I finally got the Jeep back...After almost three weeks of repair work on the transmission, exhaust, manifold, clutch, and shocks, my beast is back in working order. It drives awesome now...With a new catalytic converter and welded pipes, the sound is very throaty and there is no more rattle in the pipes...There is also no leakage of fumes into the cabin...Although the Jeep is open all the time, the fumes from the exhaust were creeping up in the cabin and it stunk like exhaust all the time while driving, now its nothing but fresh air!
All the idling problems are gone now as well...The exhaust/manifold gasket exchange and elimination of the O2 sensor on the catalytic converter has put the idle right back where it needed to be...Now I can hear music and have a conversation with someone without having to yell.
The shifter is nice and smooth and everything works like a champ...The shock bushings have eliminated the clanking sounds when I go over a bump; however, the leaf springs are a little squeaky...nothing a little WD40 can't fix!
Now that my yearly budget has been exhausted on this unfortunate circumstance, I must come up with creative ways to continue my progression, so now I am going to rip out all the carpet and start on the floorboards...There is a lot of filth under those carpets along with a carpet pad that is most likely affecting the drain plugs ability to flush out water intrusion...After the carpet is out, a lite sanding and maybe a primer coat before moving on to a spray on poly based liner....
So I took off all the tape after putting on several coats of the spray on bed liner...I think total I may have spent 60 or 70 dollars on the cans of bed liner...That is pretty good compared to the $500 that Line-X and other places wanted. It probably is not as durable as Line-X and other products, but for the price I can touch it up for a long time before reaching $500... 
This is the first coat of a spray on truck bed liner. I checked a few of the Jeep Forums to get some idea of how well this stuff works....Lets be honest..It is not a Rhino Lining or a Line-X product...But it also didn't cost me $500 to $800 dollars...Which is how much Line-X and Rhino wanted to spray the tub and that was with me prepping it all.
Recently, I decided I would upgrade my Jeep by removing all of the seats and stripping the carpet. My intention you ask? To sand down the floors and put in a durable spray on truck bed liner. I figured since this beast will spend more time off road getting dirty, than in my garage...I should minimize my cleaning time by simply putting in a liner and being able to spray it out...
