G.w.i.p.

This is going to be a very cheap build, starting with the price of the Jeep which was $1000. For $1000 I got a 1999 4-door 4x4 Sport with 216,000 miles in pretty good condition. I sold my '95 Sport because is was a stick and a little too beat up for my taste for a daily driver so I'm very happy to say this XJ has an auto, ice cold A/C and all accessories are in good working order, besides the window lockout which I will look into later.

I can see already that this build is going to go through many stages, starting with a mild DD/WW with form over function in some instances and will probably end up an ugly beat up dedicated trail rig someday.


Here it is as I got it..







I installed a nice Decka battery with 875 cold cranking amps so I can run a winch in the not too distant future..





Put a Kenwood deck and front speaks in..





After cleaning up some rust yesterday.. (oh and it's raining which is making my plastic molding look really black and nice too)








I have a pair of V8 ZJ coils for it but have heard conflicting stories on how much lift they'll give me. When I find out more I will looking into swapping them in and adding leaves to the sagging rear springs.

I'll be updating soon.

razor02097

unless they are upcountry springs they will not give you much lift. I speak from experience.

Nice find on the XJ looks like a good place to start.

SGT ABN XJ

Very nice jeep to start a build on..

Deathwagon

Very clean, get her outta the weeds and onto the trails!

jeep chick

now I feel bad about paying $2k for my 95 Cherokee!

It looks nice!

G.w.i.p.

Thanks guys!

I'm ok with no lift, I just need to find the exact amount so I can figure out what coil spacer to use. I going with the V8 springs because my winch and winch bumper are very heavy. Hmm.. with the added weight of the bumper and winch I may not get any lift at all then? I guess I should look into a 3" spacer if I want 3" of lift?

CodeXJ

Heckuva find for $1k! Jealous.

G.w.i.p.

I definitely fell into that deal. I found some wheels on craigslist for my brother's car and on the way there my trans started going out of my car. The car had a lot of miles on it and I didn't feel like changing it so I decided I needed to find something else, fast, because I was leaving on a trip to KY in a few days to visit relatives.

After buying the wheels from the guy we were standing around talking when he mentioned he bought the Jeep almost new, drove it for years and that his kid drives it now but doesn't like it, wants to buy a 4 cyl. car or something. I asked what he wanted for it and he said "oh I don't know, it's got over 200,000 miles, I don't even know if it's worth a thousand dollars." And I said "I'll GIVE YOU A THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR IT!!!!!!!!". Ok, I didn't actually say it like that but that's how I was feeling when I nonchalantly told him I would give him a grand, lol.

SpitFire

hahah I kind of did the same thing for a 94 Grand Cherokee in good shape with only 135k on it. It's worth about $3000-$3500 but the guy just doesn't drive it any more. Gratz to you!

jeep chick

you suck!

jiffy

congrats on the new jeep. 1k is a hell of a deal!

djlarroc

Amazing deal on that '99! Congrats and good luck w/your build!!

G.w.i.p.

I have a dilemma, my best friend wants to buy my Warn M8000 from me, promising he will sell it back to me as soon as I want it/get the money. It would be enough to get my lift and tires (I would buy used). I have the bumper and winch but don't want to put them on until I get at a 3-3.5" lift and 31" or 32" tires but I don't have the lift and tires yet. I do have wheels lined up though. I told him I'm not interested in coming off of it but the offer still stands.

djlarroc

Do it. What good is a winch when you don't have the lift and tires to need it. Then have him winch you out.

G.w.i.p.

Well last night I decided to tint my turn and tail lights with VHT Nite Shade. It worked really well except that I didn't follow directions where it said don't use it over 60% humidity, it was very humid last night so my lenses ended up milky, the third brake was the worst and was more white than black (it was really extra muggy when I sprayed that). I shot the third brake light with another coat today since I had only applied one coat last night and that took care of that problem. The other lights I didn't dare get any darker because they are already darker than I wanted so I took a little polishing compound to them and the milkyness buffed right out. In the end they turned out good after all.








I love white, lol, I haven't washed this thing for a couple of weeks and drive down dirt roads daily and it still doesn't look too bad.