jpnjim

I bought the bumper (it's nicer than anything I could make :D ). The guys's name is Dave, and his handle on JU & NAXJA was 35XJ. He was awesome to deal with, and made the bumpers while working at wnccustomjeeps (wnccustomjeeps.com was their website, but the site doesn't come up anymore :dunno: ). Basically the bumpers were built to order (I could've gotten it wider, or with a grille guard, etc, etc). Price was very reasonable, but I really don't know the status of either him or the company anymore. FWIW, I had to cut out the sheetmetal behind the bumper to fit the winch (I'm using an M8000), but IMO, the bumper adds much more strength than you lose by cutting the sheetmetal. There was also a couple threads on NAXJA about it, maybe they know if the bumpers are still being made. Would be a shame if they're not.

Odds & ends, Street tires will probably go on these 60yr aniversary/5.9L wheels: Image Not Found I had a problem with one of the (used) tires, so I'm not sure if I'll stick with these 265/75-16 TrXus for street, or something else (BFG KM2's maybe). Image Not Found FWIW, about 5 minutes after seating the beads, then filling to 60psi (max for these is 65), as the tire just sat there undisturbed, the bead exploded off the rim. Also, I finally made up my mind about transfer cases & splurged a little: :D 5:1 low range & HD ft output. :banana: Pic comparing it to doubler + D300: Still have lots more to do, just need the snow to go away, and stay gone:

Thanks for the comments so far. :cheers: I'm happy with the build, just need to get it back to the 'working truck' point again. :D The rear *frame* was decent, except for the bend in the X-member, normally above the tailpipe, so I patched that in: Ground the rear frame down to bare metal: and POR-15'd it: In the mean time, I also dropped it a little more, to make getting that first inspection sticker a little easier (I'ts been off the road for a long time now): Paint is just Rattle Can Duplicolor Sienna Pearl (T362), I just want it to be one color for now, maybe when all the mechanical stuff is done, I'll like to DA the whole thing, and shoot some real color on it.

Finally dug into the drivers side rocker (replaced with NOS), and pulled the cab corner completely off: I have more pics of this, but none online. Basically just kept drilling spotwelds, till the stuff I wanted to come off came off. :D I burned the rocker in, but since the MJ was still driveway jewlery at this point, I bolted on a replacement cab corner (used), till I finally figured out how & where I wanted to cut & splice that in. Finally made up my mind, and put the seam behind the bed, but not as far in as the factory corner joint: There's still a little more filling in to do, but it's close (bed looks funny, because it's not bolted down in pic):

Thanks, I put a plate behind the striker on the passengers side (no pics, but my vertical-sheetmetal welding skillz aren't the best. :D ). The drivers side is just bolted through the original hole + a new hole. I haven't completely addressed that, since the cab corner swap.

I swapped the 231 for a flipped D300 + flat skid: sitting completely above the framerails (ignore bootiefab temp headpipe): The I got the idea that I needed a crawler box in front of that, so I chopped the new passengers side floor up a little to fit a Box4Rocks: Still experimenting with stuff, so I flipped the rear leafs at the same time: (I didn't like it, and switched back :D )

Had to adapt the fuel lines to fit a 92 HO (from a 25k mile YJ Renagade). (I don't know why this pic looks so much like a chop :???: , it's not) 92 4.0L + NV3550 (from 2001 XJ rollover) ready to go in (HO converted to Renix accessories & electronics):

Put the TSL's & Boggers back on, trimmed the front, and dropped it a little (went from 5.5"XJ/4.5"ZJ RE coils to 3.5" ZJ RE coils): Got to use the new winch on the neighbor's bushes: Then finally pulled out the old 210K+ Renix 4.0L & BA 10-5:

Starting to come together: but needs to be all one color to not look like a circus Jeep. the cab corner & stuffed rocker look bad as ever but the floors needed to be done first: 2001 donor floor (I used flat sheetmetal for the other side): March/05, finally did the doors: and bolted the winch in:

3/04: Picked up a $100 Ebay bed (wheel well edges were gone on 'yellow' one) and bolted that on (along with the rear bumper from the old MJ): & the rolled XJ's nose: (rt fender creased from roll) 4/04/04: got a very nice WNC winch bumper Sits as flush as the stocker, or more (mount locations easily changed to move in/out):

I started swapping stuff from the old MJ: RE 5.5", SOA 69 Dodge Charger (car) D60 rear (4.56/Detroit/35spline Mosers), Q78 fronts & 37" Boggers in these pics and started to dig into the bodywork: You can see how bad the cab corner is here (after I took out 2" of bondo, and pounded it out a little): also bought a donor 2001 XJ that had been rolled (in background): getting ft axle ready here (HP D30, 4.56/Lockright/Alloy USA)

Table of Contents: Page 1 Condensed Introduction work done from June 03 to Feb 09: parts swap from old MJ Ebay bed swap 2001 Nose, Doors Floors WNC Bumper 1992 4.0L/2001 NV3550 swap Box 4 Rox crawler box D300 Frame grind & POR15 Page 2 More Info & Details WNC ft Bumper info Rocker/Cab corner swap Renix to HO parts Air tube backwards 231 shift lever high clearance X-member Pics of old MJ/donor (RIP) 2001 Seat swap pics Page 3 Mopar 5 on 4.5" D60 info Atlas Q&A Eldelbrock ft shocks T&T track bar bracket (w/modified RE Trac Bar) Page 4 Start of FSJ tailgate Page 5 Atlas is in 'Little kid' race seat installed 255r85-16's on 2001 Anniversary wheels Page 6 Rear winch bumper Hi all, I mostly just lurk here, but I figured it's time to post up a build thread. Build shouldn't be taking this long, but life keeps getting in the way. Here's my MJ in June 03, when I bought it. 200k+ mile $500 2wd MJ 4.0L 5spd. I bought it to replace the beat up bent MJ I'd wheeled since 1995, or so: old MJ, 1998 pic: Image Not Found old MJ, 2002 pic: New one was covered in thick rustoleum Yellow, with some questionable bodywork underneath, but it ran, and the price was right.

I just mounted them in the bed on my last MJ. Ended up under the cooler when I built a spare tire/parts/cooler rack, so no real space was wasted. FWIW, for me, the best spot for the air disconnect was behind the fuel door. I drilled a hole next to the gas fill, used a QD, screwed a hose barb from the back side, ran the hose under the bed, and had an easily accessible air point, that never got muddy.

John, the POR15 will encase the rust, and hopefully keep it from spreading, but the rust on MJ floors starts under that brace running through the center of the floor (on top of the 'frame' rail). Even if you seal the floors, and the top of the brace, it's gonna keep spreading up, and down the floor that's sandwiched between the 'frame' rail, and that brace. I think POR15'ing it will put things off a little, but the floor is still gonna disolve under that brace, where you can't POR it. Either way, good luck, Jimmy