Project "flapdoodle" (95 XJ)

[chillman88]

Busted the fitting on the radiator trying to unhook the disconnect for the tranny cooler. Had this kicking around from before I did the manual swap in my Chevy. That oughta work!

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[chillman88]

The floors are worse than I thought. That fun job will be next. I'm happy the inside of the rockers don't look too bad.

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There's a nasty hole on one of the frame rails but I think I can plate it alright. We'll see how that turns out. Good news is the rest of the frame looks solid. Might order unibody stiffeners this summer...

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[Jason1377]

Nice progress so far great name made me chuckle

 

[chillman88]

Well I spent a little time on the frame rail today. Cut out the bad part I knew about.

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Made a little patch panel for it.

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Then in the process of welding that in I found the spot in front of it was rotted out pretty bad too. There's really no surprise there though.

Made another patch and got going on that.

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I've just been tacking a little bit at a time then grinding and filling in any holes. I'm still figuring out what I'm doing but I don't think it's going anywhere once I'm done with it. That little bar in the middle of the patch is just there for my welder ground. I'll cut that off and grind it smooth once I get done.

 

[chillman88]

The floors will be next after this gets done. They will be fun.....

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That's the good spot. Glutton for punishment indeed.

 

[Oledirtypearl86]

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One of these:

https://www.harborfreight.com/4-ton-heavy-duty-portable-hydraulic-equipment-kit-44899.html

Against the ac compressor with a piece of steel on the fender to spread the load for the passenger side. Drivers side was basically the same process but against the bottom of the body on the drivers side. I hopped on the bumper until it was close enough lol!

Gotta love the porta power looks good

 

[chillman88]

Gotta love the porta power looks good

Yeah don't need it very often but when I do it's great.

 

[Oledirtypearl86]

It's better to have and not need than drive 3 hours to buy when needed

 

[chillman88]

Haven't had a chance to work on it. Had some unfortunate family matters to attend to.

Last Saturday the wife was MAD. I came in with sunburn from tack welding without a mask. Joke's on her, I got the ok to buy an auto darkening hood

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[chillman88]

Finally made it up to my buddy's place and got my new shoes. NOW I'm getting excited...

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Yes they actually are used. He works at a used car lot and they were oversized and rubbing so they wouldn't sell it like that. I won't complain, it certainly worked in my favor!

I've always been curious about these tires (Goodyear Duratrac), I've heard good things but never tried them. Win win in my book.

 

[Oledirtypearl86]

(Goodyear Duratrac), I've heard good things but never tried them. Win win in my book

A buddy at work stars by them and he will keep up with me out on the trail

 

[subway]

nice, that rubbers sure look like it will grab some off road terrain well!

 

[chillman88]

Picking away at it. Got the wiring harness swapped over for the newer header panel. I've got lights!!!

One of the headlight plugs was bad. I thought it was corrosion on the contacts. Screwed around with it for about a half hour before I noticed the ground was snapped off lol. Can't believe it was working at all...

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[chillman88]

Played with my new welding helmet a little bit. WOW what a difference! No pics to show but it's definitely an investment I won't regret making!

Strongly considering ordering up a set of these frame stiffeners:

https://hdoffroadengineering.myshop...opy-of-xj-cherokee-rear-frame-stiffeners-pair

But it'll be a while waiting on funds. Dang, toys ain't cheap! Wouldn't be as big of a deal if the registration and inspection on the truck wasn't due this month lol.

The only thing I don't like is nobody seems to sell a set that COMPLETELY boxes the frame rails. Looks like I'd have to plate the inside myself if I wanted that done. Not a BIG deal but a little bit of a bummer.

 

[chillman88]

Well after a little more picking away at it I'm waiting on sway bar links. I'll need to top off the transmission fluid, and I need to put cotter pins in the tie rod ends but she runs and drives. Got the transmission cooler plumbed up. I'm having trouble bleeding the cooling system but it wasn't trying to overheat yesterday. I'll just keep an eye on that and top it off when it gets low.