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Another Daily Driver XJ Build ('98 Classic)

136K views 253 replies 83 participants last post by  JeepXJOZQLD 
#1 ·
I'm not even sure where to start this thread... I purchased my parents old XJ (I say old... 280,000 miles!) on my last deployment because my WK keeps getting bigger. The XJ had a very hard life before my parents bought it last year. It was in multiple accidents and had been neglected. I've decided to restore it and build my idea of what the XJ should of become in its last years from the factory. So lets start with what was done before I even transferred the title.

Full OME Suspension (MD) and steering stabilizer
Full poly bushings (some still need installed)
5 Ravine 15x8 wheels
5 Wrangler GS-A 30" tires
Differential and Trans fluids
A new re-manufactured NP242
Lots of new body panels from the junkyard

When they picked it up:







The plan:

I've been spoiled driving my fully loaded WK Limited every day, so my goal was to make the Cherokee just as comfortable on road, while retaining its off road capability and increasing performance. However after buying a '15 SRT WK2 I decided that this build would be more offroad centric. And once my Dad decided that he needed a mountain Jeep (He lives in Ouray Colorado nestled in the Rockies) I figured I'd go for broke on this thing. My Dad is going to foot half the bill and I'll pay for the rest with the hopes that I'll get to use this thing when I visit. Modifications thus far (updated: 26 JUN 2019):

Suspension:
Front (4.5" lift):
OME MD springs
ACOS spacers adjusted to +2"
Rustys control arms and track bar
Crown ZJ drag link/tie rod
JKS steering stabilizer
Bilstein 5100's
ADDCO sway bar
Rear (4.5" lift):
OME MD leafs
Bilstein 5100's
ADDCO sway bar
Wheels/Tires:
AEV Savegre 17x8.5 wheels
BFGoodrich 315/70/17 T/A KO2's (245/65/17 spare)
Spidertrax 4.5/5x5 wheel adapters
Brakes:
Wilwood big brake kit w/ early YJ knuckles
Crown rear disc brake conversion
Exterior:
Custom Grabber Orange (Ford paint code: U3) paint
JCR Crusader front bumper
JCR GenI rear bumper
Bushwacker flat flares
5.9L hood vents
Hoodlift hood struts
Lights:
Rigid Industries 3x3 SAE fog lights
Truck Lite LED headlights
JW Speaker TS4000 driving lights (they are NOT JK headlights despite what everyone thinks)
Depo smoked parking lights
New reproduction tail lights and marker lights
Armor/Rack:
JCR fuel tank skid plate
JCR roof rack
Interior:
04 TJ steering wheel
Black carpet
Electronics/Stereo:
New (used) Infinity amp
Quadratec Kicker speakers x4
Kicker sub in a Select Increments box (color matched)
Performance:
K&N FIPK
Ebay exhaust header + factory B pipe and new cat

How it sat before I started the tear down:









What remains of the gash that ran down the entire side... This will be fun to fix!



Parts have been arriving daily!



I'm ready to make a mess of the garage:



Just out of curiosity I put the new(er) amp in to see if that was the problem with the stereo not working... It fixed it!



Pulled the carpet... no rust in the usual spots!



But due to some faulty body work on both rear quarters (obviously had been in a rear impact sometime in its life) they are both rusting through at the bottoms:



Ready for a good pressure washing and then I can get started on the bodywork.



Last nights update (yeah, I realize that I didn't post it until today) was brought to you by Blue Moon

 
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#8 ·
Thank you.

I plan on leaving the doors on for paint, thus I needed to get them aligned (or "gapped") correctly with weight on the doors. I felt it was best to do this before paint instead of after, so i could get them right before I start removing stuff from them. So I spent today working on it. Its a tedious process of trying different spacers on the door hinges and making small adjustments to move the doors in and out and up and down.

The upper spacer on the right front door was a little too thick causing the door to droop too much in the rear so I made one that was about half the thickness (I tried removing the spacer but it made the door too high):





The goal is an even gap all around. This requires not only manipulating the hinges, their spacers, and moving them every which way, but also making sure the door strikers are in the proper position.





The USPS man dropped of my adapter cable and I couldn't resist powering up the RB1:



Oh how sweet it is! I'm pretty excited about this mod and will have to elaborate more on how I'm going to get all of its features to work sometime soon (I still haven't figured them all out for myself quite yet)

Trying to fix the left inner fender so the fender will bolt up correclty.



mmmm, beer. This time its Alpine Amber Ale from the Ouray Brewery (and Ouray Brewing Company) in the famous Ouray Colorado!

 
#13 ·
Work has been pretty hectic since getting back so I haven't had time to do much on the XJ. I still haven't even washed the Colorado dirt off the WK after its trip to the mountains! I've been slowly working on getting the tweaked body back to straight. The unibody rails had previously been pulled out by a body shop, but I needed to fix the inner fender then align all of the panels. After all my pounding its close enough... The front end is a few millimeters toward the drivers side. I'll have to widen the mounting holes to get the gaps right, but I'm ok with that.

After pounding out the inner fender to get the "new" outer fender to fit properly:



I knew water was coming in at the rear quarters... Ya don't say!



Mostly I've just been unboxing things I've ordered for it. New panels:



Brand new factory fresh fog lamps:



These should make the doors feel like new:



I'm not a fan of the stock 2 spoke steering wheel. Its just ugly! So I'm going to attempt to get this one to work. As an added benefit, its got stereo controls on the back:



Finally have everything needed *I hope* to get the RB1 and factory Sirius sat radio to work:

 
#17 ·
I haven't posted an update in a while, hopefully I'll have a lot more time to work on the Jeep after next Friday. But this will probably be the only update until then.

This fix is taking the majority of my time:



The other side isnt too bad:





I've decided to stick with black for the color, so I'm not going to paint the engine bay.

Before:



After:



All new exhaust!

 
#18 ·
Finally got some time to work on the XJ! Hopefully it will be ready for paint in 2 weekends, or else it will probably have to wait until next summer...

I finally finished cutting and grinding out the old panel (harder than it sounds when you don't have a spot weld hole saw):





I'm planning ahead for the eventuality that this will become an off-road toy instead of a daily driver. I decided to make the panels flat behind the body line so I can do the rear fender chop with ease:







Found a good spot to mount the sirrius radio hardware:



Glue around all of the mounting faces:



Welded the seam (or at least started welding the seam):



I liked the results so much I decided to just do the same on the passenger side instead of dealing with all of the body work:







Now to fix that stupid bent rear door:



After tacking the panel on, I glued around the edges then folded them over:





And finally I found some time to cut out some tool foam to organize a few drawers:



I almost always wear gloves... almost always:

 
#24 ·
They are Truck-Lite LED's. I'm pretty excited to try them out at night and take some good comparison pictures. I may even try to do that before the Jeeps back together.

Great minds think alike. I've been trolling for a late model with the same sensible lift, moderate improvements for better DD duty, and retaining the look/feel of the stereo and factory widgets. I love the factory NAV setup.

Rob
Yeah, I just want to get the body/paint work done so I can concentrate on getting all of those factory stereo bits to work. Hopefully soon!

Where did you get the B pipe? It looks like its mandrel bent and everything I've found is crush bent.
Its the factory part. I found it "new-old stock" on ebay. Even has the Mopar sticker and protective clear tape still on it. I did pay quite a bit more than one of those Walker replacement pipes with the crush bends though.
 
#22 ·
Great minds think alike. I've been trolling for a late model with the same sensible lift, moderate improvements for better DD duty, and retaining the look/feel of the stereo and factory widgets. I love the factory NAV setup.

Rob
 
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