Just Another XJ on tons, coilovers, 42's, etc. Build

[freerider15]

Ive started following this build since you first posted it. One of my favorite threads. I wish i had the balls to to grab the sawzall.

Once you start cutting...it just gets easier from there

Oh and some info on the fire sleeve please. Never heard of it before.

Its great stuff, and not that much $. Adds fire resistance and some abrasion resistance as well.

I got mine from firesleeve.com. Cheapest prices out there (just have to create an account...takes 2 minutes).

I ordered about $300 worth, which will do everything on the rig (electrical, hydro, fuel, transmission)

To anyone who scoffs at spending $300 to firesleeve components on their rig, $300 is cheap compared to replacing an entire rig after it burns down. There have been enough guys loosing their rigs and buggies to fire...i'm doing lots of things to try and prevent fire...its the thing that scares me the most.

Finally. I have been waiting for a long time to see this come together. Good job man.

Thanks!

 

[freerider15]

Update time.

Boatside UHMW covering done:

Exhaust finished, painted with high temp VHT paint, wrapped, then painted with silicone high temp wrap sealant...and installed:

The power center installed...still waiting on fire sleeve.

Got the rear coolant tubes done and installed:

How she sits now:

Once the firesleeve is in...most the rest of the work will continue. I'm going to try and get the rest of the coolant system mounted before that this week.

 

[ruggedjeep]

I just fire sleeved my rear brake lines after having my exhaust melt a hole on the passenger side and end my day on claw. Will definitely be doing the rest along with my hydro lines. Ill post a pic later today.

 

[freerider15]

I just fire sleeved my rear brake lines after having my exhaust melt a hole on the passenger side and end my day on claw. Will definitely be doing the rest along with my hydro lines. Ill post a pic later today.

Yeah, definitely worth doing!

Well didn't get much work done yesterday...and it ended up being a one step forward, two steps back kinda day :flamemad:

Broke my Taurus fan blade...so I'll have to make a trip down to the junk yards in Denver to find another.

As well, I realized that the rear coolant pipes...I didn't cut them shorter like I was supposed to before welding a rib on the ends and painting them.

So now I get to pull those back out and fix them...as well as get a new fan.

Only then that went "right" was I got the radiator mounted.

Ugh...

Its days like that, that kill motivation.

My firesleeve gets in today, so I'll work on knocking that out in the warmth of the house.

 

[ruggedjeep]

Rear line sleeved. Gotta do the rest.

 

[freerider15]

Rear line sleeved. Gotta do the rest.

Nice, where did you get your firesleeving? Seems like most all of it out there is orange (mainly since one company makes most all of it :laugh: )

 

[freerider15]

So a little bit of an update:

Got my case of Amsoil Tractor Hydraulic Fluid

As well all my firesleeve came in, got most everything wrapped up. Now just need to get it all mounted and plumbed, which is the plan for this weekend.

Goals for this weekend:
- Fix/get all coolant plumbing done and mounted
- Get all Hydro mounted/plumbed
- Get all electrical mounted/run
- Get all fuel mounted/plumbed

Then, hopefully weekend after next (i'm in Houston Thursday through Sunday next week for a company business meeting), I can try firing her up! *crosses fingers*

 

[ruggedjeep]

Nice, where did you get your firesleeving? Seems like most all of it out there is orange (mainly since one company makes most all of it :laugh: )

Some local mom and pop shop called V.F sales, only deal high performance hoses and fittings.

 

[freerider15]

Places like that are nice to have around.

That is definitely one positive I'll give to SoCal...you can't seem to turn your head without hitting a race shop or something of the sort.

 

[freerider15]

Quick little update:

Some pictures of the plumbing, still got some tightening to do and routing.

As well, got my N2 tank and hose made so I'm ready to set her at ride height.

Tank and hose cost me a weeeee bit more than I was hoping to spend (was trying to reuse a CO2) tank...but at least I own the tank and this one fill should be more than enough!

 

[rockclimber]

looks really clean.

 

[COjeeper]

When is the shake down run? Would love to be there for it.

 

[eflores]

you gonna walk next to it cuz your jeep aint following... lol

hell my jeep aint following either

 

[EricsXJ]

The amount of work you've put into this thing is unbelievable. Looks great!

 

[Starboard M]

When hoses fail, do they fail on the hose itself, or the fittings?

Looks like you wrapped the fuel and hydro lines. Reason for the hydro? What did you use on the ends? Electrical tape?

What color are you going for on the body panels?

Why did you remove the AC?

 

[freerider15]

looks really clean.

Thanks!

When is the shake down run? Would love to be there for it.

Not too sure just yet. Might bop it around somewhere (possibly some private property) up here near Fort Collins. Once I know the thing "works"...Indy will probably be the first stop.

you gonna walk next to it cuz your jeep aint following... lol

hell my jeep aint following either

Everyone is more than welcome to come, but everyone can follow at their own risk

The amount of work you've put into this thing is unbelievable. Looks great!

Thanks!

When hoses fail, do they fail on the hose itself, or the fittings?

Looks like you wrapped the fuel and hydro lines. Reason for the hydro? What did you use on the ends? Electrical tape?

What color are you going for on the body panels?

Why did you remove the AC?

Fail as in? From what I've seen, its one of two things. If the hoses fail at the ends...improper installation from either field serviceable or the crimp wasn't done correct. The other method that seems to be more common from what I gather...is hoses rubbing on something, and eventually rubbing to the point where the hose ruptures.

I wrapped the hydro since any fluid is combustible at high enough temps. To me its just overall safety. I want to do EVERYTHING I can to make sure this thing doesn't burn down on me or with me in it. The sleeving also gives the hoses another layer of protection against abrasion. Jesse Haines said he wrapped everything because with the firesleeve being as cheap as it is (couple bucks a foot), it just makes sense to wrap everything you can. I'm also wrapping my major electrical big 00 gauge cords to/from the battery as well. A small fire that burns through the outer sheathing and thus letting there be contact can make things much much worse.

The ends might look like electrical tape, but it is actually firetape. Its not sticky like electrical tape but adheres with the pressure from wrapping. It seals the ends, and acts as a hose clamp keeping the hose in place and prevents fraying of the inner fiberglass.

Body panels...looking to go a dark blood-reddish metallic.

A/C...I didn't get rid of it...just converted by getting rid of all the sheet metal

 

[mikedashg]

So what's left of the XJ? Part of the firewall, possibly skins, and the engine? Why didn't you just build a firewall? You built everything else? It looks like you cut away the XJ bit by bit and made a completely brand new rig. I'm not trying to hate, since I had to wipe the drool off my keyboard. I just don't get it. Why not just throw away the XJ and build a buggy? The rig is fricken awesome! Really amazing attention to detail. I don't have enough patience for that. Jerry-rig it and get on the trail man! That's my motto

 

[mikedashg]

So what's left of the XJ? Part of the firewall, possibly skins, and the engine? Why didn't you just build a firewall? You built everything else? It looks like you cut away the XJ bit by bit and made a completely brand new rig. I'm not trying to hate, since I had to wipe the drool off my keyboard. I just don't get it. Why not just throw away the XJ and build a buggy? The rig is fricken awesome! Really amazing attention to detail. I don't have enough patience for that. Jerry-rig it and get on the trail man! That's my motto

Derp, I see this was already answered.

I never had remotely planned on going this far. Original plans were to just cut off everything behind C-pillar and do an exo/inner hybrid cage (mine was going to look much like RCMan's...but had plans for it far before he started )

Then a little more got cut off here and there...and before you know it, you have a chassis and a buggy really instead of an XJ.

And for the record...there is no previous floorboard left, and the uniframe could be completly gutted from its channel and it wouldn't do a thing. In all reality, besides the drivetrain...all that is left is some of the cowl, and some of the firewall. It will be XJ paneled...but yes any more it really isn't an XJ and just a full buggy.

Though it would have made life FAR easier had I started with a chassis and built a buggy from that, this was my first venture into real fabrication so it gave me a building block to go from. Not sure I would have been able to build a chassis then (though I definitely could now).

But hey, at least I'm subscribed now. Been lurking for yeeeeeeeeeears.

 

[freerider15]

So what's left of the XJ? Part of the firewall, possibly skins, and the engine? Why didn't you just build a firewall? You built everything else? It looks like you cut away the XJ bit by bit and made a completely brand new rig. I'm not trying to hate, since I had to wipe the drool off my keyboard. I just don't get it. Why not just throw away the XJ and build a buggy? The rig is fricken awesome! Really amazing attention to detail. I don't have enough patience for that. Jerry-rig it and get on the trail man! That's my motto

Derp, I see this was already answered.
But hey, at least I'm subscribed now. Been lurking for yeeeeeeeeeears.

You do realize we've met before...was like 2005 though

Yeah, it's 90% buggy, 10% Jeep anymore. If the day comes a built LQ9 and 4L80E decide to make their way into the engine bay it will be even less then

I've been around enough guys from mild to wild builds that have jerry rig'd things...only for them to bite them back hard. Decided I wanted this done right the first time around so that the only real changes that may occur would be with upgrades like a V8.

 

[COjeeper]

you gonna walk next to it cuz your jeep aint following... lol

hell my jeep aint following either

What do you mean, you don't think my 31's will keep up?

EDIT: Didn't mean to hijack.