Ok so here it goes, just as i’m getting my XJ to where I want it to be, out of the blue it sparks an engine fire with no known cause since it hadn’t been driven in over 24 hrs & takes out everything under the hood & half the interior, (i hate to post these pics but it’s part of the whole story):






The only good thing here was that all of the parts that mattered survived such as the steering, suspention, drivetrain, axles, & tires, so all I would need is a new donor. So now im on the fence about what to do, cut my losses & part out everything that survived, or rebuild. Low & behold that decision would be made for me.
Junior my son, (hence the screen name SeniorXJ), took it worse then I did getting very upset the first time he sees it. He had been saving all his money to buy a Wii with the promise from his grandmother that if he reached half the cost, she’d pick up the rest, & to my surprise he tells me that he’s no longer saving for a Wii & wants to help dada buy a new jeep!! Slapping the biggest hug on me & telling me how much he loved his dada, he swore everything in his piggy bank would go to building a new one. You see, Junior understood “the jeep thing” & had admired the attention it got & loved offroading with me:





So now the hunt was on to find a well maintained newer XJ with as little rust as possible & I picked up this puppy:






Next was to start strippin down the old XJ to see what survived & what needed replacing. I was also tired of paying for labor & so I taught myself to weld on an ancient arc welder then picked up a Hobart 140 mig:




To make this build a lot easier, I had it towed to my moms house where my late step dad had every tool known to man & where I have a garage to work in:






& now to start the transplant!!!!

 

Now that the old XJ is at the garage, time for a few side by side pics for posterity:




& now its time to get to work so out comes both rear axles:




What do u mean it wont fit, i got a sawzall, grinder & cut off wheels that say otherwise:



Ford 8.8 in place:

 

Next on the install, shackle relocators:








All welded in & ready to adjust the rear suspention. Going to stop by albany steel tomorrow & get some scraps & start plating the rear end of the unibody so that the new steel bumpers can be tied in solid. Already have the rear bumper, ruff stuff stiffeners & a front winch bumper so the plan is to brace it bumper to bumper!

 

So ofcourse just like every jeep, theres always one bolt that takes u an hour+ to fix & fit. So i cut open the unibody rails to get at the bolt, use the dremel to clean it up enough to get a good tack weld on it & finally got the rear bolted up..





Rearend swap complete & on her feet. I put the small tires on so that it still fits in the garage..

 

Since the gas tank is plastic, (never knew they made em in ABS), I decided to tack weld the heat shield back on & exaust hanger. Im guessing when i get a gas tank skid, that will come of anyways.



Got this little guy cause it has offroading written all over it. It lights up so i gottta still wire it in.



Already had picked up these ebrake cables for the Ford 8.8 swap, & so i cut off the old ones & snapped in the new. Didnt get it buttoned up all the way cause i had run out of daylight & the garage lighting sucks.

 

Can't wait to see more!

 

Its easter weekend & Junior has off from school for the week so i hope to break away for a day or 2 this week to get more work done. In the mean time, i sold the 2" budget lift that was on the newer XJ & decided to put Junior to work as he helped pull the front shocks out...



That is all.

 

kick butt build i love it!!!!! keep it up btw where did you get the light up climometer?

 

Thanks, 4wd.com

 

Since the jeeps been in limbo for the week, i picked up a set of Autopal H4 conversion, & a set of clear turn signals!! Now i gotta order the LEDs for the bulbs which should give it a nice pop!!

 

Project looks like its comming along nicely! Thats awsome you have your son helping you, mine is too young to even go in the garage yet

 

burned? been there
where did you get those shackle relocators? or are they home brew.

 

What do u mean by burned??

Shackle relocators: http://www.hdoffroadengineering.com/

 

burned as in your xj caught on fire. I've been there
ahhhhhhh I might end up having to fab some. cant find any for less than $120..
thanks for the link. looks like the build is coming along nicely

 

#1) I didnt wanna post those pics, BUT its part of the story. When my son, "Junior" saw the jeep for the 1st time, he was upset & then vowed to save up all his money to help Dada buy a new jeep. He had been saving for a Wii, so u could imagine that moment which put a tear in my eye!!!