Finally starting work on her

Area for General FSJ related chat.
Post Reply

Topic author
mas3773
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Nov 30, 2017 9:47 am
Location: Kansas City

Finally starting work on her

Post by mas3773 »

So, my brother picked up an '89 GW a few years back. Life, wife, kid, etc took over and I ended up buying it from him before he got a chance to dig into it much. It's been sitting for a couple years in my driveway while I figure out what to do with it (and lurking here).

Rust is fairly minor for being a Missouri/Kansas vehicle since new. Isolated to surface rust on the underside, rocker panels, fuel skid plate, and rear quarters. The previous owner included new panels with it.

Electrically, this thing has been hacked to death. Rat nests in the engine compartment, weak connections throughout, several drains I've yet to completely source, a random switch mounted in the dash to cut power to everything rear of the engine. Windows and locks barely work. Good fun.

Interior has a great rear seat, good passenger seat, driver's seat is split. Dash is hurting. Headliner is gone. Carpet isn't bad.

Exterior is not bad minus the rust and the vinyl. A bit of a crumple in the passenger side front quarter. Some work and a paint and it'll be great.

Engine starts and runs - 130k miles or there abouts. The transmission though slips bad. Sometimes it can get rolling other times, it's gonna stay where it is. Transfer case works as far as I can tell with the transmission issues.

So, after all the time it's been sitting, I've been trying to figure out exactly what route I want to go with it. Seems I decided far enough to go ahead and order more in parts than the initial cost of the vehicle. Up to this point, I've only spent money on new door lock actuators (which I probably didn't need), a hood release, and new tires (cheap 235s to let it roll instead of the dry rotted ones it had).

So, my end goal is to turn this into a fun daily driver/camping trip rig. My daily driver is a stock 2010 Frontier that I bought new and have put it through hell taking it to remote camping trips and wheeling it through passes in Colorado that it really should never have been on with street biased Michelins. I have about a 20 mile round trip commute to work, so miles don't rack up that quick.

Where I'm starting with my build is from experience with my old YJ - a lift comes first as it makes everything else underneath so much easier. While I've been prepping for that, I removed the spare tire, trailer hitch, and am working on the fuel tank - because apparently that needs to move to get to the nut for the spring hanger. I'll be spending the next few months with a wire wheel, rust reformer and paint it to get the underside surface rust under control and prevented. Also have new body mounts on the way and I'll be stripping every bit of wiring from the vehicle and putting together everything from scratch. All this while I drop off the transmission to get rebuilt -- and possibly the engine (need to find a shop for the engine yet). And of course, after fighting the rusted out skid plate on the tank all yesterday, I'll be going with the '91 s10 blazer tank - just have to figure out how to get it over to my dad's place to make and weld up the new cross members to hold it in place.

With any luck, once all of that is done, I can think about cleaning up the interior and exterior.

Whew, talk about jumping down the rabbit's hole.
'89 Waggy (work is just getting started)

letank
Posts: 4010
Joined: Wed Oct 03, 2012 9:16 pm
Location: SF bay area

Re: Finally starting work on her

Post by letank »

mas3773 wrote:
Engine starts and runs - 130k miles or there abouts. The transmission though slips bad. Sometimes it can get rolling other times, it's gonna stay where it is. Transfer case works as far as I can tell with the transmission issues.
Welcome to the asylum,

check the trans fluid, if it is low, it will slips like crazy, with the lack of use some of the seals can be hard to regain tighness.

with the correct amount of trans fluid, with engine off, the fluid is up the dipstick by about 1" (edit from 2") above the max, but the correct way is to have the engine running, trans in neutral with fluid at temp which can take a long time to be really sure of the trans fluid level after going thru all the gears 1, 2, D, R and repeat, fluid will expand when warm.

I had it happened with a perfectly working trans after a filter and trans oil service, probably some worn out parts are not happy when not submerged in trans fluid. May be a trans fluid and filter in your near future to check what is in the trans pan.... time to install a oil drain in the trans pan
Michel
74 wag (349 Kmiles... parked, next step is a rust free body)
85 Gwag (229 Kmiles... the running test lab)

Topic author
mas3773
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Nov 30, 2017 9:47 am
Location: Kansas City

Re: Finally starting work on her

Post by mas3773 »

Yep, I already pursued the fluids and filter. It helped a bit, so I could move it in the driveway without a tow chain, but not much beyond that. Throw any motorcycle at me in a box, and I'll have it rideable in a week tops. Car engines and transmissions, though I'm a bit more hesitant to tear into to that level. My dad's been hanging out with his hot rod buddies getting all the tips from them. So, I figure I'll go ahead drop it off and then I can focus on the other items on the ever growing list instead of burning a lot of time on that and having it sit there while I wait to test drive it until I get the rest of it back together. Any other recommendations besides a drain plug on the pan? That one's definitely happening.

I spent the night getting the fuel tank removed and most of my lift kit and poly mount kit came today (Skyjacker seems to have forgotten my U-bolts and front bushings - or shipped a 8th package that I missed the tracking on). So, progress is being made. Hopefully I can carry that through this weekend - especially if the u-bolts get here.
'89 Waggy (work is just getting started)

Topic author
mas3773
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Nov 30, 2017 9:47 am
Location: Kansas City

Re: Finally starting work on her

Post by mas3773 »

Holy hell, I spent the Memorial Day weekend roughly 9 hours a day outside wrenching on the lift.

The hardware box had been opened, emptied and re-taped in transit, so that was a deal all on it's own. Ryan helped get that squared away, so I finally got the hardware on Thursday. Nearly a month sorting that all out.

A couple notes for anyone getting the Skyjacker kit. The instructions have the front bushings labeled wrong. The part numbers are flipped, the thin ones will go in front, the wider ones in the rear. It's just how they fit in the shackle/frame mounts. Much easier to put them in the right way the first time. Second, they included two 3 3/4" u-bolts and six 3" u-bolts. It should be one 3 3/4" and seven 3". I had to go to 4 local auto parts stores, before I was able to get one delivered to a store - so I could make another trip over there to pick it up. And lastly, that 3 3/4 won't fit through the spring plate, so I used a 4" hose clamp to pull the ends together to get it to slip through. A 3 1/2" would probably be ideal as it was a hair wide at the axle as well, but it is what it is and good enough for who it's for.

So, at the end of the 3 day bender, I've got the front springs on. Track bar, sway bar, pitman arm, and shocks will all be done later. My main goal was to get it sitting back on it's own tires as I don't want to leave it on jack stands, and risk someone reporting me to the city. For the rear, I was only able to get the u-bolts and track bar off. I didn't have the energy left to fight with the stuck bolts at that point. So, that's the next thing to do - maybe this weekend, I might need some recovery time. I have been going through at each step and taking a wire wheel to everything, wiping down with mineral spirits, and painting with Rustoleum Rust Reformer. I plan to do the entire underside as I get to each part. I did make the decision to skip the axles at this point. I should be able to clean them up and paint them well enough while they're in place.

In preparation and efforts on the lift, I have basically removed everything under the vehicle behind the transfer case. Gas tank and filler hose is out, drive shafts, exhaust, wiring harness, trailer hitch, spare tire. Plenty of room under there to work, as long as I can actually get these springs and shackles out.
'89 Waggy (work is just getting started)
Post Reply