whats your winter project?

and what is your taget date? this mostly applies to the colder climates, with colder weather here its only going to decline with each day... what are your plans for the trail rig/dual purpose rig/grocery getter over the impending "down time"?? i know every time i drive my rig or wheel it or see another rig, i am always coming up with new ideas and a mental wish list.. whats on your plate? what upgrades? why? just looking to see what everyone else is thinking.. i just got a replacement trail rig today, a 1990 XJ laredo, 4.0L, AX-15, NP-231, originaly from California,(a diamond in the rough here in new england) bone stock and near perfect condition.. it is stepping in where my 87 Limited left off when the floors gave out.. swapping the RE 4.5" lift, 4.56 geared D30 and 8,25 axles, 33" MT/Rs, and all the little goodies over to the new rig in the next month or so and will probably park it in a snowbank till april... thaw it out and head west to Moab in the end of april... i will probably cut the fenders, add another 3/4" spacer on the coils and maybe a 1" block to the rear so it sits at an even 6".. hand throttle and probably a line-lock as well, i have no garage of my own so i have to depend on the generosity of friends when i need a shop in the cold months.... almost forgot.. pulling the carpets and slappin it with some bed-liner...

lets hear what you guys are thinkin about tearing into...

-Finish fiberglassing in my rear sub box
-Make the rear amp mounts
-Install my lift
-make a snowboard rack
-finish the wiring job from hell
-work my ass of so I can get more stuff for Jeep
-and who knows what else will pop up

- I'd like to get this all done by end of march, and I could get it all done a lot faster if we had a heated garage
" I cant afford "down time" - Iv'e drivin it on a 400 mile trip with nothing but my drivers seat in it- no carpet, no trim, no door panels, no NOTHING and you think yalls has road noise lol.. I guess if your doin motor work thats a lil different though

the way the weather has been here lately I will be too busy shoveling snow.
Alta ski resort got 56 inches the other day. :doh:

Both of mine the 88 and the 96 have cracks in the exhaust manifold, got to paint the door on the 88, body work is done HST damage (high speed tree)hoping to get them right before the snow flies.
Got some bearings to change and a set of ball joints, on the 88, maybe the rear brake hardline (rust).
Cleaned out the garage (took a week) three trailer loads of trash and scrap metal. Got a propane heater and a 4.0 from a wreck, Im gonna freshen up some. Motor had near new compression, could be some bottom end bearing questions, guy said he had the rear main seal changed twice in a year. 130,000 miles, motor ran nothing but synthetic, clean as a whistle inside.
Looking into some ZJ springs for the front.
Got mechanical and emission tests in April.

Congrats on the new heep Mike, hope you can get some stuff done before it's too cold to wrench on it. Mine is going to get some interior changes, and some minor repairs...and maybe finish up a rear disc conversion (that project been on the back burner way too long now)...Hopefully I will be able to resolve some engine issues that have come up as well.

Don't have anything planned for my Limited at the moment, but the muffler should be going out soon. Now we may be getting new speakers and a boneyard wiper motor for the hatch in my sister's Briarwood. I may also look at speakers for the front doors in mine, any suggestions on speaker that aren't too expensive but will work with the OE radio gear (her's is a '92 and mine is a '98)? I'm going to start rebuilding both of my RC touring cars soon, it just won't be cheap (even with my employee discount, bearings are going to cost nearly $100!) Then I think the servo or esc/receiver in my Mini-T just took a dump today, who knows what that's going to cost me (I may go Brushless in it$$$$)

Jeep related, my winter, or hopefully pre-winter project is to weld in new rocker panels, patch a couple of floor holes, and (AARRGH!) probably rip out the entire dashboard assembly while I already have the seats, carpets and fenders off for the rocker project, so I can try to find the hitherto untraceable cold blast of air that comes in from somewhere behind the passenger side dash.

My winter project is to find a new XJ body and swap all the drive train and interior over. I have had my XJ on it top, and sides too many times. I dropped it pretty hard on a ledge at Moab and there is a wrinkle in the top and the bottom of the fender has a 1" gap where it meets the door. I think its time to do a transplant. Need to find a shop for a week or so. My neighbors get a bit irritated when I dismantle a vehicle on the driveway.

Well, the 87 is my winter driver. I just sprayed new undercoating on the underside and along the rockers up to the door trim. I am hoping it lasts the winter. The clutch (original) is going. The engine temp won't go above 140, but I a'm hoping the temp is just the gauge. I also noticed that I was down about a pint of coolant for the past year, so I'll have to keep an eye on it.

I need to get a new suspension under there. I was hoping to have it donebefore winter, but am still waiting to get the parts.

Next on the list is a re-spray of the body. I'm thinking Austrian Cammo or German Flecktarn. That will have to wait until spring though. If it survives the winter, I am going to pull out the carpet and properly weld the patch I have on the tranny tunnel, then rhino line the interior. If it doesn't survive, then the front end will go into my 96 Sport 2wd and the rest parted out.

-Copperhead

old_man said:

My winter project is to find a new XJ body and swap all the drive train and interior over. I have had my XJ on it top, and sides too many times. I dropped it pretty hard on a ledge at Moab and there is a wrinkle in the top and the bottom of the fender has a 1" gap where it meets the door. I think its time to do a transplant. Need to find a shop for a week or so. My neighbors get a bit irritated when I dismantle a vehicle on the driveway.

Click to expand...

My neighbors have gotten used to it :nono: They just make a comment about the crazy American and turn down there hearing aids. Though the lady across the street did get pretty excited, when she had to shake sand blasting granuals out of her bed sheets. :firedevil

==rock rails with inrtegrated exaust on the passenger side and air tank on the drivers side
==swap a ford 8.8 from a exploder with 31 spline shafts and 4.56 gears while im at it
==re-do dana tudry to match rear
==front bumper with air tank, reciever, tow hooks/shackles
==Wire the Warn Multi mount kit for front and rear
==Guage cluster swap (with senders)
==trim fenders and extend bumpstops to stuff 33's

hmm - that seems like a lot to do in the dorm parking lot eh? it sucks not having a garage anymore...

I'll only be with my Jeep for a month this winter (school Christmas break) and I will definitely be setting up hydro-assist, and hopefully find a new bed and bob it and build in some cool storage.

other than that, SNOW WHEELIN!

old_man said:

My winter project is to find a new XJ body and swap all the drive train and interior over.

Click to expand...

Tom, talk to Tiff, you've pretty much described what she's got left...

my winter project is a S&N tube chassis. putting a cruiser front clip on it, 60's, and maybe 40" MTR's.

right now im finishing up a cherokee full width project thats taking like 3 weeks over schedule. longarmin it putting a 8in. lift on it. alittle something to beat before i do the buggy.

man if i only had money; anyone wanna donate parts or money to the Patrick wants a bigger Jeep fund????

my winter projects include;
- workin so i can get enough money fer a new protofab bumper, t-max winch and the rest of my lift compnents fer the front
- learning how to weld better, right now my welds look like bird poop
- wiring up a dual battery kit fer my jeep
- and finally maybe fabbin up a few skid plates made of plate and tubing

my goals are to aquire 33's and put in a rear locker this "winter". its still hot as hell here and it doesnt look like winter will be here anytime soon, and winter usually involves nothing below 30 and no snow, enjoy the freezing

1. cage
2. do something about my fugly rear bumper
3. linkage
4. front engine seal and water pump and all the trimmings that go with that
5. rear quarter panels be gone....
6. rear wheelwells need some fixin after previous owner trimmed them (errr semi butchered)
7. rear buckets
8. front limiting strap (inverted V to combat unloading while still allowing droop)
9. finish off my front bumper (put a top on it)
10. put in onboard air and tank
11. I know I'm frogetting something

Target date? Is this winter going to be long enough? It seems that there are always projects to be worked on on the jeep so I don't think I can limit myself to winter only.

First, depending on how much heated garage time I can steal from my dad.
Second not necessarily in this order, but at least what I can think of

1. Rewire M8000 controller(Anyone got a plug wiring schematic?)
2. Mount M8000 and ARB Bull Bar
3. Replace busted Driver seat mount
4. Weld in some floor boards
5. Convince wife OBA is better than AC
6. Build/Install OBA system
7. Build new cargo area organizer
8. New spare tire holder
9. Manual fan wiring
10. New gauge package
11. New interior power switches
12. 12 volt squad car interior light

Quite possibly this:

keeping it gassed up, I hate poor college student slave labor.

Dean