Thread: 2) The backstory of why I bought a 1996 Jeep Cherokee

What on Earth made me buy an old 1996 JeepCherokee. Here's the back story about what lead up to it.


We live by The Villages down here in Florida. They have free concerts there in areas they call Paddocks and TownSquares. About a month ago there was a Rock band playingsimultaneous with a car show. These are not big deals, they havethis kinda stuff happening all over The Villages, pretty much everyevening. So wifey talked me into going to one.


The car show was cool, lots of old cars andtrucks. Over the years, I have always looked at cars and especiallytrucks (cause I fit in them better!), and joked with wifey aboutbuying one. We see a couple of 50's era Chevy and Ford trucks, youknow the old round ones. Wifey looks at me and tells me she lovesthe way they look, and that's all it took. To me that was the OK tobuy a 1950's era Chevy Pickup.


Well, come to find out, those things ain'tcheap, and since they didn't make extended cabs back then, I wasn'tgonna fit anyway. But the ball had already started rolling. Withthe OK to buy something old, I was surfing my little heart out on theInternet.


A little more background about me which a fewof you already know. I've been a computer geek all my life, startedwith mainframes, and went on to just about everything else. But Ialso work on cars. I was a Volvo mechanic briefly, and I alsoworked a bunch on many different BMWs. It was kinda a hobby to getrelief from looking at computer screens. I've rebuilt exactly oneVolvo Transmission, and one BMW Transmission in my life, and theyeven worked! I did a ton of other stuff on cars, but rebuilding atranny is probably the most technical feat I've achieved.


All the BMW's I've owned had inline sixes inthem. Great engines, and I've done tons of work on them over theyears.. But my bad back is not a fan of sitting so low to the groundanymore, and I've grown to absolutely love my trucks. I can drivethem all day, and my back feels just fine. I shoulda got somethingtall long ago. Hey, jeeps are tall, and have inline sixes. Hmmm,ideas are brewing here.


Another couple things I noted when making mydecision to buy this Jeep was that 30 year old cars here in Floridacan get antique plates which cost I think $7 a year. Wow, that'scool.


I love manual transmissions, but I got thisauto tranny Jeep so my daughter could drive it too. She can drivestick, but not really like to.


So the hunt for a Jeep started, and now ended,yay me, new project to do after the boat project I just completed.

So besides the headliner mod, what have I done so far.

I dried out the innards. It's got some rust, especially in the passenger seat foot well. Water got in somehow, and lifted the carpet to dry it out and take a look/see.



That does not look good, but it's pretty much superficial. I plan to remove the whole carpet and address this and any other rust issues on the floor board. for now, I'm drying it out with fans and a dehumidifier.



I'm not sure how water is getting in, but I'll figure it out. First off I Gummi Pflege'd all the door seals. I don't think this will fix the leak problem, but it will at least restore some flexibility to the seals. Anyone ever hear of Gummi Pflege before, it's a BMW thing. Supposedly the only thing approved to be used on the seals of BMW's. Anyway, it's what I had.

And right now I'm making room in the garage so I can remove her from the elements. The rainy season is starting here! doh