Rubicon640

I’m newly joined to the forum, but have searched and read posts on here for awhile. This project will be Jeep #15 and XJ #4.

I got this one in somewhat of a “trade” situation. Long story short, ended up trading some landscape work for the Jeep. I think I’m out $150 in materials and a couple hours of labor. Easy decision.

Ultimately, this will be my son’s Jeep. He’s only 13, but decided it would be a good project for father-son time in his early teen years. My first Jeep was a 2 door 1988 Cherokee Chief. I thought it was fitting for my son, CJ, to have a Jeep as his first ride.

This is an all stock, never messed with, Sport. Has all the usuals...auto, NP231, 8.25 rear, cloth, factory radio, etc. It’s emerald green...we both hate green. So, paint will be a future project, I think we’ve decided on Rhino, with all the flares and bumpers painted to match. I’m working on some re-invented Chief badging to
tie into my first Jeep.

We just did the headliner in factory color material, putting up some sound deadening and dropping in some Kicker rear speakers while everything was apart. I hate doing things twice.

I’ve been accumulating parts for the suspension, as it is most likely all original by the way it floats down the road. Old Man Emu springs front and rear and Moog HD ZJ steering are in the garage. Also a set of mint TJ Rubicon wheels are waiting. Haven’t ordered shocks yet, but most likely OME. I really want to run 275/70/16 BFG AT’s, but might play it safe and do 265/70’s.

I had my buddy at the local 4wd shop weld me up a new exhaust with a magnaflow high flow cat and a Borla muffler, with a very discreet turn down tip raised as high as possible, so you can’t see it.

The engine runs very smooth, no ticks or knocks. Has a couple leaks I need to address soon and maybe new plugs/wires/cap to be safe.

I did put in a pair of Hella E codes for some better visibility at night. I have new factory fog lights waiting for the new bumper to go, as the current bumper has a dent that is driving me crazy. I might do JCR bumpers down the road, not sure yet.

All the side mouldings were taken off and I spent some time with 2000 grit wet sanding it and then polishing it out with multiple products from Meguiars pro line and Chemical Guys. Literally polishing the turd. It turned out pretty good, but I still hate the color.

A couple other little things along the way....new retro styled head unit, finish the sound deadening throughout, tint, skid plates and some low profile rock sliders and a locker.

Day 1, the kid is stoked.

My idea for the finished product is an OEM+ or maybe something Jeep would bring to Easter Jeep Safari. Simple and clean, yet capable.



Headliner clean up


Finished and reinstalled






Way back in 1996. Tomken Machine 4” with 31” BFG MT’s on factory powder coated wheels.

Corky

Nice XJ and a great starting point for a father/son project..

Rubicon640

It’s been awhile, so here’s a current pic. The color is Porsche Meteor Gray. There wasn’t much rust, but it was taken care of in the rockers and rear lower quarters. This was a sport, but the local salvage yard had a nice limited that I pulled the flares and bumper end caps from. The same yard got a 5.9 ZJ, so I quickly went over and got the hood vents. I made a “custom” grille with some gutter mesh and careful removal of the factory slats. As of now, we just need to do some interior work and an audio upgrade.