neohic

Pete... what about the XJ itself? Have you found a worthy candidate yet? Before doing all sorts of modifications and additions, I'd start with a known good vehicle by getting to know it for a while before putting it under the knife. :dunno:

Very cool, Pete! :thumbsup:

Annnnnnd it's gone. No teaser pic even? Must be the one from Jeepsus:

Is this Mister Skinner? Did you hack into Jim's profile just to say that you haven't posted anything for a while? :hmm: :D

Okay... there always has to be a Debbie Downer, and I'll be that guy. I love my truck, but I think I'd love it just as much if I were to have skipped my engine build and did a High Output swap instead. Do I regret building the engine the way I did?... absolutely not! Puts a huge smile on my face with every push of the skinny pedal! But for my driving style and how I use the truck, I think I would've been more happy with buying a low mileage donor for less than what I spend on just the engine. Don't tell Cruiser, but I'm definitely on the HO cheer squad with Don. :peek:

Very nice! :rock on:

Ugh... just went through and did another mass picture reload. Thanks again, FaceBook. Never again... copied everything over to photobucket. :fs2:

That's pretty much the plan at this point. As for the rear... ... I like it! Need to cut some caps for the ends but I can't finish it until it gets warmer outside anyhow. Been thinking about powder coat too. Might look more into that. As for the dilemma in the front, it felt like one of those '80s montage scenes in a bad movie where some chick is trying to decide on a prom dress or something and all her friends are waiting outside the dressing room for her to come out in each one. They all have their arms crossed and shaking their heads with each one until the last when they all have thumbs up and big stupid smiles. For a moment there, I actually thought about hanging a factory brush guard. I was diggin' the look with the lights and the roll bar! Sadly, it didn't solve any problems though. Might come back to that thought at a later date. As for now... I think I can live with the gap. Maybe try and fill it with some kind of trim... I dunno. I think of it like a scar that it's just always going to be there regardless of how you try and cover it up. There was a slight gap between the bumper cap and the flare that was closed up with a vise grip just to get the idea what I was working with. I'm diggin' this. Needs more stuff on the bumper itself but it's a start. I got it all together and took a step back to see a familiar old face. :) Obviously everything needs some freshening up with paint to get rid of the miss match of stuff. On the lookout for chrome trim for around the grill and headlight bezels too. Planning on blacking out everything else in place of the red.

Change of plans for the rear... got it all tacked together and I like it SO much better without the caps. Ah well... it was a fun idea while it lasted. :idea: Pictures to follow later.

It'll probably get cut down and put on the rear of the Ape at some point... not really sure just yet. It's kind of a matching set with the front that came off the Eliminator. Kind of like making sure your belt matches your shoes, you know? All in the details. :laughin:

Thought about that... not sure if I'm crazy about the mix 'n match look. Found a few pictures of older XJs with the '97+ bumpers on the front and it really looked bazaar to me. Might put a non-butchered set of flares on the front and see what happens. Ugh... :(

Time to say goodbye to something that never should have been. I forgot how much beef this thing was made of. I also remembered making comments like "that's never coming off" when it was going on. :doh: Part of wanting to build a new set of bumpers was a bunch of little things that annoyed me since I painted it a while back. First and foremost was the spare tire. The truck is a short box and I've played around with putting it in the bed... which ate up too much room... then hanging off the rear... which was always just awkward... so the logical choice was to put it back where the factory intended. The problem then came in that it just might grow some more in the future, so I'm leaving enough room to hang a 33. Under a long box, there would be acres of room. Under a short box, things need to get rearranged. Number one was the exhaust. ... I'll deal with that later. Next was the sheet metal at the rear of the bed which was already moved around to make room for the previously mounted bumper. It's up there, but it's tight. I wouldn't put a 33 under there at the current height. I think a tiny, little 31 or the current 30 will fit in there just fine. Now... on to the main event. I want to change the theme of the truck a little. This truck has really grown up with me. In college, it went through the "quick and dirty lift and make it look cool" stage. Then it moved into a "done with college but not quite ready to completely settle down just yet" kind of thing. Now it's been a few years since that stage was done and over with for me, so I think it's time for the truck to catch up. Now I'd really like to see it move into a "grown up but still got it" sort of OEM+ look. This starts with bumpers! At first I wanted to find a good stock unit to hang back there, but the more I looked the more bummed out I got. So... I got creative. Look closely... I wanted a stock(ish) looking bumper with end caps that wrapped around the corners like a factory bumper would. I dug out some stock rear caps but they just looked odd. Then I got to the bottom of the pile and started playing around with some junk front caps... and I liked what I was seeing. I think they look way better than the square caps! The angle of the flares and the backwards fronts line up perfectly! They're a little smaller too so I can tuck the bumper up closer to the body too to avoid the "back porch" look. I should be able to finish up the bulk of the rear tomorrow. Feeling confident, I moved to the front... and then I got discouraged. VERY discouraged. WHY DID I DO THAT?!?!?! I'd love to be able to throw a stock front bumper back on there on modify it a little to make it stand out, but that doesn't solve what to do with the fenders and flares. Between that and cutting the grill I absolutely hate the sins I have committed in the past. Sure, I could hang another set of fenders, but these ones are already the right color and are (no doubt) faded evenly with the rest of the truck. Really lost now. Not sure what to do now. Might go back to the idea of just making up another "cookie cutter" custom bumper to hang on the front, but then I've just gone from having a front bumper that I was somewhat okay with and a rear that I really didn't care for to a rear that I really dig and a front that I'm on the fence about. Not crazy about that kind of change. :???:

I'd go this route. Kabowabo used one with his Renix refresh a while back in HIS THREAD.

Now this I actually like... which is something I'm not very comfortable admitting in this thread. I don't know if it's the color of the Jeep or if it looks a little bit lowered to me. In my head I picture a stripped down track day JK. Not that'd I'd ever own one, but it's a fun mental image anyhow.

Kind of a cool bumper there. A little outside the custom "cookie cutter" XJ/MJ anyhow. :thumbsup:

The number on mine shows that it's actually for a Ford Ranger so it's a little short. Rob (automan2164) however has one that is designed for a Comanche. "Designed" is a very loosely based term when it comes to WilderNests too... huge mounting flanges under these so most 'Nests fit on many trucks.

Yes you should. :popcorn: HERE's the build thread if you forgot where you left off. :D

Yeah... we're pretty awesome. :D

Are you leaving the harness attached to the back to the dash?... way easier to move the whole thing over as a unit.

I always smile a little bit when I read posts like that. Just the mental image that it paints for me... :) Back to the original topic, oddly enough the front office at the school here has two small wooden character statues with a name plaque on them... "Ole and Lena". Can't even walk around downtown without being bombarded with Norwegian this or Swedish that... Just imagine the attention I get anytime I go into a store and someone notices my ridiculously Polish last name on my debit card. :shake:

:rotfl2: Kinda neat when you stumble on some automotive archaeology, eh?

Nah... it's true. I know that all I need to do is open my mouth anywhere in the country and people know where I'm from. Embellishment to the story or not, I think it actually reads quite easy! :laughin:

Ah, geez... is dat really vat we sound like? :oops:

:rotf:

:popcorn: