This has been a really slow process but finally picking up some steam here. The wife and I have made some “family decisions” that have brought the XJ into the spotlight (yay!). With that said, the rebuild/completion of the Jeep is FINALLY under way.
Last week (or maybe the week before) my buddy and I got the 4.0 yanked out of the XJ:
One thing I have learned (been reminded of??) is how much I love my new shop. Previous house had a generous 24×30 detached garage. That worked great. However, if I had a project other cars had to be in the driveway, which was a single lane and was a pain. Now I have a 24×30 shop that is attached (sitting behind) a 20×24 parking garage so I can keep the Jeep in pieces and not impact the day-to-day.
Anyway, I have ordered the following:
- $79.10 ea (Amazon) – Crown HD Leaf Springs
- $40.87 ea (Amazon) – Crown HD Coil Springs
- $61.30 ea (Amazon)Bilstein Shocks Front/Real
- $8.83/$10.73 ea (Amazon) Crown Leaf Spring Bushings
- $1,850 (Rydell) – New Crate Motor from Rydell Parts up in Waterloo (about 2 hours from me)
- $80 (American Radiator) – Radiator. I’m going to check this one out before actually buying it. It’s a local company we’ve used before but I don’t remember if they’re all steel or if they use plastic.
- $103.40 (Advance) – Dacco Torque Converter (I love these promo codes for Advance)
- $7.58 (Advance) – Dorman T-stat Housing
- $16.29 (Advance) – Carquest Engine Coolant Temp Sensor
- $10.69 (Advance) – Sylvania Xtra Vision Halogen Headlight
That’s all the stuff I currently bought. On the way home on the motorcycle on Thursday before the 4th I thought I’d see how many miles I could go on a full tank of gas. I got 145 miles. I also managed to get my front tire sliced somehow and that has now set me back $300 that I wasn’t budgeting for to buy new tires for the motorcycle, which from April through whenever there’s snow on the ground, is my primary driver. So, we’re selling the mini-van (this is a long story) but we own it pretty well so I’ll have some $$ left over. When that happens (hopefully soon), I’ll proceed to purchase the following:
- Tires – I’m thinking General Grabber AT2 but I’m afraid they may not be aggressive enough. Need opinions on this. I saw a guy with a beautiful teal-ish XJ down by the father-in-laws that has these tires on it and I like the style but I want something that can handle snow and a little light wheeling and still not sound loud as hell when I’m driving down the interstate.
- Mickey Thompson SideBiter II Wheels – Still trying to figure out sizing. I see they are 15″ wheels (most common) but need to know what size of tires to get that will work with about an 1″ to 1.5″ lift from the HD springs/leafs. Opinions??
- Headliner
- Stereo
- Sub Enclosure
- Sub
- Upcountry Logos
- Under body Armor (skid plate)
- I’m considering these keyless pushbutton start things I found on ebay/Amazon
- Roof Rack
- Winch Bumper
- Winch
- Rear bumper with tire mount
- Cruise Control!
Now that I think about it, I still need to get the shifter for the transfer case and a front drive shaft. We’re doing the 4wd conversion as we put the engine back in. Hoping to get started on the re-assembly this Sunday. I’m going on a longer-distance ride on Saturday that the old man and I were supposed to do on Father’s day but were rained out and then we’ll smoke some pork butt and work on the Jeep Sunday.