Welcome MonsterNoggin!!!

[Brasscatz]

Hi MonsterNoggin, :welcome: to the :xjtalk: forum!

We would love to know more about you and your Jeep. How you found us, etc...

Be sure and check out our Jeep Talk Show (http://jeeptalkshow.com) It\'s about Jeeps! It\'s like a radio talk show, but you listen through any Internet attached device.

Check out our sister sites, http://www.WranglerTalk.com/ and http://www.JeepTalkForum.com/

[MonsterNoggin]

Thanks for the add!

I've recently acquired the last of my family's XJ's (the folks were buying my Mother a new 4 door Wrangler and there was no way I could bear to see the XJ go to the garbage man). With the arrival of our first child, the wife has given her blessing to bring the Jeep back to life, albeit slowly, with the intent of using it as my DD, as well as family camping/canoeing, light wheeling, and once Kiddo gets a bit older some more aggressive wheeling.

With that, the good and the bad:
It's a well-maintained '99 with 4.0 liter i6, automatic transmission, and the Chrysler 8.25 rear-end with 220k miles from the proverbial little old lady who drove it the five miles to work and back and to church on Sundays. The body is clean, straight, and rust free and the Jeep has never been off pavement.

Sadly, it is a 2WD. Yes, I know, convention says sell it and buy a 4WD. However, nostalgia being what it is, I'll not be selling it. It's carted around 2 generations of Guys on adventures, and the intent is to keep the tradition going.

Right now I'm in full research mode and am furiously taking notes and sketching out plans for upgrades and sequencing of installs. Naturally any insight/advice would be greatly appreciated.

The next year will be spent moving from bumper to bumper checking bolts, bushings, cables, hoses, pumps, etc and replacing/upgrading as necessary. My goal is to make the swap to 4WD and a reasonable lift by the 1st quarter of 2018. As Kiddo is 9 months old, and I will be doing all the wrenching myself minus transmission/transfer case swap, I'm going to be realistic about my available time and $$$ and plan on taking it slow and do things right.

Again, thanks for the add and I look forward to poking around, asking questions, and admiring other folks' rigs.

[xj-jake]

Welcome to the forum my friend. You have definitely landed in a great spot. How about some pictures of the newly acquired beast!?

[4.3LXJ]

Welcome to the forum. I think you probably didn't get as bad a deal as you think. If you can find a donor vehicle or access to a good pick and pull, you can change them over to 4WD. Clean and relatively low milage speak for themselves

[MonsterNoggin]

Pics as requested. She received a fresh lick of paint within the last year, interior is clean save for some heel-wear on the driver side floor mat.

While I'm itching to throw on a slough of toys, I also want to try and respect the stock lines as much as feasible.

As for new parts, I've got tentative budget approval to shop for new drive components in lieu of searching for a donor vehicle. Any suggestions of Houston area shops who I could trust with the drive train swap, I'd appreciate it.

In the meantime, I'll be sure to post the mundane progress of upgrading the miscellaneous gizmos and whizbangs. And as always, feedback and guidance is greatly appreciated.

http://www.xjtalk.com/picture.php?albumid=641&pictureid=4244

http://www.xjtalk.com/picture.php?albumid=641&pictureid=4245

http://www.xjtalk.com/picture.php?albumid=641&pictureid=4246

[4.3LXJ]

Very nice looking rig

[XJ Wheeler]

Wow, you've got the dream jeep (other than the 4wd thing). So clean!

Welcome to xjtalk! We have a lot of members from the houston area, myself included. I'm up in the conroe area. Sorry I don't have a shop in mind though. I try to do most of the work myself. Have had far too many stories with shops doing it. Good luck with getting it converted and post up your progress! You can even start a build thread for your jeep. It's nice to have everything in one spot.

Sent via messenger pigeon. I talk, he types.

[MonsterNoggin]

Thank you, sir. I've already scrolled through your build thread and drooled/marveled at the transformation and quality of craftsmanship.

The plan is to get the garage in a semblance of order this weekend and to get some pics started for a build thread. Fair warning, it will move sloooow, but hopefully it will help me build in some accountability to get things done.

[xj-jake]

Take your time Mike and most of all, some words of wisdom from my dad, "Do it right, don't do it twice!"

There's tons of good info here and even better people willing to help out. Read through the build threads and don't be afraid to ask what you may consider a silly question. You'll get a straight answer with no snarky comments here.