Project Rusticon

mcguyver_xj · Apr 30, 2016

Hey all wanted to track my build on here that way can get feedback or potentially answer others questions about certain things...some of you may be familiar with some of my older xj's... I had this 99 that was 4.5" rustys with shackle relocation brackets, rustys long arms, or-fab rear bumper, 5speed swapped, np241or, gas tank and tcase skids which i parted out for no good reason cause i thought i was getting out of the jeep scene...

then some time later after working on my friends xj a lot and going wheeling with them decided to get another bought a semi-built xj off a naxja member and made some more mods which i then called Rusticon

5.5" lift which is rubicon express coils and .75" spacers, 4.5" clayton leafs and rubicon express boomerang shackles, bilstein shocks all around, tnt long arms, 231 w/ sye, 4.10s in the hpd30 and c8.25 with ruffstuff covers and lunchbox lockers, gas tank skid, iro heim steering, ors fab front bumper, jcr quarter guards, etc...

but after beating on it quite a bit and some other issues i decided to start over

so jump ahead to recently this happened

mcguyver_xj · Apr 30, 2016

So i wanted to start as close to rust free as possbile so i was looking down south and search wasnt go super well and just as i was about to give up the owner of a jeep shop contacted me wanting to sell the xj my friend in north carolina had found for him in south carolina a 1999 Cherokee Classic 4-door auto 2wd with 280k but absolutely rust free and pretty clean just needed a motor...

mcguyver_xj · Apr 30, 2016

so bought the xj got it to the shop stripped my old one then started looking for a motor got one from a junkyard with 150k and a 6month warranty for $350 was pulling old motor and this came out of oil pan probably a gallon of coolant and six quarts of oil

also installed my 4wd aw4 with new fluid and filter and my 231 with sye and my rear driveshaft for now just to drive around...here it is parked behind my DD

mcguyver_xj · Apr 30, 2016

been ordering parts since i bought the engine budget was a bit off due to spending a bit more on an xj than planned and buying a motor that needed more parts than expected but i ordered middle subframe stiffeners for now and will do fronts and rear over winter time, new diff covers because i hate countersunk bolts (never ever had good luck), new stainless steel brake lines cause old ones were looking really ratty, steering box spacer, new brakes for the rear end, Spadano rocker panel replacement/reinforcement kit, and last but not least the kind of unexpected purchase of new tires because i could not find anything used....

rear end set up with new parts its a 29 spline 8.25 with 4.10s and a spartan locker and zj disc brakes and now a solid diff cover

front end setup with new cover for now its a hp d30 with 4.10s lockrite locker, aftermarket control arm mounts and lca skids, and iro heim steering

and a pic of the uninstalled Spadano rockers

right now im waiting for my stiffeners and tires to come in and friday the 6th i leave for north carolina for a week so probably wont start building until i am back

mcguyver_xj · May 4, 2016

got my tires in and my stiffeners last night and everything looks great...for tires i went with 35" goodyear mtr with kevlar i have 2 friends that have 33s, 2 with 35s, and one with 37s and they all love their tires and i got a good deal

they look huge next to a stock xj...for subframe stiffeners i went with T&M Metal Fab he makes some very nice pieces for xjs and is the only person i have seen to offer mj stiffeners i only bought mids for now and over the winter plan to do fronts and rears...

mcguyver_xj · Jun 8, 2016

Been busting out some work on this got the rear end and lift in just gotta finish bump stops, got my bumper on, got stiffeners welded in, gas tank skid on, and tnt long arm belly pan in

Also instead of buying all new bolts I decided to weld the support brackets instead of drilling four holes through subframe and stiffeners

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mcguyver_xj · Jun 8, 2016

Also found my water leak was an improperly installed heater box seal so I gotta rip the dash out already took carpet out to dry and so i can bedline then put carpet back in, also was taking side molding and found rr door has a bunch of bondo from something

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woowoo · Jun 8, 2016

Rock on man. That's as close to a unmolested XJ as your gonna get!

mcguyver_xj · Jun 9, 2016

Got the front end in, lca mounts cut off and tires on still a lot more to do though

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mcguyver_xj · Jun 17, 2016

Hopefully got my rear bump stops all set up gonna take it on a light run this weekend, tested flex with my shops new forklift also got the alignment dialed in and ordered a Boostwerks steering box brace

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mcguyver_xj · Jun 17, 2016

Also still gotta do the rocker panels, quarter guards, finish bolting up the tcase skid, do the heater box seal, bedline floors and put carpet back in, modify the exhaust, and install the steering box brace when it comes in

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mcguyver_xj · Jul 27, 2016

Been busy but took it out a few times got my jcr quarter guards mounted up

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5-Speed XJ · Aug 16, 2016

Let me know how the boostwerks brace works out its on my list as well.

mcguyver_xj · Aug 17, 2016

5-Speed XJ said:
Let me know how the boostwerks brace works out its on my list as well.

Will do once I get it on

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mcguyver_xj · Aug 17, 2016

This happened so fixed it and replaced my axle side upper control arm bushings also tightened up the flex joint on my trac bar and installed a trac bar brace

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5-Speed XJ · Aug 17, 2016

Wow that's like a rough country quality weld lol. Glad you fixed it.

mcguyver_xj · Aug 17, 2016

5-Speed XJ said:
Wow that's like a rough country quality weld lol. Glad you fixed it.

Too bad it was actually tnt customs though lol

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Anak · Aug 18, 2016

mcguyver_xj said:
Too bad it was actually tnt customs though lol

Ouch.

I wonder if it is from the same timeframe as this: http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1034809

If those are older parts and can be lumped in with a past problem then that is one thing. If they are newer parts and represent a recurrence of the same problem then that is another matter entirely.

Luke95 · Aug 18, 2016

Nice build I'm following this.

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mcguyver_xj · Aug 18, 2016

Anak said:
Ouch.

I wonder if it is from the same timeframe as this: http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1034809

If those are older parts and can be lumped in with a past problem then that is one thing. If they are newer parts and represent a recurrence of the same problem then that is another matter entirely.

They might be that old these arms were on an Xj I bought off a naxja member a few years back and they were a few years old when I bought it but I talked to tnt and they seemed dumbfounded that it even broke like that

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