Explorer 1 Finally gets a paint job!

[chasdb]

I'm digging the louvers and pretty paint. That 2 tone with black lowers was a great choice. Are you putting the beadlocks back on?

 

[Explorer 1]

I'm digging the louvers and pretty paint. That 2 tone with black lowers was a great choice. Are you putting the beadlocks back on?

Once all the painting is done and the new undercoating finished I'll put back on the beadlockers and KM2's.

Thanks,
Fred
Explorer 1

 

[Explorer 1]

Starting on the interior.............

The XJ came back from the shop where they re-painted the top and prepped the interior after the water damage they caused (by accident).

Here are a few shot of how nice the top is now with the new paint and new rubber strips.

Here the interior is cleaned up and the rust inhibitor applied.

We had a week off exploring the Ohyhee (Hawaii) river and when we returned the carpet kit was ready to be installed.

These new OEM style carpet kits are a lot more work than one would think. It took a full day to get it trimmed and fitted for the front half of the car. I went with a little darker gray as my wife said it hides the dirt better!

Here is the old carpet laid upon the new one to serve as a template.

Here is the before:

Here, the after:

Now on to the rear section, in a day or two...........

Thanks,
Fred
Explorer 1

 

[Inline6]

Coming along, digging the new look

 

[Explorer 1]

Almost there, Almost there...............

Installed the roll cage and then the roof rack along with the tire carrier. The carpet is all in along with all the interior trim. Time to install the new headlights, GPS, additional gauges and them make some additional fine tunings.

Maybe next month I'll actually see some trail driving again........













Thanks,
Fred
Explorer 1

 

[Portal_Old]

this is amazing!

 

[HoneyBadger]

I have said it once and I will say it again. This by far is my favorite XJ. One question though. How do you get your spare down? Is it all muscle or does the carrier swing down?

 

[Explorer 1]

I have said it once and I will say it again. This by far is my favorite XJ. One question though. How do you get your spare down? Is it all muscle or does the carrier swing down?

All muscle for now, when I get too old to lift it, I guess it will be time to make some kind of a sling!

Installed these babies last night:



All gauges back in place:



Managed to get the spare fuel can & carrier back in place:



Thanks,
Fred
Explorer 1

 

[loseit]

Truck looks awesome....what front bumper is that? I love the integrated lights. I am searching everything to see how to start with an overland build.
Thank u!!

 

[reece146]

Somehow I missed your last post.

Fred, tell us about the lights!

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

Nice XJ man. Great colour combo.

 

[Explorer 1]

Lights!

Somehow I missed your last post.

Fred, tell us about the lights!

Sorry, I hadn't checked this Thread for some time!

The bumper is a Warn, what I did was cut out where the "w" was located in the bumper on each side and install ACRO HID fog lights.

http://www.acrolights.com/products.php?pid=16

The two lights on the bumper are Warn Duel beams:

http://www.warn.com/truck/lights/sdb_210.shtml

The headlights are LED's :

http://www.truck-lite.com/webapp/wc...10001&storeId=10001&productId=92027&langId=-1

Thanks,
Fred
Explorer 1

 

[Explorer 1]

Another fix....I mean upgrade!

Been a while since I worked on the XJ, it's been easy to ignore since I purchase another off road worthy vehicle in December, it's easy to get spoiled with the new features and comforts of the newer JK's

But I finally am addressing the items to fix on the XJ. First was the fuel pump failure in December, that done now, next the leaking of the pinion seal on the Ford 9" and as long as I had the 3rd member out I addressed the dent I gave it in the middle of the "pumpkin" on a more difficult trail. I did some research and couldn't find any "skid plates"/armor for this diff., so I did some metal work the last couple of days and here is what I came up with.

It's ready for a final coat of paint and then I'll re-install the 3rd member.

But I'm not done yet, on the same trip the fuel pump quit I had a lifter go bad, so I get to pull the head again.

Thanks,
Fred
Explorer 1

 

[Explorer 1]

Update on Explorer 1

Been almost a year since I've update the work done on my old XJ.

Last post I was pulling the head again to replace all the lifters (I couldn't identify which one I thought was bad.) I also when checking out the underside notice a stress crack where the upper passenger control arm meets the unibody frame. I did a little fabrication and got that fixed first.

With this done I moved on to finish putting the head back in place and get the old beast running again. Ever since I've upgraded the engine I've been having overheating problems. I been in regular contact with the builder and we're beginning to scratch our heads as to what the problem is.

Now with the engine back together, I started it up and sorry the knocking sound wasn't a lifter. Bummer it's coming from down below.

We pulled the pan and found some excess wear on the rod bearings.

So out with the entire engine and off it goes back to the builder:

Things are looking a bit sad as we wait word from the builder.........more later.

Thanks,
Fred
Explorer 1

 

[Explorer 1]

Thought I'd update what the builder found.

When they tore the engine apart it became apparent what had been the problem all along. The injector on cylinder #6 was somehow stuck open and it was flooding the engine with excess fuel. This in turn was causing the O2 sensor to send a signal to the ECU to thin out the fuel (which it did to the other 5 cylinders) and was causing the hot running and pinging).

It also caused the crankcase oil to become deluded with gas and as I lost lubrication all the bearings were destroyed.

Golen is an outstanding company and they pretty much have shipped me a new engine. Here it is shortly after arriving (They also gave me a new injector for cylinder #6)

I'm slowly putting it all back together and as long as I have the engine out I'm re-routing some of the breather lines and wiring in engine compartment. Here it's just about ready to go back in:

Thanks,
Fred
Explorer 1