spankrjs's Biloxi, MS '83 Scrambler

[spankrjs]

Well, my OCD/anal retentiveness got the better of me this weekend. As if I didn't already have enough parts to clean up already, I went and pulled the passenger side fender off, too. This Scrambler was repainted the factory color a long while back, but the under hood area is still the original paint. It is no where near as shiny as the exterior paint. This bugged me. Can't put a new engine/transmission/transfer case back in a dreary engine bay. So.................

This picture is before I washed the firewall:

I cleaned the firewall, first with Simple Green, then Dawn dish washing soap, and finally car washing soap. This was a PIA cleaning fire wall in the garage. I used buckets of water, rags, and a lot of time. I would clean a small area, then use a squeegy to get the water out of the garage. Wish I had a concrete driveway!!!!!!! Anyway, it still looked blah, lots of dead/faded paint. I started to polish a small area by hand, it looked much better. In the picture below, you can see the polished part toward the bottom left. Note all the dead paint splotchy areas above and around the polished area:

Well, that looks much better. But, it would take forever to do the whole fire wall by hand. So, I used some tools I already owned, Dremel and a Drill, and went out and bought two things: (1) The Mothers Mini Power Ball (2) The Flitz Polish. No real reason I tried this polish, just figured I would try it.

Well, I was very happy with the results. The Mini Power Ball worked awesome, and the polish did, too. I was able to polish probably 95% of the firewall, and it looks much better, and it only took about two hours.

This picture is with the garage door closed, drop light on, and I had not yet polished the fire wall around the steering column/master cylinder/wire harness/clutch stuff:

A better picture, 100% polished, natural light shining through open garage door. The "white haze" you see toward the passenger side is a reflection of my t-shirt!!!!!!!

A close up, which shows the sparkle. Also of note are the bare paint areas, showing a black primer. I found this same primer on "Yard Scrambler I", which also was Sherwood green:

All in all, I am very happy with the results. Except, I will now have to polish both inner fenders!!! I know this was probably over kill, since you will never see most of the firewall/fenders once everything is back in, but I am happy with the results.

Well, I then turned my attention to the frame. It is not rusty, but dirty, greasy, and dull:

This Scrambler was originally bought for a high school kid, so I knew I could find some evidence of a more "exciting life". Sure enough, looking down into the front shock towers, packed full of Mississippi clay/oil/grime/sand:

So, I removed both front shock towers and the engine frame mounts, to make cleaning easier. Picture of the inside of one front shock tower:

And the frame where the shock tower was sitting:

Don't worry, the orange you see on the frame is NOT rust, just good old Mississippi red clay.

So, now I am going to clean the frame up, and the under body, at least to the rear spring hangers. This should get rid of most of the old leaking oil that coats the under sides of old leaking Jeeps. Anything past the rear spring hangers can be done easier outside, once the Scrambler is running again.

So, how am I going to degrease/clean all the old nasty stuff off the under side of the Scrambler while it is stuck inside the garage without making a huge mess?

Stay tuned, that's it for now!!

 

[Belizeit]

I'm reading your thread. Mine is going to need a real good cleaning also. Oil and some brake fluid. Mine will need some paint also. Worked the shock towers years ago. Great place for mud and water storage

 

[Randyzzz]

I use a small hole saw and open up a hole in the bottom of the tower- small enough to not weaken it but big enough to let the junk drain out. I think about 5/8".

 

[IAFFCJ]

I use a small hole saw and open up a hole in the bottom of the tower- small enough to not weaken it but big enough to let the junk drain out. I think about 5/8".

I did the same thing on my 7 and have since beat the tar out of it with no negative effects.

 

[John N]

I've heard that there's dust on top of your gas tank too....best take care of that.....

 

[Jeeperdd]

I've heard that there's dust on top of your gas tank too....best take care of that.....

 

[spankrjs]

I'm reading your thread. Mine is going to need a real good cleaning also. Oil and some brake fluid. Mine will need some paint also. Worked the shock towers years ago. Great place for mud and water storage

I use a small hole saw and open up a hole in the bottom of the tower- small enough to not weaken it but big enough to let the junk drain out. I think about 5/8".

I did the same thing on my 7 and have since beat the tar out of it with no negative effects.

I should probably drill holes in mine, but I never do. I just flush them out with water really well every once in awhile. Drain holes would be nice

 

[spankrjs]

I've heard that there's dust on top of your gas tank too....best take care of that.....

Hell, I'll probably end up dropping it for some reason soon enough, good excuse to clean it

But, I just swapped it in a few years ago, so it is probably pretty clean still

 

[MrBeep]

Hell, I'll probably end up dropping it for some reason soon enough, good excuse to clean it

But, I just swapped it in a few years ago, so it is probably pretty clean still

Nice place to store some really neat sand!

 

[spankrjs]

Nice place to store some really neat sand!

Yep, hoping to take this one up there this year

 

[spankrjs]

OK, back to under body cleaning/detailing. The steam pressure washer thingy at work is my favorite cleaning tool. But, two problems:

1) I can't use it in the garage. Well, I guess I could, but that would be a huge mess/disaster
2) The steam cleaner works super awesome, so well that it sometimes removes paint

So, the Scrambler is stuck in the garage, I have the power train out, its a good time to clean up some hard to reach spots, what to use?

I obtained a can of this stuff from NAPA to try out:

And amazingly, it works as advertised. I would spray a section, let the stuff sit about five minutes, maybe lightly scrub with an old tooth brush, then wipe all the crud off. No damage to existing paint. Works well, and doesn't stink, which is important, since I am using it under the Scrambler that is inside the garage.

If the first application/wipe wouldn't take all the crud off, a second or third application would. One can goes a pretty long ways. I have cleaned from the firewall, back to the bed "step" on the floor pans, all the way to the outside of the body. And, I have cleaned the driver side frame rail, the side that gets the nastiest, from the front spring hanger to the rear spring hanger. I cleaned all of this area in about 4 hours. Yes, the steam cleaner would be much faster, but this stuff is working out great. It would also be good for doing spot cleaning before tackling repairs. Highly recommended it.

This picture shows the inside of the passenger side frame rail, you can see where I stopped cleaning. Not the best picture, the light make the frame rail look faded, but it is actually still gloss black:

I did accidentally put the light scratch marks in the paint, I grabbed a steel brush instead of nylon!!!!!!!!!

This picture show the passenger side under body, near the fire wall. This is usually covered in grease and grime. You can see the sparkle in the paint still.

All in all, I am pretty happy with the progress. I will take some better after pictures once I finish cleaning everything up. Damn OCD.

 

[spankrjs]

One interesting note: When I pulled the body tub off "Yard Scrambler 1", which was also Sherwood green, I noticed how the entire center section of the under body was black. Not spray paint black from previous owners, but a factory applied black primer. Yard Scrambler 1 was covered in surface rust everywhere else. On my Sherwood green tub, the center section is the same smooth black. But, the outer floor pans, outboard of the frame rails, still has Sherwood Green showing up in places that aren't covered in previous owner black spray paint/under coat crap. So, I would assume the factory did not paint these things 100% on the bottom side. My red 05 LJ is the same way. Bright red on the outside/inner front fenders, grey/white primer everywhere else.

Here is a picture of YS1, to show what I am talking about:

Same black primer behind the tail lights:

And Sherwood Green paint out board of the frame rails, all the way to the inner channel support:

Sherwood Green under the bed floor/back side of the cap to bed "step":

Just something interesting that I observed, especially the transmission tunnel area. Both of these Green Scramblers had completely black transmission tunnel areas.

My Scrambler had previous owners spray the easy to get to areas with black spray paint. It comes off pretty easy in places, revealing the factory green paint or black primer. Mine is also probably 100% rust free on the under side, except for a few very small areas of light surface rust. So, happy about that, YS1 was a PIA

One day I will probably pull this tub off and repaint the under side, remove the bed liner crap off the floor boards, and repaint the whole thing. One day when I am really bored

The good thing about all this cleaning: I am finding no evidence of rust, which was the main reason why I bought this particular Scrambler, besides the paint color.

 

[Randyzzz]

The good thing about all this cleaning: I am finding no evidence of rust, which was the main reason why I bought this particular Scrambler, besides the paint color.

I'd rather deal with a powertrain swap than rust. Wait...that's what I'm doing!

 

[spankrjs]

I'd rather deal with a powertrain swap than rust. Wait...that's what I'm doing!

Agree 100%

I think your Powertrain swap will have much more Power then mine

 

[spankrjs]

Well, my OCD kicked in, coupled to the fact that I had a pretty bad rear pinion oil seal leak a few years ago, so I am now cleaning all the way to the front of the gas tank

The passenger side area around the transmission/transfer case was the worst, I think because the engine fan blows all the leaking oil down this side. The driver side was pretty easy. The area over the rear pinion/passenger side frame rail area were pretty oily/grimey, but it is all cleaning up pretty easy.

I don't mind working on dirty/oily/messy crap out in the field or on the side of the road, but if I have a choice, I try to keep everything clean. Makes working on the Scrambler much more enjoyable

There shouldn't be too much more oily grime past the gas tank, it tends to catch all the gunk as it blows toward the back. But, if I drop the tank, I will clean the frame/underbody all the way back to the rear cross member. The good thing - the further you get from the engine compartment, the less mess to clean

Still no rust or hidden surprises found, so that is always a good thing. Besides being clean, this exercise is allowing me to thoroughly inspect the frame/body. No way to see any "issues" with all this grime on everything.

The frame paint is still in good shape, the under body looks good, too. I did find evidence of original Sherwood Green paint overspray in the black transmission tunnel area, probably over spray from when the tub was originally painted

A few more hours of underside cleaning, then I get to start cleaning all the frame brackets I removed, both front fenders, all the fender braces, and all the engine accessories

 

[Belizeit]

I went to NAPA this afternoon and bought $400 of front end parts for wife's Cherokee but couldn't remember which CRC degreaser it was you used. There were several different ones. So this time I wrote it down and when I go back I'm getting a can to try. My jeep has no rust on frame or bottom either. I think it is all the oil and grease flung and sprayed

 

[spankrjs]

I went to NAPA this afternoon and bought $400 of front end parts for wife's Cherokee but couldn't remember which CRC degreaser it was you used. There were several different ones. So this time I wrote it down and when I go back I'm getting a can to try. My jeep has no rust on frame or bottom either. I think it is all the oil and grease flung and sprayed

You know, you are probably right - All that flung oil and grease makes a good rust preventative coating

The product works really well, especially if you are working inside. I still prefer the steam cleaner, but I was surprised at how well this stuff works. I used 2.5 cans, about 8 hours of work, and completely cleaned the frame/under body from the front cross member all the way to the front of the gas tank cross member. A few old tooth brushes and a bunch of old rags is all I used. I will take some pictures

This is still my prefered method, but not practical for the garage, fork lift + steam cleaner

 

[Belizeit]

That beats the heck out of laying under the vehicle. And it all just rolls down hill. You have a nice set up. Are the blocks under the back of the frame? Kinda dark under the back, in the picture

 

[Jeep Addict]

I can't believe that NOS front bumper was converted into a tow bumper

 

[spankrjs]

That beats the heck out of laying under the vehicle. And it all just rolls down hill. You have a nice set up. Are the blocks under the back of the frame? Kinda dark under the back, in the picture

Yep, blocks behind the rear tires to keep it from rolling, I think I put wood down for the frame cross member/body to rest on.

I can't believe that NOS front bumper was converted into a tow bumper

You should see what happened to the end caps