MG's 2000 2Dr Build "Greyhound"

That is a fancy sound system man. So are you gonna run the stock Icons? do you have a new suspention ready to go in?


EDIT: sorry I misread your post, so you bought the Icons separate W/ Bald 33's? What size tire do you want to run on the new 2 door?
 
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At this point I dont have any suspension parts bought, most likely waiting for summer when I make most of my money. I really need to get my green one sold so I can wrap up the stereo and start buying other parts.

I bought the icons with pretty much bald rubicon mtrs mounted. I plan on running 33x10.5s or the metric equivalent but the issue Im running into is the metric equivalents are all load range e which might be too stiff for my liking for a dd.

If I dont keep the icons I will likely buy these,
http://asp.americanracing.com/dealerline/blackimages/mega/mAX9816.jpg
 
so im guessing you plan on wheel spacers. I think it would have made more sense just to pick up some 15" wheels with the proper backspacing :dunno:
That way tires would be cheaper and easier to find in load range C. Why do you need metric sizing?


Was your other rig this clean when you first got it? How do you plan to wheel this one without denting it up like the last one? Looking forward to see the progress of this build!
 
If I run the icons I will have to run spacers but now Im on the fence whether I want to keep them or not. I need the metric sizes only because the wheels are 16", no other reason. I have plenty of time to make a decision.

My green one was even cleaner but being sixteen and driving it through the biggest mud pits I could find didnt keep it that way. Im not going to beat on this one as hard and I will armor it up as much as possible. The only skids I have on the other one were lca skids and they dont offer a whole lot of protection.
 
I used to have the tweeters down near the woofers when I had 6.5" Alpine Type R components in the front. From day 1 I regretted putting them so low... I wonder if I can find a picture of my old set up.
 
Alright guys, got some updates.

I tore my acl snowboarding about 5 weeks ago and since then I have been out of work and not able to do much. Had surgery last wednesday and have 4-6 months of recovery to go. That's the worst of the update so now that that is out of the way we'll get back to the jeep.

I got the green jeep sold for $3200, a little less than what I was looking for but now that Im not working I need the money for survival. And now that I have that money its burning a hole in my pocket, more on that later.

I recently installed a 2" bb on a neighbors tj who is now getting rid of his pristine eccos on 30x9.50 tires. He said I can have them in payment for the install. So I now have 5 more wheels and a decision on which wheels I want to go with. Eccos or Icons, whats your vote?

I got the rest of the stereo installed (4ch amp, components and tweeters installed up front and new coaxial speakers in the soundbar. I will try to get out to the garage to get some pictures tomorrow.

Now that I have the stereo done and the wheels I really want to get a small lift on the jeep until I can get to my planned 4.5-5.5" lift and 33s. I have been thinking about doing a 3" lift using shackle brackets and shackles for the rear and 3" coils and an adjustable trackbar. Then Id run either 245/75s or 31x10.5s.

Thats the dilemma Im having now. Being outta work, I know I should save the money to get through the next few months until I find a new job buuuut Id love to spend a little on the jeep to tide me over for a while (likely summer). Any thoughts or opinions?

I have pretty much decided on the 4.5" Clayton 3 link kit with IRO 3.5" leaves instead of the clayton 4.5" because I will be using the shackle boxes and aftermarket shackle.
 
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Alright guys, here are few more photos of the stereo install. I didnt take as many photos as I should have but you get the idea. If you have any questions let me know.

This is how the jeep looked for a week or two


New speaker wire ran under the trim at the rear of the headliner. Went through the back to the crossover which is now tucked up inside the soundbar behind the speaker




Ran the wires down the c pillar, behind the trim, to the amp mounted on the drivers side trunk wall


The front speaker wires were ran down the door sills under the trim pieces and up through the stock door grommets. The front component crossovers are mounted inside the door panels.

Completed












Rear speakers are covered by the stock grilles


I still need to pull the door panels off and check out what the tweeters are hitting. Something behind them is pushing them out not allowing the tweeter cups to sit flush. I will do this once the weather is nice and Im not on crutches and a leg brace.

I dont ever want to do another 4ch amp/new speaker wire/speaker install again. It was frustrating and a ton of work but I did actually get it to look nice and clean like I wanted.

Here is the trunk as of now, I plan on building a tool box that will match the dimensions of the sub box as well. Thats one of the next projects I will get to.



Id also like to get my windows tinted now that I have some expensive equipment in the jeep. The less thats visible the better.

On a slightly different note, I ordered a 2002 Suburban rear view mirror off ebay. It has a compass and temp sensor I plan on hooking up. should be here in the next few days.

Thanks for looking :party:
 
I'm an audio idiot... but that looks awesome to me. Very clean install... then again all your stuff is.

Did the old XJ stay within the NAC? Is the owner here?
 
Thanks John, there are a few more little things I need to address (lots of rattling now) but Ill wait until I can get around a little bit better.

I sold the green one to a young guy named Matt from PA, maybe a little younger than me. Hes not on the boards as far as I know. He said he had another xj but it burnt down one day while his sister was driving it, if that sounds familiar?

Im now thinking about grabbing one of these racks to keep some trunk space usable if I build a cargo box, http://jackdempsey.net/jeep/Factory Service Media/907-Cherokee_mountaineer_rack.pdf
 
I got my 2002 Suburban mirror in today as well. Its a Gentex-177 model, paid 60 with shipping of ebay. I got the idea from a build on jeepforum. Install should go pretty smoothly as the xj is already wired for the temp sensor and the compass is self programming. Anyone has any information on how the stock temp sensor is wired into the cherokee's interior (if it is at all).



Heat shrinked the 7 wires
\

Now I have to figure out the wiring to get the temp and compass functional


From the left: black w/white stripe, green w/white stripe, pink, grey, green, black and another pink, any thoughts?
 
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Found some wiring information,

Here is the low down on the connections to a Gentex mirror (with comp and temp) cut from a late model GM product. The connector pin numbers are found on the wire incursion side of the mating connector.
GM wire harness color function
PIN 1 PINK POWER +12 volts
PIN 2 BK CHASSIS, GND
PIN 3 LT GRN BACKUP LIGHTS
PIN 4 GY TO AUTO DIM OUTSIDE MIRROR
PIN 5 PINK TO AUTO DIM OUTSIDE MIRROR
PIN 6 DR GRN/WT TEMP PROBE
PIN 7 BK/WT TEMP PROBE
Note: Pin 3 is to be connected to the backup lights to turn off the auto dim feature in reverse. If you intend not to use this feature connect the LT GRN wire to chassis ground. If this pin is floating the auto dim will not work properly. Hope this helps. Walt

Now I just to figure out where the temp sensor wires terminate in the vehicle and Im ready to install.
 
Got a couple more things to show you guys.

Last night we got 5-8" of snow and I was heading back from a friends house around 12am and it was quite the epic journey. Took me about 40 minutes to drive what should take half. Made it home and the jeep did great.

Snagged a picture when I got back, you can also see our new 2007 WK with a hemi in the background, its pretty sweet.


Also, I had ordered a grill for my subwoofer and that came today as well.




While I was laying around today I decided I want to make a cold air intake. After reading srmitchell's write up as well as dkg4244's (on JF), I decided to head to Advance to see what they had. I want to keep mine as clean looking as possible without doing a whole lot of cutting.

I had thought about welding up a piece of 3" exhaust tube with a flange to bolt to the firewall but when I walked in they had exactly what I needed.




It is a 3" flange adapter from Spectre, part #8148. It will be mounted to the firewall where most people have drilled and plugged in their air tube.

Then I bought an intake tube with 3" tube adapters, Spectre part #8741.


Mounts right up to the flange adapter




If I can make a flange work with the stock air box I will buy another one and do that but if not I will have to figure something else out, I have a couple ideas.

I will do the actual install tomorrow with a little write up.
 
The cowl intake is done!

I started out by mounting the intake flange up high on the cowl wall, after testing it with the tube attached I found out the hood hit the tube so I had to move the flange down further. You can see the first set of holes above the new ones.



Then I cut the center out, started with a 2" hole saw and finished up with a dremel.



Test fit the tube and the hood still makes contact with it but its not as bad as before. It wont cause any harm now that its lower.



I used a left over tube adapter that I had laying around for the air box. Put a couple bolts in it to keep it from moving and pulling out. I traced the tube and then cut it out with the dremel. I kept the hole small so the rubber would be tight in the hole.





Mounted it at an angle so it would be easier to hook up the tube.



Sealed with RTV inside and out.







Then came the stock intake hole which had to be plugged. Some of you may remember the steering spacers I made out of a cutting board. Well I found the cutting board as I searched for something I could use. I traced the hole the best I could then cut out a rectangle as close to the size of the hole as possibile. Trimmed and ground until it fit snugly into the hole then RTV'd it in. I also put a couple screws in just to make sure it stays put.





 
And done!







Overall impression: It definitely pulls colder air than the unmodified air box did. Driving around I could hardly hear a difference unless I played close attention. If there is any power increase, it's so small I cant tell. Im not too worried about water getting in even though the intake flange is very close to the base of the cowl. I think the ribs on the tub will catch a lot and if there is any water that still gets in the air box/filter will take care of it.

The photos show what I did pretty well but if anyone has any question or comments feel free to send em my way.

Also, Im not sure I ever posted my cables I got from 5-90, his website is Kelleyswip.com if you're interested. I wouldnt hesitate buying from him again.



I also ordered a stock fog switch and panel so I will get my Hellas wired up when I get that. Might convert them to HIDs with this write up I found, http://www.tinbenders.org/forum/showthread.php?p=34398#post34398

Thanks for looking
 
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More stuff,

Cleaned, prepped and painted the Moab I have as the spare wheel for the set of Icons.





I did that because...


I bought a set of MTRs from Scott (Semper Fi 03). Hung out with him and his wife, talked jeeps for a while and came home with another set of tires. He has an awesome jeep which can be found here, http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f22/my-2001-xj-cherokee-1156249/.



Now Im looking for a 2" budget boost or similar lift parts. I dont plan on wheeling it anytime soon but we all know how that will work out. After I get it lifted a little bit I think I might get a green trail ride set up for Rausch Creek.

I also got a lesson on relays while installing my Hella 500s. I ordered a factory fog switch and panel and plan on using this diagram to get it all wired up. I just need to wire up the factory switch and I will be done.







A few weeks ago I put on/helped install a 2" budget boost on my neighbors TJ and at that time I was looking for a set of Eccos which he had with a set of 30x9.50 a/ts. He told me I could have them for helping out so that's what the jeep is running for now until I get it lifted on the MTRs.

Mo' pics








The new addition to our jeep family




Gotta represent
 
Lifted, 2" coil spacers and Rough Country adjustable shackles (bought from RoyalXJ). The only rubbing is on the passenger lca, just barely touches which isnt an issue. The rear sits a little low, might bump it up a little bit. HD Off Road's shackle boxes anyone?

No clean pictures but who wants to see a clean jeep anyway?









Also got my stock fog switch installed. The first one I got from a part out was burnt out and melted but I found a brand new one on craigslist.



Its about done for now, still out of work due to my injury so until I start working the mods will be slow and small. Looking to get some legit recovery points next.

Ill wash it up and grab some new photos soon.
 
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