Jurassic Park Jeep Build - Ontario

Michael Bergeron

Michael Bergeron

Legendary Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
Well folks, I bit the bullet.

After talking with some people at the Toronto Prop Party I realized that my long lived desire to own and drive a movie car was egging me on to do something silly. The thing I did? I bought this:

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1989 Jeep Wrangler YJ Sahara 6 Cylinder.

It's not running, it turns over but doesn't catch. I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to mechanics so I'll be using this vehicle as a learning project! My first goal is to get it running before I perform the conversion to this:

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I'll do my best to have regular updates. I've gone through the other Jeep thread on this forum and drooled. :lol

Stay tuned and if anyone has any tips let me know! Hell, if anyone here is in the GTA and good with cars I'd love some help to get her going. :)
 

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As a fellow JP Jeep'er I can tell you that you'll have just as much fun watching it come together as you will driving it.

1. Make sure you treat all rust
2. Make sure you treat all rust
3. Make sure you made sure you treated all rust
4. If you're feeling ballsy strip it down to the frame and coat the frame to prevent future rust.
5. As you build it back up again clean and service as many parts as possible. Nothing worse than wondering if something is going out and this is a great learning experience
6. Once you're comfortable it's running and the frame is clean...start your conversion.
 
Oh, that's the Jurasic theme park version. It'd be awesome to put an extendable seat (like the one in Lost World) for dino hunting...
 
Bftiedt said:
fuel , fire , and compression. make sure you have those 3 things first to start trouble shooting
Click to expand...

:thumbsup Working on it! :lol I'll post that progress (or lack thereof) shortly.

FirstPick said:
Would love to do this. I'm in Niagara falls. Be there in a few...
Click to expand...

Well, if you're serious and would like to help I'm very welcoming. Ask Caveneau, Neilo1, or Skyler101. I'm in Burlington. :)

cpltony said:
As a fellow JP Jeep'er I can tell you that you'll have just as much fun watching it come together as you will driving it.

1. Make sure you treat all rust
2. Make sure you treat all rust
3. Make sure you made sure you treated all rust
4. If you're feeling ballsy strip it down to the frame and coat the frame to prevent future rust.
5. As you build it back up again clean and service as many parts as possible. Nothing worse than wondering if something is going out and this is a great learning experience
6. Once you're comfortable it's running and the frame is clean...start your conversion.
Click to expand...

Hear you loud and clear. :) After simply getting it running my #1 priority is dealing with rust.

The body panels themselves have very little surface rust. That will be sanded, treated, and then painted. The bucket and frame itself has surface rust that can be dealt with but there are a couple areas that will require some heavier work. Luckily none of it is anywhere anyone would ever see so there isn't the pressure to be pretty, just effective.
 
Alright, now to some deets.

I bought this not running, so I knew I had some work to do to get it going.

When I try and start it it turns over but doesn't catch. So following the obvious "fuel, fire, compression" model I checked a few things with the help of the Haynes manual.

1 - The battery is new.

2 - Fuel is getting to the fuel filter which I replaced which would suggest that the fuel pump is fine.

3 - When I spray quick start into the carburetor and try to start it the engine catches but then stops after about a second of running.

This would indicate to me that the spark is fine, the engine itself is fine, but the carb isn't getting fuel to the engine. Does this sound right?

I took a look at the choke plate and the gas pedal doesn't move it at all. My guess is that the carburetor is my issue here and may need tuning/replacing.

And before anyone suggests it, yes, I know how to start a car. :lol Clutch is in, foot on brake, start her up and it just turns and turns.

Any thoughts from car experts would be greatly appreciated!
 
Last edited:
Michael,

Sounds like your issues are minor, and truthfully, sounds like it needs a tune up. I'm wondering if your fuel pump isn't pumping properly. If the jeep has been sitting for a while, old fuel can easily gunk up a fuel pump. The great news is that mechanical fuel pumps are very inexpensive and fairly easy to replace. If you plan on driving your jeep regularly and problem free, I would suggest just replacing the carb. When I was putting together a parts list for my kitt replica, the best items I purchased were a new carb, distributor, plugs and wires. I swear the car ran great, and still does. I would also recommend flushing your radiator, and refilling. If the running temp is fine, then your water pump is also probably fine as well. Get a tester and test your alternator too. These are all small things that can be taken care of now, instead of being stranded on the side of the road. Coming from someone that has put together a tv car..........I had lots of help, and the attention too detail is the most important thing. Study screen shots as much as you can. Hope this helps.

Joey
 
Well folks! I got her running!!!! :D

Cleaned the carb out as well as the lines going into it with carb cleaner. She idles perfectly now.

I will eventually be taking this to my engine guy in Brampton for an assessment of what I should replace now and what is fine but I wanted to be able to drive it up there so I'm pretty happy.

Next step is to rebuild the steering column.

Sent from my SGH-I317M using Tapatalk 2
 
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