1996XJSport

After over a year of owning my 96 Cherokee with intent to do a restoration/build, I finally have been able to do bodywork and paint. Here's the story of what has been done thus far....



I work for a dealership which also has a body shop and have been lucky enough to use the facility for my XJ. I would bring it in every chance that I could (on the days I had off, when I'd clock out for the day, at lunch, etc.).
It took a while to get a lot accomplished, but here it is.



I first started by stripping everything off my Jeep.





Even the interior....







With any 15+ year old vehicle, you have your normal issues.... Then there's the "XJ issues" that go along with those normal issues. I had some holes drilled in the fenders and quarters from when I was running TJ flares (looked "meh..." ), There was a rust spot on the roof which had developed into something I could stick a screwdriver through, the front doors were dented up, there were knicks in the hatch fiberglass, and tons of other things I can't think of at the moment.



I started by sanding the body down.






The sanding took a while till everything was perfect. When it was done, I started tackling the larger problems, like what had been waiting for me on the roof .

I had to get rid of the rust and cut it out... Which in turn left me with this.

Then, I welded in some sheet metal and filled the rest with a special metal body filler.



There were also 2 CB antenna posts on the roof that leaked like crazy whenever it rained, so I got rid of them and had them filled aswell.



After all that was done, I went ahead and bought myself something I had been wanting for my XJ. Bushwacker cutout flares! Here's some pics of when I test fitted them.



Back to the body work.... Here's some pics of the holes being filled, and dents being fixed. There was a small line crease on my driver's rear door so it was filled.





After the filler work had been done, I had to replace some body panels... Such as the front doors, and hood due to tons of dings and dents.

Hood off a 95


First, I had to fix an "XJ problem" which was something that plagued the 96-97 model years. The hinge welds were weak and I needed to fix that. So I removed the door and fender...


...and now, something to set my 96 apart from the rest..... Second gen door swap. It was a lot more work than you would think.



The first gen and second gen doors are very different. The second gen doors have larger mirrors, the windows are all one piece, the handles are different, the speaker mounting is different, and the striker is in a different location. Also, these doors are power everything, and my XJ was manual everything stock, so it made everything a bigger challenge.

I removed the stock striker and started positioning the new striker (it was very hard to install as I had to squeeze my arm through a small space.

I also had decided to do the "quick release" door hinge mod while I was there. The torx bolts were somewhat stripped, so I replaced them.



It took me days worth of tedious work to get the fit and finish perfect. I had to play around with door shims, and adjust the position of the striker.



Here's where I'll leave the thread at for now.... More pics soon to come. Also, If you have any questions on anything I have done, feel free to ask!

Flowpro

I like where this is going. Nice work and keep us posted on future updates.

1996XJSport

Thanks! I am on vacation in Mexico right now and my Jeep should be all primed and ready for paint when I get back. I am having it painted a fairly new chrysler color which is not original to the XJs.

I'll definitely post more when I see it again in about a week.

99FreshenedCherokee

Looks like its gonna be a great xj! im diggin the door mod

1996XJSport

Thanks man. Let's just say I'm aiming to set a new standard....

96jeepxj

Very nice, keep us updated on the progress

1996XJSport

Thank you!
I'll post more as the time goes on...

OverlandZJ

I also had some rust holes in my roof when i did the bodywork and paint a few years ago. I used JB weld to fill, what product did you use?

1996XJSport

Never seen JB weld used as a filler haha but it's metal "infused" so I suppose it works great lol.


I used a filler called "All Metal" on the roof. It works great and forms a chemical bond with the sheet metal which makes it basically bulletproof.


The weirdest part about the roof rust is my XJ is rust free everywhere else. Even my floor pans are clean.

1996XJSport

Here's the Jeep, all done with the bodywork and paint!




Here's an interior shot with the floors all bedlined..


Here's custom metallic silver vinyl graphics made for my Jeep (named rambo of course)





Here's a brand new 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee badge which will be going on the front...




Wagoneer XJ Tail lights



2008 Wrangler Rubicon Moabs with 255/75/R17 BF Goodrich M/Ts and 1 inch adapters.






Thats about it.

1996XJSport

bump

troy5118

Nice work, I'm working on a hood now and finding out how flimsy they are.

1996XJSport

Im guessing a lot of reinforcing needs to be done to get a nice looking cowl scoop lol

sthon

Love it. What headlights are those?

99CheapJeep

yes also interested in knowing what headlights those are.