z_lindig
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- cumming, GA
i picked up a relatively straight '93 with the 4.0/AW4/231, D30/8.25 for $400 a couple months ago.
it had been in an accident involving a runaway tree, so someone had done a poor repair involving a grey fender, hood, and header panel from a comanche.
250,000 miles of neglect and sitting with a window open netted these results:
it wasn't as bad as some XJs i'd seen from the northeast, so i was thankful it was only on the passenger side, and the frame was still perfect.
i started collecting parts and thinking about what i wanted to do as far as tire size / height i wanted... i like my vehicles to be about ass-height so i figured 33x10.50R15 tires on about 3" springs would be just about right.
i'm on a shoestring budget, so my options are ALL used parts... begging, borrowing, and scavenging; hence the name frank, as in frankenstein. lame i know, that's all i could come up with.
anyways, i needed to address the rust issue, so i contemplated spending around $160 on replacement panels... then i finally deciding that instead of just thinking of fixing the rust, i'll actually do something about it, meaning going to the metal yard and making my own repair panels. WAY WAY WAY too much work involved.
came up with this:
yeah, not necessarilly beautiful, but it's pretty strong and better than what was there, plus i learned a thing or two about welding sheetmetal. after it was all said and done i'd say i had about 30 hours or so into figuring it all out.
i was dying to start installing parts, so i cleaned up all my used goodies and painted everything...
sorry for the crappy cell phone pics. it's just too handy to not take pictures with it, rather than an expensive digital camera. in case you can't tell it's skyjacker 3" springs (used, $20), and adjustable control arms($100 with drop brackets).
i took everything off the frontend in preparation for replacing mismatched fender/header panel and to fix the floppy upper driver's door hinge.i cleaned the inner fenders and painted them (flat black, of course, you'll notice a theme). the PO experienced a power steering leak and had just added fluid for what looked like years. NASTY! so half a gallon of simple green and getting really dirty netted this:
i did the cut/bang/fold of the pinch seam to avoid any tire clearance issues. figured now would be as good of a time as any...
i also took the axle out and douched it really good. painted it and slung everything into place. as for shocks, we had some JK rubicon shocks, that looked like they should work. i drilled out the vulcanized bushings to 5/8" and installed some bar pin eliminators that had been sitting in the toolbox for a couple years.
i also replaced the scungy factory bumpstops with some random bumper of sorts. looks like they should work. anyways, with the front sitting under it's own weight i put the tires (KM2s) and wheels (2004 rocky mountain edition wrangler made by alcoa, used of course) on and admired my handiwork.
to get a better visual, i hacked the grey fender out at the flare line:
it had been in an accident involving a runaway tree, so someone had done a poor repair involving a grey fender, hood, and header panel from a comanche.
250,000 miles of neglect and sitting with a window open netted these results:
it wasn't as bad as some XJs i'd seen from the northeast, so i was thankful it was only on the passenger side, and the frame was still perfect.
i started collecting parts and thinking about what i wanted to do as far as tire size / height i wanted... i like my vehicles to be about ass-height so i figured 33x10.50R15 tires on about 3" springs would be just about right.
i'm on a shoestring budget, so my options are ALL used parts... begging, borrowing, and scavenging; hence the name frank, as in frankenstein. lame i know, that's all i could come up with.
anyways, i needed to address the rust issue, so i contemplated spending around $160 on replacement panels... then i finally deciding that instead of just thinking of fixing the rust, i'll actually do something about it, meaning going to the metal yard and making my own repair panels. WAY WAY WAY too much work involved.
came up with this:
yeah, not necessarilly beautiful, but it's pretty strong and better than what was there, plus i learned a thing or two about welding sheetmetal. after it was all said and done i'd say i had about 30 hours or so into figuring it all out.
i was dying to start installing parts, so i cleaned up all my used goodies and painted everything...
sorry for the crappy cell phone pics. it's just too handy to not take pictures with it, rather than an expensive digital camera. in case you can't tell it's skyjacker 3" springs (used, $20), and adjustable control arms($100 with drop brackets).
i took everything off the frontend in preparation for replacing mismatched fender/header panel and to fix the floppy upper driver's door hinge.i cleaned the inner fenders and painted them (flat black, of course, you'll notice a theme). the PO experienced a power steering leak and had just added fluid for what looked like years. NASTY! so half a gallon of simple green and getting really dirty netted this:
i did the cut/bang/fold of the pinch seam to avoid any tire clearance issues. figured now would be as good of a time as any...
i also took the axle out and douched it really good. painted it and slung everything into place. as for shocks, we had some JK rubicon shocks, that looked like they should work. i drilled out the vulcanized bushings to 5/8" and installed some bar pin eliminators that had been sitting in the toolbox for a couple years.
i also replaced the scungy factory bumpstops with some random bumper of sorts. looks like they should work. anyways, with the front sitting under it's own weight i put the tires (KM2s) and wheels (2004 rocky mountain edition wrangler made by alcoa, used of course) on and admired my handiwork.
to get a better visual, i hacked the grey fender out at the flare line:
