My 68 Charger

 

Well took a break from the XJ for awhile due to some cold weather and a vacation. Managed to make a dent today though!

New Dana Spicer Ball Joints in. Note: These didn't come with hardware so if you buy from them be aware. They probably make a few kits though.

Looking better! Mind you I had to tear it apart again as I put the dust shield on wrong.

Rubicon Express Steering in! With the Rough Country Steering Stabilizer. Great quality for sure, terrible directions but straight forward.

 

Front Suspension, Steering rebuild and lift install complete!! Tires, Rims, Flares, Bumpers and more excitement to come!

 

Found a decent grill so swapped it over as mine was all broken. Just mocked up for now still need to get to through body and paint.


Springs are in!

 

Decided to pull the carpet and fix some swiss cheese.

Doors off what a major pain in the **** that is. I ended up pulling the panels off and heating them with the torch. You don't have much room to get the Torx head bolts out and they are tight amd strip easy.

Cut out rust in the rear quarter. Going to use Bushwacker Flst Flares and add material where needed.

Floor in ready to weld

Floor in ready to weld

 

In for reviews of that steering as well. I've been eyeing it for a couple of months now.

Also - solid work overall on saving this thing!

 

Well I would be lying if I said I wasn't stoked about this part of my build. lots of work left ahead!

Stripped down and starting body work.

Found some cheap 285/70/17 tires. Was planning on 295/70/17 so these will be great for my mock up / summer.

Front stock vs 285/70/17

New headlights arrived

Here is a great Amazon find. This kit comes with straps and j bolts.

XRC Front Bumper amd bull bar has arrived

Getting her straight!

 

Looking good a lot of work for sure but the feeling of doing it yourself is the best !

Are you going to put pinion shims in I seen the pinion angle off back in your spring install picks.

 

not sure, once the truck weight went on I had alot of correction. Will get the alignment, T Case drop done and see what it looks like for now.

 

Well I have been delayed getting my shop in order. Lots of new Parts and time going into body work. Really I have no idea why I am.block sanding an XJ haha. Things will be moving faster with this bad boy though!

 

Finally got my hoist installed and getting back to work on the XJ. First on the list is replacing the rockers. More to come.

 

Rocker out

Rocker in

Rocker in

 

Well not a ton of progress as I have been more focused on working on the shop. With that said the builds not dead!


New Door Pins

Installed

Built a 400sqft mezz, can you say shop bar!?


my next build

 

Well finally got my Novak Cable Transfer Case upgrade kit in the mail today. Install is straight forward and I am happy with the items quality.

With that said once installed I noticed my XJ will not shift out of 2wd @ the lever on T Case. I hit it, pried it you name it to no avail. I PB Blasted it and swapped in new oil. Fingers crossed, if anyone can tell me the possible internal issue that would be great.


Novak Kit

Shifting point, will not move! Helpppp

 

Have you tried moving the pinions at all? Looks like at least the one DS is off, try spinning around a bit while pulling on it. Some need more man handling than others to get them to shift ESPECIALLY if they have been stationary for a while and you've been working on them with ebrakes on etc. This is why I like the direct mechanical connection of the other replacement options but you shouldn't have an issue cranking on the Novak either.