Name:
grim   /grɪm/
1. stern and admitting of no appeasement or compromise.

—Synonyms
1. unyielding, relentless.

—Antonyms
1. lenient, attractive, gentle.

Base:
The base is a black 1998 GMC Jimmy SLS 2 Door 4 Wheel Drive equipped with an automatic transmission, power windows, power locks, power mirrors, power cloth seats, automatic headlights, and an interior spare tire. Project Grim was purchased on 13 APR 2010 with approxmiately 137,000 miles for $2,550 with noted defects of flaking rust throughout the undercarriage, surface rust along the bottoms of the doors, and no penetrating rust or other damage. One headlight was fogged over and the driver-side seat back adjustment lever is broken off. Tires, ball joints, front wheel hubs, and stereo were new.

Purpose:
The purpose of Project Grim is to replace the owner's Jeep Grand Cherokee as a daily driver, as well as serve as a suitable vehicle for transportation in urban, suburban, and rural environments in the zombie apocalypse. Project Grim must be able to negotiate relatively small spaces, carry equipment and passengers, and push, pull, or overcome obstacles that may be present in such a world. Ideally, Project Grim would have enough torque and horsepower to outrun and tow other vehicles, as well as a relatively high standard of fuel efficiency as fuel may be scarce. Project Grim should have as subdued look and sound as possible to avoid unnecessary attention should the zombies never come.

Proposed Work (in general but not particular order):
OBD-II diagnostic
Detail interior
Paint wheels
Seafoam
Undercoat frame
Undercoat wheel wells
“Big 3” wire additions
Repair rust in passenger-side door
Repair driver-side door interior panel
Charge air conditioning
Replace driver-side headlight
Change spark plugs, spark plug wires, fuel filter, distributor cap, distributor rotor
Quad Beam mod
Replace all interior lights with red LEDs
HID kit
Intake
Headers
High-flow catalytic converter
Cat-back exhaust
HPTuners Tune or Chip (PCMforless or wait4me)
Paint body (gunmetal grey or black)
30x9.5x15 Tires
Push bars with brush guard
Attach trailer hitch to front push bars
Nerf bars
Heavy duty rear bumper
Tahoe 145 Amp alternator
Second battery with engine-on relay switch
Winch with modular hitch mount
Roof rack/cage
Relocate spare tire to roof cage
Auxiliary lighting to roof cage
Auxiliary red lighting to push bars
Brake and license plate light cut-out switch
Fuel pump cut-out switch
Seat swap

16 APR 2010 Updates:
Purchased 3 ton 20" jack and 4x 6 ton 24" jack stands only to discover the garage I had planned to use isn't wide enough to lift both sides up at once, going to work on what I can do until I can find another garage to use.

 

Nice project. Got a 2dr -96 Blazer myself i am working on.

 

Laws of space and angles be damned. I had to jack up the front end then back end, couldn't do it by the sides. I used the rear differential for the rear end and the big meaty part of the frame under the engine (which I'm told is the "K-member"). Next time someone remind me to loosen the lug nuts first.

 

Ah, If I had a nickel for everytime I put a truck on stands and forgot to break the lug nuts loose, my servant would be typing this as I dictated it to him, lol. Great project material, sounds like it will be a very capable DD/exploration vehicle.

Hope you don't get bit by the big tires bug or catch the lifting flu. It's been going around the forum here lately! ha ha. But keep it up and welcome to the Forum.

 

Nah, not my thing, not ideal for a daily driver either. But the biggest reason is keeping the center of gravity as low as possible without sacrificing capability to overcome common obstacles. Keeping the center of gravity low allows faster cornering which I've put priority of over driving over big stuff.

Also
Grille and bumper cover removed in the dark 'cause I want to paint the "GMC" black. Also in the future note that there are 3 tabs on the bumper cover, not just two. Well, now there are two on mine..

 

Thats a good plan, that way you don't have to worry about changing your axle gears out and watching your front driveline/suspension like a hawk like I do . Love the all black look. Shooting for the same on mine, just have to get it painted. You going to get black altezza/led taillights, or spray nightshade or something to tint them?

 

I'm actually fairly happy with the straight red, altezzas aren't touching anything I own, ever. If it wasn't for the white strip for the backup lights I'd be 100% happy with stock. Same with the headlights and the turn signals. If I figure out some way to make the turn signals on the headlights straight clear I'd be very happy with that.

 

You can make your headlights clear, By taking the lense off and removing the amber part and the sealing them back up. Turn your oven on about 350d place your headlights 1 at a time on a cookie sheet lens down at ALL TIMES with all the bulbs&clips removed, into the pre-heated oven with the oven door open AT ALL TIMES!! After the first 3 to 4 min. check your headlight if you cant pull the lens apart yet , put it back in and start to check it every min. or so to make sure you dont melt the headlight. I have used this method for years and have never cause any damage to any lights! But try at your own risk, And good luck

 

Would this also allow me to clear up the fogginess of the driver-side headlight?

 

You can actually use a rough texture tooth paste, a rag and some elbow grease and that'll help with the fogginess your talking about. Or use a polisher I you have one. Saw that on trucks on powerblock Sunday on spike tv. Lol