DamJeep

[jamdeeper]

Hey ya'll, I figured I would start a thread over here, as I don't believe i am set to one forum of awesomeness. I have a top to bottom build thread elsewhere.. but with my recent opening of eyes to overlanding, i feel it's time to jaunt down my stories over on this site too. I'm sure it will take me a while to catch up to present day.. but it's been an awesome journey and I couldn't be happier with where i've ended up with my jeep..

I will start with the picture of my Jeep when i bought it in 2011. It's a 2000 cherokee and had 130k miles on it when i bought it. It had a 4" lift with 31" tires and a roof rack :)



Now i will say that there are a few things that i could have/ should have done differently for the "overland" look.. but i dont feel like i am normal when it comes to anything, so with that, i have no regrets

At this point I was daily driving this thing 30 miles to work each day. It wasn't the best daily driver, but it was fun to drive. the whole reason i bought it was because my other jeep (1989 cherokee) was having troubles and i was definitely a rookie at the whole garage mechanic thing. even growing up working in the garage with dad, i feel i'll always be a rookie. with the 89 parked, i took the 33" tires off along with the bumpers.. it gave the 2000 a whole new look. being from utah, my whole intention at the time was to have something capable of driving down to moab, as well as being able to drive back.



She has been to Moab 3 times now, and has never let me down. 2012 2015 2016. in the midst of all of this my wife and i had a set of twin boys.. to say the least, it has been an awesome adventure with the 3 of them by my side.

I will try and throw up some stories here and there, and will soon be up to date with all the details. Glad to be here.

 

[jamdeeper]

Post 2.. here we are.. 1 moab trip in the books.. winter 2012.. i've only owned it a year and a half. there was this constant antifreeze leak. i had replaced everything on the front of the block. water pump, thermo housing.. scared of a cracked head, i started tearing it apart to find a crack in my actual block. it was hairline. it was a huge problem that i could NOT afford to get to at the moment.. moved in with the wife (then girlfriend). no money, early 2013, found out about the twins.. life was nothing about the jeep.



while it was down. i painted the engine bay, as you can see.. and also gave it a little character by painting some bed liner on the bottom and rear quarter..

 

[mmnorthdirections]

Good story teller you are @jamdeeper
And the next? 1st Congrats on the twins!!!!
2nd Welcome to the forum.
3rd When is the next installment of your story/build.
4th Pictures when you were in Moab or it never happened?
More pics!!!!!

 

[jamdeeper]

Good story teller you are @jamdeeper
And the next? 1st Congrats on the twins!!!!
2nd Welcome to the forum.
3rd When is the next installment of your story/build.
4th Pictures when you were in Moab or it never happened?
More pics!!!!!

Thank you! I have TONS of pictures. I'll probably have another post tonight. [emoji1360] maybe a big one, the kids are already in bed!

 

[Egan]

I am looking forward to the rest of the story, I am looking for an older Cherokee to build for my 16 year old daughter.

 

[jamdeeper]

I'm glad you're all interested.. i wish i were able to copy and paste from a different forum. but that's too easy right? I'll do you better than that

So there i was with this jeep torn apart in a covered car port, not really knowing what i was doing.. but i was bound and determined to get this thing running again.. after reading up on these 0331 Cherokee heads, i was smart enough to go out and buy me a remanned TUPY0331 Head that was ready to roll.. it sat.. and sat.. but i was glad to have it. knowing one day that it will be on the new motor..

here is the crack.. right behind the water pump..

New TUPY

The next big speed bump was the actual block.. i wasn't about to spend a fortune on a used block.. so it was all just a big guessing game.. but with not much money, i was a saving game when i came across a 99 short block that had bad rings in cyl3. $60!! score.

Here I am, with a good block and a bad block. And hopes for the near future. And soon find out that I am going to be a dad.. OF TWINS! It was the best news I’d heard in a long time and I soon found myself straying away from the jeeps (i have 2 of them).. again.. I had started working more and harder to support my family.. and had finally saved up enough to get the engine rebuilt from top to bottom and have the new head tested and installed. On top of all of this, i moved in to a new house with a car port!! it was all just perfect timing..

Things were starting to come together. my boys were born early 2014. and this is how things sat for a while until we got all settled in with the new additions to the family.

FF 1 year..

Feb. 2015.. the family decides to go to Moab in April.. all i have at the time is the block sitting on the motor mounts. it became a challenge.. that is when and where i created the #MY00CBC on instagram.. i was all uphill from there.

It was such an accomplishment for me. i had never pictured myself doing all this work by myself. it was such an awesome feeling.. still is..

Next was making it a hovercraft.

Waiting on new tires.. i had a list of things still to do like: trimming fenders, shocks, cool air, and sliders.. so i did it.

v

This next photo is actually the night before we left to Moab.. i installed the JCR sliders, and barely put a coat of paint on them just in time to go.

Now, some of you might notice that the sway bar was on and i had NO articulation.. well. i wasn't done with it for doing stage 5 trails like this.. but i did it anyways.. i didn't have extended brake lines and didn't want to chance puling one out. you might also see that the rear end sits a little low.. well 15 years will do that to leaf springs ha ha

 

[jamdeeper]

oh ya.. and i won a JK bumper in a raffle.. so that was cool. couldn't use it, so i sold it. i was having quite the good luck run... but all good things must come to an end right? i'll answer that later..

 

[Egan]

Very nice, looks great.

 

[mmnorthdirections]

Very cool story and well told. Sounds like you have more?

 

[jamdeeper]

Very cool story and well told. Sounds like you have more?

Much more. This is easter 2015. So we're a year and a half out ha

 

[Joey83]

More please! :)

 

[jamdeeper]

Cont...

After her second trip to Moab, i had in mind a couple more things i needed to take care of.. Extended brake lines, leaf springs.. it made a world of difference on how it sat and drove after replacing all the old stuff.

Here is a little list of these i completed the first part of 2015.

-Complete rebuild top to bottom with a 99 block
-optima yellow top
-fan/fan clutch
-trans aux cooler
-radiator
-new trans lines
-durango steering box with cooler
-rustys steering box brace
-jcr steering box spacer
-jcr sliders
-hooligan lightbar brackets
-bilstein shocks
-rough country 4.5” leafs
-33x12.5x15 Mickey Thomson MTZ x5
-all exhaust gaskets
- new thermo housing
-new oil pressure sender
-led interior lighting
-amazon lightbar
-head to manifold bolts/studs

I'm sure things are missing. but it was a fun little run.

With all of these things taken care of, i felt comfortable driving it long distances. It felt solid every time i turned the key.

So, took it on some local trails.

Took it camping with the family in september..

A little transformation

Driving home from this trip.. 55-60 mph. cruising behind a semi.. i got a CEL and the jeep had this weird down shift upshift fit as it threw a Cyl5 misfire and trans speed sensor code.. i was really confused, i lost a whole cylinder as a drove it the rest of the way home.. i knew something wasn't right...

About a week later, i tore into it.. so upset that i was only on about 1200 miles after i had an engine shop rebuild this thing for me..

Ended up pulling the head to get to the lifters.. when i found this..

Speechless.. i didn't really know what to do.. at the time. the most i'd ever done with an engine was tear it apart.. research research research.. it wasn't common.. but it was possible. i used high zinc oil for flat tappets.. i was at a loss. i contacted the machine shop.. showed them what the lifters looked like..

I ground off 1/8th inch in 1200 miles..

so.. out came the cam..

FF 3 months. January of this year.. shop replaced the cam and lifters. Reinstalled:

Head back on

Mans on

all done.

Now... another moab trip!!!

 

[jamdeeper]

Next

Got the cockpit set up for the kids.

Installed OBA (SUPER cheap setup.. but it works!)

Replaced control arms

and coils

Got a little more movement

MOAB

More trails back home.. had purchased a roof rack extension and picked up a WWII rocket container for some external storage..

I will say, this is about the time i started leaning more towards the overland idea than the rock beater idea.. tho i wont stop goin to moab..

 

[jamdeeper]

having this sudden interest in overlanding i couldn't stop thinking of things i wanted to do.. i was on about 2000 miles on the new motor and started becoming more and more confident with it..

Limb risers.

Next i made a rear safety net out of seat belts.. i couldn't imagine things in the rear flying around god forbid i ever roll that hard..

Time for some lights.

Next is probably one of my favorites.. it brought me a little closer to the overlanding style of relying on your vehicle like a home.

7.13.2016.. getting there.

 

[Joey83]

Cool story. :)

 

[mmnorthdirections]

NICE BUILD!!!!!

 

[jamdeeper]

Onward.

I had some loose business up front that needed taken care of.
New hubs, ujoints and seals. (We'll get back to these.)

A little drive here and there.

Testing out the kitchen

Did I tell you I have 2 of these things? Woof...

New switches [emoji1360]

More testing.

Then.... this happened...

 

[jamdeeper]

SEPT 23rd 2016

Testing

New bumper!!

More new switches

More testing.

I'm sure you know where this is going.

Boom!

With the roof tent taking up most of the roof, I had to swap out my roof rails with some grand Cherokee rails which go all the way to the front which allowed me to add 2 more rails. I found some rain gutter rails at the junk yard for the tent, so it's super sturdy. With the 2nd set of rails, I was able to still use 1 section of my roof rack. [emoji1360]

 

[jamdeeper]

Now. Ever since catching this "bug" I've dreamt of having an off-road trailer. An overland addition where ALL of my gear, home would go. After 2 years of dreaming... I came across this:

$160 later and I now have my jeep body to cut in half to make an overland tow package. Stay tuned for that one.

LAST WEEKEND

Cruising down the dirt roads I hear a clunk clunk to find loose lug nuts!!! Always something, but went to tighten them and 1 lug was actually broken off of the hub... not sure how, I'll have to dig into it soon.

And here is how she sits today

I hope to keep building this thing up. Making it more and more capable. I'm obsessed with this whole lifestyle. Thanks for checking it out and stay tuned!

I have 2 and a half Jeep's.. but my next order of business is getting my 86 CRX out of the shop with the new gaskets top to bottom that I need to get to. That way I can get the shop open for the #halfahero build.

I rushed through most of this. But you're all caught up now. From here on, everythings brand new. [emoji1598]

 

[365_Overland]

Awesome looking XJ