Another XJ added to the fleet!

[freerider15]

So long story short, i've been looking for a newer model XJ to replace my '91.

Was just randomly surfing Craiglist when I came across a '98 XJ with a headgasket issue in Breckenridge for $1500. So up headed Sam (Zluster) and I to check it out. Ended up buying it, but it does need some TLC. It's a 5-speed with 165k on the odometer.

So onto pictures:

So it was an east coast vehicle (hence the VA plates)...and it has some rust to show it as you can see above in several places. The interior is in great condition though.

The "head gasket" issue was just a freeze plug that had a hole corroded in it from a neglected cooling system.

So once we got it home (whole nother FUN story in itself)...work began. Got the freeze plug replaced, as well as threw in a gasket it (head gasket, exhaust/intake gasket, throttle body gasket, fuel injector o-rings, and so on from a kit).

So whats been done:

-New Radiator, well dang close to new
-New water pump
-New T-stat
-New Radiator Hoses
-New Head Gasket
-New Exhaust/Intake Gasket
-New Throttle Body Intake
-Upgraded intake manifold to the '99 and up manifold
-New Freeze Plug
-New Spark Plug Wires
-Oil Change

So once I get the '91 fixed up and sold, work will begin on '98.

List to do (this will happen gradually over time):

-Cut out and remove rust from rockers, replace with box steel
-Fix all other rust in/on doors, left rear quarter and repaint
-Eventually replace rear hatch (cracked and rusted paint down below handle, hard to see)
-Fix rust and repaint faded and oxidized roof
-Replace F&R bumpers (cheap from CertiFit)
-Pull flares and repaint them
-Remove plastic door/front fender trim
-Put on Silver Stars from '91 and new(er) tires
-Get sound system dealt with on interior (missing front speakers, install sub/amp, etc.)
-Buff and polish the living hell out of it to make it look even better
-Replace front grill and headlight bezels with chrome ones
-Put clear corner and side markers in

This is going to be more of a "street" Jeep for me to make/keep pretty since I'll have the buggy for wheeling. I'll probably pick up another XJ later on down the road as more of a mild wheeler...but thats a bit down the road.

Yeah...I just can't seem to have enough projects; finish buggy, motor swap into '91 and sell it, fix up 98, graduate in two months...ugh.

 

[zluster]

 

[zluster]

 

[YELLAHEEP]

LOL! That's a lotta trouble to go through just to gap the spark plugs......

Well, I don't envy you with the rust issues...... Hope you don't plan on ever removing those rear leaf packs..... that front spring eye bolt is gonna be a big bi*#%.....

How's the roof corners at the top of the a-pilars? Lower surfaces of the doors? Behind the rear bumper end caps? Looks like quite a bit of cancer..... hope the floor boards are solid.

Dunno that I'd put that kind of effort into it..... just drive the piss out of it, keep the funds for the Juggy! :thumbup:

 

[zluster]

It's actually pretty solid underneath, the rockers are the biggest concern, the lower doors are good, and like you mentioned the top of the A pillars got it some. I banged on all the rust spots really hard with my bigger rubber flashlight(and got a couple of dirty looks from the guy too) checking out all the spots.

 

[xj-grin]

that's some tasty looking sludge in the water jacket uke:

 

[DutchVDub]

Nice find minus all the rust, I'd personally make this one the mild wheeler and find another one for the clean street mobile. Still man, a good score. Its hard to find those 97+ ones for a good price any more. I blame all the offroad magazine ranting and raving about how great and "cheap" the XJ is for wheeling. Those bastards have driven up the prices to the point that the ZJ is becoming the new "cheap" wheeler.

 

[zluster]

Nice find minus all the rust, I'd personally make this one the mild wheeler and find another one for the clean street mobile. Still man, a good score. Its hard to find those 97+ ones for a good price any more. I blame all the offroad magazine ranting and raving about how great and "cheap" the XJ is for wheeling. Those bastards have driven up the prices to the point that the ZJ is becoming the new "cheap" wheeler.

I think CFC has something to do with it as well. I think auction prices are higher than they were 3-4 years ago on XJs as well, I paid $2200 for my yellow XJ(that yellaheep had to drive the price up on to make me outbid him). If I could buy the same jeep today at auction it would be a steal compared to what similar things are selling for these days.

The used market is not representative of KBB either, I recently sold a white freedom, BBV was like $2600, I got $3600 out of it, and I think I was priced on the low end, I pulled data from CL denver for all the private party sales of stock XJs, plotted them, and then ran a linear regression to come up with an equation for what I thought the Jeep should be worth.

The regression showed that I should price it asking wise at $4100, assuming everyone talks somebody down by $500 this is right on with what I got out of it.

Graph:

Point being, used values are up from where they were a few years ago, I think CFC has something to do with it, I think more people are holding onto their used cars instead of buying new, which means there are fewer used cars going on the market, which is driving up the prices of used cars. All in all a changing time in the business.

 

[freerider15]

LOL! That's a lotta trouble to go through just to gap the spark plugs......

Well, I don't envy you with the rust issues...... Hope you don't plan on ever removing those rear leaf packs..... that front spring eye bolt is gonna be a big bi*#%.....

How's the roof corners at the top of the a-pilars? Lower surfaces of the doors? Behind the rear bumper end caps? Looks like quite a bit of cancer..... hope the floor boards are solid.

Dunno that I'd put that kind of effort into it..... just drive the piss out of it, keep the funds for the Juggy! :thumbup:

Well the body work won't really cost me anything but time, and with an absolute lack of funds (well and time really) right now the buggy has been put on the backburner until at least april 15th if not until graduation may 13th.

The main spots that need attention are the rockers, some parts on some of the doors, and the left rear quarter panel as far as rust goes. Not to worried about it, think I'm going to fix it all up and possible look at getting a different Jeep. A LOT of this will depend if I land a job, which If I do I'll sell on of the two and buy another possibly (can't resist having different levels of XJ's )

Nice find minus all the rust, I'd personally make this one the mild wheeler and find another one for the clean street mobile. Still man, a good score. Its hard to find those 97+ ones for a good price any more. I blame all the offroad magazine ranting and raving about how great and "cheap" the XJ is for wheeling. Those bastards have driven up the prices to the point that the ZJ is becoming the new "cheap" wheeler.

Well I'de love to make it a mild wheeler, but in all reality time and money needs to be focused else where. So much going on in the next couple months that will decide what I might do with the XJ's.

 

[YELLAHEEP]

I'll sell on of the two and buy another possibly (can't resist having different levels of XJ's )

LOL...... guys like us need a support group. :looney: :wierd:

 

[freerider15]

LOL...... guys like us need a support group. :looney: :wierd:

Yeah Ideally I want:

-The Juggy XJ
-A mild wheeler on 33's to 35's
-A street jeep to keep pretty and make a really nice street ride

Yes...its a sickness.

 

[zluster]

Yeah Ideally I want:

-The Juggy XJ
-A mild wheeler on 33's to 35's
-A street jeep to keep pretty and make a really nice street ride

Yes...its a sickness.

At this rate 5 years from now the 98 will be juggy V2.0.

 

[xjcase]

I have water pump that I will trade you for some Heineken if you're looking for one still