The Jank

[jbain08]

I've spent the last 2 years working on my MJ and getting it where it is ..... however, with an inside cage instead of an EXO It was quickly becoming a raisin. My brother built the green XJ buggy below and one morning over coffee we decided to trade. Even up.....I kept my axles, winch, rims and tires, below is him wheeling his XJ buggy the weekend before the trade. Since it was already built it saved me a ton of time over starting from scratch.... besides I wanted to keep the MJ in the family.

 

[jbain08]

First thing after getting it home was to cut off the front rub bars off so i could hang a front nose on it. I used an old style for mockup but plan to go with a 01 for the final project. I ordered some 4x6 LED's for headlights and 2.5 round LED for the turn signals, hope they will be in by the weekend. Below is a photoshop of what it should look like once it's done. Then I plan to go with a small cowl hood to finish it off right before a new coat of shiny red paint.

 

[jbain08]

Then I swapped the rear springs end to end to gain about 5 inches of wheelbase. I'm still low in the back but I've got a set of new shackles on the way that should remedy that and give me a little better shackle angle.

 

[jbain08]

I stole this pic from somewhere on the web so if it belongs to you I apologize.... regardless this is exactly how I'll do my fenders.

Beyond this my plan is to redo my steering and trackbar. Since the buggy was still on stock arms my plan is to go with a midarm setup 3 link instead of a longarms off the crossmember. Got a few bars to redo in the back and I gotta add a spare tire but other than that it's almost done. Almost forgot.... I gotta run a anti wrap bar with the rear spring flip so my plan is to go with a slip and twist setup.

 

[WiscoXJ]

I was wondering why you haven't been posting on you MJ thread.. Stoked this new project though!

 

[Mnkyboy]

I need to get the cage on my MJ, mines got some damage but it still looks ok. My brothers MJ however makes your MJ look straight.

The tube has been sitting here for a while, just need to get to it.

 

[jbain08]

Thanks WiscoXJ..... I loved my MJ but I think this bad boy is gonna be way better. Spend the day working on a new Cowl Induction hood.... then off to paint. Hey Mnkyboy..... it's alot of work but you'll be glad you got it on the first time you lean that a pillar into a big tree or rock. Wish I had done an EXO on my MJ to begin with. Always was a big fan of your MJ.

 

[Mnkyboy]

I definitely need one, I've done way to much to it that can't just be swapped to another body.
If I destroyed the cab I would pretty much just have to fix it.

 

[WiscoXJ]

jbain08 what was that triple booster mod you did on the mj? i cant find on anywhere that talks about it. I see stuff like the wj and zj booster upgrades and i know those were dual diaphragms. just curious what exactly yours was?

 

[jbain08]

If I posted Triple then it was a mis-type.... I ran a Dual Diaphragm from a 95 XJ in my MJ....

 

[WiscoXJ]

Ahh Gotchya!

 

[jbain08]

Well the brown truck dropped of the new LED headlights so I couldn't wait to temp them in along with the parking lights. I'll have to wait to get the side bars in before I finalize the parking light brackets but I like hows it looking so far.

 

[jbain08]

I decided to go ahead and cut the front fenders and get them mounted back up. Once I get the front axle moved forward about 2 inches it should be pretty well centered.

 

[jbain08]

Spent a few hours this afternoon tacking my new hood together..... realized too late that I should have moved the 1.5 inch transition closer to the front of the hood to make it look less like a ramp. But all in all it turned out pretty good.

 

[WiscoXJ]

did you just do it for the looks or do you plan on utilizing that cowl?

 

[jbain08]

I like to leave as much structure as possible until I'm done welding....once I get it all tacked together and the grinding done I'll go in and cut holes in the lower hood. I may try and build a box and make a true cowl.... but I haven't done any measuring yet.

 

[jbain08]

I got my winch hooked up today as well as the new nose and grill cut down. I also hooked the new LED headlights hooked up ... I even got a skim coat on the new hood.

 

[N20Jeep]

I like it, looks sweet

 

[jbain08]

Thanks N20...... big ride next weekend and I'm still hoping to make it.

 

[jbain08]

I swapped my rear springs end for end to gain wheelbase and just bought the Barnes 4wd Anti-wrap bar kit. Does anyone have pics of how they mounted the front bushing? I'm running Mid-arms so I don't have a skid like I did on my MJ.... Has anyone cut out the rear floorboards to make room? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.