Austin's 98 TJ

[Austin O.]

Got both doors done and welded! They look kinda wonky in the picture because of the angle, but they fit in the door area perfectly on the jeep and are practically identical. I’m super happy. I’ll do hinges/latches in a couple weeks when I get back from my spring break and then paint everything with a black bedliner I think.

 

[Austin O.]

Got both doors on hinges today. Took some effort to get them lined up correctly so they swung open smoothly, but wasn’t too bad. Also got latches made for both sides, heading over to my grandfathers house in a bit to use his drill press for holes. As of right now I’m just gonna have a bolt drop through to keep it closed, but may try something spring loaded later on.

 

[FarFire70]

Got both doors on hinges today. Took some effort to get them lined up correctly so they swung open smoothly, but wasn’t too bad. Also got latches made for both sides, heading over to my grandfathers house in a bit to use his drill press for holes. As of right now I’m just gonna have a bolt drop through to keep it closed, but may try something spring loaded later on.

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Clever idea for the latch on a budget. A bolt will work but, when you mentioned that, I thought a next step up would be something like these (you'd need to look around for the right application but I just googled 'pin with spring-loaded ball bearing' for a reference product). Weld a little handle or solid metal ring, rather than the split ring.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08YYFLN4K/?tag=wranglerorg-20
Just an idea.

 

[Austin O.]

Clever idea for the latch on a budget. A bolt will work but, when you mentioned that, I thought a next step up would be something like these (you'd need to look around for the right application but I just googled 'pin with spring-loaded ball bearing' for a reference product). Weld a little handle or solid metal ring, rather than the split ring.

[URL]https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08YYFLN4K/?tag=wranglerorg-20[/URL]

Just an idea.

Great idea, thank you. I’ll probably try that out

 

[Austin O.]

Almost finished the doors. I was convinced by my brother that they still looked empty, so we added in another bar. The “latches” work and are tight, im happy about them. Next is to buy some mirrors, and then paint everything.

Also wasn’t planning on this, but randomly saw somone on eBay selling a bedrug kit for $100. I decided I would regret it if I didn’t buy, so that came today, and I put in the front portion of it.

 

[Austin O.]

Adjusted the latches on my doors so they don’t rattle, and then painted the doors. I used the black spray-on bedliner that rustoleum sells at lowes. I’m very happy with the finish.

Mirrors are coming tomorrow from Amazon, I’m unsure if I want to bolt them to the windshield hinge bracket where they are meant to go, or if I want to just weld them onto the doors. I’ll figure that out though tomorrow I guess.

 

[Austin O.]

Had to drive about 2 hours total today to and from work, (I referee soccer games, had 6 today, 7 yesterday) Did that in my moms old minivan since it was all highway and didn’t feel like driving the tj with half doors on the highway. But when I got home, I wanted to go for a drive in the tj. Fortunately, my mirrors came a couple days ago, so I got those on and drove with the tube doors for the first time. I love them!

 

[Austin O.]

Painted fender flares today. (Except for the little ones at the front since I ran out of time). Used the same rustoleum bed liner that I used for the tube doors

 

[NashvilleTJ]

Painted fender flares today. (Except for the little ones at the front since I ran out of time). Used the same rustoleum bed liner that I used for the tube doors

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Looks good. Nice work.

 

[Austin O.]

Looks good. Nice work.

Thank you!

 

[Austin O.]

Just got done with the little flare thingys. Also did a bunch of random other small maintenance stuff

And made a spot for my doors in the garage

 

[Austin O.]

Built rock sliders today! Nothing super fancy since I don’t plan to use them for anything super fancy. Just there for protection. All I need to do is paint them and then bolt them on tomorrow. They bolt on through the side of the tub, and will also tie in underneath to the torque boxes. I know the pictures aren’t the best, I was in a bit of a rush today to try and finish them in just one day.

 

[Austin O.]

Tuesday night around 11pm, I finished getting my homemade sliders made, painted, and put on the tj.

I ran out of paint, so I still need to put another coat on at some point.

And then yesterday, I went to uwharrie with a buddy of mine for the first time. Doing that was one of the most fun things I’ve done in a very long time, and I realized that my little tj is way more capable than I thought it was. Good thing I got the rock sliders done, because I did end up hitting some rocks there.

When I first got there, a couple guys in some big Jeeps (compared to mine, at least…) offered to show me around. That’s and xj on 37s and yj on 33s

I’m super thankful for that, it made me feel much more comfortable being there knowing that someone would be close by to help should I have any problems.

After a little while, I let them go, and I continued to explore. Ended up doing Dutch John (which was difficult, but much more doable than I had anticipated. A hill climb on there was the highlight of the trip), wolf den, slab pile, and a bit of Rocky Mountain loop. All in all, super fun, the drive to get there is a bit long, but I most definitely expect to be going back. Some photos below…

 

[MountaineerTom]

Tuesday night around 11pm, I finished getting my homemade sliders made, painted, and put on the tj.

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I ran out of paint, so I still need to put another coat on at some point.

And then yesterday, I went to uwharrie with a buddy of mine for the first time. Doing that was one of the most fun things I’ve done in a very long time, and I realized that my little tj is way more capable than I thought it was. Good thing I got the rock sliders done, because I did end up hitting some rocks there.

When I first got there, a couple guys in some big Jeeps (compared to mine, at least…) offered to show me around. That’s and xj on 37s and yj on 33s

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I’m super thankful for that, it made me feel much more comfortable being there knowing that someone would be close by to help should I have any problems.

After a little while, I let them go, and I continued to explore. Ended up doing Dutch John (which was difficult, but much more doable than I had anticipated. A hill climb on there was the highlight of the trip), wolf den, slab pile, and a bit of Rocky Mountain loop. All in all, super fun, the drive to get there is a bit long, but I most definitely expect to be going back. Some photos below…

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I really like Dutch John. It's got a little bit of everything.

 

[NashvilleTJ]

Tuesday night around 11pm, I finished getting my homemade sliders made, painted, and put on the tj.

View attachment 425791

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I ran out of paint, so I still need to put another coat on at some point.

And then yesterday, I went to uwharrie with a buddy of mine for the first time. Doing that was one of the most fun things I’ve done in a very long time, and I realized that my little tj is way more capable than I thought it was. Good thing I got the rock sliders done, because I did end up hitting some rocks there.

When I first got there, a couple guys in some big Jeeps (compared to mine, at least…) offered to show me around. That’s and xj on 37s and yj on 33s

View attachment 425796

I’m super thankful for that, it made me feel much more comfortable being there knowing that someone would be close by to help should I have any problems.

After a little while, I let them go, and I continued to explore. Ended up doing Dutch John (which was difficult, but much more doable than I had anticipated. A hill climb on there was the highlight of the trip), wolf den, slab pile, and a bit of Rocky Mountain loop. All in all, super fun, the drive to get there is a bit long, but I most definitely expect to be going back. Some photos below…

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Awesome trip, Dude. Any rocks in the park?

 

[Austin O.]

I really like Dutch John. It's got a little bit of everything.

That, it did. I was initially pretty sure that I wasn't going to do it because I was concerned about the capability of my Jeep, but when I got there, the guys that I met said it might be a bit tough for me, but that I would be totally fine. Ended up trying it, and the tj had no problems at all. I loved it.

 

[Austin O.]

Awesome trip, Dude. Any rocks in the park?

Yeah, theres a few .... I wasnt gonna try anything too crazy though my first time being there. That first pic is the biggest rock obstacle that I went on, if you dont count the poser rock:

 

[Austin O.]

On Friday, I decided I would finally try to figure out exactly where my small oil drips from the front of the engine were coming from. It had always looked like the front of the oil pan gasket, but I was sure that I had installed it perfectly last time and didn’t feel like doing it again for such a small leak. I looked a bit closer and was pretty sure that it was actually coming from above the oil pan. Assuming it was the crankshaft seal thingy, I took apart the front of the jeep and pulled the harmonic balancer pulley off. I found this:

It looks like a previous owner had tried to get the pulley off by prying it with a screwdriver and ended up popping through the timing cover. Today, I got the cover off and found that there’s actually two holes…

While I’ve got this apart, I decided a new timing chain isn’t a bad idea. So a new to me (used oem) cover, gasket kit, and timing chain assembly are all supposed to come on Friday.

Additionally, when taking off this cover, I destroyed the oil pan gasket and just decided to buy a new one instead of doing the small replacement thingy that comes in the Felpro timing gasket kit. So I took the oil pan out today, and while I was at it, got the tailpipe of the exhaust out so I can paint it black sometime soon if I find the time.

I hate to see the jeep sit in the garage for a full week, but it’s for good.

I sold my old smittybilt soft top on Friday and bought a bestop trektop nx which should come on Wednesday. I’m beyond excited about that. Also got daystar .75” spacers from a fellow forum member which I’ll get installed this week on the front end to level out a bit more what the winch weighed down. It’ll be a busy week, but fortunately I only have two half-days at school for exams, otherwise, I’m done for the year.

 

[MountaineerTom]

On Friday, I decided I would finally try to figure out exactly where my small oil drips from the front of the engine were coming from. It had always looked like the front of the oil pan gasket, but I was sure that I had installed it perfectly last time and didn’t feel like doing it again for such a small leak. I looked a bit closer and was pretty sure that it was actually coming from above the oil pan. Assuming it was the crankshaft seal thingy, I took apart the front of the jeep and pulled the harmonic balancer pulley off. I found this:

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It looks like a previous owner had tried to get the pulley off by prying it with a screwdriver and ended up popping through the timing cover. Today, I got the cover off and found that there’s actually two holes…

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While I’ve got this apart, I decided a new timing chain isn’t a bad idea. So a new to me (used oem) cover, gasket kit, and timing chain assembly are all supposed to come on Friday.

Additionally, when taking off this cover, I destroyed the oil pan gasket and just decided to buy a new one instead of doing the small replacement thingy that comes in the Felpro timing gasket kit. So I took the oil pan out today, and while I was at it, got the tailpipe of the exhaust out so I can paint it black sometime soon if I find the time.

View attachment 428491

I hate to see the jeep sit in the garage for a full week, but it’s for good.

I sold my old smittybilt soft top on Friday and bought a bestop trektop nx which should come on Wednesday. I’m beyond excited about that. Also got daystar .75” spacers from a fellow forum member which I’ll get installed this week on the front end to level out a bit more what the winch weighed down. It’ll be a busy week, but fortunately I only have two half-days at school for exams, otherwise, I’m done for the year.

Good find on the cover.

Do you plan on changing the chain guide while you're in there? I would, if it were me. I'm not sure, but it may come with your chain.

 

[Austin O.]

Good find on the cover.

Do you plan on changing the chain guide while you're in there? I would, if it were me. I'm not sure, but it may come with your chain.

Should be coming with my chain I think… I’ll check that. If not, I’ll buy one, no reason not to