The Tear Down Begins

Matt,
There is a very long list of people who I have not seen around here lately. Doug being one of them. You being another ;)

I hope he is recovering well!!

Michael
 
Ha! I actually just haven't checked in here for a couple of weeks. I can give some updates, although nothing too significant. I got rid of the old XJ about a month ago, borrowed the labor of a couple buddies from the Boeing 4x4 club and the trailer/tow rig from another co-worker/wheeling buddy. We winched the XJ up on the trailer, jacked/blocked/braced it to remove the axles and suspension, lowered it onto 6"x6"dunnage blocks, strapped it down and hauled it off. Took it to a place off of Hwy 92 up towards Granite, NW Auto Recyclers IIRC. Signed the title over, they gave me $105 for the scrap steel weight, and that was that.

I believe I mentioned on here that I'd picked up another XJ, a teal-blue '98. 142K mi, couple of very minor dings, clean interior, works/runs/drives well. I did salvage the bumpers, winch, T-case, suspension, axles, wheels & tires from the old XJ, those are ready to swap on less some repainting of bumpers and new seals in the front axle. The reason I haven't started the new build yet is I'm going to have Those Guys do a hybrid cage like Squirrel Ginger, and Poopy here have. That's Alex, Lyle, and Matt, in case you were wondering. With having them do integrated rocker replacements too, Pat says it's about $2500-ish. To me that means $3K by the time you factor in incidentals. Having just dropped $3K exactly on the new XJ, I don't have a spare $3K kicking around to put into what I consider the foundation of my new rig, the Those Guys safety-special. I also will not wheel it without a cage, I'm done with that, so there's really no point to rush into swapping on all the other stuff sitting in the garage.

So that's pretty much it. I've been working as many weekends as I can to try and get a handle on the financial end of this build, but it's been slow going. I'm not going to rush it, but do plan on hooking up with you all on the trail via my CJ-5 at some point this Spring/Summer. Health-wise, I'm about 90% good to go. Some lingering discomfort in the ribs, doesn't really prevent me from doing anything.

I wish you all well, and hope to see you soon. Thanks for being the great group of meatheads that you are.

Doug
 
Doug,

Thanks for the update.
Glad to hear you are recovering.
Be patient, at your (:D) age it takes a little longer than it used to ;)

Let us know if there is anything we can do to help with the build up.
Michael
 
John, I already have the CJ for a beater. What I really ought to do is swap in or build a fully-boxed frame for it. Problem is, it's never going to be a buggy, but it's a nice couple steps down from there and does pretty much everything I want to do within those parameters. I may still do the frame swap, it's just hard to get motivated when it's pretty much turnkey-ready as it sits in my garage and only gets wheeled a half-dozen times a year. The reason I built the other XJ is to have a more comfortable wheeler that I can also drive to wherever I feel like for hard but not insane wheeling, sleep in the back, and drive it to work on Monday. I want that again. Plus, I just really like XJs.

Michael, thanks, I may take you up on that offer at some point. I do plan on getting out wheeling before too much longer, I need to get back on the trail. The new build just isn't a priority right now, but the fact that I have most of the stuff to do it already is a huge plus. If I didn't have a rig at all right now, I'd honestly buy a TJ and build something a notch or two below John's for overall general use. Who knows, I may change my mind, sell both the CJ and the new XJ and go with the TJ build plan. Time is on my side, I won't rush whatever I end up doing. Right now I need to earn some money for Jeep and other unrelated family expenses that have been hitting hard lately. I won't forget about my NAXJA crew, you guys are stuck with me. :-)
 
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