dirtleg

New guy here. 1st post although not my first attempted post. Other one was never approved. Go figure.

So onto my issue/questions.

Picked up this 98 Cherokee Classic a couple of weeks ago for my son. It's got 222K and runs really well. It'll be our project until he can drive it. He's only 13 right now.

Day 1

Oil pressure was reading 0 but the engine was smooth, noiseless and smokeless. New sensor and it's got 40 psi @ cold idle and just under 20 at hot idle. I'm good with that.
Had to replace power steering hoses right away and A/C seals at the compressor to hoses connection.
Good news A/C works great now.
Power steering hoses are not leaking anymore but there may be a leak in the steering gearbox. Need to investigate that one more.
Transmission shifts smoothly and the transfercase, a 242 I believe works fine too as does the full time 4wd.
Rear axle (D35) is a little noisy going to start with wheel bearings and seals and may need to go after the center section if it's needed.
Replacing the drivers side window switch fixed all the window, door locks and power mirror issues except it seems the lock solenoid on the passenger rear door may be bad. Coudn't get it to switch even with 12v straight off the battery to the connector pins.

Body is a little rough in places but the floors and rockers are rust free.

Sadly the roof and front windshield frame are not. I've done a little sanding to expose more of it and removed the sealing lip from the window trim to get a bettter picture of all the rot.


As you can see it is not good there. Fortunately the A-pillars aren't rusty beyond what you can see here. The drivers side A-pillar is rust free. So it's basically confined to the upper windshield frame. There are 3 more spots rusted through across the front edge of the roof/window fram area.

Not an easy fix I know but the windshield has a crack so it's got to come out anyway.

Looking like the only option will be to get the replacement metal from the JY unless there is a source for replacement sheet metal I am unaware of at this point.
I did see where you can get an entire new roof for a 84-96 body XJ but not found anything for the 97-01 XJ's.
Hand forming the metal would be an option also but thinking that's be more work than finding a good body to cut up.
Either way when it's done it must be whole before the new windshield goes in. Not going to do a quick fix in this area.

Looking for any advice, tips or things to look out for while doing this repair.

Thanks.

TrailerTrash

With rust like that I would be pulling up the carpet and checking everything out. The kickpanels could be rusting out and the floors could be just about ready to fall through

fb97xj1

Shes split like a sardine can. Find a new roof. Pull the interior trim out to see how far the rust has spread, because there is always more than what you can see. If it has been rained on, all the water is going to end up running down the pillars, and could be rusting from the inside out. Check EVERYTHING. Might want to pull the JB in the passenger footwell to make sure thats clean. Rust is bad. But so are electrical gremlins.

Good luck.

Red1992XJ

It would be best to dive into the rust repair first, before you sink more money into the truck. Check the floors immediately.

PatHenry

Yeah, that rust is pretty severe. My Dad retired his XJ due to roof rust (and the subsequent bondo patch preventing a future windshield replacement) that was not nearly as severe as that.

I'm in agreement with the other guys - you need to pull out all the fluff beyond the edge of the rust/rot and do a proper repair. Take good care around the spot where the windshield mounts as that needs to be very exact so the new windshield won't leak. Poor quality windshield replacements are generally where a lot of the rust at the front edge of the roof originates.

It should be reasonable to find an XJ at the junkyard and cut out enough to replace it. Just make sure that the welding is of good quality with the whole uni-frame body thing and it being your son's safety.

dirtleg

Yes ya'll are dead on as far as rust. I absolutley hate rust as well. Removing interior now. From what I can see so far nothing that's bad yet on the passenger floorpan.

Will update once I've got the carpet completely out.

And XJ is stored indoors at this point so no further water damage will take place.

TrailerTrash

Once you get the carpet out start stabbing the floor with a pick or screw driver. Try to poke holes

Ralph77

Wondering how much of that rust running down the side is drip rail or roof.
Or both.

dirtleg

Okay carpet is out. Floor does honestly not look too bad. No holes at least.

Definitely more than I wanted to see but nothing that will need to be patched.

I ran a 2 inch metal putty knife over everything trying to see if I could break through but not even close anywhere.

Most of the rust is just barely enough to lift the paint.A good cleaning/stripping followed by POR15 ought to fix this right up.

Drivers Floor

Passenger Floor

Guess I dodged a bullet here.

I would guess by the way the rust is on this vehicle it was sitting under a tree or something and the built up leaves caused the rust to start on the roof. It wasn't until there was roof failure that any got into the interior.
That's my guess but I can't think of any other way it would rust in the manner that it did.

And thanks for the input so far.

Once I actually start fixing this I'll start a build thread.

Red1992XJ

Pull up that insulation on the floor before you do much more. Really check it for bad spots. After you are sure no more work needs to be done to the tub, get some rust bullet. That stuff works great, just make sure the prep work is adequate.

dirtleg

FIgured as long as I had the carpet out might as well clean it up. Degreaser and a pressure washer. Before and after.

BlueRidgeMark

Yep. Double yep.

That's much worse than you think it is. It's pretty far gone. I would not have touched that vehicle for anything but a parts price, nor would I try to do anything but pull parts off it.

If you feel otherwise, you either need to become a competent welder, or find one. That's not cosmetic. That's structural.

It's also probably not all of the serious rust damage. Remember two things about rust:

1. It's never alone.
2. It never sleeps.

I'm in the north end of the Shenandoah Valley, and I have a wrecked 97 that could be a donor for you. PM me if you're interested.

dirtleg

All valid points. And while I may be crazy to say this I am going to fix it.

As far as welding goes I made my living as a welder in the early to mid 2000's. Yes theres significant work here but I'm looking forward to most of it.

Plan is to truss the A and B pillars before cutting any of the structure out to keep it from moving.

I'll keep updating here as I continue the tear down.

Thanks for all the input today. Much appreciated.

awg

you will find one of the main problems is the inner & outer panels are rusted, these are spot welded together, so repairs require spot weld drilling etc etc

in other words, the cost and trouble of repair is worth more than the vehicle

I would attempt to obtain a better one, and keep that for parts, which is very good to have, if you have enough room, and are in for the long term

Red1992XJ

Welding ability is a great skill to have, especially when it comes to Jeeps.