Project MixNMatch aka MallCrawler

[IllianaXJ]

Like Brad, I have built several XJs and a ZJ, but never made a build thread for any of them. May as well start one for this XJ. This won't be as witty and hilarious as Brad's build, but I mainly want this thread so I can track what I do with this Jeep.

Backstory: Had the red 01XJ. Built perfect, wheeled great. In a moment of stupidity, I sold it to a guy in TN. Cycled through a couple more XJs, ended up with the purple ZJ. Traded that for a 2 door 96 XJ SE, wheeled it at Harlan and had a blast. The lack of creature comforts and the miscellaneous issues with it were keeping me from DDing it, which was the initial plan.

Enter the 95 Sport 4 door. We towed it into the shop (I work part time for a wrecker service) with a no start issue. The owner hasn't called or stopped by to see about fixing it for 3 months, so I am in the process of getting a court-ordered title for it. Plus side; it spent it's whole life in AL so it is rust free. Negative side; it's 2WD.

Plan is to take the good parts from the 2 door, put them in the 4 door and have the wife take it over as a DD. The 2 door will stay in the back 40 for spare parts until it's tapped out, then it will be scrapped.


The 96 2 door



D30 w/ 4.10s, Spartan locker, IRO steering and trackbar.
8.8 w. 4.10s
Rusty's lift - 4.5"ish
231 w/ SYE & Novak cable shift
Custom winch bumper
Custom long arms
32" Kevlars
Wagoneer header panel

How it began:


After a few hours here and there:










The 95 Sport

Pics to come later. It will get the trans, t'case, axles and springs from the 96, but will stay on short arms for now. I picked up a set of 90% tread 31" Duratracs from the local Jeep JY for a cheap, they will be mounted to the stock steelies. It will also get the CheeseRack roof sliders and eventually the Wagoneer header panel.

 

[GoSlowGetStuck]

Subscribed! So this will be Kim's DD but you still get to steal it for wheeling trips right?? Or is it just to distract her so you can build another one?

Also is that your shop?

 

[IllianaXJ]

Subscribed! So this will be Kim's DD but you still get to steal it for wheeling trips right?? Or is it just to distract her so you can build another one?

Also is that your shop?

It will be her DD until wheeling trips. She wanted a minivan, but I can get this built for low dough and she is ok with that.

It's the shop at the wrecker service, fringe benefit

 

[FlexdXJ]

We need to get her one of those decals of two people running from a bear on the back window!

 

[XJosh95]

Low pro Blizzaks!!!

I'm watching this thread because I like you. I still believe it should have been a ZJ build thread.

 

[BIGSLVRXJ]

Subscribed, good to see a build thread out of you Byron

 

[IllianaXJ]

The Blizzaks are from the pile of snow tires for our county Chargers. Made it much easier to roll the axle and springs out from under the Jeep. I like the look of the wheels, but I don't want to spend the $$$$$ on 18s

 

[IllianaXJ]

It's not technically mine on paper yet, but here's the new junk:













It needs quite a bit of TLC, but there isn't any rust on it anywhere.

Tonight Logan and I pulled it onto the rack and changed the oil. Twice. The windshield decal said it was 13k overdue, and judging by the black stuff that came out I believe it. Ran 5 qts oil/1 qt ATF through it for ~20 min and drained it again. It was still nasty, but better. Refilled it with 5 qts oil/1 qt ATF and put a new filter on. I'll run it like that for a few hundred miles and change it again. That's about all I got done with Logan's attention span, much more to come!

 

[BIGSLVRXJ]

Looks great Byron, pretty cool that your kid helps out too. I approve.

 

[IllianaXJ]

Made boring progress today; took my court paperwork to the BMV, who mailed it all out to Central BMV. Should have the title in 15 business days, so it's getting pulled in the shop this weekend to get started.

First things first, deep clean inside and out. Then find time to swap trans/tcase and axles. The goal is to drive it to Redbird.

 

[IllianaXJ]

New pile of parts arrived today, some necessary and some fun.

Water pump, t'stat/gasket, MileMarker hydro winch and CheeseSliders

Assembly should begin in the next week or so, with pics.

 

[kmanxj5050]

Why at in the oil? Never heard of that.

 

[IllianaXJ]

ATF has more detergents than motor oil, redneck way to aid de-gunking an engine.

 

[kmanxj5050]

Gotchya!

 

[XJosh95]

A quart of diesel does the same thing if you haven't got ATF handy. But hey, we've got XJs...if you don't have a quart of ATF under the rear seat, you're doing it wrong.

 

[Jeepguy91]

This looks like an interesting build. Will have to keep the atf/oil change in mind. Does it hurt to do it every once in a while to help clean out the engine?

 

[IllianaXJ]

Not that I can tell, but if you stay on top of your oil changes you don't have to worry about sludge buildup. It's cases like this one where they went 13k over that it turns to goo.

 

[GoSlowGetStuck]

Coincidentally if you ever buy Marvel Mystery Oil, it has the same color, smell, and consistency as ATF. They have got a hell of a racket going on!

I was looking through Photobucket and found some pics of when I changed the valve cover gasket on my first XJ... it too had not had regular oil changes. Here's a visual aid:

ATF ain't gonna do squat for that though!

 

[IllianaXJ]

I *think* MMO has a splash of kerosene in it too, but I'm not sure.

That's nasty.

 

[1989TwoDoor]

That is just sad!