J&G_BlueGLH
10-30-2007, 12:35 PM
Thanks to a wonderful friend, Troy (TurboJerk), his sister decided to get rid of her 96 Jeep Grand Cherokee to trade in for a (oh gosh im ashamed to even say the word.) pppphhhoorrrrdddd.. yuk! So I snagged it up for $1,000! My daily driver is a 2000 Dodge Neon, and that thing doesnt like snow very much. Shes a great car otherwise, but she likes to get stuck in the driveway sometimes. So I decided, a 4 wheel drive vehicle needs to be in the fleet for me, as I cant steal Gregs truck since he needs it.. and it would be silly to have him take me to work and pick me up, its out of the way. So this makes it 3 vehicles for me, the Neon, the GLH and then this. So this is what I got.. a 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo, V6 4.0 L (the indestructable) She's got 193,000 on it, and had some mechanical issues. The Freeze plugs were leaking, so we replaced them all around. Put in a new radiator, clutch fan, replaced the front differentials, gears, new u-joints, tune up (cap, rotor, plugs, wires), new coolant overflow bottle, repainted all the grey pannels, pulled the interior and shampooed the carpet and seats and a complete buff job. Got Jeep slush mats from Mopar, replaced the rear bumper, installed front license plate bracket and frame, replaced the Oil Pump Sending Unit, serviced the rear. Looked like the head gasket was a little iffy, so we replaced it and while the head was off sent it to the local Napa that Greg's dealership deals with to have it checked. Thank goodness it wasnt cracked, but was slightly warped. Had them machine it and do a valve job (amazing job!).. we also fixed the exhaust manifold as it was cracked in a few spots and wasnt worth buying a new one. Troy did a kickin job on the welds of course and sounds and looks great. We also did the Cat recall, replaced the exhaust and muffler. I think thats everything.... When Troy's sister had it, they replaced the Tranny with a reman from Chrysler. They also did a water pump. So we pretty much did over this whole thing for the most part. And its running great. You would never know the mileage thats on it! In a few weeks we are gonna replace the sway bar bushings, put a 2 to 3 inch lift kit on it, as well as some bigger/meatier tires. We also need to do front brakes and rotors.. and plans are to put a limited slip in the rear at some point as well. Within the week, we just need to repaint the mudflaps, and finish repainting the roof rack and re-install it. All my 3 vehicles are sportin the same Mopar Performance plate... So here are a few pics.. :) Thanks to Greg for dedicating so much of his time to this thing.. it turned out wonderful.. im so thankful for an amazing boyfriend like that, and having a personal mechanic! haha!
JEN
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c20/mopargirl41301/ZJ3.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c20/mopargirl41301/ZJ5.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c20/mopargirl41301/Jeep2.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c20/mopargirl41301/Jeep7.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c20/mopargirl41301/Jeepblackedout1.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c20/mopargirl41301/Jeepblackedout2.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c20/mopargirl41301/Jeep.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c20/mopargirl41301/ZJ6.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c20/mopargirl41301/Neon1-2.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c20/mopargirl41301/BeforeMotorDrop2.jpg
JEN
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c20/mopargirl41301/ZJ3.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c20/mopargirl41301/ZJ5.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c20/mopargirl41301/Jeep2.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c20/mopargirl41301/Jeep7.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c20/mopargirl41301/Jeepblackedout1.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c20/mopargirl41301/Jeepblackedout2.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c20/mopargirl41301/Jeep.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c20/mopargirl41301/ZJ6.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c20/mopargirl41301/Neon1-2.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c20/mopargirl41301/BeforeMotorDrop2.jpg