2000-->2008 Cherokee Overhaul

Hey guys.. just to introduce myself I'm currently a senior in high school and i live in southwest florida. I used to have a 2005 mustang (pics another time), but now i have an 06 dakota 4x4 v8, its a nice truck. but its no jeep, but i'm sure you all know that. anyway on to my project...I recently purchased a white 2000 cherokee 4x4 for $1,750 with 152,000 miles. It runs great, the body is straight (basically) the 4x4 works. Its a fl car with no rust, i got a steal on it from a local general contracting firm. Anyway, begining tomorrow I'm stripping it and sanding it then sending to to a shop with a booth/paint bay for a fresh coat of jet black for the body, wider fender flares, and all tail lights and turn signals(candy black). When i strip it i'm also removing the old nasty carpets, the seats (just to store), the nasty headliner, and any plastic that can't be cleaned to look new, the engine and tranny will also come out and be completely cleaned and tuned up. after it get's painted the engine and tranny will go back in along with detroit lockers, a cai (still don't know which one yet?), JBA headers, and Borla cat back exhaust. I'm not sure whether or not i want to chip it. Before a anything goes back in the interior I'm quieting the notoriously loud jeep interior by covering the floor, doors, trunk, roof, firewall, and underhood with 200 sq feet of fat mat... that should do it right? after that the new black interior will go in. black carpet, black leather seats, black headliner(i've never seen it before so i hope it looks good), in dash dvd navigation, 10 inch mtx sub and 400 watt mtx amp, any new plastic if necessary, power windows, limo tint, soft carpet floor mats, and rubber ones for when i have muddy feet. for the exterior black steel bumpers front and rear with tow hitch receptacles and a winch with a receiver mount plate. how many thousand pound winch would do the job. and will the bumpers hold that much weight? I'll only be in mud, no rocks ever. and as for mud i ordered black 17 inch pro comp teflon wheels and 31 inch toyo open country M/T's, oh and a 3.5 inch rubicon express super ride suspension lift, and a 1 inch shackle lift. oh a yakima roof rack with a high jack mount and a shovel mount, cause you know it looks bad ass to always have a shovel on your car.

I'm still browsing the internet to make trying to make this the ultimate cherokee (for me). My ultimate goal is to have it be nice and luxurious on the inside but an off-road machine on the outside. I'll definately try and post up some pics tomorrow. Feel free to guide me in the right direction here, i'm a newb, but i still did my research. anyway throw me some suggestions.


peace- harry

Tell that body shop to put like 6 coats of clear cause that mud will destroy your shiny new finish in a hurry! Make sure it's a Basecoat/Clearcoat not a single stage cause like i said playing in the mud will ruin your finish quick.

thats pretty sweet. for a hs student like myself you sure do have a surplus of $$$ somewhere for all of this stuff. anyways...
1. if you haven't done it yet, i would suggest joining on www.jeepforum.com and hitting up the street performance XJ sub-forum. it's pretty active and they have a lot of great stuff about the speed/sound areas.
2. those 17" wheels with 31's are gonna look aweful blingy, just a suggestion though.
just remember: whatever looks good for you is all that matters.arty:

Screw 5000 dollars in paint man buy some useful parts.

Thats going to suck to get your first scratch on that new paint.



Your putting a lot of money into things that personally I dont think you really need. New carpet and all that jazz will get just as wet as the stock stuff when you go through the mud and water. (Assuming thats what kind of wheeling you do in FL)


Most sound deadeners are not rated for underhood temps, but some companies sell special ones which can withstand the heat. 200 feet should be good depending on how many layers you want to do, and where your going to be putting it.

i checked fatmat is good under the hood.

oh also about the mud and water, i'm going to try and get two opposing strips of weatherstripping (the rubber stuff that prevents rain from entering the interior) so hopefully that will help kill some more noise and sort of
"seal" the jeep.

and you guys are missing the point of my xj, actually i think it's the other way around i'm missing the point of a jeep... but anyway, i'm going to be driving it to college (LSU go tigers!!) and i will be primarily using it as an on road vehicle, doing some light trails about twice a month. I just think it's going to be cool to get inside my jeep and be like damn... it offraods like a jeep, but it rides like a slightly stiff mercedes. (or something like that).

Um your parents are loaded.
You're a drug dealer.
You knock off quicky marts on the weekend.
???????
How can a HS student afford all that? Without an answer, I'm gonna say it sounded fun when you started the idea in your head.

2KXJmakinwaves said:

You knock off quicky marts on the weekend.

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:roflmao:

-Alex

Dream squashers!!! Lol, I'm just kiddin, I'm kinda curious how he's funding this too. Sounds like a good plan though!

Too good.

Lol, you sound like a real skeptic... do you believe in the 9-11 conspiracy theories too? Haha, just givin ya crap :wave1:

Harry_f said:

i checked fatmat is good under the hood.

oh also about the mud and water, i'm going to try and get two opposing strips of weatherstripping (the rubber stuff that prevents rain from entering the interior) so hopefully that will help kill some more noise and sort of
"seal" the jeep.

and you guys are missing the point of my xj, actually i think it's the other way around i'm missing the point of a jeep... but anyway, i'm going to be driving it to college (LSU go tigers!!) and i will be primarily using it as an on road vehicle, doing some light trails about twice a month. I just think it's going to be cool to get inside my jeep and be like damn... it offraods like a jeep, but it rides like a slightly stiff mercedes. (or something like that).

Click to expand...

I can understand where you are coming from. Im working on my Jeep to make it a total street Jeep. Slowly deadening all the interior. Goal is to make it super quiet inside. But this Jeep will never see a trail.

Personally I think your being a bit to anal retentive about all the detail work that you are doing. One little puddle and that engine bay will be dirty. Making you pull the engine again to get it clean again. Do the full interior stuff like you said, but keep the detailing to your stang which wont see a rainy day. Maybe.

Paint the Jeep, have it cleared, and clean as much as you can. You dont have to pull the engine to get it fairly clean.



BTW, if you ever get tired of that money tree, let me know. I have a spot already picked out in the back yard for it.

2KXJmakinwaves said:

Um your parents are loaded.
You're a drug dealer.
You knock off quicky marts on the weekend.
???????
How can a HS student afford all that? Without an answer, I'm gonna say it sounded fun when you started the idea in your head.

Click to expand...

Haha...but guys...it's called a CREDIT CARD...or multiple ones maybe. :roflmao:

I had a pretty bada$$ Mustang when I was 18...thanks to Chase Bank....and maybe a little of Capital One too. Yup, that was REEEEEEALLY stupid too. Don't have the car anymore, but still have the bill from Chase...almost done...but it's almost 7 years later too. Yeah, I was "driving beyond my means" in those years and could kick myself everyday for it.

Now, hopefully he's not doing the same. Maybe he just works alot and has a good job for a highschooler...

lol i can understand the skepticism and i won't lie I'm definately not funding this my generous dad is. But its not going to be as expensive as you think (about $12,000) including the jeep. cause i know the owner of the shop doing most all the work on it, and i'm doing some of the work myself. and as for the detailing... i kinda enjoy cleaning my car so it won't be too bad.

lancey3 said:

Screw 5000 dollars in paint man buy some useful parts.

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X2

Harry_f said:

i kinda enjoy cleaning my car so it won't be too bad.

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Really? Well I hope you enjoy removing your carpet too because thats what it takes to get it clean once you hit the mud.:wave1:

-Alex

so are you saying you suggest vinyl floors, cause i thought about that, is it really a huge problem, i'm not trying to cross the nile in my jeep, just mess around.

PPG makes a polyurathane clear coat that was 100 bucks a gallon 4 or 5 years ago that is tuff as nails. I'm sure it's double now but is worth it.

Harry_f said:

so are you saying you suggest vinyl floors, cause i thought about that, is it really a huge problem, i'm not trying to cross the nile in my jeep, just mess around.

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What!?!? You're not going to cross the Nile??? Well man you aint living 'till you cross the Nile in your XJ!

No but seriously, IMO you're spending way too much on a vehicle that's going to get dirty. And no joke, get these carpets wet/muddy once, and you do have to remove them to get the nasty stinch out. I don't even know if I can count how many times I've removed my carpets to get them back to tolerable after a "mishap" on the trail. I know, why don't I remove the carpets...:dunno:

Hey, Harry. Go buy a damn H2.