SIJA

Edit: Rather than Try to make eveything blend together nicely, I'm just going to chunk this into two sections. "Chop Stuff" and "Non Chop Stuff"

Non Chop Stuff:

Quick spec’s at a glance:
’87 XJ
4.7L Sifco Stroker
D30 (Aussie)/D44(Mini Spool) 3:55's
Very tired AW4
3.5” Re 6030 Kit with RE Mono tube shocks
JKS adjustable Track bar
32x10.5 TSL Radials (Love these tires)
Still Rocking 3.55's (and getting 19 mpg to boot!)
TRE Flip using Go-Fer-It Tie Rod Inserts and a Modified YJ Linkage

Started out as an $800 ’87 XJ, in a very worn out condition. However the price is right and everything seemed solid.
So here it is as it appeared in Craigslist on March of ’07:

In which I promptly put up a small poser show ^_^




Soon after that, I started doing some digging to find out what kind of rats nest I was dealing with. I knew there was going to be some rust problems, as the P.O. had removed the roof rack chrome strips on the top, but had neglected to plug the holes. This killed a big chunk of the headliner, as well as gave it a nice funk inside.

Interior:
So it was time to start removing the interior and assessing the rust situation. This is what I found:




And I had to remove this much to repair the rust:



Which was starting to make me think that I paid about $600 too much for this thing =/ On to the repair panels:


And the Panels welded in:


I hacked up some of the carpet to give me a little sound deadening:

Then purchased some Husky liners and reinstalled the rest of the interior:



This was done with the thought that if I were to dunk this thing, I could dry it all out fairly quick like. I did the same thing in the rear, I cut up there factory carpet to go over the wheel wells, and put a fresh piece of carpet on the floor. This piece comes out easily for cleaning/drying.:

.

I still have more interior work to do with the chop project, That information will be put in the "Details" thread. But the above will give you a taste of what’s been done so far.

^_^ So as it sat at that point:


Motor:
I test drove this thing for about a half hour, it sounded decent for a 187k 4.0L. Unfortunately, the first stop light I pulled up at after my 45 minute trip home (highway), the oil pressure light came on. Later, a mechanical gauge confirmed that it was getting a whopping 3psi at hot idle with sae 50wt and a high volume pump. Something needed to be done. It took a little time and research, but eventually I took the stroker plunge.
4.7L based on Renix junk..


Doors:
Before I had the time and money to do the stroker project, I did a few other odds and ends. One being the door removal (this was done because the A/C no longer held a charge, it was later used to run my On Board Air or OBA). I can now easily remove all the doors, however, I usually only remove the front two.


Lift:
Now that the motor was in, I decided to ditch the low rider look I had going on, and I’m now rocking the RE 6030 kit (3.5”). So far, I’ve been very happy with how this kit is performing. I’d buy it again, and recommend it to anyone! As another note, I purchased it through Dirk at DPG off road. I’d recommend anyone looking for lifts ect to give him a call! I didn’t take too many pictures (funny how that works out). A BIG thanks to Robs for giving me a hand at some critical times!

Finished Rear (D35 replaced with a D44):

Finished the front:


And how it sat after the Lift:


It still has a bit of a ‘sport rake’ going on, but it levels out nicely with all my gear in the back.

Protection:
I welded up a front bumper that also uses a set of YJ tow hooks and a 2” receiver. So far it hasn’t bent yet ^_^


Also made a rear bumper that integrates into the rear pseudo frame rails. It doubles as an air tank for the OBA:





After my first trip out, I put some nice divots in my frame rails, so I beefed them up buy laying ¼” strips down the bottom. I’m happy to say that they’ve held up quite well thus far:



I’ve finished up my t-case skid plate v2.0. The first version didn’t fare as well as I’d hoped, so I added some more beef to it. Now I just need to finish beefing up the cross member:





I got some used 'Kirk 'n Stout' Rock Rails from a member (Thanks Joe!). Since they were from a ZJ, they had to be shortend a few inches, but they seem stout enough to do the job..



So all of that should be enough to keep it somewhat protected. I later added a Skid Row Gas Tank Skid that I found as a 'scratch and dent' from that supplier. Needless to say, its holding up just fine, and I've added a few scratches and dents myself to it ^_^

End Non Chop Post

And now onto the chop project. you can find more of the indvidual details in the these threads themselves:
Phase 1 - Rocker Beef
Phase 2 - What Have I done!!!
Phase 3 - Details (will be updated as progress is made)

Feel free to PM or post up if there are any questions, as I'm just going to do an overview here...

Why chop the top? Well, I've been wanting to do this for quite some time, and I finially got my reason to do it....



After wheeling the poo out of this thing for the past two years, I finially killed alot of glass and mangled the D pillar/hatch beyone repair. So it seemed like a good time to start cutting Now that its all done, I've learned quite a bit along the way and if I were to do it again, I think it would turn out much better. But hey, we've all got to start somewhere right?

So to start out (Phase 1) I cut out the only non rusted set of rockers I've ever had on an XJ. Kind of a sad day I suppose..


I then Constructed new ones to go in place of the old. But these were a bit more stout at 3/16" wall, plus some added beef in the critical areas. The end result looked something like this:

I've since added a piece of 1.5x1.5 to act as a 'slider' of sorts, and give me a decent place to mount the cage.

After that was done, I made the commitment and started cutting...(Phase Two)



Borrowed a JD2 Bender and went to work. The end result isn't horrible for it being the first stab at something like this, but it could have turned out better. If I do another Cage, I've learned more than a few things that will be done to make the cage better. However, I'm pretty sure that its current condition won't kill me anytime soon, but I've been wrong before o_0. So as it sits right now:



You can see the completed rockers in the above photo as well.

After getting the tube work done, it was time to start with the details (Phase 3). I needed to come up with a top of some sort to try to keep the weather out of it while its parked outside and going down the road. Thankfully, Psuedo Ben had a junk YJ top laying around that I hacked up and made work. With a little creativity, it seals up pretty darn'd good at this point:



Now that's out of the way, I've got the 'fun details' to hammer out still. I want to create some decent storage to hold my trail tools/spares/etc in such a way that I won't have to worry about them flying around when/If I dump it over. That is the next step of things to come, which I hope to get a chunk of that done prior to going out on 1/2/10.

Taking a look back over this things life since I've owned it, lets take a little trip down memory lane..

It started out like this when I first got it (after I threw some wheels on it):


Got a lift and some Swampers:


And then I beat on it for about two years until it sits like this right now.
Current state:



Edit:

And now this project has run its course. 4 very fun years, and countless wheeling trips later, this XJ’s Journey is done

Thanks for following along!

Lookn Good!

Nice! You have completed a LOT on this. . . . I'm feeling guilty . . need to work on a project of my own . . .


nice looking XJ!!

Like what you did to the floor panels. I need to do the same thing to my 96.
Looking good.

They work ok for the smaller holes. I wanted to do what FarFrom is doing, but since there is other problems with this shell (mainly the firewall joints). I didn't want to invest too much money/time into things that couldn't be removed later ^_^

I'm giving some serious thought to rhino lining it this spring, If I can find the free time

Thanks for the compliments all!

-Benno!

My 86 dont have any rust at all but the 96 looks very bad under the two front seats. You would think it would be the other way around.

Updated with some more photos and a little more detail..


-Benno!