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Had a little time this weekend, got new cat back exhaust installed, new parking brake cables and rear swaybar (it may get removed). And the Daystar bumpstops
Then started on the fenders. I have read numerous threads about cutting fenders. Most have said something like "it only takes an hour"... well not for me. Maybe if all I did was trim the fronts, yeah maybe an hour (maybe less) but I also did the cut and fold to the rear quarters, and trimmed the openings, then cut slits and folded the edges under. I decided to leave the beveled edge at the wheelwell openings, just thought it looked better leaving those on there. The beveled edges should provide a little strength to the front fenders and keep them from vibrating and makes a nice round opening edge on the rear quarters.
Marking out the lines to cut;
And after the cut; I did clean the edges up with a flap wheel and wiped on some paint. Also sprayed the inner fenders with undercoating.
rears look like this now, I have a little more work to do, but they are looking pretty good;
Looking good. I am not one to cut fenders, but you did a fantastic job making it look like that is how it came from the factory. Some guys just take a sawzall and freehand it without lines or anything. I look forward to your future progress.
I really really really really wanna do the cut and fold, along with the front fender trim out when I get all my parts for the 4.5" lift in a couple months. I trust my skills, but my jeep is in such good shape with 2 year old beautiful paint, it gives me the heeby jeebies cutting it. And I have vents for the hood also I want to install. I have zero overheating issues, so I dont know. I suppose they would be for looks at this point....
Are those the 32" tires you mentioned in the first post?
I wasn't sure about cutting the fenders either. This XJ is in really good condition, zero rust. After I tore into it I did discovered the passenger side rear quarter skin has been replaced. I must have forgot that detail when I got the Jeep. It came from a friend who bought it new. I am sure they told me, I just forgot about it. I am going to do some reinforcing to the welds on the repair before I finish the cut-and-fold and fender trimming on the passenger side, nothing major, just add a few more weld points.
Cutting the fenders and the rear quarter fold is a full commitment thing, you are all in, or it can turn out bad. lol
On the internet, I have seen a lot of major hack jobs and a few that I thought looked good. I am no auto body man, but this really is pretty easy. Take your time drawing the cut lines. Cut below your lines and use a flap wheel to straighten out the cuts and reach the cut lines. I'll get better pictures once I have it done... probably this coming weekend. I think it will look good enough I wont use that black edging a lot of people are using, no need for it. I will say I like the way an XJ looks with the factory flares and a nice paint job. But I also like how mean they look with cut fenders. In reality, I don't see a huge collector value in a XJ, nothing like a 67 Mustang Fastback that's for sure. So I figured why not... lets cut it.
Update: bumpers and rear springs showed up yesterday. So I should get a lot done this weekend. Still waiting on front shocks (Bilstein backorder) and gear sets to get here.
Yes, tires are 32x11.50 15s and I think look great on the Canyon wheels. I usually don't buy what I consider price point tires. I don't care if you drive a Kia or Mercedes, the only thing keeping you on the road is your tires. Why would you buy the cheapest thing you can for that job? I actually planned on getting General Grabbers with the red letters on them, but the XJ will probably only get a few hundred miles a year put on it so the tires will dry rot before they get wore out, and since it will see only a little highway time I figured lets not break the bank on tires. The Mastercrafts are popular around here, my local tire shop could get them quick and the price was right. I believe they are made by Cooper.
plans get sidetracked this weekend, didn't get what I wanted done.
I did get the fenders finished, both fronts cut and shaped, both quarters folded and rear openings folded too. It took quit a bit longer than I thought, but I did do it "right". I folded the factory sheet metal, did a little welding and used some pop-rivets. I also used seam sealer on the inside of the quarters to seal everything up. Rear openings are a bit wavy, but I will straighten them out when I get closer to painting it. I sanded and rattle canned the edges where the existing paint cracked.
I want to do mine as well, but fear messing up a perfect body and excellent 2 year old paint. I've been a handy man around the house doing all my house work, mechanic, worked on airplanes for 15 years, and now work on parts for satellites... I have ALL the tools that would be needed for this job. Would you say this is something anyone with common sense, and a sense of mechanical skills can do without screwing it up? I trust myself, but still worries me about cutting on my XJ.
Agreed. Mine is a clean rust free '91, but it is really a third vehicle for me. I have a company truck and a personal truck. I cringed cutting a 30 year old clean body, just seemed dumb... but I figure these XJs will never be high end collector vehicles so I took the chance, I like how it turned out. I'm ready to see it with the axles and tires back on it. Going to be a couple weeks on that though, doing gears in the axles next and it will probably take me a couple weeks to finish. My paint job is super faded, this XJ has been resprayed and I am certain is was a super economy paint job. I will probably repaint it, but may go with a flat or matte finish anyway, this one doesn't need to be shiny, I'll go for a off road look with the color/paint job. If it had good paint on it, I probably would have done something a little different.
Cut and fold with rear bumper, I like it. Grey stuff around the edges has been cleaned up a little, it is seam sealer and is paint-able. Got everything sealed up nice. I got the rear leafs on too. I was able to get the steel steering box spacer on, did it solo, man wish I had a picture of me doing it... so funny. Since all the steering is just hanging right now it was pretty tricky to get the plate, steering box and bolts all lined up. I was using both hands and both feet to help align everything, had to be there but it looked something like a upside down drunk monkey swinging under the front of the XJ. Hope to get some of the front suspension done this weekend.
I ordered a set of Afforbable Offroad tail light housings, not here yet, but they look pretty cool online... we will see.
Well... the project just keep morphing into something more. Ordered a SYE kit and driveshaft today. Hope to get the SYE late this week so I can put it in this weekend. I'll pull the transfer case one night this week. This will also help clarify the PosiLok install, I need to reconfigure the vacuum system and remove the portion that runs through the transfer case to the CAD. Removing the transfer case will expose the vacuum lines better and I can trace the system.
In an effort to speed things along, I took my axles to my brother's speed shop, they do gear installs almost every day and one of his mechanics used to work at a 4x4 shop and is very familiar with the Dana 30 and 8-1/4" axles. He is going to install my gears and lockers for me "after hours". So hopefully they are done this week. If everything falls into place like I hope, I could get driveshaft measurements called in next Monday and the driveshaft should be here by the following weekend. My luck is usually not that good, but we will see.
Also have a couple little bolt on items inbound on the brown truck to dress things up a little, like diff covers.
I did hit a snag when mounting the winch. The cutout in the top of the bumper isn't quite wide enough to clear the winch motor, so I am going to have to trim it a little. I wanted to sleep on it before just hacking up my new bumper. I would like my cutout for the motor to fit what I need, kind of like a hood on a hot rod fits a blower when its done right. I don't want to cut more than I need to.
Progress has been a little slow, life is busy and with the summer winding down there is a never ending list of projects to finish up around the farm.
I have got a few things done. Transfer case removed and SYE installed along with new speedo gear. Still need to put the t-case back in. All the CAD vacuum system has been removed and vacuum canister is still intact and hooked up. Winch is mounted and wires pulled into the engine bay but not wired in yet. And a few more small things installed. I have a ton more parts coming in, plugs, plug wires, dist cap and rotor, fuel pump assembly w/ sending unit, fuel filter, trans filter and pan gasket, Ksuspension battery cables and headlight harness, a couple small acc items from JCR, Iron Rock and Ridler, taillight housing kit with LED brake lights, maybe something else... Hopefully by next weekend I have gears and lockers in the axles, and parts in from everywhere here.
First priority is to get the axles under it so I can measure for driveshafts, get those ordered, then I can finish work on the maintenance and accessory stuff. I'll get pictures when there is something visual done to look at, lol
Been thinking of some paint ideas and colors, but that may have to wait until spring time.
Making some slow progress... Finally got the gears and lockers in the axles. Rear axle is a Chrysler 8-1/4" with 29 spline axles shafts. 4:56 gears and Spartan "lunchbox" locker. Had to add some bling, so installed new aftermarket differential cover from Riddler, it is super heavy duty. Time will tell here, but I may be looking into a shackle relocation box, right now the shackle angle is WAY too steep, yikes! The rear is almost done. I somehow damaged one of the hard brake lines running on top of the axle, so I'll either bend my own and replace it or splice in a repair, haven't used that double flare tool in a long time, lol. And I may need to shim to adjust the pinion angle. Other than that, rear is done, everything installed and tightened up, except u-bolts. Sway bar will probably be removed, will see how it does on the trails first
Installed a few other small things... cat back exhaust, Bilstein 5125 monotube shocks, ss brake lines, complete new brakes, e-brake cables and all, new hardware on most things. Calling for Delta's rain here this weekend so may be next week before I get the front axle in... man I should have done this in the barn.
09-07-2020, 02:48 PM
