I took care of floor pan rust on the interior of my 96 xj. I still feel like its not as solid seeming as I was hoping. I can only do so much on top. I've got some rust underneath to take care of. Damn unibody... Should I just undercoat it and forget it, or do anything special? Wire brush then undercoat it? I'll post the pictures from my interior repairs now.

 

This is mostly due to my neighbor getting a shiny new 01 xj and when I saw the nice condition of his. I don't think it's that bad. If I got it on a lift somehow, I'd beagle to get the right "self-image" of my xj.

 

Stainless steel sheet metal for the interior. Used some bondo "glass" with window screen as well. The whole interior got bedlined before any of this began, because I know bondo is just a cover up. I'll post some before and after pictures.

 

Did you use any rust encapsulating products such as Chassis Saver or POR15? After months of research and saving I'm finally about to begin this project on my XJ.

 

No, all I used was some rust oleum rust reformer (like naval jelly), then bedliner, and window screen and bondo for holes I couldn't patch with my stainless steel sheet metal... After all patchwork was done, the whole tub was bedlined again. I also didn't reinstall the foam insulation from the carpet... The leading cause of rust...

 

Don't just undercoat over the rust, it will just flake off in a month as the rust continues. You need to remove as much as possible and then prime bare metal or "properly" encapsulate what's left. Wire brush the bulk off and use Rust Reformer or grind it bare. Rust primer or POR-15 next. Then you can undercoat it lol

Also, you don't want to seal up any of the intentional holes in the chassis. The only way to deal with the unifram rails is to blast em out with a pressure washer and get a product like Krown inside.

 

That's after you have the floors cut out, right? lol

 

When i did my floors I did my best to clean the inside of the frame rails out.

I have no problem cutting floor panels out to clean the frame rails out.

But the entire underbody is ALOT of work. I kinda want to take it to a professional sand blaster.

 

If I had the tools and fab skills, I'd have no problem with it either. I'm hoping that by the time the unibody rails decide to rust out on me, I'll have both and be willing to fab up a new frame. Hopefully a really long time from now, haha

I was working on my 4x4 linkage last night and I was looking around under there thinking "well, that transmission has to come out to get everything" and overall "what am I getting myself into" lol, definitely a lot of work, but I think the rewards will be worth it

 

I lay awake at night convinced the only solution is to completely disassemble my XJ and grind everything to bare metal.

Are you actually going for that?

 

Oh Lord, I've done that with classic cars. Body pulled off the frame, frame sent out for chemical dip, welded up and powder coated...got a spare ten grand laying around? Because everything you see will be rusty and need refurb or replacement. You can't put rusty bolts back, it's just wrong
That just isn't practical with an XJ unless you are a masochist. Grind off what you can, cut out what you can't grind, shoot Eastwood's Rust encapsulator on everything...probably be good for a long, long time.

 

It's a shame they rust so much underneath. I will be able to get mine inspected this year. But next year I don't no.

 

If I can find a 231 to replace my 242 with, definitely! And assuming I can get a helping hand and a transmission jack. I want this XJ to last me a long time! That's no easy task here in PA. I'll wait to get the whole underbody until after I'm lifted though, and get my axles and all that at the same time.

 

There is a place here that'll spray the under side, media blast. You just have to remove fuel and brake lines and the gas tank.

My coworkers husband works at a place that paints busses and big trucks. They have a blast booth big enough, I may see if they could make a deal with me, but that won't do anyone else amy good.

My XJ is pretty old and beat up. I'm not sure if its really worth the trouble. It's got sentimental value, that's for sure, but it's just a Jeep, I can't take it with me when I go.