Pylon ressurects the Captains Jeep. A tale of redemption...

[pylon]

So long standing member and legend Captain Crunch decided to move on from his 2009 Jeep Wrangler JK our dealership sold him back in 2010. At the time he bought it, I enviously told him, if you ever want to get rid of it.... call me. Even though I'm a VW guy, I have always wanted a 2 door TJ or a JK Wrangler. Preferably a little tired and worn, since I plan to do a custom build, and will be turfing a lot of the factory stuff.

Well, the Captain came through. After 94658 (well used by the looks of it) kilometres, The Jeep needs pretty much a full front end rebuild, new tires, new shocks, brakes definitely some cosmetics, and a bunch of other bits and pieces.

This is going to be an affordable build..... not cheap, but affordable. By that I mean, good quality components, but I'm gonna shop around for the best deals. Amazon, Kijiji, Ebay.... leverage my car business connections for deals.

So this is the plan:

33" Tires and rims with rock crawler style rims.

4" lift with shocks and springs. (Since the front end is coming apart, might as well do it all at once.

Rock crawler bumpers.

9500 series Winch of some sort.

Lights..... lights galore.

Spray line the entire tub inside out, including front fenders and grill.

"Skinny" style off-road fender flares.

Rear corner guards.

And of course, a Snorkel.... Because just in-case there is a flood on Crowchild Trail during my morning commute, I'll be able to ford through it.

Today the Jeep is at Modern Motors 4X4 Centre (these guys are awesome) getting the front end and 4" Zone Lift done.

Oh, and I also promised the Captain when he sold it to me, he will get first rights of refusal on buying it back at my build cost, should I ever opt to sell it.

Feel free to follow the thread for progress.

So here's where we start, a basic, unaltered, 2009 3.8 V6 Jeep Wrangler X, with 95,000 kms:







Stay Tuned.....

[TheScorpion]

Originally Posted by pylon

Stay Tuned.....

The suspense is killing me.

[pylon]

^^^

I get it guys, you don't care. There are car guys on the site that will enjoy a thread like this. If you don't like it, don't post in it.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by pylon

^^^

I get it guys, you don't care. There are car guys on the site that will enjoy a thread like this. If you don't like it, don't post in it.

suspense......suspension.....I think this is how The Scorpion's brain works.

[Otto-matic]

Dang that's a fine looking Jeep. Looking forward to seeing the progress on it!

[Tron_fdc]

Might want to look at something to bump the HP. I've known plenty of guys that have done this build and the engines don't turn those big tires very well. Either re-gear the rear end or mod the engine.

My advice is to drop in a V8! I bored out a Pontiac 455 and dropped it into my '68 FJ40. She makes over 400HP.

Good luck with the build!

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Put me in the interested group. I'd rather read about a car mod over gear grinders any day of the week.

So what's the budget for something like this? Always curious whenever I see on of these Gravedigger-esque F150's around town.

[Luder]

Originally Posted by pylon

^^^

I get it guys, you don't care. There are car guys on the site that will enjoy a thread like this. If you don't like it, don't post in it.

He's just trying to keep his streak of posting in every, single thread, alive.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by Tron_fdc

Might want to look at something to bump the HP. I've known plenty of guys that have done this build and the engines don't turn those big tires very well. Either re-gear the rear end or mod the engine.

My advice is to drop in a V8! I bored out a Pontiac 455 and dropped it into my '68 FJ40. She makes over 400HP.

Good luck with the build!

Yeah, it's geared at 3.21 right now, I'm looking at 2 options. Etiher 4.10's with a rear locker which will run about $2500-3000, or if I can find a wrecked Rubicon, just salvage the 3.73 axles out of that.

But I've driven a 3.21 geared JK with 33's and it can handle it, you just basically lose 6th gear. Which doesn't bug me.

[Tron_fdc]

Go for 4:10's. Lots more torque. Air intake, headers and exhaust and you're GTG.

[Sliver]

A Jeep with a cracked windshield? Why I never...

I'm going to love this thread. I have a love/hate thing with Jeeps. Basically, worst daily driver in the world. As a fun second car? They're awesome. Top down fun in the summer. Bashing through snowbanks in the winter.

[bc-chris]

sweet - i love vehicle build threads!

looking forward to the updates pylon

[pylon]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

Put me in the interested group. I'd rather read about a car mod over gear grinders any day of the week.

So what's the budget for something like this? Always curious whenever I see on of these Gravedigger-esque F150's around town.

I'm trying to keep it between 8-9k. I'm doing this as affordably as possible, and doing all the work myself, less the suspension stuff.

I snagged Smiitybilt XRC bumpers, front and rear from Raven for 780+ tax for the pair, basically 2 for 1. They are blowing out the gen 1's.

Lights are easy to find deals on eBay/Amazon.

Got a really good lead on used winch that is still in the box......

Not being brand name picky, just making sure it's good, functional stuff.

[WhiteTiger]

This should be neat. I always like reclamation projects like this.

[automaton 3]

Thanks for posting, looks like a cool project and looking forward to updates!

[Erick Estrada]

No interior pictures? I was trying to envision what may have gone on inside that vehicle over the course of his ownership. Did you sell him a dub?

[old-fart]

I've met Crunch... you should probably just toss a fire bomb inside that thing to cleanse the interior...

[Coach]

Always wanted a TJ, but they always seem to be priced way higher than other cars from the same year.

[nik-]

Is this going to be one of those threads where there's a bunch of pictures in the start, and then a few updates with minimally changed pictures save the one of the teardown. Then nothing again ... ever?

[llwhiteoutll]

Ditch the hard top, you don't even need it in the winter. With the heater on, a soft top will be fine.

Make sure the stock track bar is taken out and replaced with an adjustable aftermarket one and that the mount isn't wallowed out. You don't need a HD steering stabilizer or any of that BS; properly set up, they can run without a SS at all.

Smittybilt is ok for budget, but count on rust and having to recoat them after a season or two.

33" tires and 4" of lift is going to look odd. That kind of height on a JK is for 35" or 36" tires.