'97 Jeep Grand Cherokee "Skinner"

[jjester6000]

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The story all starts with this low mile 2002 Lincoln Continental I picked up for $100. The car hadn't run in a decade, but I eventually got it going and road worthy.

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By the time I was done, I had a vehicle with 300HP, ice cold A/C, a clean interior, and decent looking paint. So what did I do with it? Trade it for this POS with 3 times the miles (291,000) no water pump, and a drivers door that wouldn't close.

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There are two reasons for that:
- The Lincoln isn't my style.
- The trade was with a family member who needed a car.
.

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Over a weekend, I drove the Lincoln down (about 100 miles) and got to work on the Jeep. A water pump, radiator, and oil change later, it made the trip home no problem. It ran good, stopped good, and shifted good.

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Now originally, I was planning on sort of fixing it up a bit, have some fun and sell it (as you can see I put a new door on it). Now I'm planning on actually making it nice, and keeping it for a while.

 

[jjester6000]

Now this is where things get sad, the previous owner, my Uncle, just passed away at the age of 59 (His nickname was Skinner.) He really liked this Jeep, and so in his honor, I think I'm actually going to fix the body up for him.

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Now the very day he passed, I came across this '98 in a local junkyard.

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(Yeah, I know the bottom of the fender is gone, I can fabricate a new one).
Taking that as a divine sign, I quickly snatched up everything I needed.

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I got the door too since the other door I got is probably the worst door I've ever seen (the original wasn't usable since I'm pretty sure that he Tommy Boy Incident with it).

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It's also off the wrong year, and was a bit of a pain to get all the wiring working on.

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[jjester6000]

I also got a new front bumper for it since the current one is painted when it's supposed to be plastic.

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That's because this Jeep has a rebuilt title after it got sideswiped a few years ago.

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(I will fix this quarter as soon as I have the chance).
I'm not planning on giving this thing a full paint job (yet) but I do want to make it look decent.

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I'm going to address a few things such as the Patina (I'll just run a hard tape line and paint from the pinstripe up).

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I also might also put some rockers on it. I'm not too worried right now since it's all under the moldings. Maybe if I get a free weekend, I might take it into work and burn some new rockers on it with the Miller. Heck maybe I'll make some lower door skins for it while I'm at it.

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The rest of the underside looks mint, this thing must've started its life in the south.

 

[jjester6000]

Gonna throw the fender on today.

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I just finished straightening it out. It's not perfect, but I think it looks pretty good since I did all the work with a claw hammer, screwdriver, and a piece of wood (All my body hammers and dollies are at work).

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(Before)

 

[jjester6000]

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I finally got the door, fender, and bumper thrown on.

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It's not fully reassembled yet, but it will be soon. Hopefully I'll be able to take it into work this week and get to work on that dent in the quarter.

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By the way, I figured out why this thing was totaled; it seems that its had the right quarter panel replaced at some point. I found traces of panel bond in the wheel well as well as what looks like a slight wobble in the sale panel where I think it was spliced (it seems that they used an actual one sided spot welder on the spot welds). Its an otherwise good looking repair that's probably over a decade old.