Superior work! Wish I had the time and space to be able to do this to mine. Hopefully soon though.

 

I don’t remember the hooks for the floor mats being in the way, perhaps they’re no longer there. I did remove the tie downs in the back because I’ve never had a use for them.

 

our loaded XJ
Unfortunately, I can't leave home without them
I've enjoyed looking at your good work - However, I'm not going to long brake from this forum. If you want facts - get a shop manual, if you want opinions - this is your forum

 

This photo makes me think it may be useful to have them in. I’m trying to remember where I put them after I pulled them out!

 

I spent $200 on a high pinion Dana 30, only to discover after needle-scaling it that the spring perches were rotted out. I decided to just strip it for spare parts and scrapped it.

I was able to find another hp Dana 30 and an AW4 with an np242 transfer case, all for $300!


Disassembling the axle. Transmission and transfer case in the background.


After needle-scaling the shafts and knuckles

 

My old XJ developed death wobble, which I narrowed down to a wallowed-out bolt hole in the track bar mount at the axle end.

To fix this, I drilled the hole out and tapped the flag nut for a 7/16 bolt. I wanted to do this on my new XJ before it developed into a problem.

The replacement 7/16” bolt on my old XJ’s front axle. This Jeep had a drop bracket for the stock track bar, which was later removed to install an adjustable track bar.


I fabbed a new flag nut for this on the new XJ.
*Actually never ended up using this flag nut because the lift kit I ended up buying had a brand new one*

 

Prepping axle parts for paint.


Housing sandblasted


Spicer axle U-joints

This was the first time I ever had an issue replacing axle u-joints on one of these. No matter how hard I pressed the bearing caps in, I couldn’t get enough room to snap on the retaining clips.

I put as much force as I could on the vice to press that cap down just a few more thousandths.. and it blew the top out of the bearing cap!

After some messing around, I found that the ears on the axle yoke were bent. Luckily, I had some spare shafts from the junked axle. This solved the problem.


I blew up a bearing cap trying to press it in to make room for the c-clip.


The last U-joint clip to go in, and something’s not right.


Impossible to get the clip on. This was very frustrating


The carrier bearings were still tight. Not a bad buy on this axle!


POR15 and top coat on the housing


Barnes 4x4 upper control arm mount


3/16” thick lower control arm mounts

 

Blasting some misc. parts




Prepped for paint


I have to say I’m impressed with how far a gallon of POR-15 goes. I’m still using the original gallon that I used on the underbody, floors and front axle, and there’s still plenty left!


Charcoal can reinstalled


The first 4x4 part to be bolted onto the body. I pulled this transfer case shifter assembly from the junkyard a few months back.

 

I had options selecting a transfer case to use on this build. I had both the 231J and 242J. Either way, I wanted to get rid of the slip yoke to cut down on vibrations.

After some research I decided to use the 231 for now, considering an SYE kit for the 231 is half the price of a kit for the 242.

I do like the idea of full time 4WD, so I think I’ll hold on to the 242 and possibly swap it out at some point in the future.


The 242J transfer case that came with the 4x4 trans I bought


The 231J I had saved from a parts jeep

After sealing up any areas sand/water could get into the trans and transfer case, I sandblasted them to prep for fresh paint.



Trans and transfer case sandblasted and prepped for paint


After 2 coats of POR15 Detail Paint. I used their stainless color because I preferred the look over cast aluminum.

The rear driver door this Jeep came with had a large dent in it, so I swapped it with a nicer rear door from my 2000. The 2000 was sold with the dented door. The one I saved for this Jeep had been setting around for over a year, collecting dust.

I dusted it off, sandblasted the bottom and treated it with POR15 to match all the other doors.


Driver’s rear door bottom treated with POR15

 

Work on this project has slowed down a bit. Life has been busy lately.

I’ve currently been prepping the transfer case and transmission for installation. Been waiting on another trans filter after the one I purchased didn’t fit.

My parents got me a slip yoke eliminator for my birthday, but it’s been a couple weeks and it has yet to ship

I’ve tackled some smaller things while I wait for these parts to arrive.



I wanted to clean these quarters up a bit. Looked a bit unfinished.


Primer


Color matched and cleared! Not a bad finish coming from rattle cans. When I detail the paint at the end, I’ll blend this in a little more.


Passenger side primer


Luckily, the bumper will cover the spots with overspray.


I tore my transfer case apart in anticipation of the SYE. The fluid was a little dark. Not many metal shavings though.


I used a polycarbide wheel to knock the old bedliner off my parts door.


I began throwing the interior back together as well. Center console, rear seat, seat belts and pillar trim.

I’ve made a long list of junkyard parts necessary for me to finish assembling the interior and install the rear door. I need some misc. hardware and shims for the rear door. Just waiting for the weather to warm up a bit to go out and pull parts!

 

Wow great work! This thread makes me grateful to live in a place without salt. A lack of wheeling spots around me though

 

Picked up some misc bolts and some nice interior trim on my junkyard trip.


I was surprised at how easy it was to put this door back on. I thought for sure I would be cursing at it, but it only took me about 5 minutes.


Found a selector bezel at the junkyard for the 231. Console looks complete now! I will go through and detail the interior at the end. It’s really dirty from setting around in the garage.

I had these diamond plate door sill covers sitting around on a shelf for probably about 2 years. I think I got these from Rusty’s. I’m not sure if they still even make them. They’re a nice upgrade over the plastic sill plates.


Front door sill plate


And rear! I like how these look.


The interior is finally put together!


Rear seat

Back when I was cutting the quarter panels, I realized I needed to reroute the trailer hitch harness, as the original spot it came through on the body would be cut off.

I popped out a plastic grommet in this hole behind the taillight. Not sure why these holes were put here? They don’t seem to serve a purpose.

I thought maybe I could RTV the rubber grommet attached to the harness right to the body, but that didn’t work. I ordered a new 2 inch rubber grommet to fit this hole. Should provide a nice seal and a way for me to route the harness.

 

Nice work.

 

Thanks! I greatly appreciate the support I’ve been getting on this thread.

 

I recently put in the grommet for the trailer harness. I didn’t think it would interfere with the taillight, but I ended up having to trim the grommet so the taillight would mount up.


Looks a little weird, but this will do for now.

I ended up having to cancel the order for my SYE kit after waiting nearly a month for it to ship. I purchased one from a different site and it arrived in less than a week.

Installation went pretty smoothly. No major issues, other than making a mess with RTV.

The Advance Adapters kit seems to be of very nice quality.



Advance Adapters NP231 SYE kit


New output shaft installed


Done!


Filling the transfer case


I also put in a new input shaft seal in on the transmission while I had easy access.