62IIA

A few weeks ago we picked up an XJ. Met the guy while buying a bed frame off CL. He was going to trade it in on a new Corolla. He thought he would get close to a thousand for it.

I look it over real quick and it had one working head light, everything else on the front was broken. The body showed no rocker rust and there were no visible leaks.

I told him what I thought he would get for a trade in and let it at that.

Later that night my wife suggested that the Sport would be a great first car for our daughter. Maybe not the gas sipper our daughter was looking for but it would be much safer when (not if) she mashes into something. It will also be used a a basic runaround for the family.

I called the guy a few days later and offered $700. He refused, saying he could get more from the dealer, A couple days later he called back
asking if I would pay $800. I agreed.

We had to wait a week for him to work out the new car purchase.

Here is our Jewel when we brought her home A 1995 Emerald Green XJ with a munched front end.

abodyjoe

very cool.. good luck with it..

i find it hard to believe that any dealer would give him any more then a couple hundred dollars for it...

62IIA

Yeah I do agree with that, but for us it seemed to be worth it.

I stripped off all the broken parts up front.

Used the square tube and a few hammers to push the frame tubes and weld nuts out to where they could be used again.

62IIA

After getting both frame tubes usable the front cross member was straighten for the most part. It was bent in about 2 1/2". Also helped the front fender back into shape.

62IIA

Visited the local JY, found a few things but nothing major. Spent some time searching CL and xbay for parts.

Found a decent deal on CL a few hours up north. Ended up getting a header panel, grill, lights, bumper and a muffler for $100. We couldn't get the factory tow hooks off, those **** torx head bolts.

My son and I were also able to spend a few hours on a trout stream while we were up there.

After a few hours putting it all back together it looked like this.

62IIA

Moved the vacuum reservoir inside the engine compartment. Wire wheeled the rusted up wheels and painted them.

62IIA

Made a donation to the state and made her legal.

Here is our Jewel ready to roll.

Total investment to date is about $1,050.00

62IIA

Wanted to give everyone at the site a big thank you for posting all the great information and tips here. Researching the web for solutions seems to bring me back to this site most of the time.

Header panel tips for removing rusted bolts with heat didn't help me. My solution was to drill a new hole next to the broken screw. The screws for the running light lenses were all broken off. The holes in the lenses are elongated and drilling in the elongated direction allowed a fairly clean install.

On any older vehicle there is rusted hardware. PB Blaster has always worked great for assisting getting the old stuff out. Some of the larger bolts were re- installed, after wiring wheeling the rust off and a healthy coat of anti-seize. New SS nuts and bolts were used when new hardware was installed.

Thanks again for all the great info posted here.

62IIA

Installed some new 6 1/2" Jensen Marine speakers that had been purchased at an auction last year. Haven't finished the boat so they were put to good use replacing the blown factory ones.

Drilled out the old rivets, trimmed about 1/8" from the panel and ran new screws in the panel.

Sound is a little tinny, but much better then the raspy old ones. Daughter is happy with better sound.

As soon as a stereo adapter arrives the factory stereo will be trashed.

62IIA

Had two issues to resolve to last week.

1) Electrical switches in the drivers door pushed in. Popped it apart and found 4 funky little spring clips that are supposed to hold the switch to the bezel. Like to know who the engineering intern was that thought those up. Tweeked the clips and stuffed it back together. All seems good.

Would be nice to try and fit some 97-01 interior panels. I like the switch on the handle layout much better.

2) Exhaust pipe cracked between the cat and muffler, muffler was also pretty used up. Had a muffler that was pulled from a 96 as part of the parts deal for the grill / header work. New muffler was in great shape, but 3" shorter. Picked up some adapters and clamped the replacement in. Sounds good, works good.

One thing that I now notice is when in park and rev the motor there is a single pop each time you let off the gas. I have read many internet posts on this and think it is one of two things A) small hole in the exhaust system or B) running rich and unburnt fuel is igniting in the exhaust.

Anyone have any input on that.