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I wanted a Cherokee for along time but my dad disagreed he said they aren't worth it, they are gas guzzlers, and un-safe. Well i still cared to differ and not care so i pushed and pushed to get one until he finally caved. In August of 2013 my dad finally gave in and said here's the deal. we will get one, and you have to restore it. i said DEAL!
So were out looking at different ones not finding a very good one due to western PA with snow and salt. So finally i found this one in the paper. It was a good start for a resto. A 1999 jeep cherokee sport in gunmetal blue. it had a 154,014 on the odometer. So we got it and took it to the shop on August 21, 2013.
here she is
So i started the resto by cleaning up the engine bay getting all the grease and gunk out.
then she sat in the parking lot tip almost october but finally the day comes to take her down to the garage she won't start (oh no) well checked the battery and terminals and everything so we jimmy rigged it to start jumper cables from the starter to the battery (safe right) oh well it worked haha not the worst I've done. got her to the house and she sat for a week or two in the garage. So id start her up and pull her into the driveway a couple times a week til we started the restoration.
so after we got her to the house i then began with changing out the starter. Then the disassembly began started with the front clip and worked my way back to the hatch then interior. for the windows we had a family friend that owns a glass shop pull them. i stripped this thing down to nothing basically.
unfortunately i lost a lot of my pictures due to a broken phone so it gets boring through out here :/ but a short list of things that have happened while she sat at the garage
well good news i got my pictures recovered
-replaced both rocker panels
-replaced driver front floor pan
-water pump
-thermostat
-head gasket
-replaced both rear quarters
-undercoating from front to back
-heater core
-a/c core
from one keeper to another i hope you never have to go into the dash!
while all this happened i broke a few fingers in january '14 getting in a tussle with a shark jk but broke them in half long story short had a surgery doc screwed up so i went to a specialist and they are just about back to normal not quite perfect yet but never will be but they do they job.
in the hospital
Surgery one :/
july comes around and we buy a Bad boy blaster for plastic media blasting. (not a recommended product nothing but issues with there parts and customer service never answers) so we start blasting the paint off the doors and then fenders and hood etc. then august comes around we get a dolley from u-haul ridiculously expensive for a 45 minute use. but had to happen since i couldn't find anybody with a good trailer and weight capacity and they're willingness to pull it to the shop. so we get it there and blast the body we finished blasting the body today wednesday september 10th 2014. i have much more to come but like i said its getting there. i have big plans for this xj time will show it.
i already have boughten
-flowmaster super 40 series muffler with full exhaust all the way to the manifolds
-mickey thompson atz p3
next to my brother wrangler duratrac 35s
-smittybilt front and rear bumpers as well as sliders
-Rustys 3" advanced lift kit with adjustable upper and lower arms
-just a few fun facts
i have a lund visor but my dad won't let me drill into the shell and he thinks it will take down my gas mileage so I'm gonna keep it for my next one hopefully a 2 dr 5 speed will become my second
thank you to my grandpa who gave me this nice cb
well as of today 10/6/14 we have all epoxy primer done except for the fenders which we are waiting on a new one since the one we got at the junkyard the guys bent and we couldn't save it so we will send those in the booth together sometime later in the week.
well got my hood in epoxy just to find a hole in it due to very thin metal and rusting on the underside so luckily when i bought the front clip i got a new hood not gonna take the time to blast it ourselves so we will either have a local shop do it or get a brand new hood.
unfortunately this kinda sucks to say but its a rough patch but it'll get there!
heres some cheerful pics now
some goodies ^ sliders bumpers tires and lift kit
starting to look like a jeep warehouse!
Ill add more when i get there but this is the shortened version of her story enjoy
Last edited by Cherokee pat; Oct 6, 2014 at 11:02 PM.
Looks like a huge amount of work but also worth it because your Jeep looks excellent and you'll have a heavy duty story to tell about it to your friends and future kids! Cheers!
Welcome! Awesome build so far man! Gotta love that Rusty's advanced kit. That's what I have on my XJ.
thanks! and i hope so i was a little hesitant at first but i think it will do a great job and its made in america so even better only thing that seems a little sketchy is the shocks but no extra charge and its easy to upgrade
Looks like a huge amount of work but also worth it because your Jeep looks excellent and you'll have a heavy duty story to tell about it to your friends and future kids! Cheers!
it can be a pain but I'm excited for it and i know it will be worth it in the end
Its Been a Long hall...but its getting there
but finally the day comes to take her down to the garage she won't start 
