plowboy06

I bought my XJ when I was a junior in college. That was about a year and a half ago. I live about 5 miles from the badlands plus my dad has been a jeep man forever so I just kinda fell into the jeep thing. I have always been a sucker for the 2drs.

Specs:

1987 Jeep Cherokee
87,000 miles (Towed behind camper all of its life)
2.5L 4cyl
ax4 tranny backed by a np 207 tcase
dana 30 and 35 w, 3.54 gears
no power options in interior...plain jane!!

When I got it home I quickly ordered a lift. It was ordered on a budget just like this entire build is. I purchased a Black Diamond 2 inch AAL lift. Here are some horible pics of it going on.



Well you can now see the ugly color and the pinstriping...It will get better I promise.




The front coils were really spongy.




All back together with lca's




AAL rears.




Lift all done.



Pic of interior. I found a 94 cherokee in the jy that I got a center console out of. I pulled the old console out and put it in. I dont have a pic of it in because...I dunno why but I dont. The wood grain dash bezel does a nice job of classin it up a bit though!

I also took off the wheels and tires of the donor xj.




This is what It looked like after i paited the wheels, got centers, and got rid of the pin stripe.





I finished it about october of last year and wheeled it all winter like you see here. Then the tcase started growling and kept kicking out of 4 wheel drive. So I parked it.

School and work took all my time away from jeepin. I tried to sell it to make tuition money but no takers. I finally graduated this summer and there she sat. So I started thinking about my plan of attack on the jeep and went after it. This is my new list!

2.5 more inches of lift (4.5 total)
adjastable control arms uppers and lowers
4.88 gears maybe lockers in future
fix tcase
novak shifter(oem shifter linkage is a mechanical odity!!!)
posi loc cable(been stuck many times because I knocked off vac lines)
black interior
Prowler orange exterior
tcase drop
roof rack
late model guage cluster
leather bucket seats
rinolined floors
front and rear bumper
warn winch
31 inch tires
rear sway delete
front discos


The goal here is too build a highly dependable decently capable jeep. I do alot of fishing along the wabash. Jeeps are about the only thing that can get you to the waters edge in most places. This jeep is also our ranch hand. We use it to go out into the cow pasture to get cows in ect...very muddy at times and crossing the creek is a necesity. This is the plan I came up with and I rolled with it.

More later!

REWSTER

nice, badlands is awesome do they let the locals in for free i couldn't live 5 min from there

nice build, 2drs are nice


maybe we can meet up down there some time

plowboy06

no not really for free. I have a buddy who lives on a farm that borders the the back of the pit. We all know troy really well so he lets us ride back there once in a while. We do get into events like Eroc and so on. Where is hammond...ive heard of it but just can't place it.

plowboy06

So after I decided I was gonna start work on the jeep I drove her to town. I wanted to run her through the car wash to blow the crap out of the underside of the jeep. When I went over the nozzels, the water ripped a hole in the carpet under my feet then blew the floor mat back towards my seat!!! Not good!

SO when I got it to the shop I then knew where I was gonna start. So I started ripping out interior and this is what I found.



These pics are after I cut the rust out. Used an air grinder with cutting disc as well as an air chissel with metal shear attachment.



Rear Passenger side



I left the floor out for now because Its alot easier to drop the tcase with the floor out!!










when I pulled it apart I noticed that the pads on the range and mode forks were gone. I had to get new pads from the dealer. The mode fork was also bent. This happens when you tow a vehicle without putting the transfercase in neutral. So I just bent the fork back straight and put new pads on and slapped her back together. No pics of disasembly because I was covered in ATF!

More to come later. gotta get back to work

REWSTER

hammond is straight up 41 till you just about run into lake mi.

whats the plan for the floor's?

plowboy06

I have a bender that will bend up to like 22ga so im thinkin going that way and rivet. I borrowed an air riveter from my gf's father. Lots of silicone and undercoat then rino line the floor. I think thats the best bet. I will also run 1/8th strap from tranny tunnel to the inner sub frame to stiffen the floor up. I had to cut pretty high on the tunnel and it lost alot of strength. Just trying to do it right. I priced floor pans through quadratec....ill just make my own!!!

plowboy06

Well today I decided to mix my paint. I work at NAPA in town so I guess you could say I got connections. I mixed a 2001-2002 color from dodge. Its called Prowler orange metalic. Paint code PVF. Its a really neat burnt orange color. I like it!!! Went with base coat clear. Ive never sprayed it but i figure this would be a good way to learn. Also got my interior dye.

plowboy06

Well nobody replies so i guess im doin it right! I guess its just me and you rewster!

dirtyjeep

I hope u fixed the holes in the side of the jeep b4 u spray the paint on the body lol

xjoffroad

holly rust bucket! you got your work cut out for you

plowboy06

Yea im not that green...bought paint so I could paint interior while I had the trim out.

plowboy06

nah just the floor boards. The rust on the exterior is just surface rust...at least what it looks and feels like. I havent yet dug that deep into it. Has to preform before it deserves a good lookin body.

plowboy06

Been a busy week! Went to dinner with all of my family for me and my cousins bday on monday. Wednsday went to a farm show in milford IL, and last night I went out for a buddies 21st bday. But I did get some stuff done tuesday after work. I got the front and rear axels out and the front disassembled. Went with motive gear 4.88's. They got here monday UPS. Took axels and gears to my gf's dads shop to install gears. He has a nice press and I don't! pics will be here prolly by tonight.

plowboy06

Well I finally got on here for some pics. Got my axels back yesterday with new gears installed. Here is what has happened since I took the tcase out..which is back in by the way!




Got axel out with the help of chad. He is a big jeep guy too. He has an 99 zj whith a 6in lift on 35in tires. Built by todd myers. Its SWEET!!! Ill get some pics up!



Well got axel on the floor and eventually stripped. axels off, bearings off, shocks, lca's, ect...



Got rear off...it was alot easier.



Gears came!!! got a good deal on these. $105 a set! shipped!



rear back and all painted up!! that must be my adj. track bar setting behind it. Put new brakes, brake lines, wheel cylinders, and brake line on.





got the front end all painted up and put back in.






Got a new drop pitman in also. It came with my adj. track bar. You can see them both in this pic.






After I got the front axel setting on its own weight I realized that the LCA was almost touching the lower coil mount. So I ordered new upper and lower control arms that should be here soon. Theyre RC's.







got the rear mounted. and plumbed up.



I know this isn't good. Blocks are bad but im using them just til spring, maybe sooner, until I can get a bastard pack made. This is just a temp fix. And I don't think that I will have a problem with axel wrap with the little hp i have. I made them by stacking up 1/4in plates then when I got my height where I wanted them I welded them together. Pretty strong. Also...I took off the rear sway bar. Much better!





Setting on its own weight.



My help. Chad and my youngest brother matthew. Chad is good help. Matthew just stands there and tells you what you are doing wrong. Its ok...he's learning.

plowboy06

Well i was looking on my camera and found some pics that I forgot to post so here you go.




94 grill from JY. Looks better that the 87...less bars.



Also got luggage rack to mount my rack too when the time comes.



This was on here when I bought it. It is the vacume canister. IT is a good idea but it scares me. I will probabily try to make something smaller and put it on the fire wall. I does however work.



The beast!!



jeep project will turn your shop into a mess!!!



Had to fix the toilet the other day. The handle broke and so I just tied a piece of pull rope to it. I used the old crossmember nuts as weight to keep the ball down!!! Works good.



Novak shifter kit showed up. Thats gonna take some time to make right. Lots of adjustments.



Went with a smaller stearing wheel. Looks and feels better.



When I took the crossmember down I broke off a bolt on each side. I took this piece of strap and located both holes. Welded the bolts to the strap so they wouldnt spin. Worked really well.



Used rubber bushings that I got at Napa for a tcase lover mock up. They are 1 inch tall. THey worked tood but they smashed too much. I will make a real drop later on.




This is the PS. I had to cut this hole in the floor to get to these bolts...but I figured whats one more hole.


Thats it for now. I will have pics of interior coming soon. I am almost done. I have 2 more pieces to dye. Looks really good. I found out that the frond ds cv joint is ****. I will be looking for a np231 to rob the front output yoke off of so I can run the cardigan jointed ds. Still waiting on control arms!!! been 3 weeks!

more to come later...thanks for looking. I know its not as detailed as some but its not a very detailed project. Later!