If Momma Aint Happy...

Part 4 of a series

Pushing $600 worth of used jeep parts into my driveway after having been gone for about 6 hours was a sure-fire way to make my wife, Diana, unhappy. Fact is, my wife didn't even come out to see the car once we got it home. She was so mad that I'd "bought the car without even asking her opinion" that she was literally boycotting seeing the car. Her idea was to buy a nice used car (for $2000) and all would be right in the world. Having looked for a nice use car for $2000, I can honestly say they are really hard to find, and if I was going to spend money and time wrenching on a car, I'd rather do it on one that not only my daughter likes, but that I felt would hold it's value.

Jeeps, as I am learning quickly, are relatively easy to work on and hold their value very well. In fact, I couldn't find a running Wrangler for less than $3800. Again, my math and exit strategy work well on this car (see post #2) and would not work very well on a used Neon or Buick.  Diana would hear none of it. She still, to this day, doesn't like us trying to fix up the car.

I think that now that it's here, and she sees improvements as we work on it, it's becoming OK with her I think, but it still doesn't run at this point. That is an issue about the Jeep we both share.

Blue, our Chocolate Lab, gave his seal of approval on day 1. He jumped up and in, ready for a ride, the first chance he got.

The fine line between a car, and a 2000lb radio.

We rolled the Jeep into the driveway and started cleaning it up. I reconnected all the electrical around the empty battery compartment while Kassie pulled the battery out of my car to try and start the Jeep. We got the battery hooked up, turned the key, and nothing. *crickets*

We had bought the Chilton's book on the Jeep and I set about looking at the wiring diagrams and such. Let me perfectly clear: I am not, in any way, qualified to even look at a wiring schematic. It's all lines and squiggles to me. What I could see was a section marked Clutch Position Sensor. Hmm..

I knew the clutch had zero pressure when applied so I checked the hydraulic reservoir, and it was empty. OK. Put the battery back into my car, drive to Autozone, buy clutch fluid, come back, take my battery back out (ya I'm too cheap to buy a battery until I know it'll run) put it in the Jeep, fill the reservoir, bleed out the line, and oh my..... It was leaking from inside the housing. The hydraulic throwout bearing was shot. I called around and got a price for a clutch job - $800, and then went into the house to get something cold to drink and weigh my options.

Paying $800 for the clutch job would kill our budget. I had done a clutch on a Fiat X-19 before, but never on a Jeep. Maybe I should just try and sell the car now. Then it hit me. This is a project car. I should be working on it. I should not be paying someone to work on it. Why the hell would I buy a $600 car then NOT expect to do all the work on it I could? With that, We dropped the transmission.. well in like 4 hours we dropped the transmission.

 Kassie, Kyle, and I spend the day wrenching on the transfer case bolts to free it from the engine. Please note the "man-hands" Kassie is sporting in the picture. It seemed like forever, but after only 4 hours, we had the entire transmission free from the car. That time included a break for lunch as well as driving back to Autozone for some vehicle ramps. Not too bad considering I let Kassie do a great deal of the work.

There's the culprit! to the right of the arrow is the bad hydraulic throwout bearing assembly. It appeared that whomever had done this work before, neglected to secure it inside the housing using the pin and lock provided, and it rattled itself to death. We would not be making this same critical error.

Transmission laying on the driveway.

Ya, our neighbors love us.

If you give a Pig a Pancake...

The throwout bearing was $84.00 from our friends at Autozone, but... If you have the transmission out, you might as well replace the clutch... and if you are replacing the clutch and throwout bearing, you may as well replace the clutch master reservoir and hydraulic hose to avoid contamination of the new part... and you should remove the flywheel and have it resurfaced.. and you should replace the pilot bearing. Uggg... Let's remember that we are on a tight budget. So while I'm saving the $800 by doing it myself, I don't have the money to do all that. As such, we (I) decided to replace the throwout bearing, the clutch plate and cover, the guide bearing, and call it good. The flywheel didn't have any cracks or checking so it should be fine. The reservoir was empty, looked clean, and the line looked visually fine. It's gamble, but a small risk that many DIYer s would take in my position.

To all the actual mechanics out there: Please don't judge me. I'm doing the best I can. 

So all totaled, we put $175 into new clutch parts and set about to install and reassemble it all.
The reassembly went very smoothly up until the part where I broke the Transfer Case Vacuum Switch (on accident). $25 later and a trip back to Autozone, and all is well.  We got the transmission back int he vehicle within 2 hours of starting, and went to bleed out the hydraulic clutch to try and start the Jeep.

If anything can go wrong... Turns out that the hydraulic hose from the reservoir to the throwout bearing had a leak. There are no new hoses available anywhere, and no one makes and sells an aftermarket part. Great.  Just great.

I ended up contacting a hydraulic hose manufacturing company, and I am currently waiting for them to create a custom hose for our Jeep. This should run anywhere from $40 up to $100. I won't know until tomorrow exactly how much. Great... just great.

Expenses so far:

Jeep:                                    $600.00

Book and Misc Cleaners:    $50.00

Clutch Kit:                         $175.00

Ramps:                                 $50.00

Vacuum Switch:                  $25.00

-------------------------------------------

Total                                    $900.00... and it still doesn't run!

New clutch!

Craigslist FTW

I am a big fan of Craigslist. Not for the pure comedy of the personal ads (they are awesome too though), but for the resource it has become for us during this project. We needed a new front drivers side fender, Hood, Grill, and Bumper. I posted an ad up on Craigslist, and within a day had the front fender and bumper for $100 - new parts would have cost roughly $500.

 

We removed the grill, which had been pushed in and dented, removed the dented up fender, and slapped on our new-used fender. Also installed the new-used bumper. Ill post more pics later.

On The Road Again... sorta

Part 3 of the series

I waited until I got home to discuss the Jeep option with my wife, Diana. Discuss is a loose term here because I wasn't sure that Irma would take it to heart that the Jeep was for my daughter and sell it to me for the $600.00 I was going to offer. It seems to me, looking back, that terms like "needs work" and "not that bad" were bantered about from my end and terms like "not running" and "money pit" were fairly regular replies from my wife's side.

I have to admit that I had already made up my mind. The math, by my estimations, was right. (see my 2nd post for details) I couldn't get hurt on this vehicle. Even if it all blew up, as long as I had sense enough to sell it when I needed to, and my daughter understood this, we (I) would be OK. So I sent an email offering the $600.

Amazingly, within an hour I had got a reply. Irma had to speak to the (now deceased) owners son to ensure he was OK with the sale, but if it was, the Jeep was mine.  I completely understand this, but the waiting was kinda rough. The Jeep was going to need to be towed, and I couldn't pay for a tow. There was only one man I knew with the trailer and truck for the job - Don. So I called Don. 

Let me go off on a tangent here and tell you a little about Don. Do you know anyone with a 50s Diner in their back yard? I mean a real honest-to-goodness 50's Diner. How about someone with about 30 classic cars, parked all shiny and full of awesome, inside a warehouse - in their back yard. Not just a warehouse, but an ever growing and improving building full of wonderful. Storefront facades of a custom rod shop, general store, church, toy store, gas station, and an elevator that will eventually lead to what I can only guess will be the ultimate man-cave ever created, all inside the warehouse in his back yard. A wall full of awards,trophies, and pure win from his auto-body and towing days. To top it all off, hes got a full-on garage with about 4 lifts and more tools than the local Autozone store. Ya, Don is a car guy. To say Don's a great guy is like saying gold is a metal. Don didn't hesitate. He agreed to help out with the tow. Thanks again Don. 

Don, driving to the Jeep (that's his best side)

Irma called, the son agreed, and the game was on! My Daughter called up her boyfriend, Kyle, I left work early and we all met up at Don's house Friday afternoon to go tow the car in. Don had Andy with him cleaning out the house garage, another car nut that does a lot of Don's finish carpentry and miscellaneous skilled jobs on the property. They hooked up the trailer and we all piled into Don's Ford for the ride out. 

Kassie and Kyle -All full of "excitement" sitting in traffic on the way out.

 Other than an extra hour of traffic heading out to Victorville to get the jeep, the trip out was, well, boring. Don and Andy pointed out every classic ar in either direction and Kyle and Kassie sat in eerie silence. Me? I was nervous that two "car" guys were going to rip into me for not seeing something that made the Jeep a waste of money - even at $600.


We got to the Jeep. I met Irma and her husband, paid for the Jeep, got the paperwork, as Don and Andy set about getting it, and it's flat tire, onto the trailer.  Luckily, the trailer had a winch, and I rode in the jeep, steering badly, as it slowly crept up the ramps. A few "rocking it back and forth" maneuvers later, and we had our prize.

Kassie and Kyle. First time seeing and sitting in the Jeep.

I tried to give Don some money for gas, but he would have none of it. Don, for friends, gets paid in Diet Coke apparently.  We stopped at the local Carl's Jr. and I bought everyone a round of nice tasty beverages. 

More Stuff

Pulling out of the Carl's Jr. we took an alley behind some businesses. As luck would have it, Don spotted a huge Bridgestone sign laying against a building. He and Andy bantered back and forth about if they thought the owner would sell it as we waited in line to get on the freeway home. Before we were much further than down the on-ramp, Andy had the number of the tire shop on his phone. (Google for the win!) They elected me to negotiate for it. It was really hard to get them to sell it. It went something like this, "We just saw a large Bridgestone sign out back of your place. What are you going to do with it?" John, the manager replied, "Sell it." "oh" I replied a little stunned "how much" A quick response of " they sell new for $3000, but we're selling that one for $250. We have 2 of them. Come take a look." ... Next off-ramp, we turned around, and after some creative positioning and strapping down, Don had a new sign for his warehouse full of wonderful. On a side note, the sign was about 20 feet long and about 4 feet tall.... and that fits easily into his warehouse... in his back yard. Ya, Don's a car guy.

Part 2; The Morbid Details

Part two of a series

My daughter wants to be some kind of 

forensic investigator or forensic pathologist

so I didn't think she'd mind owning 

and driving a dead guys car.

Before heading out to look at the Jeep for the first time, I had exchanged emails with a woman named Irma. The details on the care were sketchy, and I honestly thought in the back of my mind I may be getting scammed. After all, how many complete strangers find just what you are looking for and serve it up without asking for something in exchange?  But Brent wasn't setting me up. Irma and the Jeep were real. I had an appointment to see the Jeep at 6 pm, but I intentionally arrived an hour early.

(Tip - if you are going to buy a used car, try to set up  the appointment so that you go to the car. In that way, you get to start and run the engine when it's cold. Also, show up about an hour before the appointment so you can see if any last minute work is being done to cover up flaws or hide problems.)
   
When I arrived, I found the Jeep sitting next to a 87 convertible VW Rabbit, in the middle of an empty field. A field that was completely and securely surrounded by a chain link fence. I had no way to get to it save jump the fence. The way I saw it, If I jumped the fence two things could have happened - one; I break my neck or two; the owner shows up and has me arrested for trespassing. So.. I waited in my car. About 10 minutes before 6, a slightly older and a little dinged up Mercedes rolled up to the lot with 2 men and a boy in it. As they piled out, I could see the distinct markings found only on that rare breed creature - Tank Tops, Flip Flops, and suntanned heavily tattooed arms. Ah yes, I thought, the off-road crowd is here. Knowing I hadn't brought any cash with me (thinking I was being set up), and seeing the Mercedes and the occupants, I assessed the situation of them buying the car today and me back to looking for a used Volvo. I watched one man and the boy (with a small toy dog that looked waaay out of place) walk up and down the fence, trying to get a better look at the Jeep. They walked all the way around the fence line. (something I did only I drove it - hey that lot was big) I remember thinking that he looked too much like a tiger pacing in a cage, only in reverse. Too eager I thought - he'll probably offer too much and win. Then, he spots me across the street and comes clop clopping over.

It's a wreck. Mostly Parts. She'll never get $1500.

"Hey, you here to buy something?" hes says while stooping down to peer into my window. "Ya, the jeep" I replied. "Oh." he said as he turned and started speaking loudly to his friend now seated back in the Mercedes "I wonder if she's going to auction it." cop clop clop "Man, she didn't say it was an auction." He then spoke a little more softly to the man in the Mercedes, I couldn't hear what he said, but I knew exactly what he was planning on doing. Sure enough, he jumped the fence. I was half hoping the owner would show up and refuse to sell him the Jeep because he jumped the fence, and half hoping he'd snap a leg and need to be hauled off to the ER, but neither one happened. Before the owner arrived he had returned to standing outside the car, and was speaking a little too loudly. "It's a wreck. Mostly Parts. She'll never get $1500." he said.

Now I'm pretty sure he figured the guy in the leather shoes and button collar shirt was looking for a driver, not parts. I'm was also fairly positive at that point that he was making it sound worse than it actually was. I was also sure that I wasn't going to drive 130 miles NOT to see the car. I'd play it by ear, let him make the first move, and see what develops I thought. The owner shows up in a mid 90s, good condition small truck. She hops out, apologizes to them for being late (remember I was across the street) and opens the gate. They walk in, I follow at a distance, but within earshot of the loud talking tattooed fence-jumper.

The story is this: Her brother, who she tried time and again to help, was homeless and actually lived in what can only be described as a tiny derelict construction foreman's trailer that was plopped down, at an angle, onto the lot. (I kept imagining him rolling down the slope of the floor as he slept like I had done a few times while tent camping.) My dad has a tool shed about the same size in his suburban back yard that I would rather live in. Apparently he had driven the Jeep up to about a year ago when something happened and it quit running. Irma wasn't sure if it was broken or he couldn't afford gas. Broken. Without a doubt something was broken I thought. Anyways, he passed away, in the slanted trailer, and was found a few days later after not showing up at the local donuts shop as usual.  The lot was being sold, and the two cars had to go.

Now, I take every story with a grain or three of salt, and once filtered, it came out as this: The jeep is broken, will not run, probably has DMV issues, has been sitting for a year or two, the current owner knows nothing about the car (and could not find the keys on this day by the way), and was selling it. As all this is running through my head, I was becoming more and more astounded at the amount of motor oil that had collected on the bottom of the car. Literally from the transmission back, there was a solid coating of oil and dirt. Just then, Loud Talker chimed in, "I'll give you $500 for it. I mean, it's parts only. No way you'll get any more." I was silent. Irma looked at me and I tried my best to make no notice of her. Then, to her credit, Irma replied, "OK, email me that offer and I'll get back to you." It felt like Loud Talker didn't want to get into an auction situation and I certainly wasn't going to either. Awkwardly, he and his son flip flopped away muttering something about differentials. Now it was my turn.

I knew the jeep was complete. It didn't to have a top or doors, but besides that, it was completely stock. That was a good thing. Too many Jeeps are messed with, lifted, modified. That all leads to problems finding parts and figuring out what you need. Stock vehicles can be fixed more easily and for less money. It had 135K miles, and at 10 years old, that averaged 13K per year. Low miles, but still pretty good for a homeless guy.

Now it was, to me, simply a matter of how much over $500 did I need to go to get the car. That's right. What you read above was all I needed to decide to buy it. Look, I had been looking at jeeps for over a month and had not found any complete cars for under $3500 - running or not. I knew that, worse case scenario, If I bought it for $600, clean it up, spend a little to determine what was wrong, get it running (if even barely) and sell it quickly for $3000. (Sorry Irma, but I'm being honest here.) Sure, I wasn't in this to churn a profit. I was here to get a project car, but it's always better to keep your financial position in mind.

I went through my assessment of the car with Irma and her son: Needs a battery - $100, needs a top - $400, needs doors - $400, needs electrical work and a wiring harness (it looks like whomever took the battery did a number on the wiring harness) - $800, paint and body - $1000, miscellaneous engine stuff - $500. "it's very rough" I stated the obvious. "I may be willing to go $600, but that's about it." I told her. "I'm not sure. I'd like to think about it and email you later. Is that OK?" She agreed. I don't want to sound too calculating or slick here, but I felt it was to my advantage to tell her why I she should sell me the Jeep. After all, Loud Talker had only stated the negatives. I wanted to give her a positive feeling about selling it.  "It's for my daughter" I explained. "She's 17 and started driving a year ago. Her mom was in an accident in the car we had bought for her, and it was totaled. I want the Jeep to fix up for her as a father and daughter project. She will learn about how to fix cars and we get to spend time together. I don't want her being taken advantage of by mechanics the rest of her life." Irma immediately responded. I was hopeful. "I know what you mean. My brother wanted to fix it up too, and I have to always find a mechanic for everything I need done on my car. I need a fan belt done right now, and I don't know who to go to." I listened and commiserated, then thanked her and her son for coming out to show me the Jeep. I promised to email her if I wanted to make an offer and left.

Ancient History: Which one is the Buick?

Part 1 of the Series

WARNING: I'm not a professional writer so please apply a willing suspension of grammar and prose as you weed your way through this muck.

Let me be frank, this is nothing for the history books. No one is going to submit this to the Library of Congress. What you are reading here is a simple account of a dad, his daughter, and a Jeep - as well as an assorted cast of family, friends, and players to be named later. I wanted to document this journey so that some day, my daughter Kassie, will be able to not only tell stories about how she and her dad fixed up an old Jeep, but to also have this as a week by week account of our follies and triumphs (if any).

Bond in a Box:

(Not the actual water pump)

I was 13 years old when my father, a 6'4" tall electrical engineer and former Marine, walked into our family room, handed me a nondescript cardboard box, and simply stated, "This is a water pump. Put this on the Buick." then just walked away. This was my first indoctrination into the Shade-tree Mechanics Club, and after a few hours of literally doing it myself, the Buick had a new water pump that never leaked or squeaked for as long as we owned it. From then on, he brought home a string of used cars for us 4 kids to drive or to fix and sell, and I was the mechanic in residence. We've spoken about these cars over the years, and maybe time has made us forget the actual costs or maybe we actually did very well, buy neither he nor I could remember a car we didn't turn a profit on.

I joined the Army at 18 and went through various motorcycles and cars over 3 years. Ended up piecing together one ugly green "running" Fiat X-19 out of two cars I bought for roughly $150.00 and drove it (repaired it) all the way from Fort Benning Georgia to Southern California. (That's a story I'll have to cover at some later date.) I got married and worked on every car we owned. Had kids and as every dad has experienced, ended up with a kid driving.

(like this one, only not as nice.)

I'm not a trained mechanic. I will be making mistakes that cost me money. I will be paying too much for things. I will be buying the wrong thing. I will be relying upon forums and friends for help and advice. I will be documenting all the gory details here. That's all OK. It's a process I'm willing to go through with my daughter in hopes of creating that same bond and experience I had with my dad when I was a teen.

I hope Kassie learns a lot about cars, herself, and her dad during this project. I know that the things I learned while fixing cars with my dad have helped me in my life, and if that bond ends up over-budget, that's fine with me. 

In all honesty, when my father handed me that box at age 13, I had to go out and look at each of our 4 cars to find out which one was the Buick. At least my daughter knows which one is the Jeep.

Day 1

I had put up a "Wanted" ad in the Autos section of our local Craigslist. In a nut shell, it spelled out that I was looking for a project Jeep for my daughter and I to work on together. It ran for about 2 weeks and I had two people contact me. One had a Jeep that had been burned up, had no engine, and he would be willing to let it go for $1100.00. The other had a Jeep that was once a real awesome off-roader, but had been stripped of almost all its suspension and had a "tricked out" high performance Chevy engine that had "blown up". That guy wanted $1500.00 for what I can only summarize as parts.

Now, I have a budget of $2000.00 from an insurance settlement on a 1998 Volvo S70 sedan that Kassie had been driving. It was totaled in an accident. So as you can guess, I didn't jump at either one of these "great deals".  I had almost forgotten about the whole Jeep Project and was looking for another Volvo for her to drive when I got another reply to my Craigslist post. This one was from a guy named Brent. Brent, a complete stranger, had read my ad and seen an ad for a Jeep for $1500 that "needed work". He emailed me with, "Here's a 91 Wrangler but needs work for $1500." and linked me to the ad. I don't know who Brent is, but he's OK in my book.

I took a 130 mile round trip drive to go see the Jeep, and this is what I found.

The proverbial vehicle rotting in a field.