Like the skid plate I've been thinking something similar with some Diamond plate. Maybe in spring did you make an access for for the oil filter?

 

I didn't make an access for the filter, I planned on it but never got around to it. It wasn't too much trouble to take the whole skid plate off, so I just did that every oil change. I don't have it on the truck anymore though. I found a stock steel one that's like, 5/8 inch thick and has the access door, so I put that one.
If you pm me or email me though, I could send you some pics of the skid plate and I might still have the rough blueprints I drew up if you want. Even if you design yours differently, it'll give you an idea.

 

A few months ago I came upon a great deal. 98 jimmy sle, 4x4 for $500, had 230,000km. Had a small bit of rust and a few dents and the interior was pretty dirty, but I was only using it for parts so that didn't matter. I sold a few things from it and took the brakes for myself (had new brake pads and the discs were in good condition), so I almost got my moneys worth from those things alone. I took a few small things like the bug deflector off the hood, a headlight clip that my truck was missing, and the sun visor things since mine were broken. I also took the middle armrest from the console, since mine was cracked. I ended up selling it about a month ago for $500. It also had an aluminum diff skidplate, transfer case skidplate, and a hard plastic gas tank skidplate. The t-case one didn't fit my truck since I've got the 4 button 4x4 and the parts truck had 3 button, therefore different t-cases.
All in all, I got new brakes, some skidplates, and made $50. Plus it gave me something to do!
Here's the truck

 

I got some princess auto offroad lights for christmas. I forget the wattage, but they're the perfect size for my pushbar. They aren't super bright obviously but taking pics during the day didn't do them any justice

 

nice jimmy is clean i really like the front bar and the offset wheels are sick

 

Love seeing someone take a "just about to toss it out" vehicle and make something of their own out of it! Doing a great job thus far, keep it going. Interested to see what you have planned as far as the hunting/fishing side of things, aside from making it more off road worthy. I haven't found anything as far as the interior goes for hanging rods or guns.

I do have a 2dr so maybe you'll have better luck with the 4dr.

 

Thanks! however, my truck wasn't actually in "just about to toss it out" condition! It was more like a "diamond in the rough." It was at the back lot of a car dealer and LOOKED a bit crummy. However, I decided to look at it anyways. Once I got it started (dead battery), I found out it was in great condition! With further inspection, I found a huge stack of service records in the glove box!
Now the parts truck I bought.. that thing was on it's way to the scrapyard haha

As far as hunting and stuff, I personally don't hunt, so I'm not going to do any major mods in that regards.
I did do this though which could be done for a variety of things.



My snowbrush was just loose in the back flying around so I mounted it on the jack cover. Really simple, plus it looks clean. You can put clips like this wherever they'll fit and just clip stuff in. Another spot to do this would be the plastic covers that cover the gap when the back seat is folded down.

 

How much did it cost to get the rust fixed?

 

A few places quoted it around $750, but some of my family is friends with a guy who owns a collision place so I got it done for 500

 

I haven't posted in a while on a count of me being lazy and not wanting to go through uploading and re-sizing pictures, but a bit of an update on my truck:

Around Christmas I was on ebay and came across rough country's 2.5" kit. It was in their scratch and dent section described as "having a few chips in the powdercoat." Here's the thing.. it was $300! So I impulsively ordered it. I installed it myself with the help of my uncle. Torsion keys were reallllly stuck on the bars. One of the cv's was shot (there goes $100), and the shackles were pretty seized up. Surprisingly though, we got them off without ruining the bushings! We didn't crank the keys up right away though so the truck had quite a bit of rake. When I got it aligned I also had the keys turned up. What a difference! I needed shocks anyways, so between that and the lift, the ride changed quite a bit.

I've also added a pair of princess auto lights and a roof rack I got on amazon for $60.