Pleasant Surprises from Previous Owners.

"yamahog" (yamahog) 09/22/2014 at 13:41 • Filed to: MUDDYXJ

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So, I've railed on the PO of my XJ plenty.

Sure, they're a cheapass who probably funded that RC budget lift and shitty rusted out cherry bomb by hacking off and scrapping the catalytic converter, and the shoddily-wired radio and walmart header only picks up two stations (93.1 Nash FM and 101.1, THE RIFF), and worst of all, that dumbass decided that the world's most annoying alarm system would be a better solution than fixing the broken locks . Not to mention lying about an engine rebuild, but hey, it was a cheap beater I picked up out of desperation within three days of totaling my Explorer, with the worst Michigan winter in recorded history looming on the horizon and a motorcycle as my only form of transportation.

But then:

Turns out, they're not so dumb after all!

All this time, I've been keeping an eye out for a rear axle upgrade, assuming the PO morons did all the mall-crawler mods (lift, exhaust, stock size all-terrrains, etc) and left everything else stock. My dad even asked me over the phone if it still had the relatively crappy stock Dana 35, and having seen the stupid crap all over the rest of the Jeep, I didn't even bother checking.

Then, after a year of having the thing, and reading build threads where people ordered the wrong diff lockers because of previous swaps, I got curious. Sure enough, 3" diameter. That SOB must've killed the Dana 35 at some point and replaced it with a Chrysler 8.25 after all, and the pumpkins look pretty damn similar so I never suspected it.

I apologize, you high-school aged hillbilly, or whoever did the swap. I doubted you, but you did alright. Next time, list it in the ad too! Kind of alarming that all this time I thought I had ABS and didn't, but whatever! For all I know, there's already some lunchbox locker in there too, since the last time I had the gear oil changed was at a shop. Will be changing it this weekend, so we'll see.

Anyone else have any good stories about previous owners not being total shitheads?

For Sweden > yamahog 09/22/2014 at 13:44

2

The S80's previous owners had the transmission rebuilt twice.

#P2PlatformLife

Vimto > yamahog 09/22/2014 at 13:45

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The PO of my Grand Marquis left all the paperwork, original bill of sale, etc. the car in the glovebox. Considering I bought it from a dealer, I thought it was really cool to find out how much the car cost new, and used the address to write him a letter about the vehicle to ask about maintenance. We're now good friends.

MonkeePuzzle > yamahog 09/22/2014 at 13:45

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bought a civic with 300,000 miles for its body, found it had really nice suspension upgrades. new bushings, new namebrand coilovers, stiffening components etc etc. very suprised

jariten1781 > yamahog 09/22/2014 at 13:46

2

I found a metro card with like 20 bucks still on it in an old Protege. Score.

HammerheadFistpunch > yamahog 09/22/2014 at 13:48

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my po was did all his mods with a good deal of competence, which was a pleasant surprise after dealing with my house

CAR_IS_MI > yamahog 09/22/2014 at 13:49

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It's always nice to find good surprises. I usually find bad surprises (things that look nice on the outside but are done horribly, horribly wrong). Things like engines that were torn apart to find out that a valve seat was cracked and instead of replacing it just put it back in, slapped a new head gasket on it and called it "rebuilt". The best experience I ever had with a used car was the Saab I bought off a college professor who was selling both his car and his wifes car so they could travel around the world in their houseboat. He literally gave me a printer paper box that was well organized with every receipt of everything ever done to the car since new. Every service, every oil change, even every light bulb he replaced.

yamahog > CAR_IS_MI 09/22/2014 at 13:51

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The college professor Saab stereotype strikes again, and it is good!

twochevrons > yamahog 09/22/2014 at 13:52

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The PO of my Volvo was a strange mix – a non-DIYer with an old, high-mileage, high-performance car. On the one hand, he obviously didn't pay much attention to the cosmetics. There are loads of parking dents and scrapes, the interior was dirty and plenty of trim pieces, inside and out, are broken or missing. The air dam is held together with duct tape and zip ties, and the heater core had a massive leak.

But, on the other hand, the stacks of receipts that he included with the car show that he was absolutely meticulous with the mechanicals, sticking religiously to service intervals, always paying for the best quality parts. When the odometer stopped working, he paid a not-insignificant sum of money to have the dash removed and the odometer drive repaired. Some of the garages that he took it to still did hack jobs on it (especially the one who made all sorts of nasty splices in the engine management harness, that caused all kinds of weirdness until I re-did them), but on the whole, the mechanicals have been incredibly well looked-after, and the fact that it drives so well, despite having gone so far, is a testament to proper maintenance.

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > yamahog 09/22/2014 at 13:52

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The PO of my Disco didn't cheap out on any mods, the lift was done with RTE HD springs (which don't come cheap) and properly deleted the air suspension in the ECU so no Christmas tree on the dash. I wish he left the pump though, would have made a nice base for off road pump system.

twochevrons > Vimto 09/22/2014 at 13:56

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The guy that I bought my Rover from was a really nice guy, too. I bought the car from him in-person, but several months later, he sent me a large box of parts, and a full set of factory service manuals that he had found when cleaning out his garage. The car is long gone, but we've kept in touch, too.

yamahog > twochevrons 09/22/2014 at 13:57

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Duct tape and zip ties, my kind of guy!

twochevrons > yamahog 09/22/2014 at 14:00

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He even colour-matched the duct tape to the paint. It would be almost invisible if it hadn't faded from red to a weird orangey-yellow.

yamahog > twochevrons 09/22/2014 at 14:12

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LOL that reminds me of my Nana. She had a nail polish that was almost an exact match for her Mercury. Perfect touch-up paint.

nermal > yamahog 09/22/2014 at 14:13

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What year is your Jeep? I hate to be a bubble buster, but according to the internet, the 8.25 rear was featured in all XJs in 27 spline form from 91 - 96 and 29 spline from 97 on, and was carried over into the Liberty.

I haven't done anything crazy with mine (08 Liberty) to really test the rear other than a few trips towing a trailer, but it did blow out the pinion seal and leak gear oil everywhere. After getting that fixed I've had to check it a few times, and I'm not a big fan of the rubber plug system. It seems like it would wear out sooner than later from removing and replacing, which would lead to Bad Stuff (tm) if it falls out on the highway or something.

Edit: Linky

twochevrons > yamahog 09/22/2014 at 14:18

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Ha! And it does have a few stone chips that I want to deal with before winter. Shame that my wife's not really a nail-polish-wearing kind of person.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > For Sweden 09/22/2014 at 14:27

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GM transmission probs?

yamahog > nermal 09/22/2014 at 14:29

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Accurate on the 29-spline, but not when equipped with ABS. The package mine came with had ABS from the factory (I have the equipment codes), so it would've had a stock Dana 35 c-clip in 97.

Skater Dad > yamahog 09/22/2014 at 15:12

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I found an Elton John CD in my Miata.

This was pleasant because it made me laugh. The guy was trying hard to reinforce Miata stereotypes.

Sweet Trav > yamahog 09/22/2014 at 15:36

1

The PO of my Monte Carlo did it absolutely 0 favors.

Cut up the computer controlled carb harness to slap a 750 CFM quadrajet tuned for a Big block on a 305.

One door was from an 85, the other from an 86.

Front Facia was a different color.

Turns out the car was literally POed by a mullet wearing hillbilly kid. I was not surprised.

nermal > yamahog 09/22/2014 at 15:43

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I stand corrected!

sellphones2493 > yamahog 09/22/2014 at 15:59

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All the previous owner left for me was an unused tampon in the glovebox. :/

yamahog > sellphones2493 09/22/2014 at 16:01

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Ahhh yes, the emergency tampon. Gotta have those things stashed everywhere because that's the joy of getting surprise bloodsplosions!

sellphones2493 > yamahog 09/22/2014 at 16:04

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Here's the sad part: I'm pretty sure the previous owner was a dude...

yamahog > sellphones2493 09/22/2014 at 16:05

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Lol, well that's one considerate dude ;)

TDogg > yamahog 09/25/2014 at 17:36

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The PO of my F150 was kind enough to leave a mysterious blue switch near the map lights, which appears to have no use whatsoever other than leaving me confused. I'm thinking sub hookup maybe? He also left an aftermarket hunter's arrow antenna, which I promptly removed. One of these guys: