Purchased my first jeep!

[Nathyne]

So today I purchased my first jeep. Long story short I had a datsun 720 that I was building up did an engine swap and started on a SAS but realized I was doing all this work on a vehicle and I have never even 4x4d before. I learned a ton on it and decided to part it out and pick up this xj.

Plans are:
full tune up and fluid replacement
plugs
wires
cap
rotor
all fluids
inspect brakes
fix oil leaks (rear diff cover/rear main seal ick! not looking forward to that one, valve cover gasket)
Brakes

After that I am going to dd it for a few weeks make sure it is reliable enough to take on some plain old camping trips. Then will come a mild lift and 31" tires thinking all terrains.

So here are the specs:
200k kms
auto
power windows/locks
A/C
Everything works except the ignition was busted in an theft attempt

Paid 400$ and drove it home without any issues except a boost and warped front brakes after being parked for 3 years.

Picture of when I got it home. Looked a quite a few some newer ones as well this one looked the worst but for some reason rust on the undercarriage was non existent compared to the others maybe the older ones had a better undercoat? Even the rockers rusty just the doors and around the windshield it seems... very strange must have been the running boards.


Could not leave those horrible running boards on had to take them off asap!


Looking for some suggestions as to common problems and things I should replace besides what I listed earlier.

Also going to try and keep this under a pretty tight budget as my Skyline GTR eats up most of my free money! hoping to keep it around 3-4k

 

[apalmer]

Wow. Nice score for $400. I love those things.


...you should also probably put up one picture of your Skyline. Just saying.

 

[Nathyne]

Haha ya might as well don't really have any good pictures of her but here are a couple!

 

[pookie]

Wow that easily be double that down here. $400 is a steal. What year is it? I'm guessing about 88? And it looks much better without the running boards.

 

[Idahoan]

Nice score. Here's a 95 that I put together for my wife.

 

[Nathyne]

it is a 90, reason it was so cheap was it was written off due to someone trying to steal it they smashed the steering column. Ya those running boards were horrid! glad they were on there though they did a nice job of protecting the rockers they are rust free! wish I could say the same about the doors, going to grab some rust free ones from the junkyard and do a cheap paint job on it.

Kind of a lame update but here is the steering column fix. unfortunately they didn't have one that matched so this will have to do for now nice to use a key to start it and not a screwdriver lol.




Also picked up some v8 zj springs and ordered some 1" coil spacers. will need to make a bastard pack for the rear still waiting on some of my datsun parts to sell so I can use my garage again before I do some more interesting stuff to it!

 

[jfein]

I had a '90 XJ and most of the issues with them are standard. Hopefully it's a 4.0 because they go forever but.... The motor mounts break pretty often and you can get an upgraded set or keep replacing oem ones. If you are getting oil on your air filter (from standard blow by) you should do the breather upgrade. Get an extra coolant overflow tank because they are known to split on the seam. The ground strap going from the valve cover to the firewall isn't too great so most people put another from the neg battery terminal to the fender and another from the negative on the starter to the fender. Check out naxja.org. There is a ton of info there and every issue I ever had with mine was solved pretty quickly after a search there and some light wrenching

 

[Nathyne]

Okay so I have finally been able to work on my jeep this past week took longer than i thought to get rid of all my datsun parts my garage is finally free! Have just done a couple things fixed some mangled vacuum lines that were old and held on with hose clamps, replaced my transmission filter and fluid it was amazingly clean in there no sludge or particulate at all! Lifted up the front about 2" with a spacer and some grand cherokee coils. Here is how it sits now currently lifting the back and then will move onto the cooling system. Also replaced the crank position sensor as it had some issues starting starts better now but I am still going to replace the fuel pump and check valve (I think these are one unit).

 

[Nathyne]

Have another update! I know these are kind of boring but next weekend will be its maiden voyage! just a day trip but cant wait to take it out.


Lifted the back by adding two leaf springs I had lying around, the rear springs were sagging something fierce and the previous owner installed some rear shocks with springs on them...
Replaced the rear shocks with some from an s10 for a bit more length still need to get some mj shackles to level it out completely.

Picked up a set of 5 rims and 1 oem sized tire for 60$! got some 31" a/t style tires for 60$ as well, here is one with a 31 spare mounted. Budget is the name of the game on this jeep haha. I have them all mounted but Ill save a picture of them for when there is some good scenery behind my jeep



I replaced the serpentine belt, water pump, thermostat, koyo rad from a open system cherokee and a overflow tank from a grand cherokee didnt have cooling issues but i wanted to go through it to make sure it was in tip top shape. Gave everything a good flush while I was in there. First time starting it in my garage and letting it warm up to check for leaks lower rad hose blew right off. I forgot to tighten the hose clamp, doh!

Slowly coming together I promise the next update will be more interesting.

 

[Septu]

I have them all mounted but Ill save a picture of them for when there is some good scenery behind my jeep

Now that's just plain mean.