My Dad's old XJ

[xjtrailrider]

My dad bought this old XJ brand new in 1990, he drove it until the day he died in 03'. I let it get away from me when my stepmother asked me if I wanted it, I turned it down. But after 3 years of thinking about it and looking for it, I was able to track it down. It was still here in Roanoke sitting at the back of a car lot with a blown motor and a homeless person living in it. I bought it for back in April 06' for $400 and started the 3 year resurrection of my dads XJ. This was the only car he ever bought new for himself and it meant a lot to him.

The day I brought her home. It had a straight body and no rust but that was about all it had going for it! The head and most of the drive accessories were in the back of the Jeep.

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/5383/dadsjeep6su.jpg
http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/7947/dadsjeep21ob.jpg

I pulled the engine and took it to Hudson's in Vinton and had them do a complete rebuild of the engine which included being bored, decked and milled. I took it home with a 2 year warranty as well.

http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/7827/engine1bt9.jpg
http://img389.imageshack.us/img389/4300/engine2wb9.jpg

More to come! Stupid 4 image limit

[xjtrailrider]

I then replaced or cleaned all of the interior and just drove it and enjoyed it for a year or so. It was basically stock with a really stout 4.0

I lucked out and the tranny, despite my dads best efforts was in great shape and the NP231 was a good one. It had the D-35 in the rear and was sagging bad on 235's.

The paint was gone! so that was on the list of "gotta do's"

I also decided to dump the D-35 and put in a Chryco 8.25 29 spline since I would be towing with this XJ. I installed a bastard packed 2.5 inch lift in the rear and some 2" spacers in the front.

http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/8505/axleswap8md4.jpg

I also installed a PORC HD SYE and Tom Woods shaft at this time as well.

Time for paint!

[xjtrailrider]

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[xjtrailrider]

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[xjtrailrider]

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This how it sits(and where it sits!) today. I rarely drive it in the winter, do not wheel it and never drive it in the snow.

http://i418.photobucket.com/albums/pp266/xjtrailrider/renix/P1010743.jpg

[Scrambled]

Jon the only thing I like more than that XJ is the story behind it. :2thumbsup: Still kicking myself to this day for not buying my grand fathers old truck when I had the chance.:doh:

Kinda breaking my heart that Hudson's is closing their doors as well.

Looking good my friend and your father would be proud!
Later
Sean

[rubican!]

what an awesome restoration. And you dad had awesome taste to buy a xj!

[xjtrailrider]

what an awesome restoration. And you dad had awesome taste to buy a xj!

Thanks! My dad was by no means a "gear head" but when it came to trucks it was all Ford, when it came to cars he loved his Mopar's and when it came to 4WD there was only Jeep or IH

The cars my dad owned while I was growing up;

69 Scout Half Cab, he used this for his part time job with Roanoke County, he had to check on the pump houses out in the boonies (which is now Hidden Valley) on weekends and holidays

69 Jeep Commando, the first Jeep I ever locked the hubs on and wheeled by myself, I was 8 or 9 at the time.

66 Ford truck

73 F-350 "Camper Special" crew cab

71 "Gold Duster"

All great rides

[xjtrailrider]

I haven't posted much about this Jeep lately but I have been working on it. I fixed the powered/non working door locks by adding 2 relays and direct power from the battery (Greg Smith door lock upgrade) and I fixed the right rear power window that had not worked for 18 years, it turned out to be the linkage from the regulator to the window had flipped and the window was locked in the up position.

I also installed a 96 wiper motor/transmission and got rid of the jerky wiper problems once and for all.

I installed a 96 steering box to replace the loose and worn out box that was in there, I now have tight steering:thumb:

I just got done installing dual electric fans, both from late model XJ's and took out the mechanical fan/clutch. I have the main fan on a snap switch and relay direct from the battery and the aux fan is still on the stock circuit. the temp stays right on 210 which is much better than the 150 it use to stay on. i should get better fuel economy now.

I have a set of Ford 5.0 injectors to install this week. The ford injectors are a direct bolt in for the RENIX XJ's and are 4 nozzle compared to the single nozzle that the stack injectors have. This should also net me another mile to the gallon or so.

I have a 96 dual diaphragm brake booster/MC to install that will give me some much needed and much stronger brakes.

I also will be installing the axles that will be coming out of my trail rig. They are geared 4.10 and the rear has a Detroit True Trac. The lower gears will help my mileage some since I have larger than stock tires and the true track will make the XJ handle much better in the rain and the snow. The front D-30 will be a non-disco model so that will give me much stronger axle U-joints and get rid of the un-dependable CAD unit.

I'll post some pics when its all done.

[xjtrailrider]

I installed the Ford 5.0 19lb/per hour "Orange tops" yesterday an WOW what a difference. The 4-nozzle injectors smoothed out the choppy idle and throttle response.

It ran good before, now it runs great!

[Scrambled]

To anyone has not seen this XJ in person spotless is the first word that comes to mind.:2thumbsup:

[xjmudman96]

To anyone has not seen this XJ in person spotless is the first word that comes to mind.:2thumbsup:

poor old jeep never sees the dirt or the rocks :boohoo:

...:rotflmao5:

[xjtrailrider]

This one has too much meaning to me to tear up. I did drive it in the last snow just for kicks, It goes better than the JK does and almost as good as the Commander.

[xjtrailrider]

I just got done swapping the brake booster/mc. As some of you may know the 87-94 XJ's have sucky brakes at best. The fix is to either swap in a 95/96 booster/mc from a XJ or a WJ booster/mc. I decided to use the booster/mc from the parts XJ I bought last spring. It took a little work and I could get into a long drawn out explanation but here is a link to the swap info that I posted on NAXJA (http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1020670). I had issues getting the "stop light switch" working and figured it out myself and posted the results.

Here are a couple of finished pics.
http://i418.photobucket.com/albums/pp266/xjtrailrider/booster%20swap/mcswap20.jpg
http://i418.photobucket.com/albums/pp266/xjtrailrider/booster%20swap/mcswap21.jpg

As you may notice in the pics, I have a new washer reservoir. My old one was cracked so while at the Jeep dealer today getting the first oil change done on the XK, I went back to the parts dept and whoa and behold, they had "one" left on the shelf. I replaced all of the gaskets as well to eliminate all of the leaks.

[xjtrailrider]

Update: The Ford injectors are gone, I had too many heat soak issues with them. They ran great otherwise.

Since my last update I have; Removed the mechanical fan and added another E-fan in its place. I also swapped in my old trail rig axles and did away with the disconnect front D-30.

The new axles are geared 4:10, the rear has a Detroit TruTrac with 29 spline Yukon shafts, RuffStuff cover and raised shock mounts. The front has welded 760X U-joints, Alloy USA seals and a new front drive shaft.

I also raised the Jeep another 3/4" while I had the axles out and added a T-case skid.

Axles

http://i418.photobucket.com/albums/pp266/xjtrailrider/renix/P1020692.jpg
http://i418.photobucket.com/albums/pp266/xjtrailrider/renix/P1020693.jpg

Finished product
http://i418.photobucket.com/albums/pp266/xjtrailrider/renix/P1020702.jpg

[Scrambled]

Jon we have decided the day you leave this earth we are hauling that XJ to the Smithsonian for future generations to see.
LOL

[xjtrailrider]

Christmas always brings Jeep gifts!

My wife got me;

A gift certificate to get the front seats re-upholstered
A new Kenwood HU that is iPod compatible
And a Spectre cowl CAI (http://www.spectreperformance.com/#CATALOG.9945)

Pics to come!

[hadfield4wd]

Nice I like that cowl intake.