My high school self would be impressed with my “new” ‘95 YJ!

Hey everyone!

So, I’ve had this about a month now, and naturally I’m working on it more than I’m driving it, haha! But it’s got a lot going for it and I have high hopes it’ll be a fun, town cruiser for many years still. It’s a 1995 4.0L Splash Edition. I’ll add some posts to show where’s it’s been and how it’s coming along. For now, a few shots of how it was the day I bought it.

So let’s go back in time a bit. What a heap.

While researching it, I paid a buck for a service like checkmyvin or something like that. I found a clean report on titles, etc, but interestingly, the process unearthed the previously sold auction photos.

Obviously it didn’t look like this when I got it but it looked like this when the folks I bought it from got it. I appreciated the work they put in before I came along for sure. But, let me tell you it was still dirty as hell on the inside …

If I could find them, I might consider it, but I haven’t had any luck finding a place that makes them in the correct color.

These pics don’t really show how dirty and greasy it was in here (I might’ve forgotten to take some before shots). But once I got it in the garage, I started tearing into it to give it a deep clean and figure out how to make it more usable and nice inside.

Interior-wise: All the seats were gross—full stop. Rear belts non-functional, lots of rusted hardware and rear seat bolts (still have to drill one out that broke). Radio: nothing. Two working dash bulbs. Speakers: unknown without the radio, but they didn’t look worth saving. Rollbar pads: pure stink, had to go. Would love to replace the wheel with a wood one in the future.

Exterior: Here’s where they did the work. New paint, all hinges decent, seals good. They replaced the original top frame with a good used Smittybuilt top, which was ok, but filthy. New tires, brakes, clutch … pretty nice all around.

Next up, exterior lighting and interior refurb.

Had to do LED exterior lights, and I’m pretty happy with how they turned out.

Only minor issue I have is that the driver’s side park light doesn’t work. It’s perfectly legal, just not perfect. I dunno.

Ran into minor trouble getting the old flasher relays out. One was fine, the other shattered and it took me nearly an hour to get it all out.