Now for some real updates! So, XJ is inspected and finally road legal! 1/15 dated stickers are nice. Caution: I got tons of pics for this update!

Got lots of work done last night. First order of business was to drop the fuel tank to replace the pump, and also the rotted vapor canister line. I replaced that with fuel-rated 5/16" hose and clamp. The pump is a Carter brand assembly. I've read that these or Bosch are the ones to get.



New pump vs. old...the filter is much smaller and EXTREMELY dirty on the old pump. I wonder if this could be related to the slight stumble/miss I have at idle. I suppose we'll find out.


New pump & vapor line in.


Now I set the tank off to the side to address some rust issues underneath. I had no better time to take care of this, and my can of Chassis Saver was just about shot, so I went on a rampage. Here are some before shots after wire-wheeling.






Also, here's a shot of the uniframe repair that was done by the previous owner/dealership. I had only recently discovered this. I believe that the tank came out so easily because it would've had to have been dropped for this repair. It looks like it was done somewhat decently although not perfect. I'm not worried about it.


Okay, now for the aftershots! Chassis Saver is a life saver!





Fuel filler area:


Also decided to hit the tank straps with it since they are in decent shape and I want to keep them that way.


Also took care of the passenger side, and sanded it down. Filled the door sill screw holes with Bondo.





Overall I'm really happy with what I got done in 4 hours! Now today the goal is to get the tank back in and see how this new pump works. Hopefully it fixes my gauge issues too!

 

Nice progress. The underside of your XJ had like no rust on it.

 

No way, salad on a build thread? And on my build, nonetheless? Wow!! I feel privileged sir! lol and maybe no rust compared to yours, but it was very ugly to me. I wanted to stop it as best as I could. Still some more spots to do underneath.

 

How does inside the frame rails look? It'd be worth your time to spray oil in there.

 

Good progress!

 

Thanks guys! Finally got the tank back up in on Friday night, took maybe an hour at best. I don't know why people make such a fuss about dropping the tank. It's not *that* big of a deal, unless you have to do it when you just got a full tank and your pump literally died. That would suck then, lol. Anyway, I also got my JCR Nutstrips installed with the "Hidden Hitch" I got on Craigslist. Turned out pretty nice.

Oh, and it's SO nice to have a working fuel gauge again! New pump works perfect.

Ready for paint--fuel filler hose shield and nut strips.
I just painted these flat black, nothing special.

All installed
Finally have a rear recovery point!

I also got some of my eBay LEDs in the mail the other day for my shifter lights and license plate.




I had to slightly drill out the opening in the shift indicator housings, which was a bit nerve-racking as I almost busted the whole works with my drill! The license plate one barely fit up in there as well, but they turned out very nice. They are dimmable too, which I probably will tone down the brightness some when I get the dash LEDs in too.

 

Nice build!

Which LED's did you get exactly? I also have a '98 and want to do my shifter lights....

 

These:

http://tinyurl.com/m6ema5t

 

Flushed my heater core last night, totally clogged...still leftover sewage from dumb@$$ previous owner. I'm considering doing another flush of the whole system, this time with Cascade.

Also got the instrument cluster LED's in last night. I love how they look, but I wish they were a bit brighter. They look way better in the pic.



Now my shifter LEDs are way too bright!

 

Lol. I changed the colors when I did the led upgrade. Didn't like the green "stock" look

 

What I don't get is that the stock bulbs had blue covers over them. How the heck does that work?? This pic doesn't show it very well, but with these LEDs it actually changed it to a bluish color. It sort of matches the gunmetal pearl paint

 

i went red with mine


xj's looking good!!

 

Low low power incandescent lights tend to glow very yellow. Blue cap is to make the light appear white. If you run the lights without those caps you'll likely notice that the needles are WAY brighter than the green gauge faces.

 

Interesting. Did you do this? lol..I might try to find some brighter 74's to swap in at some point, or perhaps dimmer shifter lights. They are stupid bright, and the dimmer switch barely dims them.

Also, here's all the goodies going in the Jeep this weekend! It'll be a busy one...can't wait until it's all done!

 

Looks like fun!