Well, I wasn't going to do a post but I thought, what the heck, this would be a good way to catalogue my first Jeep "build". In my younger days I had a brand new 1999 Cherokee, but as youngsters do , I traded it for the latest and greatest. The things I would do over if I knew then what I know now. So at age 40 I've matured (a little lol). Anyway, I bought a 2000 XJ with ~130,000 on it. Needs some work but I'm looking forward to making her a thing of beauty. Already replaced the front brakes and rotors, rewelded the seat frame, tore the nasty carpet out, flushed the radiator, and welded new driver and passenger side floor pans in. Give me tips and advice, it will be appreciated. I'll update this as the build goes along. A few pics of what she looks like now:

 

A few with the tires off yesterday:

 

What are your plans for it? Any pictures of the whole Jeep?

That radiator looks rough. 2000 and 2001's are notorious for ending up with a cracked head. Don't mean to scare ya, but something to look out for.

 

Going to change out the sway bar links tomorrow. New seats, new flooring, tires, suspension, thinking of a Rhino lining type exterior finish. Going to be my daily driver but also my hunting ride. I'll post up more pics tomorrow. Looking forward to rebuilding her.

 

 

Pulled the sway bar off today. I think the old links were a little worn out!

 

Got blessed with a lightly used set of Goodyear Wrangler RTS 235/75R15's yesterday for the XJ. Hoping to change out the spark plugs later today.

 

Got the plugs changed out, I think they were a little overdo! Is it just me or does changing out really nasty plugs make the engine sound like new? So what to do next? Budget is a little thin this week so shocks are out. Going to patch a couple small holes in prep for the interior lining. How much difference would changing the steering stabilizer make? Thanks!

 

Ripped the nasty headliner out today. It was shot and smelled! Gotta come up with a new finish for the roof now.

 

Scored some really nice leather seats (electric) from a '99 Concorde. Slightly larger than my '00 XJ base. Any thoughts on where to begin to get them in? Here is the passenger side compared to the original seat:

 

Wasn't able to get the Concorde seats to work so I'll probably be getting the old ones re-stuffed and re-covered. Ran some Seafoam through her today. Pretty neat smoke job!

 

Put seam sealer around the floor pans we welded in. Next step, some form of rubberized undercoating and then a bedliner type finish for the inside. Any suggestions????

 

 

Changed out the inner left tie Rod and the one that attaches to the pitman arm. Also adjusted the steering box a half turn or so total. Still got a little drift to it.