2000 XJ New Jersey style
 

Hey guys this will be my first actual build thread but i have been around the forum and jeeps for a while. First alittle about me, my name is chris. I am a mechanic and i work for greyhound. Yes the bus company. I live in ocean city, NJ with my girlfriend. I am 22 years old. I have had jeeps every since getting my license. My first car was a 95 xj which got a 3in lift with cragar d-windows and 31x10.50 A/t's, among some other goodies. I then let my parents drive that ( long story ) and bought a 93 ZJ as a DD. When my little brother turned 17 and got his license i bought him a 94 ZJ with 123k/l6 for 700 bucks. We have since put a 4.5in lift with some 31/10.50's as well. I then sold my 93 ZJ and got a 96 XJ country. It had 105k and i got it for 1500 bucks. But it has bad rust. I recently sold that one and thats how i got my new toy...

2000 Jeep Cherokee Sport. I have had it for 4 days. I still cant believe i have such a nice XJ! I work very hard but im usually the one who has the vehicle thats always breaking down. Go figure. I guess its like the plumber who has leaky pipes. Or the electrician who's outlets dont work. lol. Anyway, It is completly bone stock, everything works, it runs like a clock. I bought it off of an 87 year old man for ( ENTER GUESS HERE) I want you guys to take a guess what i paid for her. We will make this interesting.

**161k
*Month old tires
*New front brakes ( pads+rotors)
*Shocks
*Battery
*Water pump
*Freeze plugs
*Ac compressor

Here are some pictures. Of course the first place i go is Advanced Auto. lol

Now i know i said ive had this truck for 4 days. But i have gotten a pretty good amount of work done. Little things. But im happy. Im going to take some time to get you all up to speed. This thread will have plenty-o-pics. I take a bunch always.

Day one of modding consisted of using a product called Plasti-dip to black out my badges. I also did some side work and tinted a Subaru WRX. And plasti-dipped the badges of a 2012 dodge ram. All extra $$$ to toss into the Jeep. : )

This Plasti-dip stuff is amazing. I did the rims on the WRX with it as well. Any questions about application feel free to ask. I really think this stuff is going to catch on. I dont know anyone else who works with it but me.

2,800??
no flooding there?
oh and i vote for repainting youre moulding, and bumper caps or heating them up with a heat gun to restore the color as some have done. I painted mine

Now i probably should habe mentioned the things the Jeep NEEDS. The passenger side windows arent currently working. Im told this is common with late model xj's. And the two front speakers arent working. You would think i would atleast fix the window. Nope. Mods come first. lol. Although i think im going to fix it tomorrow because i wiould really like to tint the windows. I cant stand people being able to see me.

Anyway, day two of modding consisted of some stickers, windshield tint,Mounting my Streamlight strion-led flashlight charger, and Putting KC's in my hood. YES, in my hood. I did this on my 95 and loved it. And im for sure loving it now on this 2000. You see back then with my 95 everything was a learning experience. Things worked but could have been better.. I was still going to school. I didnt even know i wanted to be a mechanic when i first got the 95. But i got the jeep bug, decidded to go to school and now im a diesel mechanic. So these jeeps mean alot to me. Now that i have alot more knowledge, this build will just be so much better, cleaner, stronger...etc. All of my skills have gotten better. Its really exciting. Here are some pics of day 2.

Well day 3 i was off. So i got a good amount done. My buddy john is a volenteer fire fighter in a nearby town and since it was raining we went to the fire house to work on the jeeps. My friends always call on me to work on thier vehicles, which is fine with me because i love doing it. Especially XJ's of course. His is a 2000 as well. 4.5 old man emu lift JKS quick disco's, sliders, tire swing, CB.. etc.etc. 109k. Very nice truck. He wanted me to mount and wire some lights for him. And i had a laundry list of things to do as well. I also did a 94 cherokee roof rack swap so that the racks would come all the way to the front for his light bar. With some minimal drilling it went right on and looked great. Here are some pics of what i did to his truck that day.

In the last picture you can see my 95/96/2000 xj's and thats johns white xj.

did my work in a fire station too ha.

Attachment 356017

So onto my truck. Keep in mind I did all this work, so there was alot. But with the help from my friend we got everything we set out to do complete. First I went to Chrysler and got a valve cover gasket and oil filter adapter o rings. Then to pep boys for some other goodies. I did my spark plugs valve cover gasket and wired my lights up. Put some guards on my doors. I stole that idea from John's truck I think they give a clean look. I also painted some things along the way. My color scheme is going to be silver black and lime green. Here are pics from the day.

Close.. But 2800 is too high :). I agree. But when I put my lift and tires on I don't want any rubbing. I was thinking about taking the plastics off the bumpers and trimming them.

BTW, yes there was a very good amount of flooding. We took our valuables with us and skipped town. Luckily our apartment was spared. But all of our neighbors werent as lucky. We did loose the washer and dryer though.

Nice! Yeah It was awesome to be out of the rain lemme tell you. Lol. I was way to excited to work on the truck than to let some rain stop me.

We were in the fire house until 6am. I also helped my buddy install his new top on his YJ! Busyyyy day. But far worth it!

So after some much needed sleep unfortunetly i had to go to work. Which was today. But that didnt stop me from working on my truck on my breaks : ) lol. I actaully was able to install my head unit. AND get my switch for my KC's on my hood mounted into my dash and hide all the wires. After work i spent a half hour centering the lights and tightening them down. And since i had alittle bit of Nightshades lens tint left... i did the angry eyes or "eyebrow". I swear to you guys, i was the FIRST to put these on my truck years ago and since then i see them all over. The HONDA people did it to their cars and alot of my buddies are honda ppl. SO thats where i borrowed the idea. But i was definelty the only one for a while. Here are some pictures from today..

Now that were are all caught up in the current time. It is now 2:19am and here is what the truck looks like right now.

So lets get down to business here. This is whats on the way for this sexy XJ:

4.5 Rough country lift ( w/ new leafs ) (( Awaiting Install ))
*Quick discos
*31x10.50 MT's or AT's
Cragar D-windows ( Awaiting tires )
*Sliders
*Bumpers
*Safari rack/Basket rack
Light bar ( Awaiting Install)
*Winch
*CB radio ( Getting for christmas- Thanks pops! )
Etc.etc.etc.etc.....etc.....

Many, many other things on the way as well. I am off mondays and tuesdays. When i say " The weekend " in this thread i will be talking about those days... well because thats my weekend. lol So this weekend this is what i plan on having done. Knowing me there will be more added. ( MONEY permitting )

1. Oil change
2. Change out oil filter adapter O-rings ( Maybe spray adapter housing green )
3. Flush and fill both Diffs. ( paint covers lime green )
4. Change air filter
5. Fix passenger windows ( If not already complete )
5. Tint windows ( If i dont already have them done )
6. Fix front speakers ( If not already done )

I work tomorrow. I work from 11-730 everyday except mon-tues, like i said. But at my lunch break ill be out there tinkering with the jeep. I dont usually eat lunch anyway. I dont have time to slow down and eat. Ill never get started back up again! lol. Im really hoping to figure out why the passenger windows arent working. Any tips to look for? Im going to check the obvious things but since i hear this is common i figured id ask. The sooner i get the windows fixed the sooner my GF will be happy and i can tint the windows. Like many other things i do my own window tint. Im pretty darn good too. Never have any bubbles or imperfections. Like everything else when i had the 95 i was a broke kid. ( still am ) but bottom line is i wanted tint. But didnt have the big paper to pay a shop to do it. So i learned myself. That 95 jeep cherokee is the reason i am who i am today.