XJ: Project "Apache Resistance".

[ApacheResistance]

Just got in my Cap + Rotor + Plugs + Plug Wires from RockAuto Today. It cost me 56$ shipped. Totally worth it. Thank you Justtorchit for advising me go with Rockauto over Advanced Auto. It took longer to get, but i think it was worth it. Jeep currently has 112,882 miles on it as of 6/26/2012. I figured it was time for a tune up. My brother didn't do one ever, and i don't know when the last one was done. Better safe than sorry.

It took me about 30-40 minutes to get everything installed. My process was easy. I'd pull the plug wire from the plug farthest to the right, and take the plug out. I'd then gap the new plug, and screw it in. I'd then take the plug wire and trace it back to its place on the cap, match up the wires with a new one, and put the new one of the cap on my workbench. I'd then use masking tape and write which wire it was (like Far right, second from right, etc). After this was all done, all the plug wires were gone, and i pulled the old cap out, and put the new one in. Plugged them all into the correlating places that was labeled on each wire on masking tape and i was done. Here's some pictures. It looks sloppy, but after the picture was taken i went back and neatened it all out.

[ApacheResistance]

Here's some miscellaneous stuff that i've also done to the jeep. It doesn't really need a category of its own, so i'll just combine it all in one.

First off, if you look at the pictures of the jeep stock, you can see two rust spots. One is on the passenger side door in the rear on the bottom, and the other one is on the front fender, right below the stock fender flare. They are pretty noticeably if you look at them. My brother just filled them with epoxy and left them alone. I guess it worked, but it didn't really fix anything. When i bought it from him i bought some bondo (professional fix job, i know) and began making it look better. I started off by using an angle grinder with a wire wheel to clean the rust off, turns out it just made a big hole. I filled the hole with bondo, sanded it down smooth, and painted over it. It looks 100% better than it did. Although i just used flat black spray paint and it doesn't really match, when the jeep gets a little muddy you can't even see it. I did the same thing with the spot on the passenger side door, but didn't take pictures. You can see how much better they both look. The shiny look you see is a product called "Loctite Extends" it's suppose to kill rust. I thought it wouldn't hurt to brush some on there.

I also had to relocate my vacuum canister due to my new bumper. I just drilled two holes through the fender wall and into the engine compartment and bolted it in there. It works perfect. The pictures of that are on the bottom. I also did a bunch of other little things, like cleaning the TB and the IAC, and what not.

[ApacheResistance]

I bought a roofrack yesterday for 50$. It wasn't as big as i wanted it to be, but for the price, i figured i could easily make it work. So far i mounted my Hi-Lift, and an axe to it. I'm not sure what else i want to put on it, but i think it adds a new style to the jeep. Tell me what you guys think of it. Here's some pictures of it.

[ApacheResistance]

Haven't updated this in a while.

Got back to working on the jeep and it's starting to take on a whole new look.

Been mostly wiring up stuff and what have you, but there is also some other things going on.

Brother pulled 95 ZJ power seats out of a ZJ his friend had. I attemped to swap them into the XJ only to realize that the frames were different and if i swapped the ZJ seat onto the XJ frame it wouldn't be power.

Long story short, i decided that saturday im going to go to the junkyard and buy WJ power heated leather seats and swap them in up front.

Put a toggle switch right next to the hand brake with 12v in it for when i do put the heated/power seats in the power is right there i'll just need to hook the seats up to it and done.

My dad saw me wiring all of this up, and told me that they had (4) 12v lights at work that they were throwing out and asked me if i wanted them. Needless to say, i told him yes, and now they're sitting in our garage. They work mint. I'm not sure why they were throwing them out.

Bulbs in three of them are shot, but my dad can get replacements, so tomorrow i will have all of them up on the jeep wired up. Ran all the wires through a relay and fuse tonight to a toggle switch next to the handbrake. Soldered every single connection. I must say, it seems like everyone hates doing electrical work, but i love it. I think it's fun wiring stuff up. Drilled a 3/8" hole through the roof in the back to run my wires down through the roof. Ran them through and caulked up the hole. It looks really neat. The one light i did put on it super bright (they're all going to be backup lights) and once all four are on i'll be able to see everything behind me. \

One light is pretty damn bright. Now imagine four. :headbang:

I also trimmed my rear fenders.

Here are some pictures of all of it;






















Got the other light last night. One sits higher than the other, and i don't like the way it looks. I have another one of the lights on the right and i might swap the one on the left with it just so they look balanced. Or should i just put all three up there? They make backing up a lot easier. Going to run the wires for the front bumper lights and the light bar tonight when i get home. Got another 500' roll of 12 Gage. Should be set for a while. :thumbsup:

I also bought 3 red led toggle switches from advanced auto on Wednesday. Going to pick them up tonight and make all the wiring look organized. Also going to buy some relays so the switches don't have full power 24/7.

One light looks brighter than the other, and i'm not sure if that's because 14 gage wire can't handle both of those lights or the fact that the picture isn't centered and the angles might be messing it up.

Birthday was yesterday and my dads was on Thanksgiving, so i have to go out to dinner tonight with some family friends so i'm going to not have as much time as i'd like to work on the jeep tonight. Currently sitting in school in a "computer applications" class waiting for the day to be over so i can work on the jeep. :rofl:

The brakes are going to be bled either tonight or tomorrow, and i'm going to the JY tomorrow to buy WJ heated/power/leather seats to put in the XJ. Also going to buy power XJ seats for the frames. Going to sell my stock seats and ZJ seats and i should be able to break even.

The red toggle switch you see in the picture is already wired up and has power so when the WJ seats come in i just have to swap them in and bolt them down and run about 4' of wire from both seats to it. Should take about ~10 minutes to wire it.

[ApacheResistance]

Well got another update.

Painted the rear fenders today to stop the rust from coming on. Don't have pictures of that, but will post them soon.

My jeep didn't shift into 4lo, so i figured that the T-Case linkage was out of whack. Instead of just adjusting it (which i didn't understand how to do for the life of me) i just decided to rebuild the entire linkage.

Thanks to the help of Ian, i think i've finally figured out how it's done, but i'll probably still have a few more questions before it's finished. :rofl:

Anyways, i used a sawzall to cut off all the old linkage, took the paddle off the actual T-case, got a scrap piece of 1/4 metal and put it on a bridgeport and knocked out a new paddle with the slot reversed. Should work like a charm.


Here are some pictures.

[ApacheResistance]

Well big update. Bought a 6 drawer Homak toolbox with a craftsman 3 drawer top chest for 50$ of craigslist as all my tools were totally unorganized. It was a pain in the ass.

Anyways, the top chest was a bit rusty, so i wire wheeled just the top box down and repainted it black. Looks way better now.

Got to filling the thing tonight and my god does it look good. Here are some pictures. Was going to resize them, but they're too good to be resized. I'm so ********ing happy.

My latest addition was that Milwaukee 3/8 18V cordless impact on the top of the box you can see. Torques to ~120 ft/pounds and makes everything so much nicer.

I also have a Dewalt 3/8 18V cordless impact as well but it's not pictured. 1/2" & 3/8" air impact are the next things on the list. Currently debating between Snap On and IR.

Going to fill the top of the box with lubes and loctites and greases and the whole nine yards. God i am so happy right now. Feel free to ask what some of this shit is, as i haven't even seen some of it before my dad pulled it out of the abyss to give it to me.

Bottom drawer is; Compression Tester, Thread Starter Kit, Pop Rivet Gun Kit, Tap N' Die set, Gasket Seal Cutter, Misc Electrical Connectors, Snap Ring Pliar Set, Current Tracer, Solder Gun, Angle Grinder. Couldn't fit everything into the drawer. Had to set some other power tools in another cabinet. Need a bigger box already. :rofl:

:cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers::cheers:

Got sick of the bottom draw, and have since put a sawzall in there and relocated some of the other stuff.

[ApacheResistance]

Some more pictures of the heep;