New Jeep Based Explorer from TX - Howdy!

[Se7en62]

Howdy y'all! I'm located in Hutto, TX, on the outskirts of Austin. Glad to be here!

I'm new to this site, but not to adventure. This will be my first dedicated overland rig, based on a 1997 Cherokee XJ 4-Door. I got lucky when searching and came across a 5-Speed Manual, 4.0L, in my favorite dark green. The only draw-back is a decent mount of undercarriage rust from it being in WI for 15 years. I already ordered a bunch of Corroseal and POR-15 and am breaking out the wire brush and angle grinder tomorrow.

Build-wise, I have a new Cascadia Mt. Shasta Pioneer RTT waiting in the garage and a pile of custom work about to happen. Nothing insane, but all rock solid.

I'll start a build thread or expand upon this once I have a little more content available. Any pointers would be appreciated.

As Is:
1997 Cherokee XJ 4-Door
4x4 w/ 5-Spd
4.0L H.O. L6
3.5" Old Man Emu Dakar HD Lift
31x10.5R15 BFG's -> About to be -> 32x12.5R17

This is an older pic of my Jeep from the previous owner.

 

[jswift716]

The xjs are awesome platforms if you have imagination. But being uni body jeeps, you have to make sure they're not rotted or they're pretty much toast. On the bright side you got the newer body style and some updates, if anything ever does happen to it save the trans ecu engine harnesses clutch pedal and slave parts. Trust me you'll thank me later

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[SilicaRich]

Pictures would be awesome

You have a great platform as is so I build as you go. I think two must haves are front end protection and recovery, but that's me.

 

[Se7en62]

Steinkunde, I threw up a picture for you. As soon as I get the chassis (inside/outside) treated and coated, I'll move to the steel. A custom bumper and winch are high on the priority list, as are the rear bumper, tire carrier, and safari rack.

Once I start doing some work, I'll update this thread with more. The picture doesn't show the rusted rocker panels or undercarriage. Most of what I can see is significant surface rust along the entire undercarriage. The rockers are eaten through, so they're getting cut out and replaced with a 2x4 of 11 gauge steel as rock sliders.

 

[Outside somewhere]

Did you end up getting the tree in the deal?

 

[Se7en62]

No, the tree wasn't included in the deal, but that picture and the color has lent credit to the rig's name of "Groot."

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