I had already planned to take today off, but the plan was to do a day of motorcycle riding since the weather finally cooled off. Instead, I went to the closest pick a part (35 minutes) and tackled the hardest part. Was able to get the inner fender apron off pretty easily. Couldn't get fender because I couldn't get the drivers door open far enough to get the top bolt out. Was really close, but needed the door open about another inch. Picked up a few other things I needed too. Take today:
-inner fender apron
-Compete air box (bottom got crushed a bit on the old one)
-front fender mounting bracket (connects front of fender to the inner apron
-Triangular support bracket (connects inner apron to the frame)
- Correct size battery tray (I had inadvertently gotten one form a pre-97 last time and it's actually not quite as wide as the later ones
-2 washer fluid pumps ( the old ones didn't look too great when I pulled them off).
Total - $20

Bill for Waffle House after going to the Pick A Part - $15.17. Overall a good time was had by all.

Going to head to the next closest pick a part on Saturday and hopefully be able to get a fender. Will also grab a radiator if I see one in good condition. Parts still needed for part deux:
-Fender
-Header panel
-Radiator
-Condenser
-Fan clutch
-Electric fan
-PS pump pulley
- Still have to get a-pillar and windshield fixed

Gotta get this as far as I can before football coaching duties seriously interfere.

 

You know how excited I was to watch your first set of posts. I'm sorry this happened.

If I ever have a job to do on my Jeep that overwhelms me, I will definitely think about what you have accomplished so far.

 

This is like Shakespeare, like a Greek tragedy...something! A phoenix, rising from the ashes, twice! I am loving this thread.

Silly me keeps trying to find XJs with perfect bodies. That's a sucker's game. I'm gonna go take a second look at the Cherokees on CL that got dinged in the front. You can do this, I can do this. Let's do this.

Keep up the good work.

 

I would suggest going new with the radiator since these jeeps have such a hard time staying cool as is. I wouldn't trust one from the junkyard.

 

That's most likely what I'll do. Definitely don't want to take a chance on a questionable radiator. I have just been really surprised by the condition of some of the parts in the junk yard XJs I have seen I (and I have seen a lot of them recently). Several of the XJs I have come across look like they have a lot of very recent parts on them.

 

I'm not saying you couldn't get lucky and get a good one, but to me for how cheap they are ( usually around or under $100) it's not worth the gamble. Some parts I will gamble but that's one I suggest buying new if at all possible.

 

Maybe get some new brakes while you're there. Or glasses!

 

Ba-Dum, Ching!

 

Nice! I'll look for some glasses next time I go.

 

Went back to the pick a Part today to see if I could get everything I needed to get this Cherokee back on the right track. Defintiely got lucky today and got pretty much everything I needed except an electric fan for the AC. Total take:

- Drivers side fender (got the one from the same Jeep that gave up the passenger side)
- Front bumper in really good condition (guy didn't even charge me for it)
- Power steering pump with pulley. decided to grab this. I had broken the reservoir on the original one and had replaced it with aftermarket. The one I pulled was original Jeep. I needed a new pulley anyway and this was just a few $$ more.
- 2 headlight bezels (charged me $2 each, can't beat that)
- Drivers power mirror (wife wanted to get this, glass on the original one was loose and shaky. This one was solid)
- Fan clutch
- Radiator/AC condenser. Wasn't sure about this, but the radiator looked brand new and the coolant that came out was really clean so I took a chance. Someone had already taken the compressor so I didn't have to do anything with the R134. I can do the rest of the AC work myself so took a chance here. Condenser looked really good.
- Power steering pump bracket (no charge. It looked like the old one was very slightly bent back. Test fit and the idler pulley lined up right now)
and the bonus of the day.....
- An intact original header panel for the princely sum of $49.99. I think the Jeep it came off of had just been released into the yard. I have never seen an intact header panel at a pick a part.

And got the obligatory Waffle House All American meal after it was all done.

Still had the grill from the black ebay header panel so good on the header panel now.
Spent some time tonight cleaning stuff and trying to get the broken off bolts out of the fender apron. These are the bolts for the airbox. I didn't really notice they were broken off since the long part was underneath. Think I'm going to try welding a nut to the bottom to get something I can get a socket onto. Vise grips were doing nothing.

Football coaching duties start his week (Go DSYS Thunder 115 lb!). Hoping to get this all back together next weekend.

I posted a picture of the glasses I found too! They are really nice. I think the brand is Troll glasses but not 100% sure.

 

Thanks MhahoneyJr! Your post really made me laugh when I really needed a laugh. My wife has owned this Cherokee since new and it's been in the woods, to Camp Jeep twice (when Jeep used to do those events near Charlottesville VA) ans on many trails. If you have a Cherokee with a perfect body, you are not using it for what it should be used for.
A front fender can be be removed in about 15 minutes ( and that includes removing the header panel). Doors are easily replaceable too. Ours has a few scratches from kids and dogs and scraping branches in the woods. All the dings and scratches have a story about all the good times you had in your Jeep.

 

Started football practices this week so I get 2+ hours a night doing that instead of fixing the Cherokee. Finally got the replacement apron in today. Also got the replacement power steering pump + pulley installed, but that's kind of like tinker toys compared to getting a fender apron in now. Was hoping to get the radiator back in for a test start today, but didn't make it that far. Hopefully will get there tomorrow.

 

Spent another several hours in the garage today and made some good progress. Also had a setback with the fan clutch bearing. I was going to reassemble the fan clutch and realized that the pulley wasn't really turning. I kept trying and did get it to move, but it is really tight. Not making any noise, but just doesn't seem right. Did some reading and saw that the bearing is pressed into the compressor mount. Found a video on how to press it out and press a new one in. I'm thinking I'll take a trip to the pick a part and just grab one. Once the compressor is out, it's about 5 minutes to get the bracket out. On the upside, I did a test fit on the fender, bumper, header panel and grill. Almost looks like a Cherokee again. Once I get this bracket/bearing taken care of, rest should go back together very quickly.

 

You are tenacious.

 

can we call this project chumbawamba? project tubthumping?