Ooopps I bought another car to add to the fleet!
Discussion
Well have picked up Arnie the 2001 4.7L V8 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited this morning, its done 131k got full Jeep S/H and only had 3 owners.
Every toy works, including the door mirrors electronically folding in!!
No MOT or Tax so managed to kick the seller quite hard because of this.
Drove it back to the yard carefully (all 42 miles from Croydon!!) on the trade plates with my mate Phil acting as chase car in the A6!
Cant use the steam cleaner on Sundays as it is too noisy and we dont like upsetting the neighbours as they are all nice people.
So gave it a wash down with the hose...used some AG PM3 on a few areas. and hit the wheels up with AG Acid Free Wheel Cleaner and then Fall Off.
As said it was just a quick was to get the worst of the crap off as its stood under a tree for 3-6 months.
Every toy works, including the door mirrors electronically folding in!!
No MOT or Tax so managed to kick the seller quite hard because of this.
Drove it back to the yard carefully (all 42 miles from Croydon!!) on the trade plates with my mate Phil acting as chase car in the A6!
Cant use the steam cleaner on Sundays as it is too noisy and we dont like upsetting the neighbours as they are all nice people.
So gave it a wash down with the hose...used some AG PM3 on a few areas. and hit the wheels up with AG Acid Free Wheel Cleaner and then Fall Off.
As said it was just a quick was to get the worst of the crap off as its stood under a tree for 3-6 months.
Well today didnt got quite as to plan...was supposed to be fitting the new front brakes but the ones GSF supplied were the wrong ones...apparently there are 2 sorts on this year and sadly we chose the wrong ones, hey ho never mind there are also a couple of bolts that are really rusted on the caliper bracket so I am getting my mechanic to do the job next week.
So too the oportunity to do some cleaning
Headlights were all cloudy and needed polishing up so just hit them up quickly with a compounding pad and some FCP just to see how they came up....the difference between the 2 is very noticable
Also sorted out the blown bulbs in the side lights....though I would give it the US look and have orange bulbs in there...norty but hey it is a yank tank!
I then started on the inside....i dont have any befores but let me say this bucket is just from the roof lining and the seats....i think if I showed you lot the interior before you would have fit!
This was the 2nd bucket after doing the plastics!!
I will get some shots of the finished interior tomorrow.
I havent bothered much with the paint as of yet as I plan to have a couple of areas painted so there is no point....so will give it a good going over with SRP and a coat of Colly 476 to at least give it some protection until the paint work is done.
So too the oportunity to do some cleaning
Headlights were all cloudy and needed polishing up so just hit them up quickly with a compounding pad and some FCP just to see how they came up....the difference between the 2 is very noticable
Also sorted out the blown bulbs in the side lights....though I would give it the US look and have orange bulbs in there...norty but hey it is a yank tank!
I then started on the inside....i dont have any befores but let me say this bucket is just from the roof lining and the seats....i think if I showed you lot the interior before you would have fit!
This was the 2nd bucket after doing the plastics!!
I will get some shots of the finished interior tomorrow.
I havent bothered much with the paint as of yet as I plan to have a couple of areas painted so there is no point....so will give it a good going over with SRP and a coat of Colly 476 to at least give it some protection until the paint work is done.
So some after shots as promised.
As said previously I havent corrected the paint as there are a few areas that I am going to have painted so really is no point in doing the full works just yet. This doesnt mean it cant be presentable though
So 2 coats of AutoGlym SRP (new formulation Radiant Wax to be factually correct
) followed by a coat of Bouncers Vanilla Ice wax. Wheels given a coat of SRP then topped off with Poorboys wheel sealant.
Engine bay was drenched in AutoGlym PowerMax3 then blasted off with the steam cleaner cranked up to 120 degrees C and the pressure turned down...same was done for the door shuts too, really shifts the old grease and crud that accumulates over the years.
Now the money shot and the bit I am really shocked and very happy about......the interior!!
You have seen the colour of the buckets from cleaning the roof/seats and the plastics with AutoGlym CleanAll. Well dressed the plastics after with some AutoSmart Silicone (berry blast flavour) that I found on my shelf in the shed!....seats were also fed and dressed with Car-Chem Leather Cream....this stuff smells lovely and wow does it work, for £9.99 it represents really good value for money. I could see it being absorbed into the leather. I left it for about 30 mins then buffed with a clean micro-fibre to leave the finish you see above. Whilst on the subject of Car-Chem I also sprayed the odor eliminator all over the carpets and roof lining yesterday evening and left the car sealed up over night...this morning it smelled a million percent better.
So whilst the paintwork isn't perfect i think you will agree it certainly doesn't look like a £775 car any more
Will be doing some light green lane adventures soon with my mate and his V8 Disco....so it wont just be an "Chelsea Tractor" :lol:
As said previously I havent corrected the paint as there are a few areas that I am going to have painted so really is no point in doing the full works just yet. This doesnt mean it cant be presentable though
So 2 coats of AutoGlym SRP (new formulation Radiant Wax to be factually correct
) followed by a coat of Bouncers Vanilla Ice wax. Wheels given a coat of SRP then topped off with Poorboys wheel sealant.Engine bay was drenched in AutoGlym PowerMax3 then blasted off with the steam cleaner cranked up to 120 degrees C and the pressure turned down...same was done for the door shuts too, really shifts the old grease and crud that accumulates over the years.
Now the money shot and the bit I am really shocked and very happy about......the interior!!
You have seen the colour of the buckets from cleaning the roof/seats and the plastics with AutoGlym CleanAll. Well dressed the plastics after with some AutoSmart Silicone (berry blast flavour) that I found on my shelf in the shed!....seats were also fed and dressed with Car-Chem Leather Cream....this stuff smells lovely and wow does it work, for £9.99 it represents really good value for money. I could see it being absorbed into the leather. I left it for about 30 mins then buffed with a clean micro-fibre to leave the finish you see above. Whilst on the subject of Car-Chem I also sprayed the odor eliminator all over the carpets and roof lining yesterday evening and left the car sealed up over night...this morning it smelled a million percent better.
So whilst the paintwork isn't perfect i think you will agree it certainly doesn't look like a £775 car any more
Will be doing some light green lane adventures soon with my mate and his V8 Disco....so it wont just be an "Chelsea Tractor" :lol:
I like these but would have to go for an lpg converted one as they do drink. I'd my other half would Rip it out of me because we have a defender 90 300tdi which is a "proper" 4x4. Unlike me she thinks these are a bit lame. Must admit I do like a bit of leather etc but then again I do like driving the defender feels like I'm driving a small tank that'll go anywhere
MancDan said:
A whole lot of vehicle for less than £800 and will be great when we start getting the snow.
That was the story I used to flummox the wife into agreeing to let me buy it for us....it worked...she is looking forward to having a go of it Somnophore said:
I like these but would have to go for an lpg converted one as they do drink. I'd my other half would Rip it out of me because we have a defender 90 300tdi which is a "proper" 4x4. Unlike me she thinks these are a bit lame. Must admit I do like a bit of leather etc but then again I do like driving the defender feels like I'm driving a small tank that'll go anywhere
Its not all that bad the auto box has an overdrive....got 24 US/MPG out of it on the drive back from Croydon the other weekend....that was with the cruise set at 60-65mph.Defenders are really cool but a bit too "raw" inside and well over the budget we wanted to spend (£1k)....planning on doing some off road soon with my mate in his V8 Disco....should be a right grin
Aparently the WJ Grand Cherokee won many awards for the Quadradrive system and they are surprisingly good off road too
kapiteinlangzaam said:
What a great car for <£800 - has it had the MOT yet though?
I had an earlier generation ZJ and it remains one of my all-time favourite vehicles.
Good luck with it, but get it LPGd, it will pay you back very, very quickly
MOT is on this Saturday.I had an earlier generation ZJ and it remains one of my all-time favourite vehicles.
Good luck with it, but get it LPGd, it will pay you back very, very quickly
It will pass for sure as I have sorted all the failure points (brakes mainly where it failed spectacularly last time
)As for LPG conversion....no thanks I dont like them plus its not going to be a daily driver so the outlay for converting it would far exceed the cost of regular fuel. I dont like LPG simply because i have seen it cause way more issues mechanically before and its not an easy uninstall either.
Keeping it as it came out of the factory.....V8 roaring petrol monster
Edited by nick_mcuk on Monday 28th October 11:12
Lynch91 said:
Wow, can't believe this cost under a grand! I would have said it looks like a £3k car, especially after that clean. Surprising how much of a difference polishing up the the headlights makes. Nice car
Still needs a bit of paint work here and there but for its age and miles its not all that bad.jimbop1 said:
Bloody hell under 1 grand?! Very nice! Made me think now... Might buy one just to use a few times a year but the tax and insurance might kill that idea.
Interior is like new!
Insurance wasnt that bad £280 odd fully comp doing 5k a year...its not ever going to be a daily driver but 5k should cover some road trips Interior is like new!
0a said:
I really like the look of that. (To me) so much more interesting than an x5 of the era and vastly cheaper. A good buy (should I get one???)
Good luck I havent seen many going sub £1.2k now....think the fact that this one had no tax or MOT helped me kick the seller fairly hard, oh and the damming MOT Failure sheet would put a few off Fond memories. We had one (99 V plate) in our family from new. It was finally retired about two years ago with just under 200k on the clock. Very few of those miles were on the m/way, most were done on A/B roads so the suspension was fairly loose, but the only real problems in the end was the A/c didn't hold any gas, it needed some new front calipers and the rad was shot.
Great car and I think that V8 would lap the world a dozen times!
Great car and I think that V8 would lap the world a dozen times!
R.P.M said:
Fond memories. We had one (99 V plate) in our family from new. It was finally retired about two years ago with just under 200k on the clock. Very few of those miles were on the m/way, most were done on A/B roads so the suspension was fairly loose, but the only real problems in the end was the A/c didn't hold any gas, it needed some new front calipers and the rad was shot.
Great car and I think that V8 would lap the world a dozen times!
I agree the V8 is a very under-stressed unit and has the potential to do moon miles if looked after properly.Great car and I think that V8 would lap the world a dozen times!
I mean 235bhp out of a 4.7l V8...is probably capable of over 400 if tuned but the longevity would suffer!
One of my friends in California said its like a tractor engine
gaz1234 said:
A mate has he larger one with the hemi v8. I was sceptical but it's really a lt of car for the money!
Ahh the SRT8 is a rather mental bit of kit....So took Arnie for his MOT yesterday morning he flew through not one advisory.
Before the MOT I had my mechanic fit the new front disks/pads, I was hoping the front callipers were not seized but they were so new callipers were put on as well, when you have 2.5 tonne of metal to stop they need to work.
Did about 80 miles in him and he didn't miss a beat, got him back to the unit and gave him a quick rinse down only then to find that the passenger side window decided to drop down on its own, transpires the window regulator had decided to go bad-oing and unravel! not an issue got the door card off and pushed the window up and duct taped it in place whilst I source a replacement.
Then go to move him off the wash bay and it just clicks....cant be the batter but checked the battery terminals and even put the jump pack on but no difference....bloody starter motor has packed in....Its always been a bit slow cranking over even with the new battery so had my suspicions shame it failed but found a 2nd had one on ebay for £35 so that's a bit better than the £170 a new one was going to cost!
So been a weekend of ups and downs!
Arnie does drive quite well though much better than expected....and boy does it shift when you punch the loud pedal!
Before the MOT I had my mechanic fit the new front disks/pads, I was hoping the front callipers were not seized but they were so new callipers were put on as well, when you have 2.5 tonne of metal to stop they need to work.
Did about 80 miles in him and he didn't miss a beat, got him back to the unit and gave him a quick rinse down only then to find that the passenger side window decided to drop down on its own, transpires the window regulator had decided to go bad-oing and unravel! not an issue got the door card off and pushed the window up and duct taped it in place whilst I source a replacement.
Then go to move him off the wash bay and it just clicks....cant be the batter but checked the battery terminals and even put the jump pack on but no difference....bloody starter motor has packed in....Its always been a bit slow cranking over even with the new battery so had my suspicions shame it failed but found a 2nd had one on ebay for £35 so that's a bit better than the £170 a new one was going to cost!
So been a weekend of ups and downs!
Arnie does drive quite well though much better than expected....and boy does it shift when you punch the loud pedal!
Arnie had his first off road outing last Sunday.... he did really well considering its on crap chinky cheapo tyres....They will get replaced after Christmas but will do for now.
Managed to get him properly beached on a rut...just not enough ground clearance but got dragged out...to be honest my mate was stuggling in his Disco V8....and the kind soul in the Mitsubishi that dragged me out (who really knew what he was doing) said he wasnt going to go any further!!
Hey least we tried...got stuck....got out and had a grin!
So got round to changing the oil and filters today....then set about cleaning the mud off from last weekends off road adventures
Gave him also a coat of Bouncers Fortify wax.
This was what was left on the wash bay after the clean...oops! took me an hour to clean it down and had to empty the drain catch tank twice of the silt/mud
Added my new PistonHeads Sticker too....not sure its subtle enough though???
:lol:
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