CNTLOSE

Well I bought my first XJ today. It is a stock 225k mile 1991 2D XJ 4.0 HO 4x4 5 spd. Runs and shifts great, but has all the usual body and floor rust issues. The frame is solid and it came with a nice set of leather seats and an extra set of Jeep wheels. I paid a whole whopping $750 for it and drove it home 50 miles without any problems.

However, I did discover some issues that will need to be addressed before I start on the body and interior. Brakes need at minimum bled, but I may do a complete flush. Neither side grabs so I believe the calipers are fine. The steering wheel is facing to the 3 o'clock position when going straight, and the wheels need balanced.

So what is my goal on this project...Well to just make it drive safe and have fun with it. I do not live around any rock quarries or great trails so it will not see any major off-roading. Will mostly be trails and so forth. I came up with the "Project Patton" name as I plan on painting it OD green or some form of camo with WWII style markings.

So my plans after making it safe to drive is fix the couple floor rust spots and the rusty lower rocker panels. Nothing fancy just going to use some old street signs for the floor and pop rivet some new metal along the rockers. (I do not have a welder and have no idea how to do it. I also have no real metal working tools to speak of.) I am going to use truck bed linning for the floor boards and the lower rocker panels once my patch work is done. The leather seats that came in the deal are very nice and I will add them for the sake of easy cleaning. I am then thinking either a budget 1.75" lift or a 3" lift kit from Rusty's Off-Road. Eventually some larger tires in the 31" to 32" range. It currently has the 2000 style Wrangler wheels in black on it and came with the original silver Sport wheels. So I am not sure if I will stick with those or get some of the Soft 8's.

Lastly...I have no pics because by the time I got home it was dark. I will take a couple tomorrow and post them up.

MallCrawlerZJ

How are you gonna paint your jeep? Rattle can? Spray can? Roll on? I've been curious on how others do theirs.

CNTLOSE

I will probably use roll on bed liner for the bottom portion. I have a compressor so I may break down and buy a spray gun to do the body. If not it will be a rattle can job.

CNTLOSE

Okay here is couple pics I was able to quickly snap today. I will get some better pics later in the week. But this gives you an idea of what I am starting with. The rust on the lower rocker is the worst part of the Jeep. The driver side has a hole in the same area but about 1/4 the size. I am just going to get some metal and pop-rivet it on to cover it up. Then I am going to use the Herculiner to cover the lower rocker panels....and yes that ghetto chrome is coming off.

SGT ABN XJ

I love the project and glad to see yet another 2 door on CF...

If you look in the fab area you will see how others are removing the rust and building in rock sliders... Good luck and can't wait to see more progress........

CNTLOSE

Yeah, I love the looks of the 2D, plus all my family cars are 4D so I wanted something different. Thanks for pointing me to the fab area. I saw a couple custom designs I like. I can not weld, but I am going to see what it might cost to have some made for me. However since I am sure with where I live I will be doing mostly trail driving it will come down to a cost factor on them.

CNTLOSE

Well it has been killing me this week to just watch her sitting in the driveway. So I took the day off and I am getting ready to head out to the JY and see what I can find. I did order a set of tailgate struts from Rockauto.com so before I head out I will put those on.

JDJeeper

Another 2 door, thats great, I love mine. Good luck with your build.

CNTLOSE

Thanks! I like the 4D's, but it is nice to have one you do not see everywhere.

CNTLOSE

Well the only thing I scored at the JY was a new driver seat. The frame on mine had rusted in two on the rear left side. After looking over the leather seats they will work...if I had power seats. With them not being designed to fold forward I can not not use them...or at least if I ever want to put anyone in the back I can not use them.

When I got home I began taking the original seat out. Well one damn bolt has basicly became one with the frame....ugh. Could not get that last bolt out before my garage time was over. To top it off I found my floors to be worse off than I originally thought. So I am going to have to get more street signs to fix my floors.

CNTLOSE

Small step forward...but I got the seat frame bolt out and the "new" used seat in and mounted. Next item on the list will be to address the suspension.

I think I have decided to go with just a 2" or less lift. This rig will never see any extreme off-roading and any off-roading will be mostly trails. It currently has some 235/75/R15 JY street tires on it. I am probably going to stick with that size. With a smaller lift I think it should look good and have plenty of flex room for what I need.

KH96XJ

Have you looked into putting some fiberglass over them?

CNTLOSE

No, never thout about it. But it would take alot...trust me. Lucky for me the frame (uni-body) is solid, so I am thankful for that. Plus I can get all the street signs I want and as thick as they are, they make great floorboards. I will just rivet and seal them on. I can not weld so this is the next best thing. I am checking on having some rock sliders made to replace the rotted out lower rocker panels.

...and now I am back on the fence about a 3" lift. I like what I have read about the Rough Country 3" Series II lift with the complete rear leaf springs. It is just hard to justify to the wife paying as much for a lift kit (Not including the tires.) than I did for the entire car...to of which was originally only to be our dog hauler.

Cherokee_Laredo

I have the same rust area on my 1991 Cherokee but both rockerpanels are rusted on the back.
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f46/19...-2001-a-49861/

CNTLOSE

Nice build...and a lot of work. I use to do the same thing to Mustang fox bodies. By the early 80's ones and make them look like the early 90's ones.