perpetual

Hey all, been a lurker here for a few weeks since I found out I was getting an XJ from a coworker who wanted to get rid of it because he had too many vehicles. Took a couple weeks of getting our schedules together before we could go grab it, but as of yesterday afternoon it's sitting in my driveway.

There's quite a laundry list of repairs it needs, but that's half the fun, right?

When I get some more time I will kinda use this thread as a blog to chronicle if and when I get this thing going.

But for now, the baby is awake!

perpetual

Here's what I've figured out so far based on observation or what the PO told me...

Dana 30 on the front, Chrysler 8.25 on the back.
Alternator is seized up. He fried the serpentine belt trying to start it as it hadn't been run in over a year.
Floors rotted out, yeah I can see carpet from underneath. Don't know the extent of it yet though.
Brake line(s) to the rear rusted out so there's no brakes, or very little, I was able to stop it when I pulled it into the driveway running on my mini-van battery. (Started right up though, bonus)
Front U-joints shot.

Here's what I've observed thus far.

It seems that everything that can leak leaks, and anything that can rust rusted. The body is in pretty good shape, with some surface rust here and there, and at least the drivers side rocker is rusted through in some spots.

There's 31x10.5 on it now that will be needing to be replaced if this will be a driver for me and my wife, but I'm not worried about that now.

Stock suspension with what he called "load leafs" in the back. Further investigation required on the condition of everything back there.

There's at LEAST 3 hand-sized wasp nests in it. Hopefully I don't find more, but I'll need to invest in some bug spray as I've been stung once already and he got nailed a bunch of times. This was parked at farm for the past year kind of in the tall grass.

That's all I can think of at the moment.

Oh yeah, here's the best part of it thus far. He gave it to me for free. I'm totally not complaining about that.

perpetual

Here's what my short and long term goals are:

Short-term:
Get her named and running.
-Alternator/belt
-Brakes (probably all around)
-Tight front suspension

Long-term:
Lifted properly, probably 3"
Aftermarket front/rear bumper with winch
Maybe a roof rack
New tires/rims
Tint
Fix rusted floor
Swap to disc brakes in the rear.

perpetual

Got the seized up alternator out this morning. It was either way more work than it should have been, or I did it wrong, but it's out. There was a couple rusted nuts that I had to contend with which I will probably replace when it goes back together.

I was able to break it free with a socket and spin it, but it didn't spin smoothly. I was going to try to take it apart and see if the bearings could just be replaced on the cheap, but I noticed that the housing is cracked so I'll replace it with a new one.

I'll probably grab one today and a new belt, but not sure I'll have time today to put it together since the wife is working all day and I have to make sure the kids all live until she gets home.

I can maybe start seeing what the brakes need to get fixed. I need some more jack stands though, I've only got a pair.

perpetual

Got the rear brake line ripped out. It was rusted pretty bad and when I put some brake fluid in and press the pedal, it didn't take long for a puddle to form in the driveway. Was contemplating just replacing what needed replacing, but it was pretty rusty from the rear almost to the master, so I just yanked it all. I have NO idea how to bend and snake a new line in there. Should be an adventure.

perpetual

Got some more work done this afternoon with the baby down for a nap. The two rear doors don't open from the outside, but they do from the inside. Perhaps the child safety lock is just confused? Anyway, I pulled the drivers side door panel off to get at the guts of the door. As I was trying to take the handle off to fix it I snapped one of the studs off. There's a million handles on ebay if I have to go that route, but I will probably take the handle to work and try to drill/tap it and then use a bolt.

Headed to the parts store this afternoon, but not sure what I'll accomplish. Maybe they can help me figure out the best way to route the brake lines.

perpetual

Picked up 2 more jack stands so I can look really redneck and have the Jeep in the driveway with no tires on it. I also got a rebuilt alternator and new serpentine belt. I think what I will do with the brake lines is to try to start at both ends, work towards the middle and then join them with a compression fitting. Still have time to do some more research on it.

I asked the guys at the part store what the best way to go about tackling the brakes was and one of them said, "Pay someone else to do it?"

What fun is that?

Anyway, I haven't been taking any pictures yet really because I haven't been doing too much exciting stuff yet.

perpetual

Got the stud on my rear door handle ground flat drilled and tapped so I think I'm out of the woods on that piece. I also am going to tap one of the latch holes 1/4-20 and put a stainless machine screw in there from where I stripped out one of the weird sheet metal screws and had to drill out.

I'd like to try to get the alternator back in tonight, but we'll see how much time I have. And it's kinda gross hot out and I might not want to be outside more than I need to be.

perpetual

Tonight I got the alternator back in and that went pretty smoothly and didn't take too long. I think the bolt on my tensioner pulley is locked and borderline stripped though. I ended up taking the electric fan out after struggling to get any sort of tool on the nut to loosen it and that really didn't help either because I think the nut is just rounding. I didn't have time to work on it any more today so I'll try to take another whack at it tomorrow. If necessary I'll pull the P/S pump (I think that's what it is, I didn't look all that close) off and try to get the whole bracket off so I can work on it in the open.

I haven't put the door back together yet either, but I think I've got all the parts ready. Not looking forward to trying to figure out which rods go where, I'll probably have to use the other door as a guide.

Gee oh Dee

Wow, lots of action right away! Sounds like fun!! Lol

XJwonders

Wow. Good job tackling the issues. Don't give up.

perpetual

Got some more work done tonight. Soaked the tensioner pulley bolt with some PB Blaster and then used the side of a hammer to tap the socket all the way onto the bolt and it was good to go. Put the new belt on and it was too short. Some quick research would suggest the dullard at the parts store gave me the belt for a right-hand drive Jeep. Why the new belt which is under 4" longer is $10 more, don't ask me.

Put the battery bracket back in and the battery which has been on the trickle charger for a few days back in and it fired up and the gauge went up to where I assume it should go.

Almost sounds as if there's an exhaust leak up by the engine somewhere, but that's for figuring out down the road anyway.

They weren't any help with the brakes either. Every time I go in there I get a different answer, so my best bet is to piece together what I have and go from there. No big deal, maybe I can figure that out tomorrow.

Oh yeah, I also found my daily quota of at least 1 wasp nest, so I'm keeping that streak alive. Yay me.

I put the door handle back together and put the latch assembly back in the door and the little rod that connects the handle to the latch. Not being terribly bright I closed the door and pushed the thumb thingy in and it promptly failed again. I also couldn't get the door back open from the inside, but I was about done for the day anyway and I'll worry about it another time. I think a new handle is $15-$30 online. If I could get it at least to where it was opening from the inside, I will probably fix it some other time.

The next thing I want to work on is the brake line to the rear and getting the brakes bled and see if they're leaking from anywhere else.

Front u-joints after that, then who knows what else. Probably a flux capacitor...

Gee oh Dee

Most lists are never ending, from my experience anyway.

The exhaust leak may be a crack in the manifold. Its a common issue.

perpetual

Jammed home for lunch today to take some measurements for what I'll need for brake lines and I stopped at the parts store on the way back to work and picked up some brake lines and a union.

Oh, I also found today's wasp nest, so I've got that out of the way already.

I called the stealership and they wanted $67 for a pre-bent piece of line.

No thanks, I'll stick with the $20 I paid thank you very much. Now lets see if I can bend some tubing without kinking it...

perpetual

Picture time!

Here's a couple pictures of the wasp nests that I've been battling. I took these pics the day I got the Jeep home about a week ago...

Good times had by all....