Building Homer (2005 TJ Build Thread)

Pulled MORryde from the basement and went through the hardware. Looks like I'll have replacements for the rust OEM hardware for the tire carrier.

Next up on the paint will be that hardware and the @Fluxor bumper corners. Since they're smaller parts, we'll go on a flat surface to avoid missing a spot and still getting overspray everywhere... [I can learn a lesson...]

Got the clear laid down today, even if the humidity was higher than desired. Went down well and looks great now that it's dry.

Pics immediately after hitting the clear, so it still looks a little 'blotchy' while spots were drying.

Pulled out the MORryde and the hardware needs paint, so that'll be part of tomorrow's project (if the heat wave doesn't create terrible humidity where I would doubt the paint laying down right...).

Also going to try to sand the new front bumper and get it's steel corner armor painted.

Neighbor is bringing his motorcycle by to help him out with replacing the exhaust so it's a good excuse to already be out in the garage working on the Jeep's parts.

Went outside thinking I'd clean up some parts and get painting of parts... Well, that went sideways quick.

First I was thinking to clean off this residue on the front bumper corners.



But I figured, since I'm cleaning off steel parts, I'll bring up the rocker guards. They just need to have the gasket pulled off and a couple rust spots hit with the wire wheel.



The gasket material was recommended at the time by Rokmen for the guard area that mates to the body. But I'm ready to go metal-to-metal.

So off came the gasket (which had a sticky backing) and it came off surprisingly well.



Pulled off in one piece on each guard and only left a few spots of the glue on the guard which came off with a little pulling or rubbing it.

It's a rubber material so I'm going to see if it cleans up and keep it as stock materials in the garage.

Of course it wasn't going to be that easy... And mostly due to my poor memory.

I'd forgotten the rust here on the driver side, just in front of the rear wheel well. The gasket clearly held in moisture.





Not so bad as it's mostly surface rust. Plenty of metal here so I'll hit it with the wire wheel and flap disk to clean it up. (You can also see the leftover glue that was easy to clean off)

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Where my memory really got me in altering today's quick plan to getting to paint — I forgot I needed to trim the front of each guard before they cam be install. At least I remembered before I started painting...

So I decided to jump into the rocker guard project.

I cut off a 24" section of a box to use as a template. Since I didn't want to ruin the longer template as I decided how I wanted the guard to wrap the front fender, I used a smaller piece to test around the flare.

Came up with this:


Transferred it to the longer template and, using the mounting holes on the tub and rocker guard, I sprayed on the new profile.







Then, out came the cut-off wheel and flap disc grinders to remove the metal coated in white.

Starting with the passenger side, it took a first cut and a second trim to get it where I wanted it.







Once I had the front dialed in, I had to drill to clear the nutsert that I'd installed for the GenRight rear flares.

I put some copper anti-seize on the head of the nutsert to use as marking paint and then jacked the rocker guard back into place, pushing on the rocker guard at the nutsert.

Worked like a charm to mark the spot so I could drill it out:



Jeep looks like it's supposed to with the rocker guard in place!



Still plenty of prep before it's ready for paint.

Here's the rusted bolt/nutsert from that earlier picture where the gasket held the moisture.



Hit it with a flap disc so I could test fit the rocker guard.



Still plenty of work to be done on the body. But that's another project for another day.

Front was the same as the driver side - first cut and then a second trim to get it where I wanted it.





I did the same in the rear by using the copper anti-seize as marking pant but missed it slightly so needed to round out the hole slightly.



Driver side looks good!



That was a wrap for the day but good progress. Took longer that I'd have thought but I went slow to measure twice, cut once (and then trim to finish).

Hit all the MORryde hardware with self-etching primer, matte black, and clear matte.



Otherwise busy working on organizing the garage:

Work Bench & Garage Version 2

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May have some time over the 4th weekend for some more work but July will be busy with lots of family activities so updates may be intermittent....

Reposting a couple updates due to the forum server needing to go to a backup last night after I posted these.

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It's been a busy summer so Saturday was the first time I had a chance to work on the Jeep.

Decided to go after paint & bodywork since I needed to be able to jump into the house at a moment's notice to help my wife with the twins. Plus, I need the tub cleaned up before the rocker guards get installed.

Started by addressed some dots caused by artillery fungus. We had this in out last batch of mulch from a couple years ago. If you aren't familiar (I wasn't until we got it in the mulch) - artillery fungus is the fucking worst! Essentially, it develops little bulbs on the top of the mulch with burst and spready black dots of fungus over a huge area.

This was the hood. Probably had 30-50 on the hood and doors.



My removal method (for anyone unlucky enough to get this stuff in your life) - Fill spray bottle with diluted and use that along with a microcloth cloth over your fingernail. Takes about 3-8 rubs with the cloth-covered nail to remove them.

You'll smell like a salt & vinegar chip afterwards.

Looking much better:



On the 06 WK we had, I had to remove at least 500+ of the dots. It was a tedious process.

Once we realized we had the fungus (and it was in all out landscaping from that season's mulch. We had the landscaper remove the mulch and we put down river rocks to not deal with this ever again.

Next I hand washed it with dish soap to remove any films and old wax since I plan to clay bar, paint touchup, polish, & wax.

Looks good after getting its first wash in 4+ years... (most of that time spent in the garage under the knife).

Next used iron remove for the first time. This stuff is pretty cool to watch work. You can see all the rust coming out that is embedded in the paint (and some deeper bleeding from the rusty parts of the body).











Driver side headlight is out because I had to remove it to rethread one of the holes for the fender during install and couldn't get to it from the outside. When I re-installed the headlight, it was cockeyed. Realized today that I need an E-Socket to get everything tight on the nut & stud.

Smallest I had was E6 so I ordered another set with smaller e-sockets. It'll be here Monday.

Now for the bad news from the day, all focused on the driver door.

When I went to put on the doors and pull the Jeep out of the garage, I discovered I had finally developed the ubiquitous panel crack...



That'll be fixed when I address the second issue on the door.

When I used the iron remover, the door was closed but I kept having a purple drip from the doorway, even after multiple flush with the hose.

I knew I had some surface rust on the bottom of the door that I figured was from occasional contact with the garage concrete.

Looks like the cancer is way worse than I was tracking...





While it would make sense to address this in the summer when the doors are off, I won't have the cycles to get after this until the winter at the earliest. May hit it with some rustoleum to try to slow the growth.

I had broken off this plastic clip on the clockspring when I removed the steering wheel to get the new leather installed on the wheel.




I put the clockspring back in hoping it wouldn't been an issue sine there isn't anywhere for it to go once the wheel is buttoned up.

Well, seems that's not accurate as I have an audible scrapping from the clockspring when turning. I suspect there is enough flex that the internal are wearing.

So I've reached out to a couple online sources that list Mopar availability. If unavailable, I'll likely go with Dorman.

Ordered touch-up paint from Automotive Touchup to repair rock chips and wear spots in the paint (such as the hood bumpers rubbing on the grill). I'll use a small soft brush to apply these.

If they lay down well, I'll order larger pint or quarters for the bigger upcoming sprays. Will definitely need to practice using a HVLP gun before I tackle those repairs.



Also orders some small sanding blocks (size of a finger) to use on the rock chip repairs. Mini-Blocks

Rickyd said:

I've used these before with some success depending on how rusty the chip is. It spreads out underneath unfortunately
https://www.amazon.com/Spot-Sanding-Paint-Repair-Truck/dp/B0BX4NT5ZQ/?tag=wranglerorg-20

Click to expand...

I have used similar products. They don't address the 'crater' effect on the paint so they stop the rusting (if applied early enough on the chip or if the primer isn't destroy, too). The chipper/grinder on the cap is good for quick/short-term repair. I want to dig in for long life.

But I find they create almost an 'old pimple pop' effect because they leave the jagged edge of the original rock impact.

I have cancer all over (my neglect) so I want to build confidence on the small corrections to build to the bigger cancer spots. I have a lot of body work to get after...



I saw all that and... I hate body work. But I'm trying my best to learn (garage+ quality) body work...

Mike_H said:

That door is trash. Doors rust from the inside out, just like our frames. They fold the outer panel over the inner, without any place for water to drain and it traps the water there. You can try to cut it and weld in new steel. I've done it on a set of half doors...but I warped the outer sheet metal, so they are now trail doors...or I need to armor them up so they are flat...and they can be trail doors that still look decent enough to go for ice cream on the weekend.

Click to expand...

I suspect that's the case but I'll still dig into it to see if it can be salvaged.

I'll keep an eye out on marketplace I guess as a backup option. Still want to test into it too see how bad the cancer is. My previous attempts at rust repairs weren't great due to how ingrained the rust had grown.

Welp -That didn't go as planned, but went about how I expected for these type of bolts when they rust-up...

I was trying to remove these 3 bolts for the headlight.



E4 was the right size needed:



I had sprayed them with Kroil Silicone penetration oil overnight. The top two came out fairly easy.

The bottom - not so much...





Ugh. I figured I might end up here but thought I'd try with the e-sockets.

Crown replacement mounting bracket gets decent reviews but they all mention it's not as stiff as OEM, so the light can vibrate at times. I do not want to deal with that...

So I picked this OEM one up off eBay for $42 shipped.

Laid down 3 layers of painters tape in hopes it would protect if I slipped with cut off wheel.



Dremel made quick work to remove the stud that stripped the E-Torx.