First Wrangler, 2004 Yacht Colored

[MattTJ04]

I have found great value in forums in general for all of my vehicles. When I found the WranglerTJForum I was so impressed and relieved. I bought my first TJ off Facebook marketplace for a steal. It had obvious age-related wear items and the expected rust. The good I found in it was the frame and powertrain. It has a 4.0 with 5 speed manual transmission. I couldn't ask for more but oh, there's more. It came with an excellent service record and the frame had been reinforced professionally where it needed it. The color on Facebook market placed looked faded yellow or dirty white but it didn't stop me from looking. I'm glad I saw it in person because it is Tan/Champagne which, I am told was color matched to the previous owners yacht. Cool right?

I have completed a lot of work already and plan to do much more so follow along if you want but this is also going to be a way for me to keep track of what I have done.

 

[Chris]

Post some photos when you get a chance. I can see the photo in your signature but it's small. I want to see some higher res photos!

 

[MattTJ04]

First, after I bought my first TJ I drove it home and parked it in order to get it ready to pass inspection. The biggest concern was the rot in the passenger corner of the cab. It was rusted through so I bought some 16ga steel and shaped it the best I could and welded in place.

I ended up just patching it the best I could to get it inspected and plan on replacing the floor pan down the road. Yes, I understand the roll cage is attached to rusty swiss cheese.

The other Items to get it inspected was:
1.) The horn didn't work - Blown fuse (I was worried I was going to need to take the steering wheel apart)
2.) Cracked driverside mirror - Replaced the glass only with replacement found on ebay
3.) Rear seatbelts missing (female end) - found on ebay

I was worried I was going to find some catastrophic problem during inspection, but all was good!

 

[MattTJ04]

Here are some photos of the day I bought it. It was 17 degrees out so it was a good test of cold start up and heat function (more on that later)