charliek

My story, may be boring but here it is
Bought my 1991 XJ Sport 4 door with a 5 speed from a close friend who was the original owner. It has 228,000 miles but he was meticulous about maintenance. The car hadn't been driven for a while and needed work. I bought it for $600. I took it home and put it on my lift. So here is what I did to it.
-The tires were not worn but were dry rotted so replace them-$300
-Shocks had rust holes in them so replaced them-$100
-Tune up, new wires, plugs, distributor and cap-$90
-New front brakes- rotors, pads and calipers (Brembo), New water pump and all hoses, Serpentine belt, thermostat. $320
-Junk yard parts, nice new front and rear bumper,, his son had bent them up. New seat bottom from passenger side due to flat lopsided seat.fan pulley, bottom dash trim seat(kid must have had sex in that seat since the glove box was also cracked I fabricated a new one out of sheet metal and covered it with vinyl(looks good), rt. side horn which was missing, vacuum canister-$225.00
-Repaired rust holes in driver side floor. Cut out the pieced I needed from a replacement floor. Removed any surface rust under chassis and under coated-$50
-Cleaned and scrubbed entire interior.
-New lift cartridges for hatch door-$45
-Having my friend who is a painter and bodyman fix some rust around left rear door handle. He is also painting hood, roof and blending due to clear coat defects. -$400
-Took out insane stereo system the kid put in and put back original radio.
-Changed engine oil, filter, transfer case oil which looked new, trans oil.
Checked all front suspension which was amazingly tight, no alignment needed.$30.00.

Everything works including A/C, heat etc. All gauges work.
Car has a dual exhaust with free flow mufflers. Sounds like my friends Vette.
Car was a stripper from the factory. No power windows, locks or cruise.It didn't come with a console but the original owner had a factory one installed at the time of purchase.

I really have grown attachéd to the truck and enjoy driving it. It is quick and is smooth and stable at speed. Engine runs great and pulls strong.

I originally bought it because I loved the idea of the 5 speed trans.

The car feels like it has 50k not 230k.
Now hopefully the engine doesn't blowsince I dumped all this money into it.
It was my original intention to just drive it like it was happily knowing I only paid $600 for it. So much for that idea.

Hope I didn't bore anyone but my wife isn't interested.

Battle

I understand exactly why you're pleased.

5 speed XJ club member high five!

Coastie05

Awesome story!

F1Addict

X2, it sounds like another Cherokee has found a good home. Enjoy.

charliek

Definitely saved it from being junked. Since I did all the work myself it became worthwhile. My friend was going to junk it since he didn't want to have to pay a mechanic to do all the work it needed. In my humble opinion it was worth saving. Now I have a great winter car that I believe is a bad a$$ ride.Thanks for all the kind words.

HappyTrails

You do all that and it will outlast you! The XJ platform is one of the best ever made. People forget the talent that AMC had back in the day. They were just underfunded to market well. Who would not want an AMX 425 hp dual quad 390 cid four speed? AMC built more than just your granny's Ramble. Your XJ has a great heritage. Enjoy it. Maintain it. And pass it on to the next generation. There won't be anything like an XJ again.

It all started with ****** Overland before WWII. Here is the WO logo on my XJ as a nod to its heritage:

salad

Nice! In other words, you basically have a brand new XJ!

+1

JeepingDan

You have the right idea! Take care of it, it will be good to you.
I look at this like a car payment once in a while.
I spend a little here and there on mine to, but not every month.

charliek

I will do everything in my power to keep this XJ alive. Except for the high mileage motor I believe it to be in great shape now. Still going to change differential fluid. Would have done it immediately but I checked it and the level is good and it looks clean. I bought the gear oil so might as well put in new. Also got weather mats so the floor doesn't get wet and rust. Paint will be done tomorrow and I will try to post some pictures.
Only issue left is what to do with the wheels. It has the aluminum wheels with the round cut outs. They aren't curb rashed but the clear is coming off in areas making them not look up to snuff. I think they work well with the cars looks and would rather not replace them. Any suggestions?

hankthetank

good work, fist bump for five speed as well.

your wife is like mine...just not interested...at all. lol

and maybe you should start a build thread?

nice to see a cherokee in capable hands.

bakas

Happy to see another 5 speed XJ . Take some pictures man!

DieselDaze

good story....

I must admit I miss my ax15

don't worry about the motor she's been cared for and could/will easily see 300k and more!!

charliek

Ended up being about 3/4 of the car that was painted. As we went on found little things to clear up. Paint looks great but as of now shade seems a little off but not too bad. Will be able to tell better when all the tape is off and all the trim back on.May have to do rest of car but will see. When all done I will take some pictures and attempt to put them on the site. Thanks for all your encouragement. Oh, also needs a new windshield. Hope it will then be ready for winter season.