Paul's 91XJ build!

[PaulT]

Woohoo! first tech post!

The basics:
4.0 Litre I6 with 177600 miles. With the faint perfume of antifreeze and the endearing sound of marbles down low.

AW4 transmission with power/comfort mode. Not sure which i'm supposed to drive around in, but it shifts well and doesn't slip.

NP242 Transfer Case. No more complaints about "the shovel," i think i could get this thing to scrape the ground if i hit a pothole just right.

Dana 30 High pinion front/Dana 35 rear. I thought people were joking about a dana 35 having a rubber fill plug! til i found one!

The Good:
1. Cheap
2. Doesn't have to be driven every day

The meh:
1. Most guages work
2. Engine still has some pep despite the noises it makes
3. Rust, but nothing that can't be taken care of with a cut off wheel

The bad:
1. Needs a steering column
2. Needs a better drivers seat
3. Temp guage is kaput
4. The carpet has lollipops melted on it and bondo spilled across it.
5. Smells like a wet chimp.
6. Drivers door doesnt open

[PaulT]

To start things off, i opened a "new car scent" tree and left it in there for a couple days. Still smells like a chimp, but only faintly!

I called around to some salvage yards for miscellaneous items.

After being told that a steering column would cost about $80 and a new door would be about 125, i've taken to scouring craigslist and jeep forums for part outs. so nothing has been done there.

I replased the coolant temp sensor hoping my the guage would magically start working. No success. If you're reading this and know of a solution, one would be greatly appreciated!

Then i decided i needed to have some fun with the old bag.

Total invested to this point: 417.88.

I ordered a front tow hook kit and 242 skid plate from rusty's offroad. The same day, i decided to order the Zone Offroad 3" add a leaf kit.

I must say i'm impressed with the Zone kit. New coils, 2 aals and 4 new shocks for $290. Figuring that my rubicon's coil spacers and Skyjacker shocks came to around $240, i'm quite happy with the kit.

Carl was going to let me tag along with him on this weekends run, until it got canceled! So we planned a wrenchfest instead.
Here she sits at 10ish AM


Front done!


Almost there!
(thanks for the pics carl, i'm feeling lazy today. i'll put my 2 pics up later)

And here she sits at 6pm, after 6-7 hours of wrenching, and a great steak tip sub from LaCascia's in Medford. (Its not just a bakery you know!) 31 x 11.5 LTBs and 3 inches higher.


After her maiden voyage, some things became apparent. I'm going to need wheel spacers, as the tires are quite close to the leaf springs in back, and scrub on the control arms slightly before full turn. I'm also going to need extended brakelines and a track bar. ( Suggestions on where and/or what to buy are welcome)

She handles what might be 55 very well, tracks fairly straight. She tends to wander after large potholes, but i never felt unsafe after a 50ish mile voyage late Saturday night.

Total Cost to date:
$1138.xx (purchase, minor parts, lift, tires, tow hooks, skid plate)
+72 replacement rocker panels
+121 adjustable trackbar = $1320ish
Future purchases are brake lines and rear bumper.

Future plans also include turning AC compressor into OBA, door replacement, carpet getting ripped out and probably bedlined and spray bomb paint job.

Next update should be soon enough, and be me trimming the hell out of the fenders.

[PaulT]

After a botched root canal, which lead to having a ridiculously painful "surgical" extraction, i've been home for 2 days doped up and staring longinly out the window at my heep (which i'm so happy i can finally call my rig!), i took some action.

Bright eyed and bushy tailed, i set out to give milady a slight haircut. I left a lot more on the front than i intended too, in case i was shakier than i thought. Heres how she came out:

I'll get back out there and clean her up a little better, theres some burrs i'll have to sand or grind down, but i'm pleased with my first time behind a cutting wheel.

Taking Kai's advice about not cutting off the rear, i re-read the write up on NAXJA i had seen earlier and hadn't paid much attention to. I cut some slits up to the old fender flare line

some of them weren't quite even, but it happens.


Then using some pliers, i began bending the easy access ones. My floor jack is kaput, so i left the tire on. I need a new one, and i'll make it look purdier and finish her up. I only bent them enough to get a picture out of it. I need to put something sticky in the back, then i'll spray bomb over the cuts to avoid more rust. anyways, heres how it came out:


Got home early from work today and its finally a gorgeous day. I finished folding up the drivers side rear

Finished the front drivers side, leaving a little meat below the headlight. Also found some bondo the previous owner patched up the rocker panels with.

The ripped off the flares from the passenger side. Made the slices in the rear first

then folded them in. (Sorry for the angle, my neighbors car was in he way and i'm too lazy to move the XJ)

Then started cutting the front. didn't mark it off with tape, but did the same as the other side, little bits at a time. Its a little off compared to the other side, lucky for me its hard to see both sides at once!

[PaulT]

After looking further into John's advice to use 2x5 or 2x6 tubing to replace my rotten rocker panels, i called to cancel my order of replacement rocker panels from Rock Auto. no luck, they'd already been shipped. It should be an experiance, but the front door and drivers seat have to come out anyways to be replaced. Hopefully i'll have a nice weekend soon to get it done.

My buddy is home from the navy for the month, so he's been driving it around town. The only problem he is complaining about (other than crawling in from the passenger side) is the steering. If you hit a bump around a corner, it tends to wander. I ordered a 4wd hardware adjustable trackbar, once that comes in, it should be pretty dependable.

The shift linkage for the 242 hopefully only needs adjustment. I was messing around on a jobsite, playing on stumps, logpiles and rockpiles, and it would pop out of 4 low on occasion. I've adjusted the linkage on a yj 231, hopefully its the same straightforward procedure for the 242.

[Scott]

Wahooo, first tech post reply!

The Good:
1. Cheap
2. Doesn't have to be driven every day

The meh:
1. Most guages work
2. Engine still has some pep despite the noises it makes
3. Rust, but nothing that can't be taken care of with a cut off wheel

The bad:
1. Needs a steering column
2. Needs a better drivers seat
3. Temp guage is kaput
4. The carpet has lollipops melted on it and bondo spilled across it.
5. Smells like a wet chimp.
6. Drivers door doesnt open

I think we have the same jeep! It exactly describes mine... well, my door opens but it's ready to fall off do to the hack that cut the hinges to make them removable. i just hope when it does fall off nobody watching.

[johnsxj]

Yes, first tech reply with an actual tech answer!!!!!!!

Paul, the 242 linkage uses the same type of adjustment as the 231 on the XJ so you should be good to go there!

[PaulT]

Any ideas on getting the temp guage to work? i replaced the sending unit already. After overheating on the Class 6 run last year, i'm kind of nervous about wheeling it with no working temp guage. Driving on the highway, it'll stay pinned all the way to the right (overheating) then when you let off the gas, it'll drop down to normal or all the way to the left (cold) then jump back up when you get on the gas. Bad ground? melted wire? did i not screw in sending unit enough?

[johnsxj]

First the obvious question.....

Did you get the correct sending unit? They're offered for Jeeps with a gauge or with an "idiot" light. You did replace the correct sending unit didn't you? There's two; one on the thermostat housing for the computer, another on the head in the back by the valve cover on the manifold side for the gauge.

The way you describe the gauge reading, it sounds like you might not have enough coolant in the system. The XJ's can be a pita to fill without getting air pockets in the cooling system. Best way to do it is this...

1) Jack up the driver's front of the Jeep so that the radiator cap is the highest point in the cooling system.
2) Remove the temp gauge sensor (that one in the rear by the valve cover) and see if any coolant comes out.
2a) If coolant come out of the sensor hole, put the sensor back in. If not, slowly add coolant mix into the radiator until it just starts to come out of the sensor hole then put the sensor back in.
3) Slowly add coolant mix to the radiator until full.
4) With the Jeep still jacked up, start the engine and let it run until warm (thermostat opens, upper hose warm to touch) with the radiator cap off. Once the engine is warm, keep adding coolant until system is full (you'll have to pour a little in, let it go down, pour a little in, let it go down....) Revving the engine a little bit at times will help draw the coolant in.
5) When the system is full, put the cap back on the radiator, lower the Jeep, and fill the overflow resevior to about the 1/2 way point.

That should get most of the air out of the cooling system.

[PaulT]

I replaced the one on the thermostat. The counter monkey at Autozone didn't mention a second one (and i didn't notice) It has a gauge.

When i replaced it, coolant did weep out. And when i took it back off after the gauge still didn't work, it weeped out again. I'll see if autozone has another listing for the temp sensor and try your method. hopefully it works. I've lived without a tach, speedo, and gas guage, this is the only one that makes me nervous!

[Scott]

The gauge in My XJ doesn't work, bounces all around. The dweeb/hack that owned it before me installed an aftermarket gauge. That one in this weather fluctuates between 160-190. the heat also sucks! I imagine I may have some air in the system.

I'd bet your gauge is broken.

[PaulT]

I wouldn't doubt its broken, but i like to hope for the best! my heat is awesome, even when its 8 degrees out! the ac is terrible though, but that'll be OBA when i get around to it. I'll be tinkering this weekend, hopefully it'll magically work.

[Frank]

Scott : If your heat sucks and your system is full, find out if you have cable operated coolant valves or vacum. The valve that directs water through the heater core might not be opening all the way. Or the doors that switch the heat from say def to floor or vent might be holding it back. If it takes forever to move the gauge it probably has the t-stat stuck open.

[PaulT]

Still need a rear tow point to be club (and common sense) compliant.

Looking at this bumper currently since its on sale for the same price as there stage 1 and offers a reciever and d-ring tabs:
Jcr Stage 2
Any opinions? or should i just cheap out and get a u-haul hitch and a reciever attachment?


Got a lot but still not much done. Swapped out the drivers door and rear passenger door. Took the switches and wiring out of the old door so i now have 2 manual window/locks and 2 powered doors. A little quirky, but i'm getting used to it! At least slush can't magically appear on the back of my legs when i hit puddles now.

Need a tech day to get my t-case skid and 8.25 installed! Maybe when Carl takes his new junk up to U-Do-it, i'll commandeer a bay next door.

[SidewaysTim]

That's a good looking bumper and seems like a decent price. Plus, it won't cost you any ground clearance.

[johnsxj]

That's a nice beefy bumper! I like how it goes out to the corners.