Living in southern California it can get quite toasty in the summer but up until now we haven’t had a day over 75, but last week we had a triple digit day with it peaking to around 105. This uncovered a hidden issue with the Jeep, as we where driving though Thousand Oaks we noticed that the coolant temp was pegged at 260. We quickly pulled into a gas station and and checked the coolant level, all looked good but after idling for a few minutes the temperature went down and took about 2 quarts of coolant. We made it to our Los Angeles location but was running hot the entire time.

Because of this we wanted to beef up the cooling system, so after some research we decided a conversion to a 92+ system was best. The two types of cooling systems are Open and Closed, the 90 jeep comes with a closed system, this means that the system is closed and has a inline recovery tank that allows for expansion, this type does not have a radiator cap and fluid is filled though the recover tank. The Open system is different as it has a radiator cap and a overflow tank instead of a inline tank, this recovers the extra coolant when the system gets to hot.

Each system has its advantages and disadvantages

Open system Advantages:

• Ease of filling system
• Overflow tank
• Simple hose routing

Open system Disadvantages:

• Overflow tank only works one way without special cap

Closed system Advantages:

• No overflow tank to worry about, recovery tank takes the overflow and also fills when needed

Closed system Disadvantages:

• No radiator cap
• Coolant must be added to the overflow tank
• Complicated hose routing
• Plastic recovery bottle can crack

So the game plan for this retrofit would consisted of the following:

1. CSF 3 row all steel radiator – radiatorbarn.com
2. Water Pump
3. High Flow Thermostat 195 Mr. Gasket
4. All new hoses
5. Heater Control Valve

We started the conversion by removing the old system, started by draining the coolant by pulling the lower hose and collecting it into a 5 gallon bucket. Remember coolant is extremely toxic to animals and kids so take care with storing it. After the system was empty we unscrewed all the hose clamps and pulled them all out, we then went to the radiator and removed the radiator bracket, transmission lines and sensor, at that point the radiator could be lifted up. Once removed there was more room to easily replace the water pump and thermostat.
We decided to use a high flow 195 degree thermostat, we went with a high flow one to allow more coolant to circulate though the 3 core radiator.

A few challenges we had was the upper heater core and the heater control valve was two different sizes,  for this we could have gotten an adapter but we went the simply way and just used a hose clamp and cranked down on the hose until it fit the smaller size.

I have been running the Jeep now for 8 months with this setup and three electric cooling fans without issue, if the fans are left on full time the temperature sits around 180 with them on auto it will get to 210 then back to 190.

I also decided to install a mechanical temperature gauge because the electric Jeep gauge was showing inaccurate, the switch under the gauge controls the auto / on function.

The CSF radiator is working good at keeping the system cool. I did have one issue that was caused by a clogged AC Condenser, and after removing it the temperatures stabilized (removed AC) I later converted the AC into an OBA On Board Air system.

One year ago at this time I was looking at a project Jeep to purchase, it was in poor condition to say the least and would not move under its own power.

I then spent a long few months rebuilding it and transforming it into an off road Jeep. Tomorrow December 20th is exactly one year after purchasing the Jeep and having it towed home. In this time I have done many unique things to it and have customized it in and out.

In the year I have put over 10,000 miles on the Jeep and taken it many places, I have never been let down or stranded by the Jeep and over all it is a reliable Jeep. I would feel comfortable taking it on a long road trip with no worries about being stranded, I also have all the tools and spare parts to fix most the issues I would encounter on the road.

Jeep Specs & Projects:

• Painted exterior
• Stripped interior and replaced with new carpet, Volvo seats, recovered headliner
• Applied peel-n-seal on entire floor pan
• Rebuilt Transmission and replaced torque converter
• Converted to open cooling system, CSF 3 row radiator, Three Electric Fans
• Custom HD SYE (Rubicon Express collar, cut down yolk) and Coast Driveline HD CV shaft
• Rubicon Express 3.5″ Super Ride lift, full packs plus extra stock leaf for weight capacity
• 31″ BFG AT tires, 15 x 8 American Racing soft 8
• Diy Front & Rear Bumpers
• Con Ferr roof rack & DIY Ladder
• Slide out storage drawers
• Rope racks
• CB with 4 ft FireStick
• DIY Rock Sliders
• Home Depot hood vents
• AC to OBA Conversion, 2.5 gallon VIAIR tank

I have since taken the Jeep on three off roading trips and all three times it has performed well above my expectations.

The Car Allowance Rebate System is a US federal program that helps US citizens to purchase a new, more fuel efficient vehicle when trading in a less fuel efficient vehicle.

Thousands of Americans are rushing out and trading in their old cars to receive a $3500 or $4500 discount towards the purchase of select new cars. This may sound great at first but there are many hidden facts the majority of the population may not be aware of.

• The program is designed to get old cars up to 25 years old with under 18 MPG off the road and replace them with brand new cars that have a higher MPG rating.
• Depending on the age of the vehicle you will ether qualify for $3500 or $4500 off of the purchase price of the new car.
• The old car must have been owned, registered, and insured for the past year.
• The dealer is required to disable the old cars engine by draining the oil and replacing with a water and silica solution, permanently destroying the engine.
• The old car must the crushed and the engine and drivetrain cannot be sold for parts, this prevents the sale of the car in the United States and elsewhere as a vehicle.

Many of the cars being turned in as “Clunkers” to this program are still perfectly fine and are being turned in just so the owner can get a new car, but because the car is required to be destroyed hundreds maybe even thousands of cars are being destroyed. But is this really the best way to get people to buy new cars? Why go to the effort to destroy perfectly fine cars that may only be 4-5 years old.

Let’s say all the cars that went to the program that were newer then say 1998 were taken into a low income car program, helping get the “real clunkers” off the road.

It could work as follows:

• The total household income is less then a certain level.
• Each household would qualify for only one vehicle trade.
• The traded vehicle must need more then $500 in repairs to qualify.
• The car must be less then 35 years old, but mileage does not matter.
• The car must be owned for the last year but is not required to be registered or smogged.

This would help get the “real clunkers” and unsafe cars off the road and help clean up the roads. But why was this not the way the Cash for Clunkers program was designed? We can only guess that it has to do with the fact that the Government has recently bailed out both GM and Chrysler. By requiring people to purchase a new vehicle they are protecting there investments.

Another theory about why they don’t want to have a low income program is “Keep Them Stupid and Poor” consperacy that has been floating around the internet. I think the government has been brainwashing the population, there is so many stupid laws and programs right now and the majority of the population appears to be going along with it.

I see this first hand as I am an unemployed, student. Like many others I have been in search of a job for many months, but because of the current economy there has been very little interest. Another major issue is the cut to education budgets, just this summer I had a class I was attending get canceled after the first week was over because they were two people short of the twenty person quota. I feel that as an American I am not getting what I should, if I pay my taxes I should be able to use that money, and I feel it unfair to allow this program to only benefit the people capable of making monthly car payments. What about the rest of the population?

The supplies needed for this was:

• One Gallon Paint
• One Gallon Primer
• Paint Activator
• Primer Catalyst
• Laqour Thinner
• Measuring Cups
• Stirrers
• Sand Paper Varied Grits 60 – 2000 Grit
• Polishing Compound
• Electric Buffer Polisher
• Spray Gun ($14 Harbor Freight)
• Air Compressor and Hoses
• Tack Cloth
• Bondo for smoothing body panels
• Resperstor masks!!! !! Very Important !!

The paint supplies cost us about $350.   This included everything but the aircompressor and air hoses. Everything else on the list had  to be purchased.

Once we had finished researching how to paint a vehicle and we had all the supplies,  it was time to start prepping the body of the Jeep.

First we had to remove all the trim and windows from the Jeep.  Most body shops just tape around all the trim but we wanted to take the time to do it the right way, which meant removing any windows that could end up with some paint mist on them.   Ditto with all the rest of the trim and door handles, resulting in only tape off three parts which ended up being just the door locks.

The Jeep had been repainted at one time in it’s sordid past,  using spray paint (rattle cans).  Because of this, the paint was chipping and flaking away, which meant we had to sand down past the spray paint and create a smooth clean surface at the original primer level.

 Then we started to remove the old paint to do this we used both power sanders and manual sanding to get the entire Jeep smooth and clean.  We then used water and tack cloth to clean any dust away.

The next step was to closely inspect the entire vehicle and look for any low points or voids in the surface; any spots found we used Bondo to fill and then sanded smooth. After that it was time for one final wash before we sprayed the first layer of primer down.

Now that the body is prepped for paint it was time to mask and tape off any parts that are not to be painted ; we used paper and tape for the window trim areas and the front and rear bumpers.

With the Jeep taped up it is now ready for its first layer of primer, we used a Nasson brand epoxy primer. This type of primer is very good and is extremely tough, but requires careful preparation.   Prior to spraying, we had to mix the proper amounts of primer and catalyst together, (follow the instructions on the can carefully!) We also had to thin it with lacquer thinner so we could spray it with our spray gun.

For spraying you want to keep the gun at a 90 degree angle to the body panel you are spraying.  For each pass overlap by 50%, this will help create a even paint job without to much buildup of primer.  After two layers of primer we one again sanded the Jeep, but this time we “wet sanded” using 600 grit paper. The purpose for this was to remove any bumps from the primer and smooth the surface to assure good adhesion for subsequent coats.

The mixing of the paint is similar to the primer but instead of a catalyst we used an activator.  The activator causes the paint to cure to the touch in as little as 15 minutes. This is extremely useful and important for paint jobs like ours where one does not have a proper paint booth environment.  Curing the paint quicker means less chance for dust and other contaminants to adhere to the paint. We also had to thin the paint to allow it to shoot smoothly from the gun.

The first coat covered very well with a medium wet coat.  Never having sprayed automotive paint before it required a little bit of experimentation but after the second coat, we got more conformable with the process. The trick with the paint is to get the layers down as thick as possible without causing runs and drips;  you will also need to adjust your fan pattern to make sure it is spraying evenly and not focused in the center.

For the last coat we where instructed to spray a light mist layer 10-15 minutes after the last coat, We waited a few minutes to long and this created some orange peel, so we had to wet sand the Jeep and then polishing it to correct our “mess up”.

The process for wet sanding is exactly what it sounds like; you take water and high grit sand paper (1000 – 2000 grit) and carefully take a layer of paint off (making sure not to burn though the paint). This process removes the bumpy layer leaving a smooth but dull finish.

The final step in the process is to polish the paint. We decided to buy a power buffer / polisher and not do it by hand.  This made the job easy and created a great shine. One thing to remember is to not use polishes with wax in them;  you want to allow the fresh paint to fully cure or off gas for 40 – 60 days before you apply your first layer of wax to the paint.

Once you have polished the paint you still might have some residue from the poilishing compound.  Just rinse the vehicle with water and use a microfiber cloth to wipe it dry to  remove any leftover compund.

We started by removing the transmission from the Jeep and carefully examining all the components, we took a close look at the torque converter and quickly noticed that the oil bearing was stuck to the shaft. This would explain why the transmission was slipping, but since we had the Jeep apart we decided it was smarter to go ahead and put in a new torque converter and rebuild our spare transmission. 

The first step in the process is to source the parts, We have used Transmission Parts of Oxnard in the past and decided to stop by the shop to see what they had.  After a few minutes we where on our way with a new torque converter and all new seals and bushings for the transmission, the owner of the shop had a look at our clutch pack and we both agreed that it was unnecessary to replace them at this time because they had minimal wear. We also inspected the oil pump and sun gears for signs of wear but they all looked good with very minimal wear. 

Digging into a transmission may sound like a daunting task but it is really a strait forward repair and with a little patience anyone can do. We also recommend downloading the factory service manual for the transmission you are working on, this will have many detailed images and tips for working on your transmission.

After returning to our garage we carefully installed the new parts and reassembled the transmission, on this transmission we are able to use the torque converter to align the oil pump before bolting down (some transmission models require a special tool to be used).

We then installed the new torque converter and bolted back up the transmission, after filling it with 9 quarts of Dexron III fluid we started it up and then cycled it though all the gears to make sure the fluid has filled all the passages in the valve body. We let it idle to operating temperature  and checked the fluid level once more, after that we took it for a test drive. It drove good but it was not shifting properly, leading us to the Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) being faulty. Tests using a volt meter showed the sensor to be faulty and after replacing it and adjusting it to the proper voltage the Jeep then shifted properly. 

The total cost for rebuilding the transmission and new parts came in at a whopping: $245, if we had taken the Jeep to a transmission shop we would have paid over $1400 for the same repair. 

After a bit of research we came up with a list of major parts to install into the Jeep. 

1. Rubicon Express 3.5″ SuperRide lift 
2. Rubicon Express 1600 Adjustable Trackbar 
3. Doestech Shocks 
4. Rubicon Express SYE Flange, Custom Yoke
5. Coast Driveline, CV Rear Shaft
6. Nasson yellow paint & epoxy primer 
7. New master cylinder & booster
8. Interstate Battery
9. New pads, shoes, rotors, and drums
10. Peel – N – Seal for the floors
11. New Carpet, Seats, Headliner

So now that we had a list of the parts we needed it was time to order, we decided to get the lift online and the rest of the parts locally. After a week of part gathering we had a pile of parts ready to be installed.

In the next article we will show the process of rebuilding the transmission and getting the Jeep running.

While looking over the vehicle we where constantly making mental notes on the condition of different systems and what would be needed to get it to a running state.

Here is what we immediately noticed while inspecting the vehicle:

The bad:

• Transmission condition unknown – reported to slip but could not conduct a test drive
• Engine ran but needed assistance to start, indicating fuel delivery system issue 
• The Jeep was being used to store personal items and the suspension was worn out because of the weight 
• Gas tank filler neck was slashed preventing us from filling the tank
• Tires had been sitting and began to dry rot
• Paint had been redone with a rattle can 
• Interior had smokers smell and many stains 
• Tint was fading and turned purple
• No Keys for the door locks 

The Good:

• NP242 transfer case – 5 selection modes 
• 4.0 inline six engine 
• Renix Engine Control system 
• Pre-Chrysler we prefer the AMC era Jeeps as they seem to rust less and quality control seems a little better 
• Laredo Edition – Power windows, locks, AC 
• Body in mint condition minus the dodgy paint job

Getting the Jeep home was a different story, because it was 100 miles from our garage so we had to get it towed. Our first option was to rent a tow dolly and tow it with our other Jeep, this is not the safest option but we have towed a Ford Explorer before this way. But before we rented a dolly we decided to call AAA, as we have a Plus account that includes towing of up to 100 miles, so after a quick call we had a flatbed truck show up. The driver told us that we are not suppose to use the AAA towing for new vehicles that are previously disabled, but he knew that we where going to use it for off-roading and he also was into that sport, therefore he towed it without a problem. We went over the 100 miles by just 8 miles and had to pay $40 to the driver, we also gave him a nice tip for the help. 

Now that the Jeep was at our garage we had a chance to start the process of getting it on the road, the first thing we did was put some fresh gas in the tank and got the engine to start and run smooth. The next step was pulling into the garage and preparing for the transmission swap, but we will cover this in a later article. 

Now that we have the Jeep in our possession, it was time to register it; well it turns out that that was not as easy of a task as it sounds. We discovered that the previous owner had not registered it and there had been over $300 in DMV fees. After paying the fees and standing in the DMV for over 2 hours we finally got the Jeep registered. One thing we learned from this process is to always request a current registration when buying a vehicle, having known this before hand would have saved a lot of time and hassle. About 3 weeks later we received the title to the Jeep.

Some of the appealing factors for this purchase were:

1. Laredo edition, this means the Jeep has power windows and locks.
2. NP242 transfer case, this transfer case provides 5 different modes of operation (2WD, 4WD Part Time, 4WD Full Time, Neutral, 4WD Low Part Time) this makes it ideal for highway and off highway use. 
3. The 87 – 90 use the same transmission, we already had one from an 88 Cherokee that we rebuilt. 
4. Body was in good shape with only a few minor dings, paint on the other-hand was in horrible shape. 
5. Dana 30 High Pinion front axle and Dana 35 rear with LSD, both geared at 3.73 gear ratio.
6. Factory Tow package prewired with class III hitch.

The criteria for the build was to create a reliable and comfortable daily driver (DD) that is also highly capable off highway in many different situations, this is not a rock crawler but more of a all terrain build. Because of that the Jeep must ride smooth on the highway yet still have enough flexibility to go over a wide range of terrain. The interior must have most the luxuries of modern vehicles yet still provide the ruggedness you would expect from an sport utility vehicle.

The photo to the right was taken on the first day we got the Jeep, right after the tow truck dropped it in the driveway.

The following series of articles will detail each step of the process building this Jeep from a Junker to a Off Road Machine, we will include many photos and detailed technical information that may help you on your own build. 

Here is the breakdown of the steps:

1. Purchase the Jeep, Transport home, and Register at DMV
2. Create plan for the Jeep, including what hardware to purchase, etc…
3. Rebuild transmission and get the Jeep drivable
4. Sand, Prime and Paint the body
5. Install Rubicon Express Lift kit
6. Install custom Slip Yoke Eliminator (SYE) and new driveshaft 
7. Rebuild the Roof Rack to make it more aerodynamic
8. Strip the interior, install Peel-n-Seal and replace the interior
9. Install the Electronics, Radio, CB radio, and GPS 
10. Drive It

Stay tuned as we will continually update the site with more Jeep Build articles, we will also update this page with links and other information for the series.

The big difference from other “hybrid” cars such as the “Prius”, is that propulsion is expected to be from the battery the majority of the time.  The battery can sustain travel for up to 40 miles, more than enough for most drivers daily needs (80% of Americans drive less than 40 miles in a day).  If needed, a gas engine is on-board as well, and by functioning as as a generator (a “GenSet”), it can increase the range for up to another 200 miles.    For the majority of Americans, that would mean eliminating gasoline for ever! 

Bob Lutz, GM’s 76-year-old vice chairman for global product development, and the force behind the project, say’s he’s shooting for a sales price of “$40,000 or less”.

Oh well, you can always wait for the end-of-year sale.