99 2 door...the official DD

[jeepcomj]

Can't believe that I haven't posted this on naxja...haven't started any threads in 2 years almost, other than a couple of classifieds.

Anywho...here we go. Picked this up on May 22nd, 2011
1999 cherokee classic
TWO DOOR!
factory CD/tape deck
a/c
power windows
power locks
tilt
cruise
keyless entry
fog lamps
front and rear tow hooks
factory skid package (front, tcase, gas tank)
up-country coil package (1" over stock, no rear sway bar)
color match trim package

4.0
5 SPEED!

jeep has 250,000 miles on it, and driver's floor rot

engine has a wrist pin knock (I've isolated it down to wrist pin, number 4 or 5, once I got the hood open....special thanks to PeteM on that one!)

solution...i'm building a stroker for my '87 comanche, and this motor will be the base for the stroker. going to put my .030 bore mopar reman with 2001 intake, 62mm Tb, neon srt4 injectors, borla header in this jeep, and build the motor up for my other one.


best part...I purchased it from the original owner. came with the window sticker, purchase reciept, build specs, all repair reciepts, etc.

anyways, pics. need it done by the weekend...crown vic is about to lose it's trans, so it's gotta go.

little bit of rust clean up and repair, it will be a fun little DD.

-Pat

 

[jeepcomj]

oh. rear defrost/rear wipe, heated mirrors.

all for $625

pulling the old engine, which had a bad number 4 piston (disintegrated around the number 4 wrist pin), went smooth

and no, the optima didn't come with it...the battery in it was the original from when the PO bought it...

those are pics from May 24th...Day after, I seperated the engine/trans, undressed the motor, pulled the bellhousing off the trans, and pulled the flywheel and clutch from the engine. taking all of those parts in to work to acid wash them tomorrow.

 

[jeepcomj]

well, motor did not get color matched...neighbor was not feeling well so he didn't do it. oh well...don't have time to wait, so I got it all dressed back up, put the new flywheel, pilot bearing, clutch, and pressure plate back on the motor. mated the engine back to the trans, and it's *almost* ready to drop in.


I'm putting my sealed output np242 on the trans, for the simple fact that this is a daily driver, and it has every option except for sun/moon roof, overhead console, leather, or power seats. basically it has every creature comfort that I want, except for the overhead console. may as well put the np242 in it just to one up the factory.

I'll have it running and driving tomorrow night

 

[jeepcomj]

well, last night I had a much deserved heavy drinking night...followed by a late return to my house, drunk, and I installed the motor/trans while drunk, got them hooked up, and got it running.


now it's time to go back outside and check over all of the bolts in case I didn't tighten them, and then to do up the exhaust.

 

[jeepcomj]

she's running and driving, but a little rough.

tank has year and a half old fuel in it. mixed with high octane to run this tank through.

the exhaust is sort of shotty...the xj uses 2 and 1/4 OD pipe, but the borla is 2 and 1/8. the tail pipe is/was rusted off, the muffler is pretty crappy, but the catalytic converter is OK. i'm running low on funds, so I will have to run it like that for the week.

doing the body work on everything but the floor tomorrow, detailing the interior, plugging the leaking tire, and putting the center console back in.

pretty happy with it...for now

 

[jeepcomj]

i bought a box of billet machined oil caps just like it...keeping them for rainy days..but they only work on the older style aluminum valve covers.

 

[jeepcomj]

Wow!

You work fast. Good job Pat.

thanks, Bo

between work and the xj, i've been wrenching a solid 15-18 hours a day this past week.


i'm not happy that I wasn't able to make it a nice clean build and pay attention to detail. it will look nice, it does run and drive nice, but I just wish the engine bay was nicer.

 

[jeepcomj]

Nice truck, clean bay or no! I don't think I've ever seen a 97-01 2 door!

thanks.

put just over 100 miles on it yesterday with no issues.

other than the loud annoyingly droning exhaust, it was a nice easy drive.

need to find a high flowing, stock sounding muffler. this thing is definitely restricting my motor.

 

[jeepcomj]

got the first oil change in today...did a 2000 mile change. looks brand new still.

also did up the exhaust finally. went with a dynomax ultra flow series, with 2.5" in and outlets, stock catalytic converter, and a band clamp up front with a turn down out back rather than a tailpipe. I may reduce the turndown pipe size to get rid of the mild drone when using cruise control. I went with a 2.5" just because they had that in stock.

I'm overall happy with the exhaust. it's throaty, while being quiet at every day speeds. not too shabby at all. aside from that, the jeep has done a very good job of being a DD, getting a solid 19mpg.


painting it this week, since I have a loaner car to drive from a friend. pearl flames are in the plans.

 

[jeepcomj]

31's off my '86

yup, they rub at lock or when hitting decent bumps.

3.5" lift is going in. I had to put something in it for now to get rid of the horrible wobble from stock tires.

 

[jeepcomj]

stalled a yakima roof rack, built a class 3 hitch, bought a factory swing out, and in a couple weeks I will be replacing all of the springs with some HD ones, adding air shocks, and putting the plow on it.

winter's a-coming!

 

[jeepcomj]

man, that thing is NICE!




lol. well, picked up the lund visor, did not look close enough at it...it's for a comanche, not a cherokee.

I'm going to check and see if I can make it work, but there's a bit more gap than I'd like. that said, I may just wait to find one for an xj, and hold on to this one to put it on the 3800 when the time comes. I'll only install it on the xj if the holes will be in the same location when I do eventually find a proper cherokee one...I don't want to drill two sets of holes in the roof on this thing.

pics of the swingout will be up soon. Hopefully Rob (automan) and I can meet up this weekend for my brother, dad, and I to check out his diesel, drop off black interior parts, and snag his plow frame so I can fix it for him and use it as a template to make one for my xj.

 

[jeepcomj]

well, have yet to get down by rob to steal his plow mount to copy, but I did accomplish a few things, of which I hope to finish up and have pics up this week.

while moving into the new place this past month, I accidently broke my fish tank in the back of the jeep, which held around 5 gallons of saltwater....so, the rear carpet had to come up, and the floors washed down with dawn and water, let her dry out, address any rust issues (rear floor looks great, driver's front is gone), steam clean the carpets out, and decide on replacing them with the vinyl '96 carpet I have, or keep the stock ones.

 

[jeepcomj]

put a new tailpipe on and eliminated the pre-axle turndown. a helluva lot quieter. also blacked out the wheels and put the hood bra I had on it.

 

[jeepcomj]

tailpipe all welded in.

full welded exhaust

added a 3rd cross bar

new tunes.

spent about 2 hours combining 3 sets of waterlogged and rusted out factory fogs to make one good set, to replace the bad ones on this thing. the fog light switch was also fried out...
and then there was light!

aside from that, I washed all the windows inside and out (first time in quite a few years, I'm sure), fixed the rear wiper arm, painted all of the wiper arms, and fixed the 3rd brake light as well as rebuilt the rear hatch wiring harness, since it was all sorts of wrecked from opening and closing for so many years.

 

[jeepcomj]

had a GREAT haul at the junkyard today. originally went to try and find a new driver's tail light since I shattered mine on accident...came out with...

a pair of new in box 97 up tail lights...already installed d/s one before pic for the drive home lol

found a 96 xj police package...which means complete vinyl carpet for 95-01 xj. complete with wheel well covers

a 97 and up 3 switch panel with good switches, and a factory 1999-2001 7 pin trailer harness connector, with brake wiring already set up

and there was a Meyer 7'6" plow on a J10 honcho, with an E47 electric pump...and a Meyer slick stick. yay! don't have to install a fugly dual switch setup...now I can put a joystick right on my shifter handle. also picked up a pair of good shift knobs since I somehow broke mine...
no pic of the stick i picked up, or shift knobs, but this is what a slick stick looks like

all for $80.

 

[jeepcomj]

got the rear floor cleaned up (not very rusty at all...few tiny bubble spots), and installed the rear vinyl setup.

while I was in there, I also cleaned out the rust/dirt/dust under the panels and down in the quarters.

 

[jeepcomj]

So, why is it that this is only good for '95+ XJ's, why won't it work in our "new" '90 XJ? - This is exactly what I want for the rear cargo area at least...

the cargo area would work pretty much all years, but the front carpet changed when they changed the seat mounts.

 

[jeepcomj]

carpet out, seats out.

driver rear

passenger side was just a bit of surface rust

all the bad shtuff removed

made a new piece out of a sheet of stainless that I had, then decided to call it quits. temporarily reinstalled the old seat bracket, after throwing the sheet down, so I could drive it home from my dad's shop.

I'll finish it in the morning.

 

[jeepcomj]

took more than just the morning, but here goes...
I didn't have any sheet steel, but my brother had a sheet of stainless sheet metal for me to use...my first time welding stainless, and while it's not pretty, it will do the job.

the front seat bracket was completely rusted out, so I made a new one. and got rid of the welded nut idea in favor of studs.

some of the inner rocker was rusted out, so I cut that out and plated new stuff in...

painted and bedlined...

Air bag computer mount welded back in, and computer bolted up.

passenger side. it was in pretty nice shape. also re-ran the amp wires nicely.

vinyl modified for the 97+ variances, and installed.

called it quits after that, and tossed the driver's seat back in so I could drive it home. I'll finish up the interior tomorrow, and start working on the sub box.