would be there at 6pm and they said he would. After work I went home got the Jeep and headed to CT. When I got there they said the mechanic had left early for the weekend and would not be back until Wed May 26, well past the 10 day limit. After a few diplomatic words, they assured me that the time window would be extended until the next Wednesday.

On May 26 I tried again, this time the mechanic was there. After checking over the Jeep he liked the u-joints and the brake lines, but said there was still an exhaust leak, that he thught may be the exhaust manifold gasket.

So home I went, @7pm, and right away ripped into the exhaust manifold with the help of Jonathon. We pulled the fuel line, air intake, intake manifold with injectors, then the exhaust manifold off.

Once the exhaust manifold was off we inspected it and found a large 3/4" machined hole in it with a steel plate that was suppose to cover it. Unfortunately, one of the 2 bolts that secures the cover was missing and the cover had rotated off of the hole, leaving a gaping hole in the exhaust. Ah ha.....the reason for the exhaust leak. I sealed the cover (photo) then the next day picked up a new gasket and took the afternoon off work to reinstall the intake and exhaust. Once it was all buttoned up I headed back to CT for the Safey I was sure to get....

Exhaust leak

The last item on the failed safety report was an exhaust leak, which sounded like it was coming from the engine compartment. So I checked the exhaust manifold bolts and found a few that were quite loose. I thought this must be the issue, and dutifully tighened them all. When the truck was started it sounded quieter, or so I thought, but I was going to take it back for another safety attempt anyway.

Brake lines

Excellent post Jason. That was some work changing those very rusted u-joints. Here is a shot of the new u-joints in place.


Once we were done with the u-joints it was on to the brake lines. Jeep didn't put much effort into rust control on the TJ and it shows underneath. The brake lines were so rusted they were ~3 times the original diameter in some spots. It took one evening to remove all the brake lines, working hard to maintain their shape as they would be the template for the new lines.

Here is a photo of some of the removed lines.

Although the brake line flaring tool broke on the first night, we picked up a new die, 25' of brake tube, various fittings, and a new flex line to the rear axle. We meticulously bent and flared each line, then carefully worked them back into place. this took an entire night. At the end of that night I tried to loosed the bleed screws at each wheel as this was required to bleed the system. Well despite careful nursing of the rusted screws, I ended up snapping one on the rear wheel cylinder. Great. So guess what another job to do. The next day I replaced both wheel cylinders. Finally with Jonathon sitting in the drivers seat pumping the brakes, I went through ~2L of brake fluid bleeding the system. While doing this I managed to find all of the loose fittings, by following the trails of leaking brake fluid. :-) Then we were done.