I've been wanting an XJ for years, so when my buddy was given this '92 that had been sitting for 10 years, I immediately asked if he would sell it to me.

The answer was no, but I did help him get it back on the road.

Despite looking the way it does, and it having sat for a decade, it actually runs/drives sweet. Though, we did quite a bit to it to get it to this point.

-Fuel Pump/Tank
-Waterpump
-Shocks
-Tires
-Full Tune Up
-Transmission Service

Now after several years as his winter beater, he's finally selling it to me.

 

Now I know what a lot of you are thinking right now just looking at the body: "This thing is a rusty pile of crap that's too far gone to fix.

I mean there's basically no floors, no rockers (Inners/outers) and no door bottoms.

Against all odds, somehow, someway, the unibody is nearly perfect.

I checked everything with a poker hammer, and there's not one hole in either rail.

Also, this whole corner of the car is perfect for some reason (door too). I'm suspecting that it may have had a quarter panel put on it at some point, as I do see some particularly sloppy seam sealer in some places.

 

Anyways, my ultimate goal with this Jeep (as the title says) is to turn is into a storm chase vehicle.


My current chase vehicle is this super clean '01 S10 Blazer (Probably the cleanest/nicest one in the state of Illinois).

Having been an auto-body technician in a previous life (Now I'm working on my bachelors in Meteorology) I just wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I ruined this Blazer with hail.

Also, this Jeep is just much better looking all together (I like boxy vehicles).

 

Anyways, doing the body on this thing should make a good summer project for me.

This thing's got over 250,000 miles on it (only 40K on the Jasper re-manufactured engine) so I'm not doing a Barrett-Jackson quality restoration, but I'm not just going to fill it with spray foam and bondo either.

First off, I'm doing the 2x6 square tube rockers. Not because I plan on taking this thing rock crawling, but because it's a bit of a time saver for me. I'm also gong to find myself a nicer set of front doors (both rear doors are literally mint somehow). All the real work is going to be with the floors, I'm going to be making those from scratch. It's also going to get the drivers quarter patched up, and the seams will get lead filled (Yes, lead).

After all that, this thing's getting tractor paint. I'm not spending $250 for a gallon of paint when this vehicle is going to get decimated by hail anyways. I really love the original paint scheme on it, so I'm definitely going to keep the 2 tone (Is there anywhere I can buy new lower door trim?)

 

Another thing that may happen to it at some point is an AX15 swap.

I've obviously never done a manual swap on a Jeep, but I did manual swap my '98 Suburban

 

I took the Jeep to work today and gave it a more thorough rust check.

The floors are a complete write off, but the unibody is definitely salvageable.

I was only able to blow through in one area right under the filler neck.

I think a frame stiffener kit would do it a lot of good.

 

I did a bit of work on the Jeep today with the first metal patch of many.

The welds don't look the best, but not too bad for flux core (I'm going to be using the Millermatic 211 we have at work for the floors and frame work).

It's definitely going to need some filler for me to get it straight. Overall this Jeep isn't going to need too much filler work, as most of the seams will be hidden either under trim, or in the door jamb.

I also threw some cherry red tractor paint on there for now just to see how it looks.

 

Now that I'm thinking about it, this is probably the perfect place to mount my 2Meter/GMRS antenna's.

I could could probably fabricate some sort of cover to go over the antenna mounts as well as this whole area (so I don't have to use any filler).

 

I'm finally working on the XJ again, and my plan is to try and get this thing roadworthy before winter.
After pulling the passenger seat and carpet, I've found a few worrying things, but I think I can work with it. I'm thinking of welding some angle iron directly to the inner rockers and using it as a support for the floor. The angle Iron will also give support to the 2x6 box steel rockers I'm planning on doing, so this Jeep will be pretty stout when I'm done with it.
I know that I'm totally changing around the crash structure by reinforcing the hell out of the rocker areas, meaning that this thing won't preform quite the same in an accident as a stock XJ. What I say to that is that these Jeeps weren't really that safe in the first place, so who's to say what's safe and what isn't?

 

Things are finally coming together. I did some test fitting of my "rockers".

I went with 2x4 instead of 2x6 since I didn't want them sticking out too far.

I'm supporting them on top and from underneath with angle Iron.

I also have floor pans coming next week, so hopefully I'll be getting everything burned in next weekend.

In the meantime, I'm just getting all the areas I'm welding ready to go.

 

I got the passenger side sorta roughed in with all my support structure.

I attached the angle iron to the rockers using plug welds. I think the straight edge looks more professional.

(I got it fitting flush a later on).
I also got to work on the drivers side (Which is in WAY better shape).

At this rate I might have myself a jeep by the end of this long weekend coming up.

 

 

Your progressing well on these floor repairs, keep them updates coming