Project XJ

**Jeff** · 06-09-2010, 09:14 AM

Bump. 4-sale. $4,500 OBO. EVERYTHING is included accept the Axe, hi-lift, and shovel that are in the roof rack.

**JustinG** · 06-25-2010, 12:12 AM

do want.......do want.......

**Jeff** · 06-25-2010, 07:13 AM

Come on man. Add it to the sig and come on up and get it this weekend.

**Jeff** · 07-19-2010, 11:05 AM

This thread now belongs to Thayer if he wants to use it!

**Ryan T** · 07-19-2010, 11:29 AM

Well thanks for passin the thread off buddy. Smile

I LOVE this thing so far. It's everything my old Jeep was, just 3 or 4 steps better. It has everything done to it that I wanted to do to my last jeep (rack, jack, lights, etc) and has better paint and the updated interior. It got 18mpg on the 190 mile trek home plus about 65 miles of puttin around town.

Picked up a practically identical jack and had to monkey with the mounts a lil to get it fixed, not the same brand name, but it's up there and fits fine. Going to pick up a shovel and axe with my Harrisonburg water refund check after work today. Stopped by my moms house on the way home and got my bag of recovery gear that I took out of my previous Jeep and haven't touched since. Chains, straps, tool kit, rope, knife, saw, flashlight and a few prybars just to be prepared.

As for upcoming mods, a set of Cragar soft 8s are certaintly in the future as well as a replacement CB radio. Also a winch mount that I can move from front to rear tow hook and mount my winch too it. Pics will follow just as Jeff has as things get done.

V1GiLaNtE · 07-19-2010, 11:40 AM

nice!

**Jeff** · 07-19-2010, 11:48 AM

We have a deal on those old wheels...don't bone me.

**Ryan T** · 07-19-2010, 12:21 PM

I have no intentions of it, they're yours as long as you still want them.

**Ryan T** · 10-22-2010, 11:41 PM

Well after driving the Jeep several days a week (splitting DD duty with the vette) I noticed a puddle starting to form after I drove it for more than 10 minutes. Went in for a closer look and coolant was running down the oil pan and dripping onto my driveway. Started the Jeep and layed under it looking for where it was coming from. Noticed it coming from the weep hole in the water pump. The pump has made a whining noise since I bought it (indication that the bearing is going bad) but some people drive for years with it. It's not leaking bad, but it's a cheap and easy fix so I'll go ahead and take care of it. I bought a new pump, gasket, gasket sealer, thermostat gasket and thermostat. I bought a 180degree thermostat (factory is 195) to attempt to help with the two electric fans. I will post pics of the install tomorrow.

Also for those that were wondering if the two electric fans ever had a problem cooling the vehicle, I've only managed to get it a lil warm once. We went up into Hidden Valley which is basically straight up the side of a mountain. It's steep, slow, and takes a long time. It got a lil warm (I almost think this climb was the final straw for the water pump because it started leaking the day after this trip) but the temp never got out of hand. I have complete confidence in the electric fans.

**Jeff** · 10-23-2010, 09:18 AM

Ryan T Wrote:We went up into Hidden Valley...

Did you bring back some Buttermilk Ranch? What about some Peppercorn?

**Ryan T** · 10-23-2010, 07:45 PM

Water pump was pretty simple. Took more time to get the heaterhose hardline out of the old pump and scrap off all the old gasket than anything.

All ready to go
[Image: DSCN2649.jpg]

Water pump and thermostat out
[Image: DSCN2655.jpg]

Had to get my neighbor to turn the wrench while I helped the C-Clamp hold the old pump to the table. In the future a vice mounted to a table would be key
[Image: DSCN2657.jpg]

New hotness
[Image: DSCN2658.jpg]

**Jeff** · 10-24-2010, 10:04 AM

Purdy green coolant....I miss that Jeep.

**Ryan T** · 12-31-2010, 07:06 PM

Well the Jeep was having a heating problem...in that their was no heat. It would change from defroster, to blowing at your feet and everything just fine it would just never get hot. So I rooted around on some forums and decided to blow the heater core out and then clean it out with some CLR.

First step was to get the ole air compressor and blow gun out.

[Image: DSCN2674.jpg]

Took off the two heater hoses up by the thermostat. Put the inlet hose into a milk jug and stuck the air gun into the outlet. That was it would blow it out in reverse of the normal flow. Had to wrap some electrical tape around the nozzle on the blow gun to make it fit snugly.

[Image: DSCN2680.jpg]

I made the initial mistake of giving it too much air without holding the hose firmly in the milk jug and ended up with a facefull of coolant and the towel on the other side of the driveway. Let the air go slow and then onto full blast to clean it out. Here's what came out of the heater core with one blast of air.

[Image: DSCN2676.jpg]

Next I ran half a bottle (that's all it would hold) of CLR into the heater core and left it alone for about half an hour. I took advantage of that downtime to put new quick couplers on the air compressor along with new teflon tape as the old ones were leaking a little air.

Blew the CLR into the jug, filled the core with water and blew the water out. Repeated this rinsing process about 9 times with about a gallon of water. Put the hoses back on, topped off the coolant and now I've got Hot Hot Heat.

**Jeff** · 01-01-2011, 10:11 AM

I flushed it about 5 times with just straight water back when I had it. The heat got better but I never really thought it was super hot. Good work!

**Ryan T** · 01-01-2011, 11:04 AM

So when you flushed it with just water how long did the improvement last before it started to lose it's heat again? I read a few threads where guys said they flushed it with water and it worked for a week or so then went back to bein cold. I'm hopin this CLR did the trick...or at least works good until it warms up outside.

**Jeff** · 01-03-2011, 01:17 AM

I think it lasted over the last winter pretty well.

**JustinG** · 01-04-2011, 11:17 PM

I know in the jeep after replacing the heater core when I did the A/C condensor...jesus, I cant have the heat on without cracking a window, its is crazy hot when on full blast turned all the way to hot. So if you need to pull the dash out, lemme know I have the experience. Also found the FSMs online somewhere, if you havent downloaded them yet i would highly recommend it.

**Ryan T** · 01-12-2011, 10:59 PM

So Project XJ has sadly come to an end. I loved that Jeep and had a lot of fun with it, but it's carrying on it's life as the fire department vehicle in Knoxville, TN. A guy saw it online and PM'd me and asked me if I'd like to sell it. I pitched him a somewhat ridiculous number...and he bit. So I sold it to him and picked up my next project today, sorry it's so dark, took it when I got home:

[Image: DSC00845.jpg]

D_Eclipse9916 · 01-13-2011, 08:54 AM

What motor?

**Ryan T** · 01-13-2011, 08:59 AM

It's the 4.3L V6, plenty of motor for what I intend to use it for. It'll mostly be used as a beater to get to and from work in bad weather, get shit from Lowes, take the trash off, piddle on the farm in. It does have the tow package and is rated at 5100lbs but I doubt I ever put that much behind it. After filling up and driving home and around town last night I'm sittin pretty at 22mpg.

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