ae racer

Well it didn't get its name from the alcohol, and it will be a little bit of a build thread here in a little bit. going to be getting rid of the blocks in the rear for some "big offroad" Springs and the front will be going long arm and RE springs eventually. It will also be getting a cage, center skids, NP231 w/ SYE, injectors, and some other goodies mentioned in the first post. Right now I'm just getting it caught up to the present. Just because I didn't start off stock, doesn't mean it wont be built more than it already is. When I do get around to the new lift, ill be going through the same amount of work as if I was starting stock because almost all of the suspension on it now will be gone.

ae racer

Alright, forgot to mention, in between he last two trips i left for college at Fresno State. after the HV trip, i brought my jeep up to school with me and a few days before i was going to bring it home for Thanksgiving, it was broken into. Stereo deck, sub, box, amp, and GPS stolen. They also tried to get at my c/b but were too stupid to unscrew the sides and ended up breaking it and leaving it behind. (pics coming)

When i did make it home for Thanksgiving, I went to the JY on half priced day and got some Comanche rear leafs, an almost complete header panel for the black grill and then use my chrome and the rest of it to hang in my apt in Fresno. I also found a perfect set of Comanche tail lights.(will be posted soon)

Came back to Fresno and found a second pair of bilstein 7100 12" short bodies for $100, 4.5" or 6.5" "big off-road" leaf springs for $100, and a few driveshafts, inner axle shafts, rustys center skid, front bumper with bent mounts, nice set of coils, and some other stuff for FREE!! So i Have a full set of 7100 12" short bodies that I've spent $160 on; now i just need to get at least two of them sent in for a rebuild but I'll prob do all 4.. I also found a set of 5.5" or 6.5" RE coils online for $60 shipped, just need to have them sandblasted and repainted bc they were from NY.

This winter break, I'm going to try to go home on my days off from work and install the big off-road leaves and possibly the RE coils if i can get them all cleaned up in time.

ae racer

Here are the pics of the break in. Sorry for the crappy cell phone pics.

But this brings me up to date and hopefully I'll be installing the new springs around Christmas.

ae racer

Ok, little update from the Christmas break. I went home and did the rear lift on the jeep. Ended up having to trade shackles with my buddy who has MJ shackles because my 3"+ shackle lift that was already on the jeep in addition to the spring lift was too much. So eventually I'll be upgrading to the JKS 1" greaseable shackles since I lost my greaseable shackles to my buddy. Now I just need to find the time to get the front lifted to meet the rear. Hopefully one of the two sets of coils I have will give me the lift I need. And once again I used our 6'3" tape measure to give some perspective. About how much lift do you guys think I have?

Headin off to my buddies house with some toys.



New rear lift compared to the old front lift... ~2" more and its all spring, no more lift blocks.



side to side comparison of the rear lift. Was more noticable in person.



The new droop on the rear. Cant remember if thats with or without shocks.



Sittn with the Tape Measure




Tax return will most likely be going towards the Iron Rock Offroad 3-link LA upgrade and coils for the front if neither of mine lift it enough.

sthon

Looking good.

ae racer

Been collecting parts for a little while now. I'm also going to be going back home for the holiday next weekend so I'm gong to try to install some
of this stuff in the day and a half I'll have off to get ready for a wheeling trip next month for my birthday..

So here is the list of parts waiting for the jeep:

97+ mirrors
New wing window
New dash cover
Black grille assembly
Lebaron hood vents (later install)
Hopefully one set of coils I have already will lift me level again
Uniden cb
IRO BPE's on order (rear installed later)
JKS upper shock adapters on order
12" Bilstein 7100s for the front
Maybe black door handles if i have time since the interior panel will be off for the mirrors anyways
Will be buying new PS pump when I get into town
Will be ordering new track bar bushings when I find out which ones I need

Cherrybomb

man i love your jeep that color is beautiful.

ae racer

thanks, I like the color too.

Well unfortunately last weekend wasn't as productive as I was hoping. My friends had just gotten back from a snow trip so we spent most of the weekend fixing their damage.
I was however able to get my Rustys cross member on to replace the tin that was on there. I decided against the tranny skid until I can fix my leak and swap out my lifted mount for a stock one. I also got my front shocks off and ready to install my 7100s now that my adapters finally came in. I wasn’t able to check either of my front coils to see if they were tall enough b/c I need a coil compressor to change mine out. By the time we figured that out, it was already too late at night. The only other thing that I got accomplished on my rig was replacing the dash bezel that the thieves broke.
On a good note though, one of my friends just got another XJ and I'm letting him borrow my lift pieces that I took off mine until he can afford to buy a lift. This way I can find out roughly which pair of coils that I have will lift me high enough to get me riding level again without dealing with the coil compressor any more than I have to.
Next update will be a wheeling one in exactly one month.

ae racer

well didnt realize that I never posted pics from my birthday wheeling trip to Hungry Valley. Day one was fun and dry with one of my friends, day two was when everyone else showed up and it was raining all day.

Sitting at my place getting ready to leave



Me on the pipes that are fairly new







My friend Seal going through





Day 2 stuck in a ravine we call Henry's Butt Crack



AJ trying the waterfall



One of the newer guys Aaron going through the Sluice Box










I dont think anyone broke anything besides a 2nd gen 4runner breaking an axle shaft and me getting stuck in the same place in the Crack and getting pulled into the wall breaking my mirror clip.

ae racer

Well its been over a year since my last update but not much as happened or changed. Im in my last year at Fresno State and The Gray Goose still lives at home in Bakersfield at AJ's house and has served as a Second vehicle for him and his wife when his Jeep or her vehicle goes down for repair or upgrades.

Went on two trips to Last Chance Canyon area but no pics of the first trip. was really easy trail with some fun shooting targets. Second trip we ran into a hurdle with someone who had moved a huge boulder into the middle of the canyon trail that we had to maneuver around.

Finally installed my 97+ mirrors, black door handles and grille.



AJ went first and finally hit his rocker for the first time in all the Jeeps that hes owned.







Next was my turn and I decided to try to find a way around the rock since our friends were on their first trip with maybe 2" lift and no offroad background. They also didnt want to damage their Jeep



A little better view of the squeeze






Me moving a rock with my tire which eventually dents our friend's gas tank.



And the aftermath on my sliders. My door would have been gone.



After this, we almost blew up my winch moving the giant boulder out of the way for our friend. Ended up destroying my towstrap, and breaking my winch cable off the drum.

Almost forgot that we also took a trip to Pismo this past summer and of course AJ being AJ...




In the past year I have also burned out my headlight switch so I will be replacing that and the wiring, I installed my new Uniden CB with crappy external speaker and PA, new wing window, IRO upper and lower front shock mounts with Bilstien 7100's...
I also picked up this "little" beauty a few weeks ago for $450.. CLEAN white 93 2 door manual with 180 or 220k on it I think. Only needed a "new" coil to get it running. Plan is to bring it up to school with me to get legal and wheel as well as DD to give my GMC a little break since I put almost 6k miles on her over summer. Other two rigs are friends that were doing repairs. 10 bolt on the chevy from another friend who upgraded to a 14 bolt and a bottom end rebuild on the first gen toyota.