AZ Explorer
Caught the Bug
As some of you know, the CJ had been sold due to an unforeseen financial crisis. After working through that, I did have some cash left over from the sale and decided to get a smaller budget minded project that I could drive now and build as I go. I only had about $2500 to work with, so options were limited. But I figured there had to be a few things out there worth buying so the hunt began.
I came up with a small list of potential projects and ran them by the wife and she picked a 1999 Grand Cherokee that I found on Craigslist. Of all those on the list, this one was only 10 minutes from my house.
After checking it out thoroughly and taking a test drive, we decided this was in fact, the one. It has pretty high miles but is in great shape. Every light , knob, bell and whistle works properly.
The only major issue was a valve cover leak which the guy even had the gasket for. It's the 4.7 V8 so the passenger side is buried and just awful to do since you have to disassemble so much just to get to it.
Still, it wasn't anything I couldn't handle, so I knocked it out the first weekend I had it. Now the leaking and burning oil smell is gone and I have a nice vehicle to putter around with. While I had the covers off, I inspected the internals and everything looks great. No sludge or buildup at all.
The body has only a couple very minor dings and scratches with nice shiney paint. The underside almost looks like it just came off the assembly line. The sunroof works well and the dash and headliner are in nearly perfect shape. There is a small split on the drivers door armrest but that's it. The steering wheel leather is shot, so that was an issue. I have a rebuilt one on order and should be here in a few weeks. It has a new Kenwood stereo that was professionally installed that has bluetooth and hands free phone functions, as well as Sirius XM and a few other things. Nice that it works with all the steering wheel controls. Other than that, it will be just deciding which direction I want to go with it.
I feel like I got a good deal and I guess that's what matters. I think the only thing it doesn't have that I wish it did is the 231 transfer case. I believe I can make the 247 work though. And it does at least have the weird Dana 44A rearend. I'm feeling the overland/camping look would work best for me right now and it's what I want to use it for anyway. It's too hard/expensive to go big with these things, or so my research says. I think a 32-33 inch tire should be plenty on this rig anyhow. We'll see what happens.
At least it's a Jeep and, knowing me, I'll have another more intense toy sometime down the road.
I came up with a small list of potential projects and ran them by the wife and she picked a 1999 Grand Cherokee that I found on Craigslist. Of all those on the list, this one was only 10 minutes from my house.
After checking it out thoroughly and taking a test drive, we decided this was in fact, the one. It has pretty high miles but is in great shape. Every light , knob, bell and whistle works properly.
The only major issue was a valve cover leak which the guy even had the gasket for. It's the 4.7 V8 so the passenger side is buried and just awful to do since you have to disassemble so much just to get to it.
Still, it wasn't anything I couldn't handle, so I knocked it out the first weekend I had it. Now the leaking and burning oil smell is gone and I have a nice vehicle to putter around with. While I had the covers off, I inspected the internals and everything looks great. No sludge or buildup at all.
The body has only a couple very minor dings and scratches with nice shiney paint. The underside almost looks like it just came off the assembly line. The sunroof works well and the dash and headliner are in nearly perfect shape. There is a small split on the drivers door armrest but that's it. The steering wheel leather is shot, so that was an issue. I have a rebuilt one on order and should be here in a few weeks. It has a new Kenwood stereo that was professionally installed that has bluetooth and hands free phone functions, as well as Sirius XM and a few other things. Nice that it works with all the steering wheel controls. Other than that, it will be just deciding which direction I want to go with it.
I feel like I got a good deal and I guess that's what matters. I think the only thing it doesn't have that I wish it did is the 231 transfer case. I believe I can make the 247 work though. And it does at least have the weird Dana 44A rearend. I'm feeling the overland/camping look would work best for me right now and it's what I want to use it for anyway. It's too hard/expensive to go big with these things, or so my research says. I think a 32-33 inch tire should be plenty on this rig anyhow. We'll see what happens.
At least it's a Jeep and, knowing me, I'll have another more intense toy sometime down the road.
