Project Cheap Xj
 

Hey guys. I figured id get my build on here so that I can get some feedback, and have another place to keep it going.

This is from my thread on Xj Talk, so some of it may not line up lol.


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Hey guys! I'm new to the forum, but have been around vehicles all my life. I'm normally a VW guy (so im used to fixing cars...lol), but have owned a few jeeps in the past, most recently a 2010 WK that we decided it was time to get rid of it.

So I'm picking up a 2000 Jeep Cherokee Classic from a friend of mine for $200 later this week. She's been driving it for a year with no issues, but is picking up a new car this week, and she just wants it gone. The 4 wheel drive works, and it's got 248k on the 4.0 in line 6cyl. It needs some love, but it's cheap and will be a good hunting and ice fishing rig. 2 of the windows don't work, and the AC doesn't work, and the heat only comes out of the defrost no matter what setting it's on. I'm sure I'll find 100 other things as I tear into it too. It does have an aftermarket cd player and speakers from what I can see, and it has almost new snow tires on it.

First order of business will be to check the heat and AC, along with fixing the blend door problem. Then I will work on sourcing a fender and everything I will need to repair the front end and make it look decent, along with checking and changing all of the fluids, and finding some new wheels and tires.

I'm sure I'll be posting up looking for parts soon, if anyone has some of what I need laying around. Im really looking forward to digging into this thing and making the ultimate ice fishing/hunting/camping rig :)


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I got a better picture of the sliders.... I may need to sand these down and throw some undercoating on it lol

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Still no updates as of yet... But i did dig up a few pictures of our Jeeping adventures on our Honeymoon in Hawaii. This will have to tide me over until Saturday.

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Above the clouds at the highest point in Kona
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If you look close you can see a Jeep. We may have ventured off the beaten path
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Well, i should have posession of this thing tomorrow. Apparently nobody in MN has the parts i need. So i may be ordering them next week, and ill just have to tear it down this weekend and start working on fixing up the little things, and whatever i can bend straight with a hammer and smoke wrench..

Just picked up all this stuff for the gnarly sum of $130!

Boom!

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Well, she's home! Delivered to my house even with a full tank lol. The disassembly has started, after I got the hood open because the release cable is broke.

It's rusty underneath, and leaks a little bit. But I DID find that the blower motor works perfectly, it just doesn't switch with the blendoor yet. The freon is also low, but it holding a charge, so I'll probably fill that up tonight too. I haven't looked into the windows yet, but the hammer and I have been busy straightening everything out. Here's the progress so far. I needed a break lol.

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Well she's in 1 piece again!

Issues so far:
AC needs to be charged
Blower still only works on defrost
Windows still don't work
Passenger headlight doesn't work on low beam, even with a new bulb and pigtail

But here she is

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I got both headlights working this morning, and I realized that the hood probably hasn't been opened in 1.5 years.... Needless to say, the oil was a couple quarts low :(

Next up is figuring out the windows. None of them work from any of the switches, and the little green lights on the switches don't light up on any of them.

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The passenger low beam fuse was out... Go figure lol.

I finally got all the windows to work (the RR needs a regulator, it barely goes up and down). The ground wire was broke off in the drivers door, then just the drivers side worked. I then chased it to the passenger side switch, took it apart, cleaned the connections, reinstalled and voila!

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I also got the blower to come out of whatever setting I put it on. A vacuum line was completely melted off, so that has been repaired and now works!

The AC worked for a few minutes and blew ice cold, then stopped. I tried the "shim" fix but I'm afraid I'm just going to have to replace the AC clutch.

Next up, take it out and wash it!

It's pretty well sorted and all back together now. I even washed it and it cleans up alright. I may do a coat of wax just because, but I'm not sure I have that much motivation haha.

The next step will be spray the grill and fender black, and get some undercoating on those tube rail things.

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Welp, I got the AC to work great for like 20 minutes, but if the smoke coming out of my compressor tells me anything...... it tells me I need a new compressor and clutch lol

I did take it for its first drive tonight. Its kind of like driving a boat lol. It's a lot different than my 13 GLi. But it seems to run strong, and shifts pretty nice. The steering seems a little loose, I'll have to check on that.

I did take another look underneath, and its not as bad as i originally thought. Its rusty, but not like falling apart rusty. I need to get some penetrant on those shock bolts and leaf spring bolts so that i can get some new shocks and shackles in there. And i need to do something about that exhaust too. I may be picking up a new AC compressor and clutch tonight, so hopefully my AC will work. Then i can get to steam cleaning that engine bay.


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She has fully functional AC again!! Just let it get up to temp and drove it around, and it's still going strong!

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Well i took her on her maiden voyage this morning. 36 miles into the office downtown, and so far so good (knock on wood).

The AC still seems to kind of work when it wants to. It was working for a minute, then shut off, and if i left it off for a bit, it would work again for a few minutes. Ill have to look into that further when i get back from vacation on Sunday :sad0147:

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I also forgot to add that i found this little gizzmo under the dash. I dont know if it works or not, but i downloaded the app and will have to tinker around with it. With all the stuff that came with this thing, i keep thinking i got a better deal all the time (knock on wood) lol

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