Discovered this beauty sitting out in an old man's field last fall. I needed a car and this looked like a prime candidate for a project. Barely any rust, floor pans were solid, and the headliner was brand spanking new. It would need a new suspension and wheels, but that was no big deal. The story goes that the man used it to pull boats around his property and then left it to rot for 4 years before i found it. Tall grass and mud left it dirty, but it was definitely a keeper. 165,000 miles was no match. With a little help, it started right up. Gave the man $600 and had it towed by a friend. I found out later that i was in fact the 12th owner of the vehicle, but that did not stop me. I decided to call her... "El Diablo Blanco"

Current specs:
-1989 Jeep Cherokee Laredo
-4.0L I6 Renix Engine (no mods... yet)
-D30 HP 3.55 and D35 3.55
-4.5in Rough Country X-Flex Suspension
-RC Steering Stabilizer
-33x12.5x15 Mickey Thompson Baja Claws
-American Racing Outlaw IIs (Painted black)
-Homemade Brushguard
-Bedliner on flares and molding
-ZJ V8 Tie Rod/Drag Link
-2000 Ford Windstar tailgate struts
-1980's GM CB Radio
-Tailgater Defense Mechanism

Here's what I have planned for the beast:
-Modify brushguard into better bumper
-8000 or 12000lb winch
-Tube Fenders/armor combo
-Removeable doors
-Safari Rack
-4.88 R&P (already have them)
-5.0L Mustang Injectors (Already have them)
-Cowl Intake
-Custom Rear Bumper
-Rhinoline cargo area
-ZJ Front Seats
-Interior LED Upgrades
-Simulated Beadlocks
-Chrysler 8.25 or D44 rear
-Rock Sliders/skids
-Basic Exo-cage (to protect me when removing doors)

I promised pictures!



This is what the interior looked like when I found it. Almost spotless. Out of all the things to work perfectly on a 24 year old vehicle, it was the power seats. Gotta love that vintage maroon fabric and dial radio too! Im keeping the interior as original as possible! (Maybe getting some zj seats for comfort)



Found a great deal ($475) on some gently used 33x12.5x15 baja claws. Rims were from a bronco so they had to go


Also got a great deal on some OD green outlaw IIs with 3.75in backspacing ($75)


After waiting impatiently for my lift to come, it was finally here. Didnt take long to crack it open and get to work. The rear is done!



The front is done! Only took a full day to finish, but it was well worth it

I immediately starting to climb curbs and even ran over a couch for the hell of it. Never drove a lifted vehicle before so it was definitely different. I fell in love. Funny story... while driving home, i was going about 15mph on a pretty busy road and what do you know, i feel vibrating in the rear and hear a bang. Look out my window and there goes my wheel, rolling down the road. Luckily my dad was with my and ran after it. I managed to pull the car over with very minimal damage to the driver side drum. It was scary as ****, but we replaced the studs and lug nuts and everything was dandy.


Finally had her home! Cleaned the interior a little more to remove dog hair from the previous owner. Found out it had a minor ant problem, but i could live with it. Decided to paint the wheels black and get rid of that crummy OD green


Found this homemade brushguard ($50). It went on easy and seemed sturdy enough. I hope to modify it soon to make it better


Used some spray on duplicolor bedliner on the fenders/molding. I did a pretty *****ty job, but i dont mind



She loves the snow!




Springtime! Playing at Indian Cabin and getting her really dirty for the first time!



Was so sick of the tailgate not opening by itself. Took the struts from my mom's old minivan and modified them to work. Its now hard to close! (Great mod!)


Rear wiper broke, so what was I to do? NewJerseyXJ609 (check out his build thread!) told me about the "tailgater defense mechanism" and i knew it was for me. Right now it only shoots out about 4-5ft. When Im done with it, it should shoot about 25-30ft! Tailgaters beware!



Look what I got! Brand new Alloy USA 4.88 gears for both the front and rear. Came with a G2 master install kit for the front and a G2 minor install kit for the rear. You wouldnt believe the price. $275 for all of that! All i need is a bigger carrier for the front and bearings for the rear. Waiting to get those installed still!


Starter finally went the other day. Was most likely caused by my oil leak and all the oil going right onto the starter. For $70 at advanced auto, i got a refurb starter with lifetime warranty. Couldnt beat that! Had it installed in half an hour

So thats the story of my jeep so far. Its my first XJ and first car as well! I think ive done a pretty good job so far, especially on such a tight budget that I have. Craigslist is my friend when it comes to finding parts. I have some money saved up and some big plans for it. Im working with JeepWorx in Vineland, NJ and they are going to fab some stuff up for me. (I have a safari rack in production now!). I highly recommend them! I will be polishing and waxing the exterior for the first time this week. Might even plasti-dip some stuff too. Anyway, stay tuned for future updates!

 

FIRST!. Anyway good find man gotta love cheap jeeps got my 89 for 5 lookong forward to seeing the build

 

Subscribed!

Can't wait for pictures!
Seems like you got a great deal.

 

Subscribed!

 

Pictures are up! Enjoy!

 

Broke down today and wouldn't start after I did the seafoam treatment. I'm going to clean the plugs and spray some starting fluid in there and hope it starts up.

 

Very nice build. I love builds that start like this.

Just letting you know... it should be El Diablo Blanco. Sounds cooler I think, and it's correct. But it's your build, so it's up to you.

 

I've been waiting for someone to correct the name because I was never sure lol

 

:P it's no big deal.

 

Got the xj to start up and drove it home from where it was left yesterday. Not sure what the problem is but, it sounds like its running better actually

 

Replaced the cap and rotor today!


The old one, all dirty and... well... old!


New rotor!


New cap!


Dielectric tune up grease is your friend here. I put it on all the wires (distributor side)


Wires are on! Didn't notice a tremendous difference, but it needed to be done regardless. I found out that the left screw hole on the distributor is stripped so the screw had nothing to screw into. I'll be picking up some self tapping screws later today

 

Finally did the injector swap. Bought a set of rebuilt injectors off eBay that fit my renix. They have the 4 holes and are supposed to run great compared to the old ones. I followed a write up but quickly realized that the renix was set up slightly different. Despite that, it took me about an hour. Haven't driven very far on them, but my initial impression is a very stable idle and incredible throttle response. I also found that 5 out of 6 of the old injectors were the old single pintle style, and 1 was a four hole. Not sure why. Anyway, I highly recommend this upgrade

 

GUNK engine degreaser is like magic

 

I was so sick of the blowby on my renix and it destroying every air filter I buy. Built this little contraption to trap the blowby oil. I know this is just a bandaid on the real problem, but I don't have the time or experience to take off the valve cover and clean the clogged parts right now.

 

Cool project. Will definitely follow this build thread. Good luck man!