So I've actually done most of this already but I figured Id start a build thread to help keep track of my progress...
So ill start off by saying I payed $2250 for her with about 150,xxx miles and a 3.0 v6 but within a couple weeks of getting my lisence I tipped it. And after that I debated on wether to keep it or not because the body work was going to be expensive. After deciding to keep it and alot of support from the people here telling me too keep it, I began to build it up a bit...

I know it dosnt look too bad but the body shops wanted around $2500 for it!




So obviously not wanting to spend that much i was getting ready to just accept the fact that it wasnt goin to be a pretty car... But then!!! my mom told her friend that owns a body shop about what happend and i was able to get it done for $500 .. and hed work on it whenever the shop wasnt too busy.

So while wating for that I ordered the addicted offroad bumpers ! also decided to take care of the rear sag with the good ol zuk mod!! I went with the 12'' 125# I think... and the weldless version so hopefully I can get a more permanent fix down the road.

So heres a couple pictures of me testing the springs .. You can see the body work on the rear panel is done!

 

31" 10.5 cooper stt

 

Bought a warn winch for $200 just cleaned it up a bit, got new wire boots and factory stickers but other than that its good to go! havent put it on yet, having some issues fitting it between the bumper and grill

 

So i found out the hard way my 4wd didn't work when this storm came through and i couldn't make it up the hill into my neighborhood ..





Kind of a cool pic imo


There was only 4-6 inches but it was pretty much all ice
Oh yah, and you can see I finally got the pillar fixed!

After troubleshooting the problem I found out it was my stupid auto hubs...

Solution? Manual Hubs!!



Fixed the problem immediately .. And i don't know much about hubs but when taking the Auto hubs off they seemed to be missing pieces? both sides had different things in them..

 

So eventually I got tired of the different colored panels and went to maaco to get a quote... $1500!!! just for flat black! so not trying to spend my life savings, I decided to rattle can it.

After looking on the internet for a week or so I learned that you could get a decent finish with a rattle can as long as its prepped well. So for the next two weeks I spent a couple hours or so a day sanding and then washed it three times the day of painting.

Heres how it turned out..














Let me know what you think! i used rustolem flat black about 12 cans and no clear.

What do you think about painting the chrome and the rims black?

 

looks sharp.i'd leave the chrome cuz its not much so it looks good.

 

So thats up to date as of now, so when I get those bumpers back on and the winch fitted ill post some more pics!

Also found that the valve cover Gaskets are leaking so thats on the to-do list. If anyone has replaced the valve cover gaskets on the 3.0 let me know if there is anything i should know before doing this. I also plan on replacing the faulty knock sensor because Its causing my check engine light to come on.

Well looking forward to what you guys think!

 

Looks like you did a great job on getting the damage fixed. Truck is looking better. Great job.

 

I know on the 22re the knock sensor rarely goes bad, its the wiring that goes to it. I think knock sensors are fairly expensive so its worth checking out. I would paint the wheels black. I saw a picture of some (I think it was in azkids build) and fell in love. I'll be painting mine soon.

 

Okay yah I will definitely check the wiring before I go out to buy one, so far the cheapest one I could find is $90. And I checked azkids build and didn't see it. But if you paint your rims before I do, you should post some pics!

 

Found a picture of em. I didnt save a picture of them mounted though.

 

I can see why you fell in love! ha those look good. I think im going to paint mine as well

 

Finally got around to putting the winch on. It took me awhile but it was worth it in the end.

Bumper on , Grill off.








Pretty tight fit

 

Hopefully I will be able to put the rear bumper on tomorrow, Ill post pics if I do.

Oh and Sunday ill be replacing the valve cover and plenum gasket. Does anyone know if i am supposed to put some sort of sealer on the gaskets?

 

Looks good, remember when Summer comes, don't park near trees or or other tall structures, with that flat black you will be hating the birds.

 

Ha okay, ill keep that in mind

 

New (to me) skid plate! picked it up from a guy on craigslist. Hopefully ill be able to paint it Monday, If i'm done with the valve covers...

 

Finally got around to fixing those leaky valve covers! Took most of the day to do, and was somewhat intimidating, but it was definitely worth it to know that I can now drive somewhere and not smell oil burning. It wasn't as hard as I was expecting it to be, its just very time consuming because there is so many hoses to disconnect and individually mark. Anyway, here is some pictures!


A lot of hoses..




Manifold and valve covers off




New gaskets on, glued on with rtv gasket maker


Manifold back on, clean throttle body


All back on with no leaks!


And for those of you wondering, I did put a new gasket on the throttle body and plenum..

 

So I was able to paint the skid plate Monday, since the valve covers were done. let me know what you think

Before: (I know this is a re-post)


After Paint:

 

Nice clean build! I'm planning something very similiar for my ride. Is that a factory skid plate?