01xjMontucky

So, I just picked up my girlfriend's 01 xj. It's at 130k miles. lp d30 up front 8.25 in back. No mods but tow package.

She ran into a guard rail a few years ago, so I'll be painting a header panel and a fender soon. At that time, I'll do new headlights and smoked signal lights.

today I was bored.. and I was at harbor freight and decided to remove the trim on the sides of the xj.

I bought a $13 dollar heat gun, some scrapers, some tape, some goo remover, and some rags. About $25 later I was on my way..

Be careful not to touch heat gun to trim if you wish to save it, I just heated the top and bottom edges then pulled away the top (using heat gun to coax 3m tape). Repeat on the bottom.

You could do this with a razor, by prying trim away and cutting the 3m tape. Using a goo remover to soften would help greatly.

I feel the heat gun wasn't necessary, but made easy work of the trim removal.

For a scraper I tried a flag holder and a light switch cover. Following an earlier thread, I covered scraper with duct tape and then packing tape. However, I found using the switch cover without tape worked best.

The flag holder was a bad idea. The 1 scratch I put in my paint was due to the holder. Use plastic.

I also used a trash can with soapy water to clean up beneath trim.

I ran goo remover down the sides of the rig above the top and bottom tape strips. When I was done with the trim on the passenger side, the goo remover had time to work its magic on the driver's side.

I'll be doing a lift and some other fun stuff soon. Will be sure to post here. Anyone with a late model XJ with advice for ~4inch lifts and driveline solutions (or ANYTHING else) be sure to pipe in!! Thanks, love the forum. This is all I have to contribute for now.

clayton3854

pics arnt workin..

01xjMontucky

... and a few more.. kind of redundant, but you get the idea. Just trying to contribute what I can.

projectmayhem

the light switch cover is nice, oh so nice

01xjMontucky

Works well, readily available, and cheap. I really scraped at that 3m tape. It's a wonder that my paint didn't scratch. I Did find some small rust spots and am considering having linex put on the rockers.

01xjMontucky

I decided to do another small project yesterday, so I took off the factory rack and installed thule gutter mounts for added support for a safari rack, spare tire, etc. I didn't want to spend 140 for the gutter foot pack so I have been watching ebay and craiglist with no avail. I went to a local sporting goods consignment store and dug through their used rack parts for an hour and turned up 6 locking feet (3 pairs, varying styles) and a yakima ferring. I sanded all down with light paper, used a self etching primer, and then used some spray on bedliner from Lowe's to finish the job. Factory racks came off super easy, retained hardware to seal factory rack holes.

I will post a few pics this afternoon. Has anyone setup a rooftop tent? It seems like the rack for a DIY would have to be massive. Also, how small of a welder can I use to fab a safari rack? I was planning on picking up the 110 dollar welder at harbor freight to do the rack. (harbor freights site is down, 10% coupon on homepage b/c of this!).

So.. any rack advice, please lemme know. I'll be installing a 3rd pair of feet for added support when I fab the safari rack.

Thanks!

Schatty

nice clean look now

OrvisKrawler

looks good, you could have saved some time and money though, next time you need to remove anything like that go to your local auto paint supply joint and pick up an eraser wheel, you use it with a drill and it takes it off like butter, fast and easy

01xjMontucky

Yeah - no fun yet, just little projects. Saving for the 4.5" RE lift, shocks, and driveline mods. For now it's just whatever I can conjure up that's cheap and can be done in the afternoon. Hence the molding removal and adding roof rack.

The rack turned out well, and the ferring seems to suck down to roof and cancel noise out as well. Pics will come this afternoon.

I thought for my next project I'd do a custom short ram intake and maybe buy a bored throttle body and spacer. Any advice? Anything regarding anything aforementioned or just some good little ideas would be appreciated.

I'll also be installing a sub soon, maybe at that time I'll dynamat the interior. Thanks guys, I promise things will get more exciting as time goes on!

01xjMontucky

here are some pics of the rack. It's an assortment of thule feet, of which I have 3 sets. I'll do 3 load bars once I fab a safari basket, for now it's just the 2. ferring works well, very little noise.

they are all cell phone pics.. that's all I've got, for now.
the jeep is dirty, still haven't cleaned up the dirt from beneath the factory rails.

they are 54" load bars I believe. I'm trying to decide if a rooftop tent is a ridiculous idea. Maybe do a basket/box combo, rather than a massive 54 x 84 basket.

sthon

Nice looking heep. Good to see another Missoulian on cf.

01xjMontucky

Ill be going fishing today will take some update pics of intake, chopped fenders, new 31s (stock lift for now) still need to trim rear endcaps to fit.

Modified existing flares and have yet to install. I put a piece of weather stripping between 2 aluminum strips and through the flares bottom lip, extending stock flares about 1.5" then I trimmed some tin flashing and double sided taped inside flare for mounting surface. The idea is to mount them with tape to avoid drilling into body while I decide on bushwackers

RememberTheMallamo

Found it! The pressure is on now.

01xjMontucky

Haha. I figured you might. I'll get with it

01xjMontucky

ok.. I'm set on updating the thread since I've relocated and seem to work on the jeep a little more now.

Here's what's been done since thule rack.

-Spectre CAI and ghetto-fab shroud with insulated backing
-Window Vent Visors
-upgraded injectors - 784 I believe
-Pounded out the frame
-Replaced header panel and passenger fender
-added dodge caliber stubby antenna
-Husky liners in the front
-Thule box on the top, most of the time
-Roof basket - Craigslist score
-D windows - CL score
-I used 31 10.50 Wild Spirit MT's that I got for free
that required me to trim my fenders
-I got bored and herculined my rockers and rear quarter panel after cut and fold
-Installed LandL front bumper with prerunner (or whatever you call it)
-smoked turn signals and markers (not painted, they are black plastic) with amber bulbs
-h4 headlights. bought black ones to replace the ones I had and they were a waste. DONT BUY BLACK H4 housings.
-LMC wiring harness for headlights
-Kenwood 994 bluetooth deck
-Kicker 250w mono amp with remote ****
-had a freebie 10" fosgate that sucked ***. I replaced that with a JL audio 12" woofer
-installed infinity speakers all around. they are all 6 3/4", all with tweeters. rears are larger than the fronts. The fronts are behind factory plastic, rears used infinity grilles.
-Hella 550 fog lights on bumper
-30" LED light bar on roof
-2000 WJ seats, manual forward adj with xj bracket, wired in recline and lumbar
-kicker terminal for battery
-pool noodles, painted black and stuffed in front fenders
-rear hitch tow hook
-d rings on front bumper
-WJ center console lid.. Sits high and it a great fit with the new seats.
-3" rough country lift with full leaf packs
-2.5" catback exhaust. magnaflow from mudfrog performance-curve.com
-painted my throttle body black
-painted valve cover black and changed seal
-I run oversized oil filter
-I now run 3 thule bars on the roof - 1 for ferring and led light bar, the other holds my basket and box
-Purchased a hilift jack, winch system (for jack), and sand stand for 60 bucks off a coworker
-I just purchased Falken 31 10.50 Wildpeaks. GREAT tires for a DD/casual offroader. So quiet. Nice tires
-OME steering stabilizer
-Rocky Road Outfitters (whatever they are called) Trac Bar
-I just ordered the 32 tooth short shaft speedo gear to go with my tires and np231
-Installed an interior release for my rear hatch. It got stuck one day. 3 days later it happened to open and I took off panel. Got to the release mod a few days later.
-Recently changed my diff fluid with Lucas Gear Oil. painted my covers with 6 coats of gloss white and a whole can of clear gloss.

I am currently in the market for a rear tire carrier bumper as I hate my stocker. Emailed nathan at nate's 4x4 today. This may be a few months out.
I really like hooligan offroads fenders+flares, since I did the herculiner and cut and fold, the damage is done -- JCR's rear boxes are sweet, they have quarter guards with optional bars. Couple those with napier's flares and youre pretty close to hooligans ~$800 flare/guard price
I'll be checking upholsterers next week to get my drivers side WJ seat patched. It's not bad, but I want perfect (or close).
LED tail boxes would be cool, if I had a welder.

Wishlist:
-Tire carrier bumper
-Rock sliders (really just as a high lift jacking point/and could save my *** someday)
-Engine mounts (i'm crazy about replacing factory crap)
-Defrosting Side Mirrors
-Replace Rough Country crud after I drive it for awhile. (been 7 months since install)
-Fuse Box, as I have like 6 little wires plugged into my Kicker battery clamp. I think this will work: http://www.jk-forum.com/jk-write-ups...ck-box-107258/
-Doorless mod next spring
- Prefilter for my Air Filter -- lots of dusty roads here. Just a thought, and for the $30-$40, maybe I'll start shopping a snorkel or Cowl intake. I really don't need a snorkel and for now my relays are mounted where the cowl intake would install.

Recent Junkyard pull options I have sitting around:
-Wiring harness for towing - a little corroded, but looks legit
-New Taillight pigtail - My reverse light is out on one side and I cant find the problem
-ZJ (I think) visors. They are extendable and have the garage door opener. Now I just need a garage.
-ZJ (I think) auto dimming rear mirror
-I grabbed some weather stripping for my door, which leaks at the carwash. I may replace the whole side if needed.

Future Junkyard stuff:
-They wont sell tierods.. Efff
-Fan shroud - Broke when my girl wrecked the jeep. She did put a new radiator in though!
??????? They have an 80s and 99 xj, 98 zj, and two zjs
WJ Shifter - feel like it will match the higher console and driver's seat

Repairs planned:
-Rear main seal or oil filter part that leaks.. One is leaking and will need to be done. Hate leaving oil spots
-Flush coolant system
-Seat, as I mentioned
-Get Bearings Repacked
-Bought everything to cycle my Tranny fluid and X-case fluid. In-line hand pump was 6 bucks at NAPA with an extra piece of hose for deep containers. This would have made gear oil easier as I refused to jack up my rig.. i know.. lazy.

That's about it. Hope someone cares. I can take pics and have some if needed. I'm a bolt-on kind of guy. I've learned alot about wiring, mild mechanic-ing, and some body stuff.

I think I've missed some small stuff. I promised RemembertheMallamo an update. This is that.

I'll update more frequently. Happy Jeeping!