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Hello everyone! I'm a long time lurker but would like to start getting involved more. I've recently aquired a new project and have begun doing some work on it...Poor thing was dying a slow/horrible death were it had been parked for 2+ years when the guy who owned it finally decided to send it to the crusher. I told him I'd give him $150 over scrap price and come trailer it away the next day to which he agreed. $300 total got me a Jeep that wouldn't start and couldn't stop
Rear bumper and surrounding body were the most rusted, that may look like a leave reflection but I promise it is nothing but rust baby! Rear wiper was broken along with the plate lights deck and lid.
Rockers were a mess, they were filled with foam, duct tape and bondo and painted over years ago I assume, because most of these patches had time to fall out.
Interior was pretty decent but stunk like wet dog
Mod list:
3.5" Rubicon Express Coils
3/4" Daystar Spacers
RE Fixed Lower Control Arms
RE HD Track Bar and Mount
RE Chromalloy Tie-Rod
RE 3.5" Leafs
RE Monotubes
RE Steering Damper
JKS Boomerang Shackles
32×11.50 R15 BFG A/Ts
Procomp 15x8 "Soft 8s"
C-Rok Inner and Outer Steering Box Braces
Durango Steering Box
Flowmaster 50 2.5"
Magnaflow High Flow Cat 2.5"
Dynomax 2.5" Tail Pipe
Last edited by TenPercentXJ; 01-15-2016 at 05:08 PM.
Next up was trying to get it running and stopping. I replaced more then I needed to but all was worth it to me. Distributor cap/rotor, plugs/wires, ignition coil, A/C pulled out (compressor still in for now but I have a bypass ready to go in), drained the fuel, oil, coolant, diffs, valve cover gasket, air filter, battery, rear sway bar removal, brake pads, rotors, and ran two new brake lines to the passenger front and rear.
Shiny new line...Copper-Nickle is awesome to work with, so easy to mold and run! Harbor Freight flaring tools on the other hand? Wing nuts to crimp the line?? Really? Bench vice sufficed to pick up the tools slack..came out great
Calipers, un-effing-believably still worked flawlessly but the rest had to go.
Last edited by TenPercentXJ; 12-12-2015 at 02:57 AM.
It ran like crap for awhile but after some adjusting it now fires up and runs much better then expected. It has a hellacious exhaust leak at the cat's 02 bung and some minors in the muffler and tail pipe too. Gas tank heat shield mounts were rotted but some self tappers fixed that for now. Did a coolant flush, changed the T-case fluid and moved on to some consmetic stuff to change pace.
Bye, bye side cladding...
Wasn't looking forward to removing all the double sided tape the cladding left but such is life. It was a nice day so I backed it out of the garage to start the tedious task. The day before I picked up some Canyons with decent tires on them for $50 for all 4. I through this one on to see how it looked (read: put off removing the adhesive)
Removal of adhesive came out well. Goo B Gone, elbow grease, warm water work great. Had some strips come off in multiple inches, although that was usually followed by it coming off in 1/16" pieces for the next few feet
The tires were bologna skins with belts showing and dry rot a plenty, and the rims were not doing any better.
This was in the cargo area with the stock donut as well, Aquatread huh? Maybe these mysterious beasts allowed the Jeep to ride over water? It's too close to Aquaman and he was sh** so I assume these are (were) too. Mounted it on my buddies TJ for him to find in the morning...
Last edited by TenPercentXJ; 01-09-2016 at 12:36 AM.
Wire wheeled the drums and the rear bumper. Added some Rusto oil/inhibitor primed and then painted them.
Moved on to the ever fading fenders. Sanded lightly with some 220 grit, alcoholed them down, taped off and hit them with Krylon Fushion in Satin Black
The rims didn't clean up so well when I washed them down. The layer of dirt/dust on them hid some of the imperfections in the clear coat but hey 4 tires and rims for $50? I'd buy them again!
Now I can't believe I'm admitting to this but I decided to PlastiDip my new to me rims. Allow me to explain... I really never thought I'd cave into the "PlastiDip fad" and do this to any of my vehicles but three things aligned perfectly. Firstly, as much as I loathed the fad my curiosity was strong and I was tempted to find out what the deal was. Secondly, while perusing rattle cans at Home Desperate I stumbled upon White and Black PD. I asked for the hell off it to see if they had a gunmetal type color and the HD paint "expert" told me white and black are the only two PD colors sold in stores, all others are available online direct from PD. I left with my Rustoleum primer and sand paper and thought nothing more of it. Lastly, and by coincidence, my boss sent me to Wal-Mart that night to pick up some kitchen materials and I decided to cut through the paint section. They had a god damn rainbow of PlastiDip! So I bought two cans just to see.
Last edited by TenPercentXJ; 12-12-2015 at 02:41 AM.
Cladding removed, double sided removed, fenders painted and wheels PlastiDipped. I also scored a set of locking black lugs from a friend.
Here's from another angle. I also painted the beadlight bezels, grill and the junkyard plate light deck lid for the rear to replace the busted one. I haven't done the front bumper and end caps yet. I've decided I'm going to remove the valance and cut the fog lighty area out of the caps before sanding and painting. I think it will look good trimmed like that with the Rugged Ridge tow hooks and brakets I ordered up. I also found a stock XJ front skid at the junkyard. Needs to be wheeled and painted but it's in good condtion otherwise
Drivers side ball joints are shot and the unit bearings squeel to high hell. Ordered up all the necessary ***** and units Wheel alignments are looking pretty haggard
Last edited by TenPercentXJ; 12-12-2015 at 03:01 AM.
Thank you, I appreciate that. The next two weeks won't be nearly as productive as the first two of ownership due to work and the Holiday . My plan is to have it reg/inspected/insured by early Jan. The red is interesting. I thought it was the typical XJ maroon at first but it's sort of burnt amber in the sun now that it's clean.
I thought about doing this, saw some on Quadratec too. With my luck I'd go wheeling once and smash the new rocker panels in and have a sh** fit. I'm going to cut them out and go the 2×4 steel route
12-12-2015, 01:26 AM
1998 Cherokee Build
Wheel alignments are looking pretty haggard
