Refresh on my old YJ

[RedJeepster1]

Well it’s finally come time to do a refresh on my old YJ. This is a Jeep I bought in high school and built with my father on a budget. Lots of frame and body patches. Started life as an 88 YJ with a 4.2, BA10/5 trans and 21 spline np231. It had a skyjacker 2.5” lift from the 90’s, and lots of rust.  I think I paid 1500 for it in 2011. This is how I bought it. Rusty, rode terrible, no top or doors. But I loved it.

I spent about 9 months rehabbing the Jeep and painted it 2 weeks before high school graduation. We finished assembling it the night before and I was able to drive it to my high school graduation.

I wasn’t much of a welder back then but my father thought me a lot and this is how it looked when I drive it to graduation.

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[RedJeepster1]

Since then, I swapped axles to get lower gears, converted the Jeep to fuel injection and built a 4.6L stroker motor, which promptly blew up the ba10/5 transmission, 3 times. I finally sourced an AX-15 which held strong until I had some engine issues in college. I didn’t have the funds to fix the Jeep so it has sat since then.

Fast forward to 2023 I’m ready to have my summer cruiser back. I have a clean frame with no patches, Jeep width Currie 9” with 4.10 gears, open diff and disk brakes, hp30 front with 4.10’s, all new suspension. This is how the fresh frame is sitting currently, about ready for me to transfer the body over to mock up drivetrain.

2.5” old man emu light duty springs, 5” shackles, will be getting bilstein shocks. I have a rebuild kit for the AX15, an SYE for the 23 spline np231, and it’s sitting behind a low mileage stock 4.0. I am doing a 1” body lift and a tummy tuck which is why I need the body to sit on this frame temporarily. Once the trans mount is figured out I’ll be stripping the frame down and painting it.

The Jeep itself currently runs and moves around the driveway as it sits, but it needs brakes, a cooling system, a charging system, etc. the trans is sloppy, and the skid plate hangs way down. Looking forward to giving this old project a new lease on life. Maybe someday I’ll rebuild the stroker and swap that back in as well. But for now, I just want it back as a driver again.

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[redjeep]

Bring her back to life! 

I'm anxious to see how the old man emu springs ride.  The Red Jeep is so stiff it's uncomfortable to ride a bumpy trail.  Josh's YJ rides so much better.  I wish I knew what springs he had.  I couldn't find any markings on them.  I think there are YJ springs in it's future.

 

[JohnyPro]

That’s amazing! Nice work Jeremy!!

 

[YJScrounge]

Bring her back to life! 

I'm anxious to see how the old man emu springs ride.  The Red Jeep is so stiff it's uncomfortable to ride a bumpy trail.  Josh's YJ rides so much better.  I wish I knew what springs he had.  I couldn't find any markings on them.  I think there are YJ springs in it's future.

I bought a set of double-wraps from a guy for the Commando Build. If I recall 2" lift. Doubt I'll be using them if yer interested. I paid $80 for them.

 

[gorilla_skater]

That's a great story! Looking forward to seeing the progress.

 

[RedJeepster1]

Bring her back to life! 

I'm anxious to see how the old man emu springs ride.  The Red Jeep is so stiff it's uncomfortable to ride a bumpy trail.  Josh's YJ rides so much better.  I wish I knew what springs he had.  I couldn't find any markings on them.  I think there are YJ springs in it's future.

I can tell you already that they are much more flexible than my other springs. I can easily bounce this whole frame up and down with just by own body weight. The springs move very freely. I was never able to do that when I had my old frame as just a rolling chassis. Granted, I did weigh 30 or so lbs less then…


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[JeepinMaxx]

Looking forward to seeing the YJ rebuild!

 

[A new level]

I’d kill for some of my high school cars! Wicked cool you still have it

 

[JohnyPro]

I miss my 1986 Acura Legend… the rear springs popped through their rotted mounts in the unibody as it was towed out of the drive way in 2006…

 

[RedJeepster1]

You will never regret selling a car if you never sell any…

That being said, Emily constantly says how she misses her XJ. I would not be surprised if we end up with another clean, mostly stock one at some point.


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[JohnyPro]

That’s cool! There are parts of me that miss my stock-ish LJ just as a convertible ice cream getter/DD before big lift, big tires and gears. Completely satisfied with Syd as she sits now, but something about stock/almost stock that was really nice. I’ve thought about seeking out an old YJ on 29” tires and steelies someday.

 

[A new level]

Should have kept my JK stock…

 

[redjeep]

I wish my race Pinto was sitting in my back woods.  At least the engine.......

 

[RedJeepster1]

Frame patching has commenced on the new frame. It wasn’t perfect but it was pretty darn close…

There was a little rust under the steering box bracket, and one nut in the frame for the skid plate has a soft spot next to it.

Decided to attack the steering box area first since it would be the most pieces. Started by stripping the r frame and flipping it over so I could make a few small holes into one big hole.

I cut out and patched these two sides of the frame first, then cut a patch out of the outside of the frame once I had these two in place. I wanted to ensure I could keep the shape. Also needed to mark and drill a hole for the bracket, then weld a nut inside the frame.

All welded and ground with the bracket bolted back in place. Bracket is about half sand blasted. Wanted the crud off so I could fit it right to the frame. I’ll finish blasting and paint it down the road.

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[YJScrounge]

Nice!

 

[JeepinMaxx]

Looks Good!

 

[RedJeepster1]

Other than the radiator support, welding on the front of the frame is done. I’ll weld up the radiator support once the frame is flipped back over. Also got the two front spring hangers glued in place. Hoping to be prepping this frame for paint by this weekend. Other than the radiator support, I have one more patch to make and I need to remove the rear track bar mount. Front track bar mount is already in the scrap bin.

This is why the old spring hangers had to be cut off. One of these things is not like the other… whatever they hit, they hit it pretty hard.

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[JohnyPro]

Nice! And

 

[RedJeepster1]

Fixed the last soft spot on the frame. It was next to one of the skid plate welded nuts.

POR15 on any of the areas of the frame that had surface rust or pitting.

And lastly I blasted and painted all my leaf spring hardware so that after I paint the frame I can actually bolt the axles back under it.

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