Dude13450
03-17-2013, 07:51 PM
It's official, I now own a Jeep Cherokee XJ, an '87 Laredo 4dr 4x4 4.0L to be exact. Boy that was a lot of fours! HAHA
http://i1057.photobucket.com/albums/t384/1986Civie/87%20Cherokee%20Laredo/DSC_0003_zps45c9440e.jpg
Here's what went down:
The guy I got it from said it wasn't receiving spark, alright that I can handle - and handle it I DID!!! I had my friend tow it to my house, where I turned it over several dozen times, and it was then I noticed a burning smell - turns out it was still getting spark, he just had the firing order wrong from when he changed the dist. cap and rotor!!! I rearranged the plugs to the correct order on the cap, and BOOM! Quite literally boom: started right up.
Then I realized it had one very harsh mechanical ticking/tapping. I opened the hood, pulled the throttle linkage while looking around, turns out it had a broken radiator shroud! Removed that, and it's perfect!
I love when a project isn't really a project, don't you? I love it even more, when this project comes to a very quick finish for FREE!! I traded my '84 Toyota Truck for it, the only actual expense I have is the fact I need to pay my friend back for the UHaul car dolly rental.
_____
So here's my question now: what are some good-looking cosmetic mods? I would mod the engine, but I heard aside from making it force-inducted (turbo/supercharger) there's not much you can do to get a noticeable performance gain. I would put a lift kit on it, but way to much money for my current budget (I have about $70/mo. to put toward this), and I want to keep this relatively low for economy purposes (I know I should go for something other than a jeep if I want economy, but I love these Jeeps, and want one to be at least somewhat economical - I can live with 14-16, but 10-12 is a bit too low).
I will be putting a cold air intake on it, just because they look f-ing sweet IMO, and maybe add a little color to the valve cover? Do these look good with painted valve covers or should I keep the stock gray/black?
I also want to put a Flowmaster 40 on it, because they sound pretty sweet on these 4.0s, but the stock muffler (I assume it's stock) doesn't sound too bad itself.
http://i1057.photobucket.com/albums/t384/1986Civie/87%20Cherokee%20Laredo/DSC_0003_zps45c9440e.jpg
Here's what went down:
The guy I got it from said it wasn't receiving spark, alright that I can handle - and handle it I DID!!! I had my friend tow it to my house, where I turned it over several dozen times, and it was then I noticed a burning smell - turns out it was still getting spark, he just had the firing order wrong from when he changed the dist. cap and rotor!!! I rearranged the plugs to the correct order on the cap, and BOOM! Quite literally boom: started right up.
Then I realized it had one very harsh mechanical ticking/tapping. I opened the hood, pulled the throttle linkage while looking around, turns out it had a broken radiator shroud! Removed that, and it's perfect!
I love when a project isn't really a project, don't you? I love it even more, when this project comes to a very quick finish for FREE!! I traded my '84 Toyota Truck for it, the only actual expense I have is the fact I need to pay my friend back for the UHaul car dolly rental.
_____
So here's my question now: what are some good-looking cosmetic mods? I would mod the engine, but I heard aside from making it force-inducted (turbo/supercharger) there's not much you can do to get a noticeable performance gain. I would put a lift kit on it, but way to much money for my current budget (I have about $70/mo. to put toward this), and I want to keep this relatively low for economy purposes (I know I should go for something other than a jeep if I want economy, but I love these Jeeps, and want one to be at least somewhat economical - I can live with 14-16, but 10-12 is a bit too low).
I will be putting a cold air intake on it, just because they look f-ing sweet IMO, and maybe add a little color to the valve cover? Do these look good with painted valve covers or should I keep the stock gray/black?
I also want to put a Flowmaster 40 on it, because they sound pretty sweet on these 4.0s, but the stock muffler (I assume it's stock) doesn't sound too bad itself.