Absolutely beautiful workmanship. If I were going to restore a Cherokee (if I get another one), this is how I would aspire to do it.

Keep up the good work!

 

Thanks !! I appreciate the encouragement.. I'm enjoying this build...
After adding the dana 30 RC differential rock guard, I was planning to get one to match the back configuration with the 8.25 Kentrol stainless cover.. And after some searching, yet again I've come to realize RC doesn't make a diff guard for the 8.25.. .. What the heck is going on with the 8.25 and the lack of goodies for this rear ?
OK I'll admit I'm a little strange when it comes to keeping certain things in check.. So my only choice was to make my own !! I bought a RC dana 35 rock guard and modified it for the 8.25...
I present the only Rough Country 8.25 differential rock guard on the planet..

 

So after that hurdle was jumped I recoated the 8.25 housing and got it ready for the install... Here's a pic of the Truetrac diff and 4.56 gears before closing it up.. I like the center thrust block and retainer arrangement on these..

 

Here's a few of the ZJ disc set up ....

 

Finally the rear buttoned up and ready to install... Took quite a while to get to this point.. But the results are worth it IMO...

 

And it's installed !! I took a chance and added a 6* shim to get ready for the SYE install.. Let's hope I chose wisely..... That's a wrap for today and I'm beat...

 

Since all the rear disc components are new I had some trouble installing the abutment clips...Only one .10 clip would fit for each pad ..So I put it on the thrust side of the pad...I'll keep an eye on it and adjust if necessary.. Other than that it went together well.. I adjusted the parking brake using the " adjust until tight then back off 4 clicks" approach and it gave me a nice range of motion..

 

Finished up the rear area with a freshly sandblasted and epoxy coated ZJ fuel tank skid plate...Followed with a new Curt hitch receiver...

 

Sick AF dude. Keep it up.

 

Next up is the transfer case SYE...After reading all the threads on how hard it is to remove the transfer case I was prepared for the worst..But it turns out it really wasn't that bad.. Drop the crossmember,lower the transfer case,drain the fluid and unbolt the unit...I used a 14mm ratchet wrench on all the retaining nuts..Maybe it's the mileage that made it so easy {?} Anyhow here's the starting point..

 

As I was hoping, the internals were in wonderful shape..Even the plastic guides were like new..

 

Although I could have simply swapped out the shaft and moved on I ended up stripping down the case,cleaning all the internal and external parts, and changed out all the seals for good measure... After some thought I wanted to simplify the transfer case linkage while I was at this stage and bought Azzy's linkage kit...It's a great quality kit..

 

And as you've guessed if you're following the build,


I couldn't resist the temptation to shoot the transfer case halves with a VHT cast aluminum chemical resistant coating...Here's the finished product ready to install with the new advanced adapters SYE...

 

Oh, I did install a new speedo gear...I originally bought a 39 tooth piece using one of the generic calculators I found on the site...And then I ran across another graph that takes the actual tire size {33s aren't exactly 33" depending on the brand} into account and realized I actually needed a 38 tooth gear.....Oh well, at least I caught it now.. So I indexed the housing accordingly for the 38 tooth unit..

 

So as other have found I first bought an aftermarket trans mount and immediately saw what everyone warns about... The metal and rubber on the aftermarket piece isn't suitable to think this is anything but a quick fix...New factory mount on the right...And now I'm stuck with a door stop on the left for the comparison ...