Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ engine mounts

Preparing 98 TJ For Life Outdoors

deeptread

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Original poster
Joined
Feb 5, 2023
Messages
39
Location
CT and NH
My clean '98 TJ with 130k miles, garage kept for most of its life will be handed to my son as he moves to WV next month. It will stay outside his apt. It is a CT Jeep, and have taken care of surface rust on the frame, cleaned out the inside frame and coated the inside with eastwood. I have not drilled weep holes. Body is great. Hardtop is great. I'm looking for suggestions on how to best set it up for the best defense until he saves up for his own Jeep and it comes back home, or he buys it from me eventually. Sad to see it go! TIA.
 
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Remove the carpet and drain plugs. It will probably leak water and become disgusting inside.

Excellent idea. The hardtop isn't exactly water tight I've found. I should spend some of the remaining time addressing this as there's a leak on driver's side by the front of the door.
 
Remove the carpet and drain plugs. It will probably leak water and become disgusting inside.

Seconding this; I have replaced what feels like miles of weatherstripping and I still sometimes get little puddles in my footwells after a heavy rain; the drain plugs on my Armorlite kinda just live open these days.

I might be inclined to go over all the little brackets and things that are at all exposed to the weather; those will oxidize fast outside if they're not securely painted; I end up pulling a bunch of little stuff pretty much yearly to clean it/remove any rust or damage, and repaint it/reinstall, especially fasteners. He's not going to really be dealing with the rust belt nightmare that is road salt, which is a pretty big win.
 
My clean '98 TJ with 130k miles, garage kept for most of its life will be handed to my son as he moves to WV next month. It will stay outside his apt. It is a CT Jeep, and have taken care of surface rust on the frame, cleaned out the inside frame and coated the inside with eastwood. I have not drilled weep holes. Body is great. Hardtop is great. I'm looking for suggestions on how to best set it up for the best defense until he saves up for his own Jeep and it comes back home, or he buys it from me eventually. Sad to see it go! TIA.

Now that you have a rust free frame in the rust belt, I’d keep it that way by spraying Fluid Film inside the frame and in key places.
 
Carry several rolls of quarters in the console, and visit the local do it yourself car wash often. Takes 5 minutes to clean the undercarriage.
 
Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ engine mounts