Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ radiator

New Jeep owner from NSW Australia

Matt_M

New Member
Original poster
Joined
Aug 1, 2024
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1
Location
NSW, Australia
Hi,
PXL_20250218_040841943.RAW-01.COVER.jpg

I bought a 2000 Jeep Wrangler Sport (~170,000km/~110k miles) a year ago, it is only for offroad use on my property, I had a few plans for it but young children took priority, I've done a few minor things like get some used wheels and 31" tires for it (the previous owner took the wheels that were on it for a discount on the purchase price), remove a parking sensor system(?), CD stacker and the rear tyre carrier /rear centre light.

I still have a few jobs to do as it hasn't been meticulously maintained, but I've not yet found the time:
- I think the engine needs both the valve cover gasket and also the oil pan gasket done, I have heard about the main rear seal being a problem, are there any other things should look at or do while I have the valve cover and oil pan off? I've never rebuilt an engine and it isn't in the plans for now, but if there is some regular failure point I should tend to while I've got these off please let me know!
- rear diff pinion seal and rear diff cover seal as it is also leaking oil.
- remove the aftermarket car alarm
- most of the bushings need replacing, are polyurethane ones ok? I used polyurethane on an old mr2 I used to have and it made everything stiff, which was fine for a road legal go-kart, I'm not sure if rubber would more forgiving for offroad use.

For now, my goals are to tend to the maintenance needs and have a capable machine for maintaining trails and throwing a chainsaw/other tools into the back of it when I need to move around the property. I want to simplify it as much as possible. I'm on a steep forested block with rock gardens and doing gnarlier things later on is a possibility, but I don't plan on taking the vehicle to other destinations for recreational offroading. It has no registration or insurance.

It also has 3.07 gearing which is stupidly tall for my needs, so down the track a re-gear/lockers/lift and 33s might happen.

I was considering getting a SxS, but the jeep was much cheaper and had heavier duty running gear. I also thought the aftermarket for Jeep would be much bigger than for SxS.
 
Welcome to the forum! I own a SxS and the aftermarket world for it is massive, especially here in the U.S. My SxS is a ton of fun, but the Jeep is more fun in a different way.

I any case, welcome to the forum! You're definitely in the right place for any and all things TJ!
 
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Welcome to the forum! Glad to have you, there’s couple more of you mixed up folks on here. You know driving on the wrong side of the road and your toilets flush backwards. 🤣
 
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In general polyurethane is a bad choice for tj suspension bushings. Most people replace the whole arm with a stock replacement rather than trying to change bushings in them
 
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welcome to the forum and congrats on you TJ 🍻

we have a few Aussies and even a Kiwi here
 
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G'Day Matt - Sandgroper here. Lots of us Aussies on here and lots of help available. For my first piece of advice it would be this: Make sure you are 100% correct on what year TJ you have. Mine is a Sept '99 built TJ and is 100% a 99 model when it comes to parts. BUT, because in the year 2000 there was a glut of TJ's in Australia and sales for some reason took a big dip mine is registered as a 2001! When I started ordering parts from www.rockauto.com (tip #1.5 - price and shipping to Aus is excellent) I couldn't initially figure out why half of them didn't fit. If you search for parts on places like SuperCheapAuto by using your Rego it will only show you the parts applicable to to year it is registered for.

So do a VIN lookup to confirm your actual model. 97-98 , 99, 2000, 2001-2006 all have subtle differences especially with how the accessories and A/C are mounted and the ignition system. After a while you learn to anticipate what is different but initially it can be confusing.

My second tip is don't fix what isn't broke. These engines are damned near bullet proof as long as you don't overheat them and crack the head - they can run for years with awful piston slap, low oil pressure and assorted other dodgy issues. If you *do* decide to start fixing things as a preventative measure then doing an in-frame rebuild and changing out a bunch of stuff is a fun project and not as hard for a first timer as you might think. Unlikely to give you a massive power boost unless there is a major issue with your engine but its nice to know everything is fresh in there.

Lastly - reading between the lines of your intended use, there are a number of us running these as dedicated SXS shooting platforms on our farms and they absolutely rock! Got a heap of tips for how to set that up if you are interested...

Marcus
 
Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler TJ radiator