BuckB91XJ

How is it going guys? Old Man Buck has returned from the Middle East and I have purchased a "New to Me" Jeep. As I told you all before, my 96 Jeep Cherokee Country that was going to be my "Project Great White" ended up being given to my youngest daughter. What I ended up doing was buying the cleanest red 1987 Jeep Cherokee Laredo I've ever seen. Here are the starting pics of "Project Ole Red". I haven't even washed it yet so this literally is the start. This what it looked like the day I brought it home. This very clean and very stock Jeep Cherokee will be turned into a BIG, RED, BEASTLY XJ, utilizing all of the parts and pieces from my old Gray 91 Cherokee Sport. Stay tuned as the work is done, I will post more pics. It sure is good to be back on the CherokeeForum.

BuckB91XJ

So this Jeep has a few really good attributes. It has the 1987 trailering package which means it has a factory hitch receiver, electrical plug and Dana 44 rear axle (yep, that's right guys. I now own 2 factory 1987 XJ Dana 44 rear axles. The PO also told me this Jeep has factory 4.10 gears. It has the NP242 transfer case which isn't the preferred TC. However I still have the NP231 TC with SYE from my old Jeep, in the garage and ready to be installed in the new Jeep. The fact that this Jeep has the NP242 full time TC means no vacuum disco in the factory front HP D30 axle. So this Jeep has a non disco front D30 and rear D44 supposedly with factory 4.10:1 axle gears in both. This Jeep also has a factory installed 1" lift. I'd read about some XJs being sold with a factory 1" lift but I'd never actually seen one until now. What the lift amounts to is 1" spacers above the factory front coils and 1" blocks between the axle and springs and some kind of heavier duty than stock shocks. The odometer says 230K miles but the motor in the Jeep has been painted orange so that either means somebody went to a lot of trouble to paint the engine or it's been yanked out, rebuilt and painted orange. Jeep XJ 4.0 motors were never painted any color other than black at the factory that I am aware of. The Jeep also has all of the usual Laredo goodies: power windows, power locks, rear wiper and defroster, interval front wipers, cruise control, cloth seats, digital clock, tilt steering wheel, power brakes, power steering and AC. It did have the premium factory stereo and speakers but it has an aftermarket AM/FM/CD stereo that works great. Its got 6x9 speakers wedged into the front doors. Im not totally stoked about that but they seem to work okay and not vibrate. The one thing somebody did to this Jeep that I'm not happy about at all is straight piped it. AND I mean it is straight piped from the motor to the rear bumper. No cat, no muffler, nothing but 2.25" pipe front to back. If any of you young guys are interested in this straight pipe exhaust let me know. I will make you a killer deal. I have a 2.5" exhaust system in my garage from my old Jeep with a flow master super 40 muffler that I will be putting in it. That's all the louder i need it to be. it is straight obnoxious the way it is right now.

BuckB91XJ

WOW!!! doesn't anybody get on this forum and coversate anymore??? This the first time I have ever seen the start of a build thread whether it be mine or somebody else not spark all kinds of excitement, questions and comments. The silense tells me you old regulars and new guys to the CF have been needing me to get on here and get something worth looking at or reading about happening.

OleBlue

Welcome back buck, looks like a good platform to start with!!

Just fyi, the only jeeps that came stock with 4.10s from factory were 5 speeds with 4 bangers. Some very rare ones came with 4.56 from factory, 4 banger with an auto trans. Not that it matters much to you because you have axles with 4.56 already installed!

Looking forward to seeing the build and wheeling with ya again!

BuckB91XJ

Yeah, you know it and I know it. Plus I've driven the thing. Even with the 4.0 liter, with the 31 inch tires that are on it, it has that "no *****" feeling of bigger than stock tires and stock 3.55 gears. I felt that enough times to know it when I feel it. I'm sure the stocker axles have 3.55s or maybe a slim chance at 3.73s but neither of them will help me out at all with the 35" tires I have planned for Ole Red, Woo Hoo!!!!

OleBlue

well at least whoever had it before you converted it to the open style radiator system! Thats a plus! Those plastic expansion tanks are garbage

BuckB91XJ

Yeah Buddy! I noticed that right away. I will be getting a CFS triple core radiator for it too. just like i had in my other jeep. I left the other one in my white jeep. I don't want my daughter to ever have to deal with an overheating jeep.

I'm planning on putting the intake and exhaust manifolds from my old HO motor onto the motor in this jeep. Might even put the head off the blown up HO motor in my garage on it. I've read the 7120 casting number head installed on the 91-95 4.0 HOs are the bast flowing of all 4.0 heads so maybe I can get a little more power and performance out of this RENIX motor by putting an HO top end on it.

BuckB91XJ

Lift is going to be the leftovers from my old Jeep and new pieces I've bought and put aside. The front suspension will be RC 4" lift drop brackets, RC HD adjustable UCA and LCAs with Currie Johnny joints at the frame end and new RC bushings at the axle end. They will be adjusted out for an additional 4.5" of lift. The coils are new RC 6.5" with 2" Teraflex spacers. The track bar is a Rusty's HD unit with dropped frame mount. I will use my old Crown extended steel braided brake lines. ...and RC quick disco sway bar links. The rear suspension will be Rusty's 4.5 " lift leaf springs that you all saw me rebuild in my Great White thread. There will also be RC 2.5" lift shackles and RC shackle relocation brackets. There will be a Crown braided steel brake line in the rear and new Skyjacker shocks all around that are the proper length for an 8.5" lift on an XJ.

BuckB91XJ

So I hunted some of the lift kit pictures from my Project Great White thread so you guys that are new to my build threads can see how I post lots of pics as well as words to get a better picture of what my plans are for this jeep.

Nathan9Mile

Looks like a great start buck glad to see your back and look forward to the progress!!

BuckB91XJ

I just returned from a run up to Bellingham to Harbor Freight. I picked a Hydraulic Puller Kit and a Ball Joint remove/install Kit. Now I can get busy on getting my front axle cleaned up, straightened out and put together for install on the new red jeep.

BuckB91XJ

I did a little research on our beloved 4.0 inline 6 cylinder engine. I discovered the bore, stroke, compression ratio and cam specs are identical on the 87-95 4.0 engines. That being said, the HP difference between the RENIX and HO 4.0 engines is all about air and fuel flow. The 2 differences that I did find are that the HO head casting number 7120 for the 91-95 and 0663 for the 96-98 has better porting which equals better fuel/air/exhaust flow, than the original head casting number 2686 found on the 87-90 RENIX engines. The other difference is that the injectors on the 91-95 HO engines flow 21.0 lb/hr at 39 psi fuel pressure where the injectors used on the 87-90 RENIX engines only flow 18.6 lb/hr at the same 39 psi....which means more fuel into the engine for the same amount of provided fuel pressure. So, armed with this information I figure that if I put a 96 HO head, casting number 0663, on my RENIX block, along with the intake manifold, injectors and exhaust manifold from my 91 HO motor, the engine should then breathe better and make the same HP as an "ALL" HO motor. Of course my Jeeps engine will also breathe through a cold air intake with Spectre cone filter and 2.5" exhaust with flow master super 40 muffler. I'm thinking it will run really well and make good HP and torque. Considering all of this stuff is free and already taking up space in my garage, I figure I'm upping the available HP out of my engine by about 20-25 HP with the only expense being my valuable time and new gaskets. It sounds like the exhaust gasket is already leaking and the valve cover gasket is DEFINITELY leaking so they need to be replaced, anyway. Please feel free to correct me if my thinking is wrong.

JackJare9455

looks like an interesting build.. ill keep tuned in.. still new to the xj world... so im trying to learn all i can.. welcome back from the middle east.. did my fair share of army deployments.. and post army contracting..

always good to be home

BuckB91XJ

This is what my D44 looked like after I pulled it out of my old jeep and then what it looked like after I cleaned it up. This axle will be getting a new set of Ring and Pinion seals and bearings. It already has 4.56 gears and an Aussie locker in it. I will be doing a rear disc brake conversion on it before it goes into the new Jeep. I also have a set of low profile lower shock mounts to weld onto it. I'm going to stick with the factory dana spicer axles in this axle. I've never had a lick of trouble with them but, then I've never run 35 inch tired before, either. If i experience breakage, a set of chromo shafts will be acquired for it.

dohc91gli

I like it! If only I had the time, money, and motivation.