The blue beauty (my mall crawler project)
05-07-2013, 09:20 PM
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Year: 1999
Model: Cherokee
Engine: chrysler 4.0
The blue beauty (my mall crawler project)
So about a year ago now i picked up a 1999 classic off craigslist for 800 bucks. I had engine problems but the guy i bought it from had no idea what he was doing. Long story short, oil changes are a wonderful thing however his daughter who was driving it didn't have that high on her priority list. 3 pistons made contact with the cylinder walls and the compression over all was horrible (one cylinder had 40lbs). So anyway, after only being able to come up with an engine that was out of a 92, i figured it was better then nothing so the engine swap began. This was my 3rd engine swap so i had it down pretty good at this point. Now after months of driving it bone stock i finally started to get tired of it and wanted to give it a "personal touch". Early on when i first got it back on the road, i picked up a set of 5 TJ rubicon Moab rims for $175 bucks. The clear was chipped and the wheels were oxidizing but I knew eventally i wanted to get them powder coated. So there they sat in my garage for 6 months taking up space until recently i decided to get them powder coated. After getting my wheels back from powder coat i was so pleased with the color i decided to have an intake manifold and alloy valve cover powdered to match and had some other engine goodies done in John Deere yellow to kinda break up the dark colors in the engine bay. I recently picked up a 4.0 from a 2000 xj that had a "head gasket leak" I have a good head from a 97 that i plan to use cause those newer castings are known to crack, I plan to go over the block, and clean it up and replace some things and then throw all my powder coated shiny parts on it and swap the engine again. Until then however I am currently waiting on parts to lift it to accommodate the wheels and tires. A friend of mine purchased new tires and gave me his old ones that still have a fair amount of life left on them. They are 255/85/r16's, little big but you can't go wrong with free. I purchased a RE 6025 3.5 inch comfort ride lift which i am currently waiting on to be delivered. Went ahead and ordered an adjustable track bar simply because i don't want to take short cuts with this build like i did with my other XJ when i first started it. Also, I ordered a hack and tap sye kit from dirtbound that allows you to use a front drive shaft instead of selling your soul for an aftermarket one, and at 10 bucks a pop from the junk yard, i'll replace them things all day before i break down and have one made. Going to see how the lift goes but eventually plan to get a set of bushwacker flat flares to gain more tire clearance.
05-07-2013, 10:40 PM
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Year: 1999
Model: Cherokee
Engine: chrysler 4.0
It's all powder coat, the center caps are paint matched to the wheels, that's the only paint. Still waiting to get my valve cover back, the fins are supposed to be polished but when i went to pick it up today it wasn't so they're fixing that. Never had anything powder coated until this current project and i like it alot. It's the people who take their time and pay attention to the little details of a projects with things like this that produce a quality finished project, and that's what I'm going for with this XJ. I have my trail rig and i love it, but i want a clean one too that is more show based then built for wheeling.
05-08-2013, 12:06 PM
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Year: 1999
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I see the point you make however it's not like an online english class or anything so i wasn't too terribly concerned not to mention I was pretty tired when i wrote it so i wasn't concerned with details like format, sorry.
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05-09-2013, 01:10 AM
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Year: 1999
Model: Cherokee
Engine: chrysler 4.0
Had some more parts show up today for the lift. My hack and tap sye kit from dirtbound offroad showed up, and my front and rear extended bump stops showed up. The adjustable track bar I ordered showed up a few days ago too, now I'm just waiting for the lift kit.
05-09-2013, 09:37 PM
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Year: 2001
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
Build looks awesome, just gotta ask how much did the powder coating on the rims cost. I need to find me some rims and do the same.
05-09-2013, 09:56 PM
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Year: 1999
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Engine: chrysler 4.0
It came to $580.50 total. I had five rims and 5 center caps done. I lucked out with the rims. Picked them up off craigslist for only $175 bucks.
05-11-2013, 10:39 PM
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Year: 1999
Model: Cherokee
Engine: chrysler 4.0
So the lift is 80% installed after today, still have to install the adjustable track bar, sway bar links, and sye kit. Hopefully I'll get it aligned sometime this week. Also plan to install the rock rails sometime this week as well After that's all done, it will be on to work on the engine i plan to swap into it. Nothing special, still a 4.0 just freshing it up gasket wise, and putting powder coat color matched to the wheels on the valve cover, and intake manifold.