LOL got to love it!

 

Page 4 pictures have been fixed - (11-19-2016)

LOL, Yeah.


Alright, got the pictures uploaded.

Here is my OHC, just to show I am getting 16.6mpg.


And I might as well show my ticket.


DC2's prepped for Plasti Dip. Took a little while to tape it all, but it was worth it.


First two done. Since I had tapped areas off, you have to paint it quickly enough so you can pull the take off before it dries. You do the first coat to about a 50% transparency, then wait 45 seconds, then next coat should be 100%, then another 45 seconds... then so on and so forth. I only used 2 cans on 4 wheels, but I'm probably going to do more to get more coats. I think I only got about 3-4 on each wheel, but I want about one more. About a can a wheel.



After me and my friend got done (we each did a wheel at a time so it wouldn't dry) we went ahead and took off my rear sway bar since it doesn't really do anything... especially at 5" of lift. Plus, whenever I get dual exhaust, I need it out for more room.




Started to put the wheels beck on.




All done, I like it. I started to miss the way all black rims looked on my Jeep after I was looking through the photos when I first started this build thread. Glad I found out about Plasti Dip cause I didn't want it to be permanent if I didn't like it or if I ever sell them and people didn't want black.

 

Well that sucks.... Just spent a good 15 or more minutes typing that post just to have it disappear off the face of the interwebs... Back to typing... though it won't be near as good as it was.....

Well, another update that is longer than it should be since I've been lazy and haven't updated when I should of.

Anyway, first this is a picture of what my Jeep looked like when i first got it to now, about 5 years later.


The Cobra injectors are still going great, even while towing. I used to only get around 12-14 instant mpg while towing, but I was getting almost 20 mpg and had a lot more power.


Not sagging too much. It wouldn't be sagging so much if I had a bigger drop hitch. I only have a 3 1/4" now, I need like a 5". Still pulls like a champ though. Most people underrate the Cherokee's towing power/rate.


I started to get a clunking in my front end when going over bumps and turning. Found out my Track Bar was moving in the mount, and it must of been loose for a while, but just got bad enough to hear. So I took the bolt out and saw the mounting holes were wallowed out and the the bolt was too small for the 1/2" sleeve in the Track Bar. So I drilled out the mounting holes to 1/2" and found a 1/2" bolt from when I was building my rear bumper/tire carrier and some washers since it was a little long and put it all back together. No clunking or moving.

Bolt too small.


Drilled out mounting holes.


All tight.


While I was at it I put in the new to me stock Denso alternator from IZAREBL. Charges a lot better then the Napa alternator. I can actually winch and not have to worry about it killing my motor. It actually charges after the winching burst... unlike the Napa one which would only charge at about 2-3K.


Looks like I need a throttle valve cable too. It's worse now, only has one strand left. I went to the stealership yesterday to order one and picked it up today. Would of changed it too, but the transmission filter they gave me was for a WJ with a 42r3 transmission not a XJ with a aw4. So I'm going to change it tomorrow when I get the filter. Hoping the cable is right though, it says it will work, but my cable goes into the transmission and this one looks like an external one. Oh well, it if doesn't work I'll go back to the stealership and complain about getting the wrong part.... again.


Also finally rewound my winch cable.




Also found the crush in my cable, need to fix that sometime too.


I'll update tomorrow with changing my throttle valve cable and filter.

 

Well... I didn't update... but there was a reason. The cable ended up being wrong, but I also broke the breather nipple off the top of the transmission while I was pulling the old one out to go to the dealership to get the right one, not going to be here til tomorrow (hopefully). So now I have to drop the transmission so I can change the breather nipple. While I'm at it I'm going to go ahead and change my rear main and oil pan. Yippee, going to be a long week without my Jeep since I'll be cleaning up a lot of stuff while I'm under there.

Here is the wrong cable P/N 52104284ab (older XJ's and WJ's) $88, the right cable is cheaper P/N 52077578.


Here is the transmission filter.


Drained the fluid and took the pan off. Fluid was defiantly burnt and was pretty dirty.



Good thing is that my pan came off in 2 pieces and I didn't have to fish the filler tube down. Magnets didn't have any abnormal amount of metal on them either.


Very clean valve body.


The cam that holds the TV cable.


The bolt on top and where the cable goes through.


Both lined up.


Pulling the cam back to take the cable out.



Took the cable off the throttle plate and mount.


Now here is the important bits.
The breather comes up along the side of the TV cable by the back of the block. It is zip tied at the tip (picture) and also zip tied on the top of the transmission, along with a W clip with a bolt (it's a 12mm and a pain to get out.) I had to drop the crossmember down to get the W clip out with a stubby 12mm and also took the zip tie off the tip if the breather, but I forgot about the zip tie at the top of the transmission because It took forever to get the W clip off, but also It's hard to feel everything and I needed to hurry to the dealership before parts closed. When I pulled the TV cable out the breather came with it and the nipple broke.

Side near the back of the block, first zip tie.


Broke nipple.


And It's just been sitting in the same spot since Friday at about 6pm.


Saturday morning me and an friend went to Pull-A-Part and got a new Nipple (cut the transfer case linkage with a sawzall and just take the crossmember bolts out ads let the transmission fall and use a clip tool or a flat head screwdriver and carefully pry it out. ONLY ON 4x4 models, the 2wd ones don't have a hose on them and are different, found out the hard way.)

The breather and the nipple.



This is as it sits now.


Also got a Fel-Pro rear main today.


Hopefully me and my friend can drop the Trans tonight and clean everything up to get ready to change everything out.

 

Didn't get the transmission dropped yesterday, but did get some done.

Got the oil pan I took from Pull-A-Part about a year ago all cleaned up and ready for paint, probably going to do that today.

Got the transmission filler tube off.


Took the rear and front drive shafts out.
Rear


Front


Cleaned up the Transmission pan.


Took the starter out.


And Dropped the Oil pan, pretty clean in the crankcase for almost 200k. No sludge at all. Probably need to clean up the other oil pan a little more, still had some crust in it.



Hoping to fully drop the transmission today.

 

Well I didn't get it fully dropped... that day. But it is now. Been a pretty long weekend and it's only Sunday in the 12AM. Got pretty far, I guess. I got the transmission dropped, got the old nipple out, and changed the rear main. Probably could of got farther but my friend had to leave this afternoon (Sat) to go 2 hours away for mothers day so I'm probably not going to get it done til Monday/Tuesday because he's not supposed to come back til tomorrow night... which is technology today.

First thing I did was while I was waiting on my friend to get off work Thursday I drilled the slosh plate out of the other oil pan I bead blasted clean so I could clean it up and get is spotless. I also got the right TV cable, and only $53 and not $88



Then I ended up having to take said friend to work Friday because he had a flat so while I was there I painted the pan and baked the paint on. (need to re-bake it though, at least longer. Hopefully that can happen Monday since I might need to take him to work again because he isn't suppose to get tires til Monday or Tuesday))


Then Friday night we finality started to work on the Jeep again to hopefully get the trans dropped.

First I put the trans pan back on temporarily to support the transmission and with the jack. Then took out the cross member.


Then with some redneck ingenuity, I took a 2x4 wedged between the finders and strapped it to the headers and the oil filter adapter to support the engine while the trans is off of it.


Then after unbolting it, which took forever because of checking and rechecking the wires and trying to find all the bolts that went to the motor and bell housing. Even with me having the official Jeep FMS for 2000, trying the get the suckers off, especially the inverted torques (with are 12 by the way) at the top. but eventually at 2:30am on Saturday morning it finally dropped and we called it a night.

The motor and trans finally separating.. was SO happy so see this.


It Dropped and out of the way.


And Today, well technically yesterday now (Saturday). We were able to get me a new rubber cross member member mount and then change the rear main before he had to leave.

Here is the engine fully supported by the 2x4 this morning.


And the rear main changed.


I know I've been really, really, sucking at good, detail updates recently. But doing this has been taking a lot out of me and I'm always posting these at times I can't do long details. But I'm not going to stop the detail, just haven't be able to do many pictures of this, but any future updates after this is all said and done I will try to get my detailed post back.

 

I like the DC rims before you plastidipped them, but surprisingly, they look really good black, too.

A little off subject, but why do some of your pics look like they were taken in the 1970's?

 

Yeah the DCs were good, but I just got tired of them and I wanted black rims again.

That is because I got a new phone (Motorola ATRIX HD) and sometimes when the camera flashes, it creates a orange hue. I need to stop using it and just go back to using my iPod touch 5 or my digital camera for the flash pictures.

 

Monday we started late and only had like an hour so we were able to get all the main bearings torqued along with the main bearing brace.


We also got the Transmission in with 4 bolts.'


Didn't get to work on it today because I had a graduation to go to, but we should be able to finish it tomorrow (Wednesday). All that is left is the rest of the bolts to the motor; the flex plate bolts; routing the rest of the wires, breathers, and cables; started; sensor on the bellhousing; and the crossmember and it'll be ready to go.

 

Well, didn't get it done today... Ended up, after being almost done, when I was going to put the torque converter bolts in, I couldn't move the flexplate (it was touching the torque converter). So we had to take everything back apart and redrop the trans to move the torque converter back, moved like an inch. Stopped after that because it was midnight and I'm going to replace the inverted torx with standard bolts since even with an inverted torx socket, it still striped the head. We can definitely finish tomorrow... Hopefully!!

 

I'M DONE!!! That took WAY longer than it should have... even with waiting 5 days on parts... 2 weeks exactly today. Though I only had an hour or two a day to work on it. I do though have to get some new transmission cooler line clips and o-rings because the front one is leaking pretty bad.

Anyway. Us redropping the trans after I couldn't move the flex plate to tighten the torque converter.

After we set it back up I changed the trans filter.
Old

New


Also while I was at it I painted my rear drive shaft Grabber Green Candy Cane... Need to get more pain for the front.


After we got the trains back up and made sure the converter would spin, we bolted it back up (replacing the inverted torx with some 14mm bolts, even with an inverted torx socket it still stripped the torx) and clipped everything back into place and connected all the linkage.

Transmission back up.


Linkage back together with new filter. (also the new TV cable in..... where all this started....a cable..)


Torque converter tighten up to the flex plate and the dust plate on.


New gasket on the oil pan with the zip tie method.


New cross member mount. Old one was shot.


Oil pan in.


Trans pan back on... for the second time because I realized I forgot the magnets.


Rear drive shaft in... and friend apparently flipping me off.


All back together, with fluids, and running great.. didn't get to drive it though since the front cooler like keep leaking. Hopefully the dealership stock them.

 

It's all working and not leaking (was done Friday). Well, besides the normal seeping of the transmission cooler lines. Still need to order a rebuild kit with the clips and o-rings. got it to stop pouring out though and it's drivable.

Running smoothly after 2 weeks of not running.


Out of the garage and ready to go drive it for the first time after everything was put back together.


Put the roof rack back on since it's summer again and I don't have to fit in a parking garage.


I also got a shifter T-handle from pull-a-part when I went from a 1990 limited. I was a sweet XJ and I loved the interior. Wish I could've gotten the transfer case lever too, but I would've had to get the whole steel piece, even under the Jeep, and I just didn't feel like going through all the trouble to get it out.



Feels so good to get back in the XJ and drive it after 2 weeks of either driving my Sister's 2007 Jeep Compass, Mom's 2008 Trailblazer, or my Dads 2010 RAM 1500... Though It's pretty sweet driving my Dad's RAM... Big truck with a V8.

 

A little update. I've had 2 more packs of LED strips I use for rock lights laying around for almost a year, so last week I took one pack and cut the strips up and made them for the sides of the XJ. Will eventually make some for the front and back with the other pack.

The LED strips I use for my rock lights. From AutoZone.


After I cut the strips in sections and soldered them together.


I used a gasket scraper to scrape away the undercoating on the body then cleaned it with alcohol and cotton ***** so the 3M tape would stick.


While I was at it I also retrimmed the vent visors so I could fold in my mirrors if I ever needed to out on the trails. I also sprayed about 1/2 a can of white lithium grease in the joints (both sides) because I've never folded the mirrors in the 5 years I've owned the thing.


And the updated rock lights pictures. Definitely more coverage on the ground now that I have some on the sides and not just in the wheel wells.



Also my birthday is June 16th, and I'm planning to redo my exhaust. I love the way it sounds, but with the turndown it drones way too much. With only me or me and my friend in the Jeep it's fine because I can turn up the music and not hear it, but anyone else, and it's just deafening and gives people a headache....

So I'm going for dual exhaust out the side before the shackle. I'm also trying to decide if I want to keep my Super 10 and just put a Y-pipe on it, get a single in dual out glasspack, or a dual super 44. I'm also going to try to get a new high flow cat while I'm at it to increase flow and get rid of my clogged up one. I know for a fact though I'm using 2" pipe after the muffler to make it easier to route and get my back pressure back that I lost with the turndown. The 4.0 loves back pressure, that's where the torque comes from, so I definitely lost some torque, but gained HP.

 

Well before I begin with what I was going to say. I helped my friend build a rear bumper out of scrap metal and also mod a warn front bumper for his Z71 to fit with the body lift.

Rear bumper we built.


The modded mounting brackets for his front winch bumper with my welding on his 220V welder, plus some rectangle gussets.



Then both of our vehicles.


4 Wheel parts had their annual Hot Summer Sale Saturday and me and my friend went to it. Got a whole bunch of stickers I still need to put on the Jeep but I also got some pictures of while I was there and afterwards.

While me and my friend were playing around beside 4 wheel parts in the land next to it


Then the pictures after, when we got back to his house.



Then after I went behind our houses and maxed out my jeep to measure to see where I had room to fit exhaust pipe through out the side.


Hope to have some videos up sometime of us playing around at 4 wheel parts and should have an update also to show a new exhaust setup... if i can find someone to do it.

 

Have some updates. I found someone to do my exhaust about 3 weeks ago and I got enough funds to do it. He quoted $225 with tax, that includes a glass pack, duals out the rear and hangers. That's a damn good deal for exhaust, especially since the going rate for just dual pipe and hangers if you get a muffler is about $250. It's definitely better then the second shop I went to, he wanted about $500... that 2 times the going rate, and that was just pipe...I went to one shop before that one that did my exhaust about 3 years ago when I had the super 10 put in but he wouldn't do it for liability because there's "not enough room on the driver side with the shock" which on a stock XJ it pretty much true.

So I'm going to get it done tomorrow at 8am, plus I bought a high flow Cat so it'll be a lot better than my old clogged cat.

After I got the quote for the exhaust, went ahead and put the stock heat shield back in place and started to work on the heat shield for the gas tank and a slimmer shield for the filler tubes.

I started off with some 10x10 galvanised steel flashing and made a rough design of the shield.




After that I stopped for the night and the next day I went ahead and started on the slimmer filler tube shield.

Rough design.



In place, defiantly a lot shorter and more tucked on up the uni rail and not at the bottom.


Final look of the gas tank shield and it being painted along with the filler tube shield.


The gas tank shield after final fitting and drilling of a couple more holes.


Gas tank shield in place.




Filler shield in place.


Here is my Cat I ordered for about $58 after shipping from http://performance-curve.com/ cheapist high flow cat with a 02 bung I saw. It's a Thunderbolt 2.5" Spin Cat, that's a knock off of a MagnaFlow Spun Cat, but a MagnaFlow Spun Cat is 2x the price.