Here is a Cowl Hood update. (copied mostly from my Cowl Hood Fab thread) Plus an update on my Jeep.

Here it is in my friends house shop... his work just got new materials in so he should be able to take a thing of putty home to finish the hood. The whole right side (passenger side) is smooth and pretty much done, all that's left is the left side (driver side) and the bottom of the hood.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10752790286/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10752822564/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10752758666/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10752747606/

I also went ahead and ordered a HoofLift system for my Jeep. I was going to use the things I got from Napa and the worn out shocks off my moms Trailblazer... but my parents ended up trading it in for a 2014 GMC Terrain since the Trailblazer was going to end up having a $1k plus repair and she needed something with better MPGs.... and my dad forgot I was going to use the shocks so he never got any, and since I can't use new shocks (too strong) I just pulled the gun and just bought some. Easier than tracking down some worn out used shocks etc. I should have them tomorrow since 4 Wheel Parts said it would be about a week and I ordered them 2 Fridays ago.

Now on to my Jeep.

I've wanted these tips for a while (even before I had duals) and since my friend works at a body shop I told him to keep a lookout on them. It's been about a year since then and they FINALLY got a older GMC Acadia in that had exhaust damage (thankfully not on one of the tips) and you can only order the exhaust from the cat back (one big piece welded from the cat, y-pipe, both mufflers and tips. It's over 1k to buy) so my friend cut the mufflers off with the tips anf gave them to me. The damage was actually on one of the mufflers, guess something went under it or something. One reason I wanted these tips was because they are unique and almost impossible to find an aftermarket tip like it and I also love the design. I'm not too big on chrome, especially on the XJ, but they fit well.

Anyway, here they were when I first got them, they are welded to the muffler.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10752141203/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10751935154/
Cut the tips off.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10752125573/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10752117083/
Took some turtle wax rubbing compound and some scotch bright and cleaned them up and got the carbon off of them. Here is one done compared to the other one. It definitely shined it (them both) up.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10751886216/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10752095583/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10751887684/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10751855316/
Here they both are cleaned up.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10751867914/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10751837676/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10752048663/
Then Friday I went and welded them on. Had to cut about 6" off both sides so it would tuck up inside and not hang low to get caught on anything while offroading.

The pipe cut off.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10751843654/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10752028843/
Fitting the Tip to see what looks best and to try to get them symmetrical.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10751723575/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10752007023/
Tacked in place.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10751800094/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10751771436/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10751983643/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10751673935/
Fully welded in place.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10751765744/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10751734766/
Also moved the passenger side bracket to the outside of the shackle box and re welded it to the pipe.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10751941303/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10751630315/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10751608305/
They are pretty close, I like the way the driver side came out better then the passenger side.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10751597505/

Overall I like it, sounds a little better to me, doesn't have the raw pipe sound especially at idle. Cleaned it up a little to, but still claps and is ear piercing high throttle and WOT. Eventually I'll get a super 40/44 but that might be a while so I'll just deal with it.


Here is a video I took of it. Just a sample of it though, I'll eventually do a full video like I did thats time with the accelerations and whatnot.

 

Here is my Hood Lift install. (Copied from my cowl hood fabrication thread)


Got the Hood Lift and put it on Friday. Loving the way it came out... other than the difference between my hood and the 96 back XJs. I'll have to mod the cowl hood a little bit so I don't have the problem I ran into with this one. Just so y'all know, Hood Lift makes 2 kits for the different years, but I don't like how short the 97+ shocks are (though if you don't want to mod the stock 97+ hood, then this is the kit you need.) I've heard people bend the hoods because of it. Plus I like the longer shocks anyway.

Anyway, I also like how slow it is, most the time when people make a kit, it flies open and with a cowl hood with bondo on it, it wouldn't be good. This kit has great shocks though, all you do lift it up 6" to about a foot and then the shocks take over and lift it slowly and controlled.

The box.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10929732075/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10929793736/
Box content. 2 long shocks, self tapping screws, and angel ball mounts
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10929733025/
Measured from the back of the back lip of the hood and marked 10-1/2" (fender) and 27" (Hood).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10929733195/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10929730405/
Put the first mount on.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10930011533/
Then ran into the first snag, but one that is written out clearly in the installation instructions. The ECU needs to be spaced out 5/8", but I didn't have long enough screws for this at the house. So I just unscrewed the 2 screws on one side and loosened the other and moved it down as far as I could on the bracket and drilled new holes and spaced it out with some nuts. still needs to be spaced out a little, but with it moved down, it doesn't hit unless the hood slams.

The bracket with the holes moved down.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10930011863/
the ECU unscrewed.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10930012543/
Before I added the nuts for a spacer, Hood closes and works fine unless the hood is slammed.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10929735205/
Nuts added.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10929873654/
Here is the problem I was talking about, the 97+ hoods have a divot on the driver side like this and the bracket needs to screw a screw on one of the holes in here. So for this hood I just put a nut and a longer bolt in it (needs to be 1" long to work right without going through the hood skin.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10929870214/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10929792866/
Passenger side mounted.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10930009203/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10930008453/
Shocks put on, and done.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/10929791076/

I'll have more pictures and a video of it opening in the daylight probably Wednesday.

 

Well, I got a slight update. Some of my HVHC bulbs and my switch bulbs started to go out and even though I eventually want to redo all my lights to green, I'm kinda OCD when it comes to lights being out on anything... especially dash lights, so I took the leftover blue T5 LEDs I got years ago from when I did my gauges and modified them to work for the neo wedge HVHC/switch bulbs.

The Dash apart.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11209536523/
The T5 LEDs (The good LEDs with the SMD 5050 LED)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11209540543/
The LED out of the case with resistors on it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11209542613/
Then all I did was un rout the incandescent bulb from the mount and rout the LED into it. Stock bulb with modded LED next to it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11209433145/
Then all was needed (since the SMD 5050 is too big to fit through the holes, it needs to be finagled into the hole then make sure it's tilted the right way for best light output.) All the light in and working.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11209444474/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11209444144/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11209565403/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11209443654/
The old LEDs I already had ages ago.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11209460716/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11209439205/
This is just me from Thanksgiving, went up to our hunting land thats about 1 and a half hours away and took the Jeep. This is just the Jeep with the trailer and my dads four wheeler and (since my rear end on my Ozark is out) my sisters four wheeler.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11209454675/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11209454625/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11209459234/

Now the most recent update. Yesterday I went out to buy some Christmas lights to put on my Jeep. I was looking for all green LED lights... but I didn't find ANY after looking for 2 hours (at multiple stores). I was baffled since red and green are classic christmas colors... it should be easy to find an all green LED string but instead I found all pink, purple, orange... realy?? Only place I even found all green LEDs were walmart's online store but I wasn't going to order some and have to wait a couple weeks or something. So I went back to target and got the green incandescent lights (only place that had any all green). I got two strips (should of got more) to put on my rear bumper (tire) and roof rack. I'll put my rack on next week so I'll do my rack then.

I was going to try to do my whole swing, but ended up not having enough so just did my tire... and had barely enough for that.

Lights on my tire.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11209501396/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11209483974/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11209602623/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11209483434/
Night shots.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11209476985/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11209499346/
The extension cord with a bag for waterproofing over the connector
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11209475805/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11209498166/
See how short it was... more waterproofing.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11209600933/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11209481424/

A 100 watt inverter I bought a while back for my old camera I was using as a dash cam until it... died... so since I don't need it for a dash cam, I'm using it for the lights.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11209483814/

Next week will be my roof rack.

 

hey could you pm me what you know and like, dislike about the logans bumper. I like the look and price of them. see you have them and am interested in your opinion. oh and nice Cherokee.

 

Well, to start off I got some Zombie Hunting decals from the 4WD "Last Man Standing" contest. I got plenty more other misc. stickers too I need to put on the Jeep too.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11409234623/
The next pictures are from the "Ice Storm" we had a week ago. It wasn't bad, but it made for some cool scenery.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11409749515/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11409716545/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11409702706/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11409688156/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11409699354/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11409668775/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11409698583/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11409509646/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11409652925/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11409594865/

Then Saturday night went to pull someone out... and ended up getting stuck too because I have no tread on my grabbers after 3 years and the person who tired to pull me out ended up covering the front of my XJ in mud.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11409424433/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11409409373/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11409152145/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11409141934/

I also put my roof rack back on Friday and put the Christmas lights on it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11411308664/
Lit up.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11411403853/
The lights
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11409391523/
Water proofing and wiring
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11409241906/
The extension cord goes into the back passenger door and behind the weather stripping.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11409227414/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11409363233/
Added a 3-T outlet, thing.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11409165465/

Copy from my Cowl Hood thread.

Have an update. Actually got almost all the puddy done, all thats left is sand down and smooth out the passenger side beside the cowl and the very center body line. Everything else if pretty much smooth as glass. Then the underside needs to be done and it'll be done besides paint.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11409307765/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11409312426/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11409336156/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11409327685/

 

Well, I got the main thing I wanted for Christmas... An Aussie Locker... got it for my Dana 30. On that note I also got some new 760x U joints and I went ahead and FINALLY got another passenger side knuckle to replace mine where the bottom bolt hole for the caliper is stripped out... So I've been riding with only one bolt on the caliper for months.

The Aussie Locker Box.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11639739714/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11639754784/
The Locker itself
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11640120746/
The 760x Dana Spicer U joints.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11639762364/
The knuckle. (Sandblasting it and painting it black.)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11640165826/

Also later this week (Thursday) I'm finally getting new tires. I went with 31 MTZs, can't wait to get them and put my locker in (hopefully next Friday/Saturday) and then hit some trails or something and test them out.

I also ordered some 90's style Chevy smoked cab lights to put in the Jeep. I've always liked the look of cab lights and I've seen XJ's with them and I like how they turned out.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11640121904/

 

I really need to get on top of this and post updates when they happen like I used too and not weeks later and end up having a huge update with multiple things instead of one.

Anyway, the most recent thing that happened after the last update was that I got my MTZ's and got them mounted. (on a Thursday) I'm loving them so far, been able to do more than I could with my Grabbers and they are SO much lighter then the grabbers too.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807401363/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11806896755/
Loving the track they make too.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11806857815/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807226374/
That same day I also got my cab lights and the green LED's I ordered.
The packaging.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807920606/
The 10 Green 194 SMD 5050 LEDs
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807940266/
The Cab lights.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807627334/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807644604/
What's in the Cab light box.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807511263/
One of the lights.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807564083/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807629283/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807684673/
The wiring, bulbs, bulb sockets, switch and screws.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807873984/
The rubber well nuts (expansion nuts) I got from Lowe's to mount the lights since I didn't want to use self tapping screws and I also read about them on a Chevy forum cab light thread. They are a #10 bolt with a 24 thread, also knows as 10-24. (the #10 is the biggest bolt that will fit in the pacer mounting holes.)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807739403/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807529044/
The bolts to go in the well nuts I got were 10-24x1" cap screw, better known as an Allen head.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807801873/
This is a rough mock up of the bulb socket in the rubber base.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807102555/
Later that night.
The interior all torn apart.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807066815/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807793366/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807044845/
A couple of rough mock ups.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807035095/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807761666/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807746476/
A more accurate and measured out, mock up.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807730796/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807713236/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807698816/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807337274/
Drilled a 3/8 hole, pealed the tape off (and pealed some paint off too)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807876593/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807644455/
Then bolted down the cab light shells and called it a night.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807323504/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807310084/
The next day outside. (Friday)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807620465/
Then later on that night I got to work on the wiring. Since I wan't using the self tapping screws, I needed to run a separate ground wire. So I cut the ring mount off and crimped a ground wire to it to go through the roof to be attached to the ground wire I attached to the OHC (over head console) grounding circuit.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807898703/
Drilled the hole for the wires to go through and put sealant around the wires.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11808084854/
One down...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807715065/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807988413/
Over 1/2 way done.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11808177274/
All the lights installed.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11808205734/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11808076323/
The wiring under the headliner. (I cleaned it up.)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11808279604/
With the shop light out. They are bright with the LEDs, I didn't know how the smoke would effect the brightness, but I like the way it turned out and the smoke didn't seem to take much away from the brightness. I can imagine if I go the clear ones though, it already reflects on my KC look alike on my roof and hood, etc... it would be so much brighter... blinding probably with the clear lenses. But I wanted the smoke ones in the first place... I like the smoke look and are somewhat unnoticeable with them off and I like that.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11807892175/
Outside with my rock lights on.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11808307394/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11808316384/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11808328014/

The next day (Saturday) I installed my Aussie Locker.
Axle shafts taken out and axle torn down.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11808368525/
The bad knuckle I'm replacing.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11808754184/
The new-to-me knuckle all sandblasted and painted.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11808336335/
The case out of the pumpkin, cleaned out with brake cleaner.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11808585153/
The barring caps and races separated by side and top/bottom.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11808562853/
Marked the ring gear orientation so it would go back in the same spot.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11808554653/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11808700014/
The ring gear off with the spider gears out.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11808690714/
The locker roughly installed
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11808507533/
Springs installed.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11808243255/
Springs and pin installed.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11808216895/
Ring gear, re installed with the correct orientation.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11808928256/
Case re installed in the pumpkin.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11808403223/
Put the new Dana Spicer 760 U-joints in.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11808556644/
New knuckle on.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11808387553/

Then put the wheels on and did the spin test. Here is a clip of the locker in action... not the spin test per say, just a clip of it locking in and out.

 

The diff cover back on.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11808343893/
Went to go eat, filled it with fluid and then went to the pines to have a fire... Didn't get to test the locker since it was dry, but it did pretty good when I did lock it in 4wd.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11808341274/

Now the next day... Sunday I put it through the real test. Both my locker and the MTZ's. It was raining all day and it was so soggy in the pines and I took my XJ back there.

Here are the videos of me.

Part 1.

Part 2.

Only got stuck once (in part 2 of the videos) and it's because I bottomed out my front diff. pictures
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11808381773/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11808530184/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11808853436/
Other then that, I am VERY pleased with the Aussie locker and the MTZs. I would of never got through 1/2 the stuff I did if I had the Grabbers, even with the Locker. Even this past Saturday, my friend got his z71 stuck in the pines and I winched him out, but I wouldn't of been able to if I didn't have the locker. Defiantly worth it.

I also pulled off my side moldings while doing my cab lights since the driver side warped and was keeping my door from opening all the way.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11936385053/

Both a direct copy from my cowl hood thread.
Update!

Finally have all the top work done on the hood. The only thing left is to metal bond the bottom of the hood to cover the welds and then find a time to get it painted.









Update, pretty much done with the cowl hood. We test mounted the hood on the XJ to check for final fitment and to see how it would shut with all the bondo and filler. Then I went ahead and measured out for the hood shocks and marked the location. After that we took the hood off and I took the rest flat plate I used to fill the back of the cowl to make an angle to fill in the low spot on the driver side of the hood so I wouldn't have a problem mounting the shock brackets like I did on the hood I have now.

Here is the metal plate all welded in place, covering the low spot.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11936687864/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11937061706/
Then I decided since I was already welding, why not just weld the brackets to the hood too... I would rather have them welded then some self tapping screws any day. So I welded them on. After that, my friend used "Panel Bond" (metal bond), to not only cover all the welds on the underside of the hood to make it look better, but also bond the pieces of metal too, to strengthen the welds.

Here are the welded brackets with metal bond on them. (2 of the original 4 I bought from NAPA when I was originally making the shocks, worked out in the end I guess.)
Driver side with the welded plate.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11937002726/
Passenger side.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11936188205/
Then here is all the places that were sealed and smoothed with the metal bond, looks a whole lot better then it did (look back to older pictures.), he also filled the lip that was created when I welded the sides of the hood with the metal bond so water wouldn't run down and sit on the lip and rust.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11937052166/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11936451473/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11936597774/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11936415183/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/11936960816/
So glad to finally see the hood at this point after 6-7 months after starting on it. Not much longer to go til it'll finally be painted an on the Jeep... I hope. But I have waited this long, so I can wait longer if need be.

 

Sir you have one of the best looking and fun jeeps on here. Don't hate I thing and love the updates.

 

I don't think it's the best looking on here... but thanks for the compliments, means a lot with all the time I've put into it. Also, glad to know you like the updates.

 

How about one of the best builds then.

 

I guess that could work, lol. Thanks!

 

Alright, well, It's been a little over a month since an update and I've had a few things to post, just got too busy to post them... Plus I was trying to get pictures together from friends.

Anyway the weekend of January 18th me and some friends went down to Sardis to ride four wheelers and at the same time I wanted to go on the beach before we left. So on Saturday (the 18th) after a full day of riding four wheelers, right before the sun went down, I went back to where we parked and got my Jeep. I got some fantastic pictures while driving on the beach. I got a ton more I'm not going to post, they are on my Flickr though.








I also did a little bit of climbing and flexing on the banks too.











Now the water was extremely low, it had to have been over 2 football fields from the bank to the water... It just to happened that I decided to go closer to the water and follow my friends closer to the water, I did fine getting there but on the way back to the bank I decided to "race" against my friend in his new 750 King Quad and he took a different way than I went to get there. It was going good until I hit a soft spot and lost my momentum and then I started to just spin and not move so I stopped. Wasn't too bad at first, just my rear end was bottomed out, but not by much.
[/url]

Well then we got my friends truck out there and he tried to pull be from behind with his winch and 4 straps I had... It worked and I was moving, but his winch got hot and stopped pulling. So he tried to get in front of me so I could use mine, but then he got stuck... Well he was at least, somewhat, in front of me so we used his winch plus mine and the 4 straps. I don't really know if I moved with that, but i do know my winch cable snapped.
[/url]

After all that i ended up sinking really deep and I was pretty much hosed. We ended up getting some help and someone gave up shovels and wood planks. That got my friend out (at 1 A.M.) and then we left for the night. Parents and friends came the next morning with a ton of chins, shovels, comealongs, etc. We met them there at about 8 A.M and here it is from the Holiday Lodge, this is as zoomed in as it could go but you can still see the scale of how far I was.


and this is what it looked like (up close), we had dug it out a little, but not a lot.


Both axles and uniframe where on the ground and the front was over the axle in some spots. Then we spent about 2.5 hours digging it out around the wheels and in front of the front axle. This is right before we pulled it out. It's all dug out (sides and front axle) and had boards in front of the wheels.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12046277555/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12087328124/
If you look, you'll notice I have another winch cable, that's because we took it off my friends winch and put it on mine. Luckily while we were digging my Jeep out, someone in a yellow CJ7 came by and said he'd help get me out. So we had my winch, my 4 straps, plus one the others brought, about 6 chains, the winch on the CJ7, and my friends truck attached to the CJ7 as an anchor.

And about 20 hours after getting stuck, I was free. It felt good. Nothing broke either so I was happy. The hole does not look that big on camera, but stepping in it, it went over my knees.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12047099856/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12046612024/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12046175085/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12046511624/
After all of that, It was time to clean off all underneath and the joints for the ride back home. 2 hours on the streets with sand in your joint's isn't good for them... to say the least. I also took the Rough Country Rock Rings off since they where just caked in sand/clay.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12046340244/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12046363994/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12046393464/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12046330393/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12046349703/
That week after I got home, I went ahead and peeled the plasti dip off my rims, I like the DC-1's better with the rock rings non-plasti dipped vs the DC-2's
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12622759744/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12622773964/
Then this is me installing some more rear lights, on the roof this time.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12593210114/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12592772555/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12592878993/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12593209394/
The relays. The right one is for the front roof lights. The middle one is for the bottom rear lights. The left one is tied into the same switch wire and it goes to the rear roof lights.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12592771505/
LIGHTS FOR DAYZ!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12592878133/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12592876923/
Then not too long ago I went and got a amplified external CB speaker since It's pretty hard for me to hear it from where it's mounted. I thought I was just going to be able to mount it on the dash by the A-pillar, but RadioShack changed the speakers so it ended up being at least 1.5" bigger square that the old ones and wouldn't fit. So right when I was going to take it back and go to a truck stop to get a smaller amplified one, I found a pretty good spot.... The OHC. It's perfect and not only is it right by my ear, everyone else (front or back) can hear it since it's in the center.

Started off my taking the stock remote keyfob controller out and cutting some of the guard off.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12600320185/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12600299585/
Then i did a couple of test fits to see where I would need to cut the OHC for the speaker to fit through and also make sure it would fit how I wanted it to before I made the cut.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12600388593/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12600693024/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12600255515/
Did some fine trimming for final size.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12600667594/
Test fit in the Jeep, not secured in place.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12600225275/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12600623314/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12600189935/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12600157925/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12600525634/

 

Mounted the speaker with two holes on the mounting bracket though the sunglasses compartment and for support I added some plates on the side because it it was loose.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12600982404/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12600571605/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12600891274/
The extra wire so I could work with it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12600511263/
Mounted pretty solid.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12600644233/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12600527485/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12600607293/
Quick disconnect for power.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12600877144/
90° RadioShack cable jack so it could fit against the roof.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12600542983/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12600847334/
All in place.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12600799504/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12600359695/
Wire tapped into the same spot as my CB.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12600432653/
I've been using it for about a month and I love it. can hear it so much better and clearer.

Here's a couple of pictures from me in the school parking garage with my roof rack, found out i can fit in it with it on... really close though. Gets about only 1-2" away from the lowest point.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12600188273/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12601007074/
Also someone at school has a KL (2014 Cherokee) Trailhawk, so I decided to take some picture of it next to my XJ.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12600607175/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12600719395/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12600061035/
I also got some snow pictures from 2 weekends ago when we went back to Sardis.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12602053174/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12601758673/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12602095394/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12602105904/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12601790853/


Also a Cowl hood update. I should be getting it painted and installed this weekend, I can finally see the finished product after 8 months.


..

 

Copy from my Cowl hood thread.

At the shop Friday night, disassembled the header panel and moved it forward, took off the grill guard and the hood, started to fix the driver finder, and also started to tape it up... Also took the trail rated badge off.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12714825963/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12714643935/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12714618735/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12714597405/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12714757973/
My own pictures of the hood primed.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12714520865/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12714953624/
Put some of the drape over the Jeep.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12714930134/
Sanding down the primer and getting the pin holes out of it and also sanded the spot on the fender.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12714608073/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12714589433/
Took the pin stripe off (front fenders) and the trail rated badge residue and scuffed up the front fenders for paint.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12714562653/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12714837154/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12714812274/
Started to cover the motor and tape up more.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12714490793/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12714314575/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12714285335/
The bottom of the hood all ruffed up, plus my stock hood in the background.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12714719514/
The white and Moss Green Pearl sprayed on the hood where decals are going to go. (still have no idea what my friend is going to put on the bottom side of the hood, he didn't get it in time so he's doing it at a later date).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12714397223/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12714226275/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12714363063/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12714645274/
This is probably the BEST picture of the Moss Green Pearl that I could get, it was hard to get the camera to pick it up. (if you have a laptop, you can move the screen around to make it darker and see it better.)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12714629724/
Here's another, not as good one.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12714294023/

And that's where we stopped Friday night... or should I say Saturday morning. It was 1 A.M when we left.

Now and couple of hours after that... On Saturday at about noon, we started again. Jeep in the Paint booth getting ready for fender blending and hood paint.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12714061595/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12714091165/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12714195503/
Doing final taping.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12714473324/
Spots on the fender primed and sanded.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12713985185/
Decals on the hood.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12714410894/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12713923235/
Spraying the green and blending the fenders. The green turned out fantastic, the only problems we has was with the clear.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12713892965/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12714025933/
Pealing the stubborn decals off.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12713825735/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12713794915/
Now I didn't take any pictures of it, but the first time we cleared it, it was all spotty and trashy (not really sure why)... So we had to sand the whole thing down (just the clear) to where it was snooth to re clear it. Thats where all the spots that have to be re greened came from, sanded a little too deep and got the green. Second time we cleared it went a lot better, other then the gun pressure being too low on the first couple of passes and caused some runs that have to be fixed with the green whenever my friend gets the thing he is putting on the bottom.

Got the hood back on after wet sanding and buffing for about an hour to get the runs to where they were less noticeable.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12713930473/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12713904693/
On the Jeep.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12713711105/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12713683125/
From the inside. The mesh painted white looks great and when the sun hit's it while driving, the pearl really shines.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12713632185/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12713705943/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12713678293/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12713490635/http://www.flickr.com/photos/100936816@N02/12713473445/
I still have more to do in the coming weeks to get the runs out, do whatever is going on the bottom, and get the green filled back in on some spots... so expect more pictures over the coming weeks and also some sun pictures.