Rebuild: Popeye

[K5Matt]

Picked up this 2000 XJ about a month ago.

4.0L/231/d30/8.25. 175k on it. Presumably has the 0331 head, but has good oil pressure, no chocolate milkshake under the oil fill cap, and seems to overall run pretty good. I think the sunroof is factory. Could be wrong.

Rust is 'workable'. Floors are solid, a touch of rust on the rockers and on the bottom of the doors. I've seen much worse.

Interior needs cleaned and put back together.

Previous owner wrecked it a couple times during the course of the winter. Spun out on the interstate and rear ended another car.

My plans are to put it back together and drive it around. No one tons, 40s or anything like that.

 

[Smash Hole]

No one tons, 40s or anything like that.

Booooo

 

[K5Matt]

First thing I did was take off all those damn stickers.

Got a bunch of the parts I need, but there's a growing list of even more.

Finally got to tear into it today. After a few hours, it looks like this:

Found my first of many snags:

Need to pull that creased section out. Slide hammer should fix that. Worst comes to worst, I'll cut that part off my 96 and weld it on.

Another angle:

That's all for now...

 

[K5Matt]

Parts needed:
vacuum ball
fan shroud
condenser
LF fender flare support pieces
Headliner
Battery
Bunch of small stuff

 

[BIGSLVRXJ]

Looks like a fun project Matt! If you ever decide to part with those wheels, keep me in mind, I'm looking for a couple sets of them. Good luck man!
-Collin

 

[K5Matt]

It has been fun so far. I always enjoy learning new things. I keep finding more stuff that is going to need replaced, but it's all pretty cheap stuff.

Not sure what I will do with the rims and tires. Been thinking about making my 93 purely a trail rig(zero road use), and putting a small lift(2-3") and some 30s or 31s on this '00. Time will tell.

 

[Fore Wheeler]

I like those wheels on a stock jeep.


That's how I like to buy my junk, in need of a lot of work = cheap.

 

[K5Matt]

Time for an update.

Got the radiator from the 96 in and everything hooked up.

I was bleeding the system, all was going well. Reving the engine, adding coolant into the funnel as needed. All of a sudden, I got a huge air bubble that promptly blew all the coolant that was in the funnel all over me and the engine bay.

Other than that mess, it all went pretty well.

Some pics:

Oil pressure/temp at hot idle:

Min spec is 12 psi, so I guess it's ok.

Cold idle was 45 psi

2000 rpm hot rev:

Starting to hang some panels. Header panel gaps look good, LF fender needs some work. Attaches ok on the top and front, but there is a large gap between the edge of the fender and the door. Also the bottom two fender holes come nowhere near meeting the frame holes. I need to try to get an OEM one; this aftermarket one isn't cutting it.