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Well after much lurking I think it's finally time to start a build thread.
I never intended to post much when I first got my xj so I'm a little shy on pictures up to this point but I'll do my best to get caught up.
Purchased my 2000 XJ Freedom about two years ago with 80k miles on it and in immaculate condition. AMC 4.0, AW4, NP242, Dana 30/Chrysler 8.25.
Drove it like that for about a year and decided my first mod would be a cowl intake. In hindsight I should've built my own but I bought the spectre cowl intake.
Shortly thereafter I installed Kicker 6 1/4 speakers in all four corners and a new head unit in the middle.
It stayed that way for about six months until I scored a set of 245 Nitto Dura Grapplers for free. Threw those on and discovered I had a huge rubbing problem so I picked up a baby 1" lift. Did the injector swap about this time as well.
As far as where this build is going, this will be my daily driver so it will need to stay practical for street use. But, this is "project vanguard" so eventually I want it to be capable of almost anything, be it a 500 mile road trip or a week long trip over the mountains. This will be a long term project though so stay tuned.
I'm going to try and at least do something every weekend and will keep this thread updated as such.
So I picked up an overhead console a couple months back off and finally got around to doing something with it. Since the xj has a distinct lack of space for switches on the dash I thought I'd put them up in the console.
So a little time after work,
And a little glue and bondo,
Sanded it up and threw some paint at it
The finished product:
I think it turned out pretty well, it needs a little touch up but hopefully I can get everything done after work this week and installed by the weekend.
with that intake and the injectors what kind of MPG are you getting?
With stock size tires I was getting about 24mpg on the highway. After switching to the bigger tires I'm getting about 20. Lately it has been pretty bad, 17ish, but I'm pretty sure the spark plugs haven't been changed ever. The previous owner kept an excellent service log and I don't see any mention of it.
With stock size tires I was getting about 24mpg on the highway. After switching to the bigger tires I'm getting about 20. Lately it has been pretty bad, 17ish, but I'm pretty sure the spark plugs haven't been changed ever. The previous owner kept a ridiculous service log and I don't see any mention of it.
Gees I'm trying to get some MPGs back to mine. She needs a plugs and I'm wanting to do the 784s in her as well with that I'm hoping to get around 17-19 I'm yet to get over 250 miles on a tank unless I'm on a road trip home. Yours is looking so clean man.
Gees I'm trying to get some MPGs back to mine. She needs a plugs and I'm wanting to do the 784s in her as well with that I'm hoping to get around 17-19 I'm yet to get over 250 miles on a tank unless I'm on a road trip home. Yours is looking so clean man.
I want to say I got about 2mpg out of the injectors/intake, so not bad but nothing too drastic. A note on the spectre intake; it can be rather loud at times, sounds like a shop vac pulling air from under the dash (just the whooshing of air). Only does it at start-up and when the ac is on though.
Managed to get the console installed, turned out to be a slightly bigger project than expected. It took forever to get the a-pillar trim off and ended in 2 broken clips After that it went fairly smoothly, did have to rewire the plug on my new harness but that was pretty straightforward.
Original Plug
OHC Plug
All I had to do was switch the wires from the old plug to the new in the same order ( original plug was 1 row narrower)
Switched out the remote receiver modules
Cut some holes in the headliner (scariest thing I've ever done to a car...) and got it all wired up.
Wires routed from fuse panel up the a-pillar
The blue wire is a Cat5 ethernet cable that will carry the signal from the switches to the relays. The cable I used has 24awg wires which can carry ~3.5A so going totally overkill I ran all the switch signals through 3A fuses in a fuse block.
All for naught I'm sure since the relays should only draw around 500mA but a little extra peace of mind is always good.
Got everything fit up and realized I forgot the center bracket that holds the console to the roof...
Without bracket
With bracket
Much better. Anyway, all buttoned back up and done
Turned out pretty good. I still need to plug in the temp sensor behind the grill and pick up a fuse jumper to tie power for the switches into the fuse panel.
Rounded out the day with an oil change and then...
Oh isn't that cute... Might be time to invest in a new battery if it can't run the single bulb in the rear light for a couple hours without dieing...
01-11-2015, 10:22 PM
"Project Vanguard" '00 XJ Freedom
After that it went fairly smoothly, did have to rewire the plug on my new harness but that was pretty straightforward.
