Project Mercenary
 

This is roughly XJ #10 for me. Honestly, I've lost count at this point, but I think I finally found "the one". An early '99, 4.0, low mileage, rust free, and tan interior.

For this build I'll be treading the line of streetability and offroad capability... well trying to anyways. My goal is to create a rig that can perform offroad and also have the wherewithal to handle itself on the street driving to the trails. I don't want this thing to end up a strict trailer queen.

To give you an idea of the general direction this build may be heading, some of my inspirations and favorite XJs are JCR's Project Realhawk and the ORFab Ferrar Jeep.

I'll kick it off with some of the earliest photos I could dig up. Hope you guys love the build as much as I do.

Here it's sitting on a D30/D35 - Rubicon Express 5.5" Long arm, Rubicon Express SYE, custom rear driveshaft, and some "33s" - don't remember exactly what tires these were, but they were much closer to 31s.

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Exact same setup except swapped out for some 33" MTRs. Couldn't stand the old tires. Also added some pre-97 front bumper end caps just to clean it up a little for now

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Looks good! I'll be watching to see where this goes.

What are some of your ultimate plans for it? Hopefully a new rear end is in the cards.

Thanks! And I'd be lying if I tried to really predict where it will ultimately end up as I've already gone back and forth on different parts lol. New rear end is definitely in the cards ;)

Looks awesome! I will be watching :)

Set of Napier V2 Flares installed. Definitely a solid/strong flare for those looking for something at a decent price. This flare is also shorter in the back for a quarter fold bumper. No other companies that make a quarter fold flare that I am aware of.

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Cleaned up the engine. CPS was acting up so I replaced that (fun..), fresh plugs, wires, cap, and rotor.

Also received a set of 784 injectors as a gift and installed those. For anyone who hasn't done this easy mod I highly recommend it. It worked wonders for my Jeep. At that time I was on stock 3.55 gears and 33" MTRs. On the highway it wasn't fun maintaining speed and it was constantly shifting if I tried to use the cruise control. After the 784 install there was a very noticeable increase in throttle response and I was also able to maintain highway speeds much easier. No more constant shifting while using the cruise control. MPG increased as well.

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Picked up a clean 8.8 with limited slip and disk brakes for the rear

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Cleaned up and painted the HPD30 and 8.8. Regeared to 4.56 (Yukon) and added some Solid diff covers. Very impressed with these things. Skipping on lunch this week to recoup some cost for all the Royal Purple it took to fill these up with the new diff covers :)

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Mercenary is coming along nicely. I like the Fender Flares. Do you have a picture of the rear flares?

Ditching the barely used 33's for a fresh set of 35" MTRs on some 15" Black Rock wheels.

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Thanks! It's definitely getting closer.

Here's the rear flares

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Jeep is on jack stands and boxes full of parts. Can't wait to get this thing back on wheels.

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Ordered a Warn 8k winch. There was a great deal and also a $75 rebate at Quadratec so I couldn't pass it up

Trying to get this thread up to speed. Pics incoming with new parts