91 YJ 2.5 manual rebuild

[dfeldmanyj]

I bought my Jeep about seven years ago. I drove frequently without any issues until last fall when it would not come out of gear until the engine was off. I had been planning for a few years to take the body off the frame and paint, and this was finally my driver for doing.

I now have the body off the frame and the body mount bolts out after I cut a few holes in the floor and will need to cut a few more to replace the nuts as the threads are gone.

The body overall for being 34 years old, is in surprisingly good shape. There is some rust in the side panel below the doors that will need to be cut out and replaced. I have not done metal work like this before but I'm not afraid to try with some help. Should I send the body off to have the mounts fixed and patches as well as replace the rusted sections along with sandblast and prime the body? I may or may not paint myself depending on what it will cost.

The engine, transmission, transfer case, and rear differential all appear to leak and are covered in oil but have not yet pulled out of the frame. Here is my plan

Engine - Remove and go through. At a minimum, do a seal kit and not a full rebuild it does not need. Replace coolant and vacuum lines as needed.
Transmission - Replace seals and inspect clutch and cylinders, replace if needed.
Transfer case - Replace seals.
Front and rear differentials - Replace seals
New fuel and brake lines along with fuel sending unit and fuel filter
New shocks
Have the frame sand blasted and primed or powder coated.
Dash gauges work minus the clock which is not critical. I have seen that you can replace the dash gauges with led for about $1000 but I do not think that makes sense for what the vehicle will be.

This will be driven a few days a week and not intended to take off road frequently. It has 30" tires and a 2" lift which I plan to keep when I replace the body mounts.

Is there anything I am missing in my plan? Should I be upgrading anything?

 

[ytradio]

For what I believe it will cost you, I would tackle the body mount nuts and sheet metal work myself. Even if it is your first time, just my opinion. I would also do my own paint. Since you have not tried painting, I guess that just depends on how picky you are about the paint on your Jeep. You have already accomplished a great deal and I believe that anyone who has done all that is plenty capable of the rest.

 

[dfeldmanyj]

I have the engine torn down and it appears to be a reman. The main bearings are .10 and the rod bearings are .20, the pistons are .20 and the machine shop I talked to said that was common for a reman. I do not think it needs a full kit as the pistons look good. I may buy bearings, rings and a full gasket set and put back together. Many of the full kits replace the timing components as well as the oil pump but not sure I really need that.

I have the transmission and transfer case out of the frame as well steering and shocks. Working on getting the spring off but the bushings / bolts are super tight, and I am going to try and use an air hammer to break them loose.
I am not sure what to do with the existing shackles and leaf springs. I do not know how to tell if they are worn out or should sand blast and paint and put back on. The body mounts did have a 2" lift and the shackles to me seem quite large at almost 6 1/4" bolt. I am not opposed to replacing the springs if needed.

I am going to replace all the bushings and steering components. For the steering, am I better off buying a kit or piece together my own?

I have gotten quotes for about $1500 to blast the body so I am looking at spending that money to buy a blast kit from Eastwood and air compressor that will provide enough CFM and 90 PSI and do it my self. I will likely use KBS for the frame but not sure if I should blast it down to bear metal and the coat or go over top. The fram is really in pretty good shape expect for a few areas here and there is rust.

I was going to try and fix the body mounts or look at having a shop do it but in the end, ordered new bottom rails that contain the mount hardware and will be drilling out the old plug welds and then welding on the new rails.