Wrenches Gone Wild!!!

[mfpdm]

Took care of the door checks today.

Use a metal lumber tie to make backing plates for the hinge side.





Finished plates.



Newer style door checks from a 99 XJ. Packed them with white grease.



Pulled the connecting bracket off of the rear doors of a 4dr XJ. Figured they would have the least amount of use. You can see the hole is still round.



Backing plate in place.



And the bracket back on with the door check attached.



Will tackle the window regulators next. Pulled the "snakes" from the same 99 XJ rear doors($6 vs $50 new). They are the exact same as the fronts. Again I figure they would be in the best shape due to lack of use.



Hopefully will finish messing with the doors by the weekend so I can go on to finish the front suspension. :roll:

[Timmaay]

update?

[mfpdm]

Well was trying to hold off until I had a significant update instead of nickle and diming yall to death, but at the rate I'm going, it will never get updated. Here's about twenty cents worth.

Finished repairing the window regulators. Did a write up and put it in the DIY section.



Back in the doors




Finally finished painting the door window trim and installed the door glass and mirrors.





Like the folding feature of the 97+ mirrors.



Pick up some new bushings for the sway bar and installed them.




Here's a sneak peak of the header panel. Still have some work on it.




Got my bumpstops for the front. Off comes the axle again. :doh:



Still shooting to have this on the road by Xmas. :nuts:

:cheers:

[Akula69]

Looks really great!

 

did you prrl the old black finish off the window trim, or start with unpainted trim? and, what kind of paint did you use?

[mfpdm]

Looks really great!

 

did you prrl the old black finish off the window trim, or start with unpainted trim? and, what kind of paint did you use?

 

From what I understand, all trim is chrome, and they just paint it. The trim that was originally on the 88, was pealing bad and you could see the chrome underneath.

 

I started off with trim from a 96 XJ in better than average condition. Then, two different paints and six coats later, I came up with what you see. Washed them with purple power first, then scuffed them up with 240 grit, two coats of Rust-Oleum Professional satin black, didn't like the way they turned out, sanded them again, two coats of Duplicolor Trim paint, looked good until the humidity changed and fogged the finish, sanded them down again, two more coats of Duplicolor trim paint and finally had a finish I could live with.

 

And people wonder why I can't get anything done. :shake:

 

 

 

:cheers:

[spanaway mudder]

any update on this rig?

[Timmaay]

any update on this rig?

That was the update, as of yesterday.

[Throttle_Jockey]

Great job on this build it's pretty cool to see such a large resto on somthing beside's a mucsle car.

[adamsmj]

Just read through all 11 pages so far. And I gotta say... :bowdown:

 

This is an outstanding resto. Keep on truckin', can't wait to see the finished product.

[HKB3]

Awesome Build :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:

 

FWIW the best/closest to factory satin black trim paint I have used is Mar-Hyde

http://www.3m.com/US/auto_marine_aero/Bondo/catalog_item3e68.html?itemNbr=328

 

Keep up the Great Work :cheers:

[xj_dummy]

 

Also picked up a front diff gaurd. Managed to clean it up, paint, and install it.

 

 

This diff gaurd, is it standard or does someone sell it?

I'm also enjoying this build. Great job. :thumbsup:

[mfpdm]

Thanks for all the kind words. :cheers:

 

FWIW the best/closest to factory satin black trim paint I have used is Mar-Hyde

I may have to look into this. I still have to do both bumpers. I like 3M products. I'm no fan of Duplicolor. Their spray nozzle just blows.

 

This diff gaurd, is it standard or does someone sell it?

It's an aftermarket piece. Not sure who made it but I see them on Ebay from time to time.

Quick update,

Got the bumpstops installed. Did a write up and put it in the DIY section. Click Here to see it



Took the opportunity to replace the old torqs bolt with newer hardware on the control arms.

Old



Newer



Have also been working on finishing up all the wiring harnesses. Just laid this one in place. Will finish them up and install all the clips to hold them in place hopefully tomorrow.



:cheers:

[r.j.c.omanche]

:popcorn:

[project88mj]

:clapping:

[Darren]

Dude, this build is so clean. I love it. I wish I had the patience for a build like this. Maybe one day. Nice work!

[mjeff87]

I'm'a gonna come see you after the holidays Paul....gotta buy you a beer or 20 in appreciation for your style :thumbsup:

Maybe we can put a small pow-wow together. If nothing else, we can at least all stand around drinking beer and shoot the shiat :cheers:

 

Jeff

[ejndssn]

would have to :agree: hopefully i have some down time from work don't have much time to hunt either

[mfpdm]

I'm'a gonna come see you after the holidays Paul....gotta buy you a beer or 20 in appreciation for your style :thumbsup:

Maybe we can put a small pow-wow together. If nothing else, we can at least all stand around drinking beer and shoot the shiat :cheers:

 

Jeff

 

Sounds like a good plan. :thumbsup: Hopefully this build will be back on the road by then.

 

Virginians are starting to multiple on here. I think we're up to about a dozen or so. 4 or 5 right here in the Hampton Roads area, another 4-5 in your area, and a couple sprinkled elsewhere. Would make a good crowd to take on an outing. Or, as you suggested, drink beer and tell lies. :D

 

Dude, this build is so clean. I love it. I wish I had the patience for a build like this. Maybe one day. Nice work!

 

Thanks. :cheers:

 

My patience is starting to run a little thin on it. Can't seem to make any progress and when I try, one thing leads to another and it seems I take a step backwards. :wall:

[jbhill]

i just read every single page, man that thing is nice! is that a factory jeep color?

[mfpdm]

i just read every single page, man that thing is nice! is that a factory jeep color?

 

Thanks :cheers: Far as color, it's a Ford color. Dark shadow gray metallic. It's a hint darker than the chryco gray.

[jbhill]

ah makes sense thx!

[vzehler]

Get it finished? We need updates!

[89eliminator]

updates! updates! updates! :popcorn:

[mfpdm]

Have been doing small things here and there but nothing major. Kind of been distracked with other things and giving the wallet a rest for awhile. Finished the lower end of the motor and should have the head back together soon. It's been too cold or wet to paint anything so I have quite a bit of parts that are waiting for that. Next major expense will be having the front and rear glass installed. Will try to get something pic worthy done soon.

 

:cheers:

[mfpdm]

Well, how about an update on this thing. It's been slow and the little bit here and little bit there is adding up so I'll show you the progress. I'm sure I'll forget some things because it's been so long.

Re-did all the wiring harnesses and they're all back in the truck. Here's a couple waiting their turn.


Used Di-eletric grease on most of the connections and exposed circuits.




Back in it's hole


Cleaned up the door latches

Before and after.


Will pack them with fresh grease when I install them but before that, I had to try and fix the goof up from the body shop painting over the door lock seals. :shake:

before and after removal



Hit it with some matching paint



Pulled the steering column apart to fix the tilt knuckle.

Here you can see one of the tilt knuckle bolts stuck up in the upper portion of the column.



All of them were completly loose with two of them all the way out.



Changed out the lock cylinder with a new black one and put it all back together. Since the new lock is black I added the black tilt lever and put it back in the truck. I'll be looking for a good black turn signal stalk to finish the chrome removal process.



Have pulled the dash about four times since it went in to re-route wires and what not. In this pic of the fresh factory radio install, you can see at the bottom right another reason to pull it again.



Yep, that was the passenger side vent hose that should be connected up by the defrost outlet. :doh:

Got it out and back together again and put the defroster cowl in to prepare for the glass install in a couple of days.

Put new weather strip on the cowl.

and put it on


Added some more of the insulation to the cab. Here's the back



Have also done inside the cab corners behind the speakers and still have to do the roof before the headliner goes in.

Got the bottom half of the engine back together with new main and rod bearings.



Will get the head on soon.



Picked up a new to me airbox and cleaned it up.



Cleaned up the frame mount for the motor and gave them a coat of paint.




You can see the heavy duty trackbar mount there so here's the rest of it installed.



And the last for now, the steering shaft installed.



I'll try to update this again real soon. :thumbsup:

:cheers: