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.:95 ZJ Build: NightCrawler:.

6K views 73 replies 11 participants last post by  QuadraBeast 
#1 · (Edited)
Current Status-



-List Of Plans-

Exterior Mods
- IRO F>R Swap Kit
- TreadWright Guard Dog With Kedge Grip in the 31x10.50R15 Flavor. x5 because i have no spare :nono:
- Debating a set of 5 Cragar Black V5 Wheels. Everyone has Soft 8's and D windows. CRAGAR Wheels 365-5712 - CRAGAR Series 365 Black V5 Wheel for Jeep® Vehicles with 5x4.5 Bolt Pattern - Quadratec
- New Trackbar, any reccomendations? IRO?
- Custom Front Bumper with Winch Mount, Stinger, and Light Guards
- Rear Bumper with swingout for spare, jerry cans, and water cans. Will also have a special little built in surprise or two. I dont want to give away my plans yet! :teehee:
- Custom Roof Rack with Hilift and Shovel/Axe Mounts.
- Possible set of ARB air lockers
- Possible regear with lockers
- Hella 500's
- XRC10 Winch

Interior Mods
-CB
-Scanner Mount
- Head Unit
- I think it would be pretty cool to make a laptop stand, and get Terrain Navigator Pro: Maptech Terrain Navigator Pro It comes with a plugin for a USB GPS and it will show your location on the sattelite maps.
- G.E.A.R. Seat covers
- Paint Interior panels, touch ups, etc.

Im into more of the expedition style wheeling, and thats what type of rig im going for.

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The Beginning of the Build
Well, after my last ZJ kicked the bucket on me, i started searching for another jeep. After searching for three months, going to look at countless jeeps that turned out to be ghetto rigged clunkers, getting scammed, i finally found a ZJ while we were out driving around searching about 4 hours away from home. I saw it sitting off at a little car lot with no plates, so we decided to stop and see.

So, 1400 bucks and three hours later, we finally came home. Its a 95 Limited ZJ, Quadratrac, with a cherry bomb, a replaced 5.2, round fogs on the front.

After we got it home is tarted to find a few problems, other than what we found at the lot.

Whenever i turn sharp, it sounds like somethign is binding. My dad says it sounds liek the 4wheel, but ill have to check it out when it gets a little warmer.

The Gas guage is temperamental :rolleyes: The fogs dont work, the radio works pretty good though, the VIC isnt turning on, and the wipers only work on Low and High.

Theres a rats nest of wiring, we tucked it up out of the way for now. It looks like someone tried to put a remote starter in, but we got no remotes with it.

I feel pretty safe with it though, all gauges are reading good, and the original owner is a mechanic that works at the lot we bought it from.

Anyway, Photo op, i got stuck in someones ruts in ice and mud with the bald A/Ts :brickwall:









Rear Gate is rusted through, i ran aluminum tape in layers across it, and resprayed the gate black for now. Ill have to get a new gate at the junk yard. Tires are my priority though.

















Ill have to check out all the wiring, there are also two screws missing for the radio/heater gauge bezel.

Does anyone have any idea what the binding might be caused by?

Any clues to what any of those unplugged wires are? haha...

Comments, suggestions, ideas, and "your an idiot"'s are all appreciated.

Thanks guys! And im so glad to be back in a ZJ! :cheers2:
 
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#2 ·
Finally, another black 95 Limited! :cheers2: Looks just lime mine when I brought it home...

The binding when turning sounds like bad CV joints, seems pretty common on these older ZJ's.

My VIC wouldn't turn on either, ended up replacing it and I haven't had problems since.

Welcome back!!!
 
#3 ·
The binding when turning isnt the CV joints. If it were CV joints he would hear a clicking
/popping sound. The binding you are experiencing is from the transfercase. The VC (viscous coupler) inside your transfercase has gone bad, which is very common on these. You can replace the VC, but most elect to replace the transfercase with a 242 or 231 setup because it is much cheaper. Search around the forum as its been covered 100's of times before.

BTW, Looks like you scored an excellent deal on that Jeep :2thumbsup::cheers2:
 
#4 ·
Reads 170k, but i was told the engine was replaced. No clue at what mileage it was swapped.

**EDIT** I saw you deleted your post.. Must have seen the pic :teehee:

So you really think it would be best to replace the whole tcase?

And @ BlackBeast- Ive read your build, It looks good! My builds going to be going slow as well unless i can find a good deal on parts, but thats what searching around is for i guess!
 
#8 ·
Hmm okay. Ill have to look into that. No more AWD :( Im debating whether i should get that fixed now, or get tires first, theyre giving me bad vibes. Down past the wear lines haha..

I priced a viscous coupler and chain kit from qtec for my NP231. 620 bucks! :eek: Or the coupler alone for 450 i believe.
 
#14 ·
Okay, update on the tcase. How can i be sure that thats the problem? Any other signs? It seems to be doing it after i run it for a little while. Its an on and off thing, but can get pretty bad, It whines and binds really bad when i turn to pull in a parking spot or back out of one, or other sharp turns.

If you guys are pretty sure thats the problem, ill probably just get that transfer case i posted above. Otherwise, ill be getting a set of tires and a few other little things.
 
#15 ·
Update (Again)

I tried putting it in 4LO again tonight. This is only like the second time or so ive tried it.

When im in 4LO, and switch between drive, neutral, and reverse, it locks in HARD and i mean hard. It damn near gives me whiplash locking in, no joke.

Im thinking ill put the tires on hold a week or so, my dad's buddy has a set of 31" M/T's for 15 inch rims with about half tread that i could pick up cheap for now.

I was wondering,

I was talking to a fellow jeeper, and he said about getting the 231 over the 242 due to it having more availability of SYE kits.

I dont know much about that, im sure you guys do. I found a 242 for 100 bucks out of a cherokee. Im sure i could easily find any transfer case at the local junk yard. Theyre pretty reasonable over there.

Also, since when has wallymart sold hella 500's and 500ff's? I was in looking tonight at random lights, and i saw the two pack of 500's for 60, and then two pack of 500ff's for 70. May have to pick up a set...

CB, Fogs, Antennas, scanner, maybe some driving lights coming soon!
 
#16 ·
IRO has a Hack n tap sye for the 242, I just installed one in my jeep. $159, ofcourse you would need a new driveshaft if you did that.
 
#17 ·
I found a guy with 2 249s, a 231, and some skid plates. Im waiting for him to get back to me again. He told me 150 originally for the skids and tcase. My dad found a set of MTs with a little over half tread. Waiting to hear back from him.

Progress has been slow. (as in nothing) due to cold weather. But today the sun is shining bright!

Ive been tossing around the idea for a while before i got my ZJ of doing up the interior with colors similar to the Sahara package. Im thinking of getting some paint and whatnot to do this while im waiting for my tcase swap. Let me know what you guys think.

Original Interior


Sahara Style


Not sure how i feel about it now that i see the mockup. What do you guys think?
 
#18 ·
uhm...what's different.
 
#20 ·
I see it, just hard to tell from that picture.
 
#21 · (Edited)
Must be high vibrance on the home PC monitor. Im on my laptop now at work and i can barely tell. Sorry bout that. :shhh:

The idiot that i contacted about the tcase isnt getting back to me :brickwall:brickwall:brickwall

Too bad i couldnt find a cheap flip kit... Or fab one up? I found a d300 for 100bucks. If i could find a cheap flip kit then order the twin stick setup out of my next check id be in business :drool: Forgive my rambling, we all like to dream right?

The guy with the tcase's post says "i buy ZJ's as well" Must do a lot of work with them. He was sellign a ton of parts for them but i found the ad too late. Lol. Some places supposedly called Limitless Offroad. All i found when serching it was a half dead forum.

Going to try to get the scanner installed tonight, get the dash back together, and get the wiring out of the way. Ill sort it out some other day...
 
#23 ·
Looks like a mesh grill:thumbsup:
 
#24 ·
Okay! Im done.

For today :D

Heres what i've accomplished in the last few days. Let me know what you think!

Replaced the ugly grill slats with mesh-

Grill Off-


Definately the easiest way of getting the slats out, just twist and pull-





Size comparison-


Slats Out


Shapes Cut From Mesh-


Sanded Grill down and hit it with some Rustoleum Hammered Black, no pics of it painted.


Mesh Fitted-




No pics of the fastening process. I was originally going to use the 2in1 Gel Quick set 6 min. Epoxy, but when i opened it up, the hardener was hardened in the tube. So i took it back to ace, they opened two more there, and they were all hardened. So i ended up using JB Weld. It was a little messy, but i ust took it in my room and let it cure overnight, Then installed it before school.

Voila! Mesh Grill! :2thumbsup:


Also, since my antenna doesnt work, and im going to end up replacing it anyway with the short euro style one, I hit it with some Hammered as well.



 
#25 ·
Not done yet! :wave:

I decided to overhaul the ugly pitting bling bling limited wheels.I sprayed them with water and washed them all out with a cloth.Then, I sanded them lightly, they dont have to be perfect, they're going to be replaced eventually as well. I taped off the tire and hit them with about 3 coats of Rustoleum Light Gray Primer. After that, i shot the Hammered Black on with a nifty little plastic handle that grips on top the spray can. It was two bucks, and its fun to use if you like using a spray gun. Its very controllable as well. Thats my :2c: anyway.:laugh:

After the Hammered, i gave them all a light coat of clear coat, then 3 heavy coats of it.

Im pleased with how the came out. I was going to do they straight black, but i wanted something different.

Photo time :2thumbsup:



Kept the "centercaps" original, and the lugnuts silver, and hit them all with clearcoat.









Woo! No more bling bling! Except for those old pinstripes and emblems... They may be next. :rolleyes:

Okay, one more surprise.

I trimmed the bumper! Im glad i did it, it makes it look more like a Jeep.:teehee:

I was originally going to use my sawzall, but didnt want to risk cutting into the evap can or something else important. So my buddy chris let me borrow his dremel. I still have to touch up the rusted wear spot on the front bumper.




Afterward, i sprayed the ugly gray caps and step mat on the rear bumper. :thumbsup:

When i Finished-



All in all, im happy with how everything came out. Man i love my ZJ :wave:
 
#26 ·
You're catching up to me with all the budget mods lol...Looks real good though! The wheels look 100% better in black, I'm gonna do that next on mine
 
#27 ·
Its commin along
 
#28 ·
Haha Thanks sam. Im getting there. Tomorrow i think im going to spray my roof rack, the window trim(maybe) the rear window vents, and maybe the stripe on the cladding. Im thinking it'll accent the grill more. I may spray the mirrors as well depending how i feel about it. :laugh:

Thanks for the comments spike, yours is coming along nicely as well!
 
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