Thank you for the advice and everything emptypockets. I definitely wouldn't mind not having to shell out another $600 if I can avoid it.

 

at least with the 84-86 radiator setup, if you do need a bigger radiator, it is much easier to get one than it is for an 87-01. the 87-01 is like 36 inches long and like 12 inches tall... don't think there are any universals that will fit a 87-01, so an expensive aftermarket is your only option unless you do what I plan to do and rebuild the core support to accept something more like the 84-86

 

No problem! Looking forward to watching this build.

 

I am looking forward to this one as well. My first XJ was a 2.8 v6 with a AX5 5 speed. wish I wouldn't have had to off it, but I had to move and had nowhere to store it (no title, trail rig only), so it had to go.

What transmission do you have? they came with 3 different ones. The Peugeot ba10, Tremec T5, and Aisin AX5... That is the order they go as far as strength as well

 

I have the AX5. After riding with a buddy at the OHV I'm pretty convinced an auto will be a good idea. One of my friends has me pretty convinced a 700R4 is the way to go. My thought is to make the change at the same time I do the engine swap. Any thoughts on that route?

 

Got my tires mounted and balanced today. Won't be able to put them on til I get my lift kit in, but I was getting my truck tires done so I figured I'd get them ready too.

 

Not much done on the Jeep this weekend. Got the driver side front floorboards wire brushed, acid bathed, and primed. Still 2 patches I need to make before that will be ready, but I think I'll hit those panels at the same time as any others I need to make. If all goes well, that will be this week so I can bed liner the interior next weekend. It will be nice to see some noticeable progress like that, along with freeing up space in my garage again. I'll probably have pics posted after the whole floor is primed.

 

I finished doing my patch work and sanding/acid/etc. Got things primed this morning and will be taping tonight to prep for bedliner tomorrow.

Rear after I sprayed the primer:


Front after I sprayed the primer:

 

1st coat on:

 

Got my 2 coats of Herculiner on. Probably won't put things back together until later this week to make sure it is 100% cured. So far looks good.



While that was drying I had some time to tinker. I figured one of the next things I'm going to do is the outside bedliner, so it made sense to start on prep. I took off the roof rack pieces first. Very happy to see rust won't be a problem.



Since I didn't want to vacuum the roof clean with the interior drying, I thought I'd give some paint stripper a shot to see how well it'll work on the outside. Took a little more work on the first coat than I figured, but still not too bad. Probably will be able to finish it with a second coat or hit it with a wire brush/sander. The only reason I'm stripping the outside is to see if there is any rust hiding before I Monstaliner it, but the way it is looking so far I don't plan to find much if any. If things go perfect this week I may be able to do one color of the outside next weekend, otherwise I may take a day off to make sure to get to it very soon. I'm getting the itch to do something with the Jeep other than spend money and work on it.

 

I don't envy you, that's a lot if work!

 

I just keep telling myself it'll be worth it in the end

It is a decent reason to drink beers in the garage too, so it hasn't been too bad.

 

Decided to make some more progress with the stripper today. I must not have been putting it on thick enough before, but sure works a lot better when you really slather the stuff on (my first time using it, maybe that's a no brainer once you get used to it). When it works it sure makes it easy. I'll have to pick up another jug I'm guessing, but it does a pretty good job when it works so the extra $30 isn't bad at all.

Progress so far:


Stripper bubbling when it works:

 

Got a little later start on things today than I wanted, but it went well so I'm in a good mood. Thanks to my boss for an awesome tip to use cellophane on top of the stripper while it did it's work, I got quite a bit better results. I have to say I get a kick for how quickly the stuff does it's thing. I spent about 4 hours taping off a few things, stripping the entire hood, couple of rounds of stripper on the rest of the passenger side (this is pretty stubborn stuff in spots) and passenger side roof. I finished the night by cleaning up and acid bathing the hood and passenger fender so I will only have a little wire brushing around the edges to do tomorrow and I can prime them. The plan for tomorrow will be to knock out the rest of the passenger side that I've got done so far to the point of ready for prime. I decided to take off Friday so I should be fully able to get the prep work done Friday (or maybe into Saturday if need be) and start Monstalinering Sunday. If somehow I truly kick *** on the prep work, I may be able to do 1 color on Saturday (even if only 1 coat late in the evening) and finish it up on Sunday. Ambitious.... but possible.

The magic of cellophane:


Passenger fender and hood kinda shiny:

 

Well my ambitious plans failed, but not due to ambition. I got a decent amount done Friday (not as much as I wanted, but could have caught up yesterday). Woke up yesterday getting my *** kicked by allergies. Popped some pills and was back in bed most of the day. Feeling a little better today but I don't think I'm going to do much in the garage. Hopefully this week runs better and I can get things done. After I get the bedlining done, I have a handful of things that should be pretty much bolt ons. The Rusty's lift kit shouldn't be too bad, just may need to bribe a buddy with some beers and BBQ to get a hand on it. Some of the easier things are the Smittybilt XRC front bumper with winch plate, Warrior Rear Rock Crawler Bumper with Receiver in rear, and JcrOffroad stage 3 rock sliders. So in theory progress should be better soon...