NEW BUILD - Black Out XJ

[epitaphmike]

About a month ago I bought my first XJ and couldn't wait to start modifying it. I bought the 1998 XJ Sport AW4 NP241 with 89K miles and complete stock condition. It even came with the skid plate package.

This was how it was purchased.

A week ago I added the 3.5" Rubicon Express Super Flex lift and 31x10.50R15 BFG Mudders. (95% tread with 5 Crager Wheels for $450.00 on craigslist... a steal) Just in case anyone wants to know, my XJ measures 36" from the ground to the bottom of the fender flare, both front and rear. It seemed to settle pretty quick.

I wanted the 4.5" lift, but I couldn't pass up the wheels and tires at that price. I liked the look of the original wheels, but I thought they would look better in black, so I figured I would do a product test. 2 cans of Duplicolor Wheel Paint. $5.99 a can at Autozone, some 320 grit sandpaper and I had a completely different wheel. I saw a thread about the paint and figured I would give it a go.

After some prep work the wheels were ready to be painted. Today I got the new wheels mounted and I had the tires turned with the white lettering in. The final product was exactly what I wanted. If anyone has another matching wheel, I need a spare 5 spoke with center cap.

Here is how she stands today. I will be adding front and rear bumpers in the next few weeks. I will add more pics when she changes again.

 

[300$XJ]

looks good

 

[juniorXJ]

im lovin' it. very stealth. did i spell that right?

 

[bcmaxx]

gonna look mean!!! sweet find!

 

[9lared0]

good look for those wheels

 

[igotanxj]

Looks sweet man!

 

[offroader461]

good look...maybe ill see ya around..LOL

 

[sunburned]

Looks great. Now its time to get those front windows tinted and buy some niteshade spray paint to black out the turn signals, reflectors and taillights.

 

[kdailey4315]

great job. I have a man crush on black cars and black rims

 

[epitaphmike]

Tint is coming soon, AZ in the summer sucks. Especially with a black vehicle. Thanks for all the great comments. Now it's time to wheel it.

 

[Renegade]

Wow, looks great, i got the same lift, its great your gonna have a blast wheelin it.

 

[smcdonaldaz]

That looks sweet!

I'm going to pick up a set of canyons and and paint them to look like this:

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=947848

and sell my nice polished alloys that look like this:

 

[Thumpersdriver]

Black cars look better in the shade. Heheheheh! Seriously, that looks damn sweet.

 

[epitaphmike]

That looks sweet!

I'm going to pick up a set of canyons and and paint them to look like this:

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=947848

I like the style of the canyons better than mine, but mine were on the jeep when I bought it so i figured I would save a little cash. My prep was not as extensive though. Just a good wash a degrease, a good one over with 320 grit and I was spraying. I figured after a weekend of wheeling they wouldn't look new anymore. I have some left for touch-up though.

 

[smcdonaldaz]

I like the style of the canyons better than mine, but mine were on the jeep when I bought it so i figured I would save a little cash. My prep was not as extensive though. Just a good wash a degrease, a good one over with 320 grit and I was spraying. I figured after a weekend of wheeling they wouldn't look new anymore. I have some left for touch-up though.

If I had stock rims I'd do what you did for sure. Cause I'm a cheapskate , but the alloys Ihave wouldn't look good painted and honestly, it would be a shame to. They are in really good shape.

 

[epitaphmike]

OK, I didn't think I would be updating this thread anytime soon, but I came home last night to an early Father's Day gift. A new Sirius Starmate 4! My wife got the Starmate 4, a InV2, Frank Sinatra CD, and $50 Sirius gift card for $118. She did some crazy research. If she bought the Frank CD ($14.99) during the purchase she received an instant $20 off the total. The $50 gift card is coming in the mail. I'm going to use that towards subscription fees. The install was super easy and the only wires you can see is the ones in the pic.
*One thing that was 100% necessary was the FM Direct Adapter, before I installed it the reception was really bad.

 

[BADaXJ]

another cheap and easy thing you could do to add to the stealth look is pick up some krylon fusion paint and hit all your trim pieces. it'll take them back to a nice solid black. or you could peel the trim off for a sleek look... just an idea.

 

[blackdoutxj]

like the name!hahah thats how it all started for me!

 

[epitaphmike]

like the name!hahah thats how it all started for me!

Thats funny. I went through some of you previous post to find a pic but didn't see one. I didn't look that hard either.

I'm not really going for the super stealth look, I just like all black vehicles. I am trying to keep the interior mostly stock. I am planning on adding a few gauges (oil temp, trans temp and air pressure). I read a thread about retrofitting a MyGig w/ Nav. If someone else tackles that first I will attempt it, but my electrical skills suck.

 

[xtrememtbiker85]

I love the factory wheels painted black. i personally hate the D window or soft 8 wheels cause everyone has them and IMHO the stock steelies look much better black than those wheels.