winston427

I picked the name Turtle because it is being built for slower speeds and the interior is being gutted essentially leaving only the shell.

It all starts out as a 89 Laredo with 240,000 on the odometer and a 3 inch BDS lift that I picked up for 350$ about 6 months ago. It sat on a friends farm until 3 weeks ago when I finally had it towed to the house. When I bought it, it would start but would die as soon as you hit the throttle. First thought it might be a TPS issue but it was much simpler to resolve.

This is how it looked the day I bought it.


Complete with custom plastic window on the left rear.


The interior.


The rear cargo area.

winston427

The first thing I did when I got it in my driveway was to remove the 13 year old dry rotted tires and put on the 33s that it will ride on.



Then came the replacement glass for the rear quater. Hiding behind the custom plastic was some body damage that had to be hammered out first.



More damage to the lower edge of the window frame.



The glass came from the 87 XJ I parted out and this is where the project name came from.



Next it was time to start removing the stained and foul smelling carpet and interior panels.

winston427

After removing the interior panels in the back I noticed rust inside the passenger side quarter panel.



I pulled the trim piece off of the lower edge of the quarter panel on the outside only to find a nice hole eaten throught the sheet metal.



After removing the back half of the carpet I found a hole through the floor under the rear seat on the passenger side. There is also a hole on the driver side in the same spot.



After getting it home it decided it did not want to start anymore. I was not getting any fuel pressure at the fuel rail. Starting with the basics I disconnected the fuel line from the rail and still nothing. Moved back to the outlet of the fuel filter and still nothing. Checked the supply line feeding the filter and still nothing. So at this point I know the problem is in the tank. Possibly a clogged strainer on the pump itself. I started pulling the pump out and the problem was apperant immediately. The previous owner had replaced the fuel pump and did not properly secure the supply hose and it had become seperated.



After reconnecting all the hoses it started right up and idled fine with smooth throttle response.

winston427

The winter project list is as follows:

Full tune up, cap, rotor, plugs, wires
Radiator upgrade to open system
Replace missing muffler and tailpipe
Replace leaking valve cover gasket
Replace leakin rear main seal
Replace leaking transmission front seal
Replace transmission filter and leakin pan gasket
Trim fenders, a lot
Cut and tuck on the rear quarter panels
Finish gutting the interior, nothing left except the front seats and dash
Build homemade front and rear bumpers
And anything else I can possibly do myself on a minimal budget.




This is going to be a completely budget minded build for the average Jeeper with basic tools and a tight cash flow.

01LimitedXJ

looks good winston...hit me up if you want some help workin on it

XJcoupe

nice find for $350, wish i could find a deal like that just for parts- cool that it runs, and is already lifted, have fun with your new build- cheers

winston427

I like to say that I paid $350 for a $1000 lift kit and it was attached to a free XJ.

zjrog

That fuel hose issue seems to be pretty common for these aging XJs...