Blake Noble

The Sunbird is very cool. As a matter of fact, I would find no shame in restoring it. This guy is in Ft. Wayne ... that's not too far away from Louisville. If I only had a little extra cash.

Update: the new fender and header panel/grille have been purchased. Sadly, as I started to remove and restore the metal frame that holds the flare onto the fender, the bolts broke in half because they had rusted so badly. This set back my progress for the evening badly. I'm almost confident in the original head now. I went to Auto Zone and bought a good Duralast battery that had enough CCA and then some to start the Jeep. I also replaced the badly corroded battery terminals. First crank, the Jeep started without hesitation. It also didn't smoke at first. I put some water in the radiator and gave it another quick test drive up and down my street and it wasn't until the engine was at operating temprature it started to smoke a little bit. The head gasket needs to be changed regardless. The valve pan gasket also needs to be replaced as it leaks like a sieve the further you get to the firewall. I also tracked down better sun visors and a better headliner. The headliner is cut for an overhead console which I also found in another Cherokee at the same yard. After the Heep is back together, clean and running, and I've swapped an uplevel set of OEM alloys on it, these pieces will form the basis of my next project for it: getting rid of that awful rat fur headliner in favor of one with nice, woven fabric like you'd find in most new cars. The overhead console will also make a nice place to mount a CB radio.

Thanks, Sixty-Eight. Well, I'll be getting the engine back to full health again as well as buying up what I need to fix the exterior. Since a new head is fairly inexpensive, I might just put a new one on it as well as change out most of the gaskets on the top end of the motor ... dunno yet. I need to post a few more recent pics. I've really made quite a bit of progress on the old Heep. The interior is mostly clean now and back together. You can sit down in the seats now and not feel like you need a bath after getting out of them. The carpet turned out to be mostly salvageable, although I should really unbolt the driver's side seat and clean up the mess between it and the center console soon. The guages just needed a little contact cleaner on the module connections to function correctly again ... although I wish I could say the same about my power window lock that's shorted out. I'll have to take the entire power window/lock/mirror module out and dismantle it to fix some broken solder if I want someone in the back seat to roll their own windows up. Heads up Dodgefan: If I remember correctly, you have the same power window lock switch my Cherokee does and when it fails, forget about rolling up the windows from any of the passenger switches. My dad's Dakota has the same issue and guess what? It's the same damn window lock switch. Keep an eye on it and keep it clean as much as you can. I've started on the exterior. I gave it a good pressure washing tonight, which also blasted off my Cherokee decals in the process. Just as well I guess. I was going to remove the Sport decal from the good fender anyway and the new one when I buy it this week. Cherokees look far more timeless without all of the tacked-on polyps and do-dads. I also popped the door molding off since it was coming off at the corners. Now it's just a massive process of cleaning off some adhesive, double sided tape, and whatever the hell is coating the roof.

That's the Toyota way: throw rouge on a baboon.

Yep, I have to pay annual sales tax in this state on whatever vehicles I own. I don't agree with it either. I also don't understand why we don't just follow what TN does. Sure, they have to pay 9.25 percent sales tax, but there isn't any income tax or annual sales tax charged on whatever the hell you own to drive (although I do understand there is an annual renewal fee; still, though, it's nothing like paying sales tax every year on something you didn't buy that year and especially on something you didn't buy for that price to begin with). In regards as to why the law changed here, well ... plenty of people were buying cars in private party transactions and providing bills of sale with amounts that shown figures well below what had been paid to reduce how much tax they were being charged every year, i.e. what I did with the Olds.

I only paid $450 for the Cherokee, but when I went to do a title-only transfer on it at the DMV I still had to pay 6 percent sales tax on half of the KBB value, which came to somewhere around $1,500. So now I have to pay something like $80 bucks a year on tax. It wasn't like that about two years ago. I'll say this: it's one way I managed to pull off paying to get a few things done to the Cutlass when I had it.

Well, I did a title-only transfer on the Cherokee today. That set me back $83 bucks, but I can happy say I again own at least one car that is 100 percent mine. As for the engine, it indeed is a bad head gasket. The part is only $20 bucks, but I don't know if I want to do the labor myself or whore it out to a mechanic. That said, I'm budgeting myself a limit of about $1,500 to spend on restoring the Jeep, and that includes the price of the vehicle. My reasoning? KBB trade-in value on my Jeep as it sits is $1,850 since it is in only fair condition. Of course, the more work I do to it returning it to a good to excellent trade-in condition, the more the trade-in value will raise. So far, I'm in this thing for about $650 bucks. I think I can bring this Cherokee up to good condition and still make my budget happen. If I ever have to cash in on this Jeep, I plan on cashing in big. I'm still cleaning up the warzone that is the interior. I probably should have snapped a few pictures before I started diving into it because it was absolutely pathetic. Prestone Interior Cleaner and my trusty Shop Vac is doing all of the work a Bissel deep cleaner would normally do and the blue stains (yep, someone's ass sweated just enough to make the dye of their blue jeans bleed into the fabric of my seats) are coming out. The carpet looked like it may possibly be to the point of no return, but again, it's coming clean. Again, I should've had my camera when I dug out a big white ball of what-the-f@#k that had been hiding under my front passenger seat. I'm a smoker, but I don't think I've managed to trash any car I've smoked in (no worries, I don't smoke in the Challenger) as bad as whoever drove this Cherokee daily simply by puffing on a pack of Camels. If someone could lend any insight as to how you get more cigarette ashes under the f@#king ashtray as opposed to in the ashtray itself, I'd like to hear that.

SAmedei, just let SoCalCTS back in the heard with the rest of the sheep. There's no use trying to save that one.

Well, I replaced the thermostat today. Didn't get much further than that. After adding coolant to the cooling system and letting the Jeep run for a five minutes, coolant boiled out of the radiator (nothing wound up in the overflow bottle) and it poured white smoke out of the exhaust. The engine oil finally started to dilute and loose viscosity. I can't exactly figure out what may potentially be stopping the water flow, but it seems like a head gasket may be blown somewhere on the outer part of the gasket. It couldn't be a cracked/warped head because the engine still runs too smooth. Parts Jeep turned out to be a fluke, too. The yard looked up a Grand Cherokee, not a Cherokee.

That defined "luck". Didn't get to do too much tonight. Bought a new t-stat and wired up the Kenwood harness. Tomorrow I unbolt the seats and get down to cleaning out the warzone that is the interior and tackle the t-stat installation. I'll have some pics up if possible.

Located a donor Cherokee at the yard just down the road from me, and it's a black one too. A new fender is only $40. Why pop the dents?

Thanks y'all. I'll be digging into a little bit more interior tear down stuff tonight. Gotta pick up a battery, a thermostat (since it doesn't have one currently for whatever reason) and all of the necessary fluids coming home from work. I really love working on this Jeep. So far, everything is simple to service, simple to disassemble and reassemble, and simple to figure out. Good question, Z. The Cherokee has a two-tone carmel and charcoal interior and it would be awesome if I could find a set of two tone seats to match it.

Started tearing into the task sheet tonight. The overflow bottle has been removed, rinsed, and reinstalled. There's still a nice residue of rusty antifreeze on the bottom of the bottle. I may have to replace that; don't know just yet. I'm also going to be yard hoppin' for a new hood release cable assembly. Another issue with the Cherokee: those things like to snap at the pull handle end and mine decided it was time to do that tonight. A service tag from a shop in Barbourville revealed that it was on it's second release cable. Simple and easy enough to replace, though. I've also started on the fascia swap. The driver's side headlamp, trim bezel, and inner bucket are removed along with the bolts that hold the fascia assembly on. Going to find that trinket Monday along with a new front fender and fender flare (the tabs on the flare are actually broken as it turns out). That awful Pioneer stereo is gone. I still have to wire up the harness for the Kenwood (it already had harness adaptors from the Pioneer install! sch-weet!).

Sorry, I was a little too excited when I pulled out the ol' TX and went to work. About $200 a ton sounds right.

Thanks, Z and blu. I think that, while I'm working on returning the Jeep back to snuff, I'll make a few upgrades along the way. I'd love to have some leather seats and some chrome power window and door lock switches for the interior for starters.

So how much Jeep did $450 bucks buy? Hopefully these terrible night photos will answer that question sort of. Yes, better photos are to come and if you take the time to do the math, I paid $10.88 a pound for the entire truck, that runs and drives I might add. I think I might've just set a record of some sort here. If this isn't the definition of "Cheap Jeep" I don't know what is. Here's my task list for "Project Pioneer": Dump the pitiful contents of the coolant overflow bottle. Flush and fill the cooling system. Change the oil. Strip and clean every last surface of the interior. Remove the pathetic and ancient Pioneer CD player and replace it with the Kenwood HD radio reciever I saved from the Camaro. Clean the connections from the gauge cluster module (common problem for these Cherokees). Fix and/or replace the driver's side fender and reinstall the fender flare. Replace the front fascia. Wash and wax every last inch of the exterior. Not a hefty list really.

Buying the '98 Cherokee tomorrow (it's a Sport model). I decided to pass on the '88 (it wasn't a '94 like I thought; then again I hadn't even talked to the owner when I first made this thread). It was another good running Cherokee, and not parts material. It needs to be driven. It would've went to waste considering what sort of condition the '98 is in and there isn't a whole lot of interchangeable parts on the two Cherokees anyway despite what you might initially think. The '98 is going to set me back $450 bucks. It isn't exactly cherry, but it's not the nightmare I was expecting. It does run and quite well I might add. It only has 158,000 miles and still blows cold air. The four-wheel drive works great. Again, not the nightmare I was expecting. As for what is wrong with it, the driver's side fender has a dent in it below the door and near the front bumper and the fender flare has been removed. That's nothing major as all that holds the flare on is one small metric bolt on the bottom side of the fender. The dents are pretty noticeable, but the paint wasn't damaged and they can be removed. The front fascia panel of course is made of fiberglass and something landed on it and cracked it pretty bad in one spot. Again, nothing that can't be fixed easily. I can track that part down within a week. It doesn't have a battery, so I'll have to borrow one (but I'll also add that the current owner had a battery to put in it to start it and it cranked right over and started the first time after not being started in almost 4 months). The gauge cluster likes to take naps due to a bad module connection and the safety neutral switch acts a little funny. The interior is absolutely filthy as well. The tires will last through this winter and then will be good for little more than tire swings. Cherokees were also bad for having rusty radiators and this particular Jeep is no exception. Before the current owner bought it, the radiator rusted so bad it was leaking and the owner before him decided to be a cheap ass and put some stop leak in it. Needless to say, that didn't work, so the radiator was replaced sometime shortly before it went up for sale and he bought it. The current owner did flush the cooling system completely, so while there is a bunch of rusty dust on the header panel that was blown out during the flush and fills, it isn't from some catastrophic engine failure. The engine oil is fine, not really all that dirty. It wasn't milky. The engine didn't miss or anything. Basically, what went on with the radiator and the stop leak is a non issue from where I'm sitting at the moment, but it is worth noting. Basically, this Jeep just needs basic TLC and it will go for another 100,000 miles. It seems to be a project I can definitely work with (not another MC SS fiasco). I would be insane not to buy it.

Who? Nawwwww. Couldn't be. Eh, I dunno. I think Ed Gein would get a run for his money from Edmund Kemper. Kemper had some serious mommy issues himself.

Two Jeep Cherokees, one a '98 and the other a '94. Both supposedly run. Both supposedly have good titles. Both have an asking price of $850. I'm curious about the '98, that's what I'm hoping may be a diamond in the rough. I don't know what I would do with an extra Jeep sitting around, but whatever. I think I can deal with it. We'll see. I have the weekend to wait.

Judging from your avatar, I'd say trouble is in your future. Wanna go ahead and sell me that Buick so I can put it in my traveling circus? You can clean out the trunk first, though. I don't want any part of that or what's out back in your woodshed. seriously, though, keep us posted on what this might gein you

So I had some circa '71 GM seatbelt buckles laying around, left over from the Cutlass days (these didn't work because GM had changed the buckle/harness design in '72). Deciding not to let them go to waste, I decided it would be cool to put them to good use. After a few cigarettes, some glue and thread, and a cheap-o Dickies strap I had snagged for free later, I had this: Yeah, the pic sucks. Cut my 3GS some slack. Sure, Levy's makes a seat belt strap, but it's nowhere as cool as this. While Levy's claims that they use real, recycled buckles, you only have to take one look at their straps to see that it's obvious they're just blowing hot air. However, this is made from the legitimate article. I plan on making more and probably charging $60 bucks for 'em. Of course, I'll incorporate the harness into the next one, but this came out very nice minus the harness, especially considering it was a first try. I should also note this one doesn't adjust, although you can move the buckle to various points on the strap. Despite of this, I let two friends try the strap out, and they could find a way to make it feel right, despite the fact the length was fixed. Neat.

They succeeded in doing that to me back in April.

NOW! That's What I Call Heavy 2011 The song's called "Tractor f@#kin' Trailer". How could I say no? Sweet Nova, too.

Before I bought the Challenger, I almost bought a Magnum. I love my Challenger, but sometimes I wonder what kept me from the Magnum ...

I nominate a law be passed so that Bay has to legally retitle the movie "Robot Island".