[Gnl.Weirdness]

So it's finally time, I have had her (2000 XJ Sport) for just about a year now, to get project kaldr (beer to anyone who knows the origin and meaning of this word) under way.

Why has it taken a year? Well, good lesson/story behind it, will do my best to keep it short.

I bought my Jeep from interstate auto auctions in New Hampshire, winning bid of $1200ish, thought I had just scored the best deal ever. I really knew NOTHING about Jeeps at this point, other then I love them and I will never drive anything else. I test drove her, and many others, before bidding. Only flaws where worn brakes, no fan shroud (at least that I could find).

Won the auction, drove her back to VT that night, into the steelership the next morning. Now here is where I learn that EVERYONE should educate themselves about the cars they own.

The brake pads where non existent, to quote "your lucky you even made it out of the lot without crashing, let alone back to VT." Thought it was just steelership speak for "We are going to charge you a ton of $ for **** you don't really need", no they where not lying.

Ended up completely replacing the entire brake system on all 4 wheels (cha ching...)

Thought that was the worst of it, WRONG, month or so later oil pressure drops, tell me it's the gaskets, then oh it's the oil pump, then it's the lower end of the engine. Ended up being a cracked header which the auction house knew about and failed to mention. It should have been sold as a red line car, not to mention they stripped out numerous replaced parts (I contacted the woman who sold it to them and she sent receipts of all the work done before she sold it). They had stripped everything she had done, and thrown in junk parts.

Whatever, a 40k salvaged 4.0l I6 later, she is now running fine and ready for some serious love.

I will be updating this thread as I do the work. Will post a list of planned work in the next post, and will post some before pictures of her tonight.

Really looking forward to finally starting on this, and thanks to everyone who has given me sound advice so far.


Picutres:

Profile view, you can see the dent in the side panel, NO idea what the cause was, came like that when I bought it.


Paint wear on the front end :: (


Some **** at work backed into me and just peaced. No big cus the plastic crap bumper is GONE ASAP


This I just don't understand, looks like it sat in salt water for years. It will be going to the recycling center.


New engine, red top, etc etc.


Just beyond surface rust, started making divots. Not cool...

[Gnl.Weirdness]

List of things to be done:

The list is broken into the different areas of the car I will be tackling over the coming months. I am going to do my best to stay on target time wise with them, but I run a video game studio and we are pushing some big games right now so bear with me if I get off base.

Also if you see anything inside or below a **---** or bolded, PLEASE comment as it is something I am unsure about or need advice on.

Exterior:
-Remove all Rust From Body...(The body has very light rust, but it has started to transition beyond just surface rust. This is my first item to tackle, relatively straight forward. Just hitting all of it with a wire bit, cleaning it, applying rust stopper, and then painting with a coat or so of POR 15. This will stop the rust and provide enough protection over the next month until I can sand blast and repaint the entire car properly.) Started 8/12/09

-Remove all Rust From Frame...(This will be quite an undertaking, and well most say you can save time and just spray some waxoyl over it, I will be taking a different approach. I DO NOT want there to be any rust on my vehicle, I know you can just stop it dead in its track, but I just don't want it there period. I will be hand sanding the entire under carriage, except the axles which will be sand blasted. Will then be coating with a few layers of POR 15, and then waxoyl.)

-Fix Body...(The body has minor wear and tear, and bumps and bruises from the previous owner, and one douchbag here at my work. Before painting I will be banging them out and sanding panels down to make sure they look as good as they did the day she rolled outta the factory. Will also be scrapping both the front and rear plastic bumpers with some custom fabs.)

-Repaint ENTIRE CAR...(Will be blasting and repainting EVERYTHING. Gonna give her a nice flat/matte black coat, and I am pretty set on some dark purple racing stripes :: )

-Hood Work...(Will be installing some hood vents/louvers from a lebaron, providing I can find some. Will also be fabbing/installing a custom scoop/intake to go directly into the stock air intake. Not sure if it will actually do anything, and it will probably look silly as all hell, but I am gonna give it a shot anyway as everyone says/wishes they had some way to just blast the colder air from outside the hood into their intake. Hopefully it gets some nice results.

-Other Items...(Ski rack, remove the completely rusted out hitch, fix both hood latches, and tailgate latch...)

Interior:
-Remove/Clean Everything...(So there is a lot included in this task. I will be tearing out EVERYTHING, door panels, dash panels, floor carpeting, seats, center console, so on and so forth. The goal is to try and find ALL traces of rust, dirt, grime, etc, clean it all up, then rebuild. I won't be scrapping anything other then the carpet and otherwise broken parts. Will deal with floor panel rust, replace all bolts/screws that I can with stainless steel. I need to find some way to get the foot panels at the base of each door out as the screws are COMPLETELY rusted...)

-Paint/Fab Work...(I will be repainting the entire interior and all the parts that make it up. A combo of flat/matte black and dark purple most likely. The floor will be getting multiple POR 15 coats, and then a single coat of something a bit more hardy, and finally either re-carpeted or get a floor liner. The headliner will be removed as well, the board cleaned, and then relined with a black liner kit from www.wlsheadliners.com (super cheap nice looking kits). I will be doing some custom fab work to the dash to accommodate the 7” touchpanel (mentioned below). I will also be repainting the dash and instrumentation and applying some new custom vinyl logos/emblems to replace the ones that had been screen printed on at the factory. Some fab work will be done in the trunk to accommodate the JL W1, and the small computer I have built up for this...)

-Sound System/CarPC...(Much of this will take place at the same time as items mentioned above, such as the running of all the speaker/usb/vga wiring. I will be installing a completely custom system built around an intel atom mini pc I have built up specifically for this. The system will be controlled from a 7” touchpanel that will be integrated into the dash. It will also have built in navigation, blue tooth, and anything else you can imagine a nerd might need in his/her car haha. The system is comprised of the following items (JL W1v2 Sub, Apline PDX-5, TR525-600 and 050-CT speakers, Tsunami Cap, Custom Built Mini ITX computer with a custom fabbed case, 7” widescreen touchpanel LCD screen, and various other unnecessary but wicked cool...)

Engine Performance:
-Exhaust System Upgrade...(Install a Gibson/Borla Cat Back System. Any advice on good systems is welcome, will eventually take off the headers as well (yeh it's not needed, but I'd like to at least shine em up, maybe get some ceramics on there. Will prolly hold off on that until I do the stroker).

-Engine...(Really NO idea what I want to do with the engine, it's a low mileage 2000 4.0L I6 (yes with the head that is prone to cracking, I am well aware of this and know more about this issue then I ever thought anyone could know. I would eventually like to drop a stroker in/convert this over. I would like to replace the fan with an electric fan system, advice needed...)

-Intake...(I am going to be customizing the intake a lot, toying with cutting the hood/side panel, and installing a snorkel like scoop. I have read so much about intakes and the answer is ALWAYS, just get it more cold air. I'd rather spend the $150 on making the intake mod, then buying an after market intake that is just gonna suck in more hot air. Currently thinking to take a snorkel ram/hat and install it into the hood somehow and then directly into the intake box. Advice welcome on this as It would be some serious work, but could potentially have some awesome results...)

-Filters...(All my filters have been replaced with either AMSOIL EA's or WIX. The air and oil are both AMSOIL, the tranny I replaced with a WIX. I really highly recommend both of them vs anything else, and no I do not rep either companies...)

-Fluids...(All fluids have been replaced with AMSOIL synthetics, oil, tranny, tcase, both diffs, power steering, etc...)

-General Cleaning/Care...(Throttle body need to be cleaned, SeaFoam gas, oil, intake, would like to replace all gaskets I can, install Champion Copper plugs, replace any wiring/hoses that look like they need it.

-Stroker conversion...(Next year this will happen, not in any rush, will paint the new engine and toy with getting a full 5.0l conversion...)

Lift/Wheels/Tires:
-Lift Kit...(RE 3.5” Super Flex (Full Leaf). Will be installing this hopefully before the first snow, I have never done this before, advice needed, and I am not sure what needs to be done/accounted for...)
-Shocks...(No idea what to look for here, I need shocks that will perform well in DD activities as well as on the trail, advice needed...)
-Wheels...(Would like to get some pro comp 7089's, not sure about what back spacing I would need though if I plan for 33” tires, advice needed...)
-Tires...(Aiming for 33”, yes I will be fender trimming to accommodate them, need a set that's solid in the snow/ice, and then a set for spring/summer/fall. Advice needed...)
-Other Items/Advice Needed...(I will be getting an SYE, and replacing the rear drive shaft with another XJ front shaft, as I am told this works. Anyone who has advice please let me know. I would like this lift to be both function on road and off. Also what needs to be done to the speedometer and other items in order to make sure the Jeep reads the lift properly...)

[Gnl.Weirdness]

List of Items to be Purchased/Salvaged:

Exertior:
-Lebaron Hood Vents: Been looking for close to a year now, finally found two pairs thanks to all the legit people on JF for the help.

Interior:
-POR 15 4 Quart Kit (Color Black): This should be enough to coat the entire interior of the car, not just floor panels, but ALL of the interior metal. Costly yes, but worth it in the long run to me.
-Raptor Truck Bed Liner: Will be laying this down over the POR 15 along the entire floor of the Jeep.
-Kylon Fusion (Color Flat Black): Trying to figure out how I want to pain the dash still, Krylon Fusion is BY far the superior plastics paint, but it might not have the color options I am interested in. Thinking of doing a flat black (which it does come in) and dark purple combo to match the exterior paint. Can't find a good dark purple plastic paint though. Might end up using dupont and some good plastic primer.
-WLS Headliner Kit (Black) with the redone visors: For under $100 gonna completely change out all the headliner fabric with new black fabric to match the color theme of the car. Also will give me a chance to check out the roof of the car and remove any mold that has accumulated (which is DOES in all cars) on the head board.
-Edead Sound Dampening: To replace the factory sound dampening panels places in the body pans and over high vibration areas.

Life/Wheels/Tires:
-Steering Box Stabilizer Not sure if I am going to purchase this or fab one...
-Adjustable Track Bar
-Heavy Duty Tie Rod
-RE 3.5" Super Flex Lift Kit
-OME NitroCharger Shocks
-RE Hack n' Tap SYE
-ZJ Disk Brake Conversion

[LeftOfCenterXJ]

So... are you gonna lift it? Or is it going to be a grocery gettin' street Jeep?

[Gnl.Weirdness]

Over All Cost of Project
Here I am going to try and keep track of EVERYTHING I purchase for the project, down to the finest detail, this is more for personal record then for the post, but maybe it will help some people who are considering $$ for projects they are working on. I chose to make this a separate post just to keep things more easily accessible and less cluttered

Exterior:
-Lebaron Hood Vents $40 Shipped

Interior:
- Por 15 (4 Quarts - 2 black - 2 Gray, 1 Gallon Marine Clean, 1 Gallon Metal Ready) $210.25 ($226 after shipping)
-It's a bit costly, but this includes the Black Paint for the exterior/under carriage. Worth it to have a rust free car for 10+ years.
- U Pol Raptor Liner $110.95 (shipped)
-Edead 80 (Sound Dampening) 25ft $57.52 (shipped)

Lift/Wheels/Tires:
-ZJ Disk Brake Conversion Kit $120 shipped.

Total Cost So Far: $528.47

[Gnl.Weirdness]

Originally Posted by LeftOfCenterXJ

So... are you gonna lift it? Or is it going to be a grocery gettin' street Jeep?

haha flip flopped so many times, I will be lifting it for sure, see my post right below yours :: )

[Gnl.Weirdness]

edited for consolidation

[LeftOfCenterXJ]

As far as performance:
Don't waste your time with a chip- I've got a Jet stage 2 in my 2000 and it was almost unnoticable. You should, however, upgrade the exhaust. Get a Magnaflow High FLow Cat and then a muffler of your choice. If you don't open up the exhaust all your work on the intake wont really matter.

[seanyb505]

Originally Posted by Enlighter

**Idea** (8/12/09) advice welcomed
-Painting the engine itself, or just the top parts. Have not ever seen this on a cherokee, as it really seems pretty silly. I want my baby looking tits though inside and out. Anyone ever done this? What parts did you paint/can you paint. Any thoughts welcome on this.

Silly? Or awesome?



I used Duplicolor engine primer and paint. Available at any auto parts store. Colors were gloss black and Chrysler Hemi Orange.

[Gnl.Weirdness]

omg epic. Only issue I am facing is, I can't afford to take my engine out to paint it right now time wise. At most I could paint the head piece. I have actually never taken an engine out though so maybe it's something that could be done on a weekend? advice welcome on that, I might just wait till I get/build a stroker to do the engine painting.

Incredible work on yours man, looks so sexy.

[seanyb505]

Thanks, a couple hours out and a couple hours in with the engine. If you plan a doing a stroker I would just wait until then. If you do complete work youll have the enigne block cleaned when doing the stroker which would be the best time for the paint to stick to the surface. Otherwise there might be dirt and grime and the paint would just fall off.

[Gnl.Weirdness]

yeh,

prolly gonna hold off on that. Any comments on the other plans would be welcomed. Rust removal starts in roughly 3-4 hours :: )

[jeepjack1995]

I'm diggin' your plans.

[Gnl.Weirdness]

word thanks man

Quick question for anyone game enough to answer. For the intake mod I want to do, imagine if the small intake opening on the stock intake was on the outside of the car, would this benefit the intake, or would the air be moving to quickly for it to get pulled in?

You will see in a monthish why I am asking this :: )

[Gnl.Weirdness]

Pics coming within the hour, been dealing with what I thought originally to be surface rust, nope, it had started eating wholes. Gonna slap on a coat of POR-15 then you all can see the poor gal before she gets her overhaul.