Nate's crappy 93 XJ

N-Smooth · Aug 26, 2014

I almost forgot the best pic of all. Gotta teach 'em young.

N-Smooth · Aug 29, 2014

Heading out to Lil' Moab tomorrow if anyone wants in. Meeting at the four corners Chevron 9:45-10 AM. Hope to see some RME'rs out there!

N-Smooth · Aug 30, 2014

Went to Lil' Moab, almost rolled. Bent and broke some stuff. Good times.

Even after trying to straighten everything out it still looks like this and the header is broken (fiberglass)

There will be changes...

blznnp · Aug 30, 2014

Getting to work on it already? I came home and my wife said we are getting in the van and getting new couches.

N-Smooth · Aug 30, 2014

Oh yeah, I started tearing it apart right when I got home. Sometimes when I'm on a wave of motivation I just ride it. You should text me any pics or video you got when you get a sec. Thanks again for going!

N-Smooth · Aug 30, 2014

Thanks to Tyler for the pics

blznnp · Aug 30, 2014

xj_nate said:
Oh yeah, I started tearing it apart right when I got home. Sometimes when I'm on a wave of motivation I just ride it. You should text me any pics or video you got when you get a sec. Thanks again for going!

wish I could have gotten some more pics, or any pics. glad I could make it out, even if I had some breakage. Always good to get out and see some dirt and rocks.

N-Smooth · Aug 30, 2014

blznnp said:
Always good to get out and see some dirt and rocks.

Well if it makes you feel any better, I think your rig is in my top 5 favorite rigs of all time. It's just plain COOL! I'm confident that once you get all the build bugs worked out it's going to be a real beast.

You also gave me a new signature line!

blznnp · Aug 30, 2014

xj_nate said:
Well if it makes you feel any better, I think your rig is in my top 5 favorite rigs of all time. It's just plain COOL! I'm confident that once you get all the build bugs worked out it's going to be a real beast.

You also gave me a new signature line!

Well thank you and your welcome. Hopefully after this winter I can get all my bugs all worked out. Gonna take the driveline into taton this week and see what he can do, probably use my other driveline and make a square tube one as a back up.

N-Smooth · Sep 5, 2014

Had a good bit of anxiety today (being grown-up sucks, right?) so I came home after work and took a nice dose of Jeep time. It was just what the doctor ordered for sure. Got a whole bunch of stuff torn out of the engine bay so I can tear into the sheetmetal tomorrow. Wide open spaces

Going to cut along this tape line, inside and out, from front to back

Lots of stuff came out, some must go back in like the battery of course. Thinking I'll put it on the passenger firewall cause there's lots of room there or behind the pass seat. Either way it will be in a battery box. I need to get some longer cables. One day I'll get one of them fancy batteries but for now, this one still works.

The hood hinges are very bent. Now that I took them off I might be able to straighten them out. If not, I'll do a pin at each corner.

Going to get tube tomorrow and get started on the fun stuff!

I Lean · Sep 5, 2014

Some sort of hood hinges are WAY nicer than having 4 pins. Lifting the hood off and setting it somewhere sucks. So even if you don't keep the stock hinges, do something to keep the hood attached somehow.

N-Smooth · Sep 5, 2014

Yeah, now that I took the hinges off (and realized how easy it was) I would like to straighten them out and utilize them but we'll see. They are pretty bent up.

N-Smooth · Sep 6, 2014

Had some fun working on it today. Got a stick (23') of tube from Midnight 4x4 first thing and some sawzall blades from HF. Came home and got started. Got to this point in just a few minutes

Messed around, mocking it up

Also put the hood in place and the new header just to strategize and decide how to do the tube work. I also found some bad stuff...looking at the front end I realized that when I tipped onto the hood and fender it didn't just damage the header but it actually bent the whole radiator. The top is bolted into the header and the bottom has two tabs that drop into holes with bushings. The top moved, the bottom stayed put and so the whole radiator is a trapezoid is the only way I can put it. I was going to just re-drill the header piece and move it over 1" to make the front end centered again but now I'm thinking a new radiator might be safer. I'm worried this one is going to start leaking. It sucks cause this radiator is probably
4 years old but oh well, $102 at Autozone or $85 on Amazon prime. Better order one...

I also came to the conclusion that I do need hinges like Carl said and they won't be the ones I have cause they're so bent. I'm thinking Jy hinges will be a much better choice.

Lifelong Jeeper · Sep 7, 2014

Well, some insomnia gives you enough reason to not stop reading and the entertainment/build value contained herein gives you enough reason to keep going. I just read and studied all that you've done for the last several years as your Jeep has evolved. Some great ideas for sure.

I keep going back and forth on building a hybrid cage or full Exo on my ZJ. I'm currently decided on the later. It's a daily driver on 6" springs, D60's, and 37's and stretched to 110".

Any reason in your opinion why I should go hybrid?

kmboren · Sep 7, 2014

Hey Nate, I have a radiator and hinges that you can have. I am coming up in a month and can bring them then if you can wait that long. I also have a hood if your current one is in need of replacing and a header/grill also. Let me know.

N-Smooth · Sep 7, 2014

Lifelong Jeeper said:
Well, some insomnia gives you enough reason to not stop reading and the entertainment/build value contained herein gives you enough reason to keep going. I just read and studied all that you've done for the last several years as your Jeep has evolved. Some great ideas for sure.

I keep going back and forth on building a hybrid cage or full Exo on my ZJ. I'm currently decided on the later. It's a daily driver on 6" springs, D60's, and 37's and stretched to 110".

Any reason in your opinion why I should go hybrid?

Thanks for posting. I like hybrid cages because I've never really seen an exo that I liked. No offense to everyone with an exo... If I wasn't a big person I would do an internal cage and be done but then again the roof sliders on the hybrid have already been very, very useful on more than one occasion.

N-Smooth · Sep 7, 2014

kmboren said:
Hey Nate, I have a radiator and hinges that you can have. I am coming up in a month and can bring them then if you can wait that long. I also have a hood if your current one is in need of replacing and a header/grill also. Let me know.

Well dang, that sucks. If I could wait a month I totally would but I'd hate to have the Jeep down for that long. I would however still be interested in them if you're tossing them. If you want to keep them for yourself I understand.

hammerdownxj · Sep 7, 2014

AWESOME!!!!!!!

N-Smooth · Sep 7, 2014

hammerdownxj said:
AWESOME!!!!!!!

Good job coming out of nowhere. Hey, do you know what Jason's Jeep is called? Lol

kmboren · Sep 7, 2014

xj_nate said:
Well dang, that sucks. If I could wait a month I totally would but I'd hate to have the Jeep down for that long. I would however still be interested in them if you're tossing them. If you want to keep them for yourself I understand.

Well if you know anyone coming down I could meet up with them and they could get a ride. Also if there is anything else you can think of you might want let me know.

Nate's crappy 93 XJ

Smooth Gang Founding Member

Smooth Gang Founding Member

Smooth Gang Founding Member

Well-Known Member

Smooth Gang Founding Member

Smooth Gang Founding Member

Well-Known Member

Smooth Gang Founding Member

Well-Known Member

Smooth Gang Founding Member

Mbryson's hairdresser

Smooth Gang Founding Member

Smooth Gang Founding Member

Well-Known Member

Recovering XJ owner anonymous

Smooth Gang Founding Member

Smooth Gang Founding Member

Active Member

Smooth Gang Founding Member

Recovering XJ owner anonymous