Deployment money XJ - the Blurple

[BlurpleXJ]

Hey folks. Some of you have met me, most of you probably not, but I lurk here frequently and I have plenty of time right now courtesy of an Army deployment. So I might as well make a build thread for The Blurple. If you're looking for revolutionary ideas or heavy fab, look elsewhere. This is a daily driven beastie (still) so it'll come out more expedition-style than rock buggy. If anyone takes anything from it, great, I'll enjoy writing it either way.

Picked the jeep up in 2010 from a guy in Virginia with 130,000 miles. Already had a CB, twin antennas, an inverter, tow bars front and rear and was in awesome shape. More importantly, manual trans. Potential.

Up until I got this jeep I hadn't done anything more difficult than changing oil or brake pads on any vehicle, not to mention I had a lot of debt from college. So the XJ got very little love for awhile unless something broke. I got crazy one day and painted the wheels black with some AutoZone rattle can.

I returned from my first deployment in early 2013, went through a nasty breakup, and needed a project to take my mind off things. There sat the jeep in the driveway, now sitting at over 200,000 miles and in need of some love. I started thinking about all the many jeep mags I used to read all through high school. Buildup began. I went cheap at first, since I wasn't sure I would like four-wheeling as much as I thought I would. Seemed stupid to spend big bucks building it up for something I didn't know I enjoyed. So, out came the Rough Country 3" lift (full leaf packs though, my old springs were sagged hard) the transfer case drop, the YJ brake lines, and other cheapness. Splurged on 31" Duratracs since everyone raved about them. I picked up an Edge Trail Jammer kit at a deep discount and slapped that on too.

The guys at the tire store laughed when they gave me the keys back. "Hey we got everything installed but....don't turn hard on the way back." Ah crap. So Rough Country was a touch optimistic in their ads. I hadn't intended to do a cut-and-fold job, but I wasn't about to deal with the horrendous scraping noise that happened every time I turned the wheel 20 degrees, especially since I was planning to hit my first event (Cherokee Crawl '13) in a few days. Borrowed a sawzall and found a big hammer and got to mangling. I chopped the stock plastic fenders to half size and put them back on, but at first I tried to do this with glue. Don't do that. Didn't really hold up at Harlan, by the end of Day One I had one flare on the jeep and three in the back.

The Crawl was awesome though, and people were more fun and welcoming than I had even hoped, so I was thoroughly hooked on the whole offroading in my jeep thing. I showed up when the easy run was already started, and just jumped in with the group completely unknown. They took it all in stride. When I snapped some shock mount bolts and had trouble adapting the bar pin from a NAPA cheapie to my jeep in camp, no fewer than six people helped me fix the thing. Still don't know all their names, but thanks guys. Jeep's first trail breakage:

I put this shock back in and ran it for months. Worked like new. Points, Rough Country.

More to follow...

 

[BlurpleXJ]

I rolled the jeep back home to NC on three and a half shocks and one headlight (effin trees) with lots of ideas about future jeep mods. Like I said, hooked. But still in cheapo mode, so I only made small tweaks at first. I cruised the junkyard mods threads and the local pull-a-parts for hours. Scored some hood vents after paying $10 and spending two hours ripping the things from the donor (stuck hood). Peeled stickers and got rid of the doorguards to clean up the sides a bit.

I also spent some time playing around with 703 injectors from junk Neons. I cleaned them up and installed them right before the beach trip August 2013, and the jeep ran hot enough to heat soak a CPS to death apparently. Even with vents. Fortunately Tim (UNCC_99XJ) had a spare one which got me home. Yanked the Trail Jammer module until I could figure out why it didn't want to play nice with the injectors. In hindsight, it was probably fine and my CPS just happened to give out. Beach trip:

Somewhere between beers on the beach trip, I started thinking it would be a great idea to make the XJ 30th Anniversary out in Moab. The wheels started spinning in my head, off-road shops started sending me order confirmation emails, and my free time kept disappearing mysteriously.

The T-case drop was first on the chopping block. HATED that thing. I cringed driving over anything waiting for the hit. So I got a Tom Woods driveshaft and HD SYE, and was most proud of myself when I actually managed to install them. After breaking three sets of cheap snap-ring pliers. And redoing it when the first round leaked.

More stuff happened. Mostly armor. I thought...Moab is mostly made of rock, right? So I have to armor EVERYTHING. JCR sent me a tank skid, a NICE belly skid, and some rock rails. By now I was getting used to drilling holes in the framerails. Got a steering brace put on. Put better leaf spring clamps on the Rough Country stuff after it displayed a disturbing tendency to walk out into my tire and rub the sidewall. I also got some swaybar disconnects (MAN I wish I did this earlier on) slapped on, and started replacing bushings. Fiddled with injectors from a Dodge Caravan. Chased electrical gremlins. Raided many junkyards. And decided that the factory 3.08 axle ratio was completely unacceptable for a drive to Moab. With that in mind, DubbyDoo sold me some stockers from an auto trans '99 for a few hundred bucks. 3.55 wasn't a whole lot better than 3.08, but it was WAY cheaper than paying a shop to regear and I made the swap in my driveway. The old axles stayed outside as decorations. Neighbors loved it.

So I finally ended up 'ready' after two months of weekend work, leave put in from the Army and everything. 5,000 miles in a 230,000 mile XJ with a schedule so tight breaking down means going AWOL. What could go wrong?

Oddly, nothing. I think this can be attributed more to the XJ's native toughness than the quality of work on my part, but the ol' girl held together. Moab and the people there were awesome. I'll let the pics tell a little of the story, with the exception of one shoutout. Thanks to FlexdXJ and DrMoab for getting me on the Lockhart Basin run, that was amazing stuff.

If you haven't been to Moab yet (especially for a event) put that on your bucket list.

More in a little bit...

 

[BlurpleXJ]

Got back from Moab and spent time chasing little problems on the jeep before the next trip. As a side note, 5-90's main cables upgrade solves MANY electrical problems. Next trip was wheeling up at the Fall Flog at Adventure Off Road in November '13. Enjoying hanging with the Cottontail, Team Willys and the group. I don't think I hit all my rock-protective plates one time at Moab, but I hit them ALL the time at Adventure. The girl I took with me had never been four-wheeling before, her face was priceless the first time I came down hard on something. Didn't get any good action shots on this one so...here's me showing off how NOT to traverse a rock. JCR skid took it in stride.

Campsite view in the morning:

For a while I went back into maintenance mode, since Christmas was coming up and I have nieces and nephews and such to buy for. But I kept cruising the forum, plotting expensive plots, and saving up. And then one day in December near Christmas, I impulsively put a lowball offer down on an Ebay aFe header. And it was accepted. Ooops. Just like that a landslide of parts started coming in, powered by my expected tax return or as 'presents to myself'. If I'm upgrading the header, then I should probably move to the '99+ intake. And if I'm doing that, I should get a bigger muffler and cat....and if that's happening, why shouldn't the exhaust be mandrel-bent? I ended up deciding to prep the jeep for a stroker and put in a custom 2.5" mandrel-bent exhaust all the way back.

Playing in some (rare) North Carolina snow in the period in between:

It didn't stop there. In January I got notice I was deploying again in March. I figured, maybe I can make Winterfest before I go. And if I'm deploying, a few more expenses won't hurt before I leave, right? Engine bay ended up like this:

Brown Dog Mounts? check. THOR cowl intake? check, and double sealed with duct tape. ARB air compressor? check. What's that for? Well I ended up sending my old 3.08 axles off to East Coast Gear Supply for a regear and some lockers. So I got 4.11s, an ARB up front, and a cable-shift OX in the back. Swapped those under the jeep (again, driveway job) and hooked it all up. Took it to the alignment shop to be informed it was too shot to align. So parts were ordered and wrenches were turned and the jeep ended up with a full set of Moog ball joints, an IRO double-shear track bar, and a Currie steering setup. Wow what a difference! Much fun was had on the gravel roads commuting back and forth from work (who says XJs can't rally...).

Unfortunately my deployment was backed up too much for me to make Winterfest. But before I left, I dropped the jeep off with Team Willys at his shop in Tennessee, where it sits awaiting a bit of a makeover. Here's where we get to the reason it's called 'deployment money XJ'. Here's what it's definitely getting:

- a Russ Pottenger-built stroker motor, tuned of course
- transmission rebuild w/Hurst shifter
- full frame stiffeners
- Durango steering box upgrade
- 136A ZJ alternator
- front and rear custom-fab bumpers for a winch and tire carrier
- Napier flares
- bigger tires and the DPG/OME lift bits to stuff them

and a whole host of things I am waffling about on the 'maybe' list. I figure, do I want to get rid of the XJ? Nope. Do I have room for a second car? Nope, I move around too much. Well then I guess there's no harm spending cheap-new-car money to 'renew' the XJ I already know and love. Call it a 100,000 mile anniversary gift, if you like.

Anyhow, now that I have a build thread I'll update when I change stuff. Which won't be for awhile since I return to the US in 2015, but I can post up 'jeep porn' pics of the new engine and such once I get a few. The eventual goal is still a reliable, streetable DD rig. Probably on 33x10.50s. With a stroker, and a short throw shifter. I don't claim to make sense.

 

[highspeed]

Nice Build.....so where do you call home? NC?

Deployment money is very nice. I have many friend, mostly single, who build some bad ass rigs after deployment. After my first deployment I spent a ton on my 3000gt vr4, only to have it totaled a few months later...............lesson learned I guess.

Would love to ride with you at some point.

 

[UNCC_99XJ]

Awesome story! Looking forward to updates and to wheelin with you again when you get home!

 

[KPTHEMP]

don't worry about making sense, that's jeep thing, change is imminent, cant wait to see the upgrades, looking good

 

[Cottontail]

don't worry about making sense, that's jeep thing, change is imminent, cant wait to see the upgrades, looking good

Believe that, especially coming from Kris! He changes Jeeps and modifications like most of us change socks.

You ran well in November with the current situation. I'll look forward to seeing what she can do after the upgrades!

 

[devildog0]

That was a good read and a good progression. You've crammed a lot of Jeepin and Jeep events into a pretty short amount of time.

 

[FlexdXJ]

When I saw Jon in Moab: "What the F@$& are you doing here?"

The ole blurple girl is coming along nicely dude!

 

[FlexdXJ]

One of my favorite pics I took in Moab

 

[BlurpleXJ]

Thanks everyone glad you got some enjoyment out of it. I am looking forward to getting back and wheeling with the SEC. The chapter is one of only two stickers I have honored with window space.

Flexy, cool pic thanks. Actually the one above with your rig in it is one of MY favorites from Moab, so I guess we're even.

Highspeed, yeah man I'm a Carolina boy but I'd love to come ride down in Georgia sometime I hear there's awesome wheeling down your way. And I've thought a lot about putting thousands into an XJ that's worth maybe $2k for insurance. I figure XJs are cheap and easy to find. Even if it's 'totaled' in a minor wreck I can probably scrape most of the bits off and plop them in a $500 XJ and be on my way. Or that's what I tell myself anyway...either way the mods are happening haha.

 

[highspeed]

Highspeed, yeah man I'm a Carolina boy but I'd love to come ride down in Georgia sometime I hear there's awesome wheeling down your way. And I've thought a lot about putting thousands into an XJ that's worth maybe $2k for insurance. I figure XJs are cheap and easy to find. Even if it's 'totaled' in a minor wreck I can probably scrape most of the bits off and plop them in a $500 XJ and be on my way. Or that's what I tell myself anyway...either way the mods are happening haha.

Yeah, my problem was that 3000gt vr4s are hard to find in good condition and they aren't cheap. I should have started with an XJ like I was going to.

I'm in Alabama , but we have tons of riding here too.

 

[Cnickgo]

We will continue to miss you and the Blurple at events. It sure would have been neat to get a picture of Blurple and Brad's Tealie side by side.

 

[94xjsport94]

Very nice!

 

[revmaynard]

Loved the story/build so far! Are there supposed to be photos in the first few posts? I only see one photo in the thread.

 

[highspeed]

Yeah lots of pictures.

 

[revmaynard]

I wonder why I can't see them.....

 

[BlurpleXJ]

Yeah, my problem was that 3000gt vr4s are hard to find in good condition and they aren't cheap. I should have started with an XJ like I was going to.

I'm in Alabama , but we have tons of riding here too.

F&@$, reading comprehension fail. Well, haven't wheeled in either place so Alabama sounds good too haha.

 

[RenegadeStang]

Enjoyed reading your thread, and I look forward to seeing how your XJ continues to "grow".

 

[High2by]

Good job sir!! I look forward to wheeling with you again.....hopefully in Moab, right??