What to do next

Pulled the XJ out of storage today. Spent some time at the junkyard this morning on 40% off holiday weekend and picked up some brackets and braces for the front end that I though were probably damaged in the rollover.

Pulled it out and set about taking the old damages parts off and reinstalling the replacements to see just how out of whack things are. Really not as bad as I thought. I got things kind of lined up, and was pretty pleased when the Jeep fired right up.

I was able to get the door panels off the two rear doors and got all 4 to open now. I also took the rear hatch cover off the inside and manually jiggled the latch and got it open also.

The way that XJ prices are right now, it may be just as cheap to cut it and cage it. I stopped by 4WP Showroom in Nashville and got 2 leads for shops that do custom cages in Murfreesboro.

If I choose not to cage it I'm going to strip it and crush it, so I decided to cut both passenger side doors down, just to see what it might look like.

Not only did I get the needed XJ brackets, there are a surprising amount of Commanders in the yards - I found 4 - and I got a new passenger side tail light housing that doesn't leak, got new rear door seals that don't droop, and a BRAND NEW drivers side headlight housing. All told, for all the XK and XJ stuff I was into it maybe $75.

Here she is in the sunlight again:
[/url]Untitled by Dirk DeYoung, on Flickr[/IMG]

Here is the "half-door" project cut (look how fouled up that B-pillar is):
[/url]Untitled by Dirk DeYoung, on Flickr[/IMG]

Been MIA for a while here but I'll chime in. I think if the floor's straight enough, and it were mine, I would pull the doors/ hatch and jack the roof with a highlift, winch pull, BFH until it resembled a Cherokee again. Not perfect but good enough to hold a windshield, something to keep the rain and sun off you and keep it street legal. After that I'd go with some sort of hybrid cage and enjoy. That's all depending on the rest of it though. If it tweaked the chassis below the window line much than I'm not sure. On the other hand stripping and swapping wouldn't be a difficult project but would require a good investment of time and space. Regardless I'm sorry to see this happened and Im glad things weren't worse than they were.

I guess I missed it but where did you roll in Harlan?

Stinks about the body. Why not find a body and swap everything over including motor/trans/tcase/axles? You would likely be done swapping things before you ever got that body back in good shape.

We were headed from Mason Jar to Lions Den and got off on a wrong trail. We thought we could make it up the hill and find our way out. Glenn made it up, I didn't, everyone else did a 50 point turnaround on the trail and we backtracked out.

As far as doing a swap, Nick, it may come to that next year after I get a house, but don't have the ability to do it at my apartment complex. Andy has offered me a body. I've looked at starting fresh with a "new" XJ but prices are in the stratosphere. At the same time, there is a company about 30 miles from me that makes racing cages and and tube chassis. Cost wise and time wise, it may be cheaper and quicker to cut off the top and have a "Wrangler" style cage put in. Probably be safer and sturdier than it was stock. I do like Matt's idea of using implements to straighten it, but I'm not sure I'd ever get the window frame to a position that that will hold glass, and that pax side B pillar is pretty out of whack.

Still thinking it over.

You'd be surprised how close to in whack you could get that b pillar and a pillar. You would want to pull all the seats. I'd attach the b pillar to the other side with a strap or something. Then jack at an angle from the floor. If you could get a wind shield to use as a template and jack the a pillar up and get it pretty darn close I'd bet. Matt is right though. Straighten it and cage it and roll on. Just remember when jacking you want to spread the load on the base and pinpoint it where you are jacking to so you don't destroy the opposite side. This might help...

https://www.harborfreight.com/4-ton-heavy-duty-portable-hydraulic-equipment-kit-62115.html

or this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-TON-HYDR...SHOP-SET-PORTA-POWER-REPAIR-KIT-/191864609597

I have one of those kits youre welcome to if you can get it a ride over there from Knoxville.

You would be surprised what a high lift will do. I was in your same shoes, and within an hour with a high lift I went from the first picture to the second picture.

https://www.naxja.org/forum/showpost.php?p=246496495&postcount=7

I spent more time at home to get things pretty lined up and a new windshield fit without any drama. Since then I've cut the roof off and put a new roof on along with all new skins. If you have any questions or want to see other after pictures send me a PM.

Ghost said:

This might help...

https://www.harborfreight.com/4-ton-heavy-duty-portable-hydraulic-equipment-kit-62115.html

or this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-TON-HYDR...SHOP-SET-PORTA-POWER-REPAIR-KIT-/191864609597

Click to expand...

You can work wonders with one of those. I just picked one of these on Monday.

You've all given me inspiration to try to straighten it out. Think I'll work on getting the doors off this weekend and seeing what I can do with my hi-lift - and then re-assessing.

I got as long way in straightening the B pillar today. Used the hi-lift and got it to the point where the doors will all close. I worked on the windshield frame until the rain came in. My concern at this point is this damage at the top of the A pillar.

However, I am encouraged that I might be able to keep Annie on the road.

[/url]Untitled by Dirk DeYoung, on Flickr[/IMG]

If you have some sort of hybrid cage built then that A-pillar damage will be just cosmetic as the cage will carry the structural integrity. No worries, it's looking great!

Yes once you get it where you want it just do a cage properly and all will be good. As for the hole, I'd just patch it with some sheet metal.

At this rate, this thing will end up looking like Glenn's heep....

Cottontail said:

At this rate, this thing will end up looking like Glenn's heep....

Click to expand...

Ouch, LOL.

Cottontail said:

At this rate, this thing will end up looking like Glenn's heep....

Click to expand...

Yeah but at least you rolled on a trail...and not on an RTI ramp...in the campground.

I'm thinking like most everyone else. Straighten as much as you can. Cage it. Stiffen the unibody and half the doors. Then enjoy!

Glad to see you working on it again.

Cottontail said:

At this rate, this thing will end up looking like Glenn's heep....

Click to expand...

043500 said:

Yeah but at least you rolled on a trail...and not on an RTI ramp...in the campground.

I'm thinking like most everyone else. Straighten as much as you can. Cage it. Stiffen the unibody and half the doors. Then enjoy!

Glad to see you working on it again.

Click to expand...

Wow! Good thing I actually know you guys or I'd be butt hurt........ :bawl:

Ghost said:

Wow! Good thing I actually know you guys or I'd be butt hurt........ :bawl:

Click to expand...

Nothin but love

Ghost said:

Wow! Good thing I actually know you guys or I'd be butt hurt........ :bawl:

Click to expand...

I think only the MWC tends to hurt each other's butts - near as I can tell anyway.

Spent a couple hours at the storage unit today working on the Jeep. I got the passengers seat pulled out and the headliner also. It's to my advantage that I'm tall, because I was able to lay on my back on the passenger side floor, put my feet on the inside of the roof and apply pressure to pop things somewhat back into place. Not nearly as good as with the hi-lift, but I was able to do some work where the hi-lift won't go. Not sure I can get a windshield in it yet.

I tried to get the doors off, but I can't find a T-40 bit that will get in there to break things loose. I snapped two and twisted another. I think I'll have to do some cutting to get them off.

I also pulled the old radiator out and installed a new one. I didn't fill the system, as I still need to install the two mounts.

Lastly, before pulling the radiator, I let the Jeep run and hooked up an OBDII reader to it. It is throwing no codes, but the engine is running very rough and not pulling very hard. I'm sure there is a sensor that was damaged, or something that popped that is affecting the way it runs. Once I get the radiator install complete, I'll trailer it to my mechanic and let him give it a once over and see if they can find anything. Near as I can tell from the guys that rolled it back over and pulled the plugs to prep it for re-start, there didn't seem to be anything visually wrong - and they were surprised at how quickly it turned over without any fluid intrusion where it shouldn't be.

Might be as simple as a vacuum line off.


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