ExpatMJGuy Posted February 20, 2023 Share Posted February 20, 2023 So... I started this project in the Spring of 2019! Many things have gotten in the way to even keep me from starting. My health, work, other projects including my MJ but I need to get projects wrapped up and to stopping points due to moving preparations all while still planning for a back surgery this summer! My 99 XJ has a huge rust problem and a title issue. I have the title but it's an out of state salvage title due to it being recovered from a theft. When it was brought to Georgia the out of state inspection wasn't good enough and required reinspection by a GA DOT inspector. Had it done and it FAILED even though it had passed in another state. Inspector said it wouldn't pass until I repaired a lot of the rust. It's a 4x4 sport with an ax-15 manual transmission. Super clean until you decide to actually look under it! Otherwise mechanically it is in amazing shape. So I was driving to work one day and a mom and pop mechanic shop had an a 2001 XJ Limited sitting out front with a FOR SALE sign in it. I was curious so I checked it out without even being serious. Shop owner said he had done a lot of work on it over the years his customer's daughter was driving it when it overheated and she drove it the rest of the way home anyways which overheated it to the point the engine was toast! Otherwise the Jeep was in excellent shape and the owner needed to sell it and intended to use the money to pay his previous repair bills. I asked him what he wanted out of it, he said I bet you can get it sub $1000. I negotiated and got it for $800!!! It's 2wd and an auto but I don't care! Interior is in OK shape but again don't care. The biggest thing is the body is absolutely rust free and outside of one repairable minor dent the body is super straight! So my plan is to take the engine out of my 99 and put it in my 01 and use the ax-15 in my 88MJ when it do an eventual 4wd conversion. I haven't decided where the front axle from my 99 is going yet. It will either go in my XJ or my MJ as well for a 4wd conversion. I'm also not a fan of tan interiors so I plan to move my grey interior from my 99 to the 01 as well. I have a cousin who owns an upholstery shop so I plan to get the leather limited seats reupholstered at some point. Then I can also keep the power heated seats. So 4 years later I'm finally getting to the project and have been working on it the last couple of weeks! I only took a few still pictures, but that's mainly because I decided to film it with my go pro. This way during reassembly I can literally watch how I took it apart to remember how things go back together. Maybe I'll post it on YouTube sometime! Started pulling the bad engine out of 01. I labeled EVERYTHING since the good engine out of the 99 is going in this Jeep. I put bolts back in wherever I could after disassembly and used mini Pringles cans with labels on the lids for all the other bolts. Had a heck of a time getting the torque converter bolts out with the engine seized. I wound up pulling the oil pan off and removing the piston caps off the crank shaft. This would also allow me a chance to get a physical look at the bottom end of a jacked engine! I had a hard time getting the camera in place to take the pic but the 5th cylinder head is cracked. With the caps removed the crankshaft turned freely. But I got the engine and the transmission out without many issues otherwise. 2 bad engines ready to go to scrap! So then we pushed the 01 out and began the same job on the 99! Much more difficult job even though I just had the experience of doing it recently! Mainly due to rusty bolts! So I decided not to cut anything and label everything even though I don't currently have a plan to use the harness. But I decided it would be smart to label everything in the event I decide to update my Comanche engine to a High Output engine later. I know a manual PCM module can't be easy to find! And it brings it me to this weekend. I spend part of the weekend converting the good engine from a manual to an automatic. I've been converting the exhaust manifold from the pre 99 style to the 00+ style as well as converting the rear of the engine from a clutch setup to a flywheel torque converter setup. Now I need to ensure the timing is right, and load her back in the engine bay. Hopefully next update, the engine is in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExpatMJGuy Posted March 30 Author Share Posted March 30 So the XJ is pretty much done! I haven't had a lot of time to document as I've gone but, the engine is in it after having to go back and do an intake manifold gasket again. I then started the 4wd conversion and decided to do the interior swap at the same time since you have to mount the bracket for the shift lever linkage under the carpet. When I got the carpet out of the donor Jeep I decided it was time for new carpet due to the rust pretty much destroying the carpet. The rest of the trim and the headliner went exactly as planned. I've sent it off for an alignment and tire balance, had a spare key made, and put in a new controller board for the key fobs this week. So I need to run up to Ohio and pickup my reupholstered leather seats in Agate and it's pretty much done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExpatMJGuy Posted March 30 Author Share Posted March 30 Almost forgot to transfer my glove box key. But we've passed emissions and have a current registration! Leather seats coming soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 woohoo!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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