Overland XJ Build. Not my first Rodeo.....(video included)

[Overland History]

Well, after being out of Jeeps and Wheelin' altogether for the past 10 years, I decided to start looking for another project.

Here's a couple of pics of my old '92 XJ that I sold back in 2005. It had a 4.7L Stroker(275hp, 330ft/lb tq), D30/D44 axles, Locked front and rear with 4.88 gears, 6in lift and 33x10.5 BFG MTs. Never should've sold it!






Anyways, I recently picked up a '94 XJ 4.0L 5spd w/ 198K on the clock for $450. I purchased it from the original owner's son and it even came with the original window sticker.

The day I bought it and had it towed home:




More to come.... :jump:

 

[Overland History]

Once I got her home, I decided to go to work on the faded red paint. It looked just awful. Nothing some polish and wax with a buffer can't take care of!





The interior was absolutely disgusting. It didn't look like it had been cleaned in 10years. :Wow1:




I pulled out the interior seats and carpet...




....and went to work with some Purple Power and a Pressure Washer, which worked ok, but not great.....

 

[Overland History]

The seats were absolutely disgusting too, so I used simple green, a stiff scrub brush and a hose on them. It took them about 2 days to dry. Before and after....





While I had the interior out, I found some rust holes in the passenger rear floor board on the inside and outside of the "frame" rail, which makes sense considering the muffler is right below that area. I didn't have the time to weld in new metal just yet, so it'll have to wait considering I had a wheelin/camping trip within a few weeks.....soooo it's on the list of things to fix.




Before I got the interior back in, I painted the carpet with this stuff, which looks more blue in the pictures than it really is. The color looks better in person...






The wheels had almost 200K miles on them, so they needed some painting. I used a wire wheel on an electric drill to clean them up, then I used wheel paint to bring them back to life.....

 

[GR8ADV]

Nice work! Want to come over and tackle my kids room?

 

[Overland History]

Next up was the bad throwout bearing in the clutch, which was the reason why the Jeep was so cheap in the first place. Got a new clutch kit in and replaced the whole lot, including the Master Cylinder and Slave Cylinder. Both cylinders didnt need to be replaced, but I'm anal.





Next up, I managed to pick up an RTT for the Jeep on Craigslist for $600. I also picked up Thule Locking Crossbar racks for $150. I've wanted one for so long, and I finally got me an RTT for $750 all in! :jump:

 

[Overland History]

After buying the RTT, I decided to take the XJ(bone stock) up to Oak Ridge Estate in Arrington, VA to the Virginia Four Wheel Drive Association Annual Trail Ride on Sept 17-20th. It was hilarious to see the looks on everyone's face that an experienced driver in a stock XJ could keep up with everyone else in lifted/locked vehicles on the majority of the trails and obstacles. :jump:



I made a video of the experience, I hope you all enjoy!

https://youtu.be/-Em4hQFSvic

 

[IndyRubicon]

That's a great looking XJ...fantastic work you've done so far!

 

[mtbxj87]

F#^k yea stock xj haha!

 

[Overland History]

Thanks guys!


Continuing on....

Since today is my day off work and school, I got a lot done on the Jeep.

Replaced the water pump and re-sealed the thermostat housing with RTV. No leaks!





I also replaced my Oxygen Sensor, as the Jeep started throwing a code for it!





My alternator also decided to take a dump on me, so out with the old and in with the new...






Also painted my new(slightly used) 3in lift shocks.





Also, I recently picked up a 3in lift kit and 31x10.5 Mud Terrains. All of it has only 800 miles on it. The guy I bought it from apparently had the front driver's side of his XJ set on fire by someone, so I'm missing a Coil and I was missing a shock, which just came in yesterday. It also came with lower Control Arms, which one of them got burned and ruined the bushings. Ive since replaced the bushings and painted that rusty control arm. I've got a buddy with a matching 3in lift coil that he doesn't need. Now all I've got to order is 2 new matching tires, since one was lost in the fire and I want a full-size spare.

 

[Overland History]

The same buddy of mine with the spare coil also has a D35 rear axle that is locked with 4.10 gears, so I'll be buying that from him as well for cheap! When I've got the cash, I'll also lock and gear my D30 front axle with 4.10's.

The reason I'm building this XJ so mildly with lift and tires, is because it's maiden trip when I graduate school will be from Alaska to Argentina along the Pan-American Highway, so there will be a lot of Road use with moderate off-road use.

The idea is to be able to live out the XJ for up to 7 days, completely self-sustained. The plan is to add solar panels to charge my aux camping battery. I'm going to build a platform with drawers for the rear, similar to below with a built-in fridge and tool drawer.. I'll also have a 20 gallon tank for water for showering using a solar shower. If the weather is really bad, I'll still be able to sleep in the back of the Jeep instead of the RTT.

Love this setup with fridge and drawer for tools/parts.

 

[98WhiteT4R]

you are making serious progress!

 

[IndyRubicon]

you are making serious progress!

What he said! You've certainly got some talent for this project!

 

[ibanezer]

Man I really like where this build is going. Looks like you got a pretty good deal on the lift stuff and tires.

 

[Overland History]

Thanks fellas! I used to work as a mechanic for a Porsche/Lamborghini/BMW race team, so most of this stuff is pretty easy. :smiley_drive:

Anyways, I had some more time today to dedicate to the Jeep before I leave to go camping on Thursday.

I decided to give the Jeep a good once-over to see if anything needs attention. After some crawling around, I found 2 issues:

A bad motor mount...




And it looks like during my last wheelin' trip in the video, the upper control arm somehow made contact with the lip of the oil pan where it meets the block. I've checked every link for play and found none....

 

[Overland History]

Well, the Jeep's distributor started making a funny, intermittent whining, so with likely 200K on it, I decided to replace it. While I'm in there, I might as well do a tune-up and replace the plugs, wires, cap and rotor.




Removed the old cap, rotor, wires and distributor....










Out come the old plugs. God only know how many miles are actually on them! They look terrible and I'm embarrassed to say that I've put 2K miles on them and never had a look at them. The Jeep ran suprisingly well with minimal low RPM ping/knocking.




Take a look at that Gap! That must be .060 or more! :Wow1:






In go some shiny new Champions....





It's always a good idea to check the plug gap, even if the plugs allegedly come "pre-gapped". Mine came gapped but we're not correct at all!

Added the new wires to the new cap. If you look close, it's good practice to number the wires for which cylinder they go to, even though the firing order is scribed onto the intake manifold.