Jeep XJ Cherokee - 10-Day JeepSpeed Competitor - Part 4

This is it: For the past three issues we've been following Jason LaFortune and his crew at Temper-Mental Racing as they turn an ex-Forest Service XJ into a JeepSpeed contender in just 10 days. It's been a tough slog, with the team spinning wrenches literally night and day to meet the tight schedule. This month, we'll show you the final build days as well as how the whole effort turned out. For those of you who don't want to skip to the last page, we'll give you a hint: it has a happy ending.

When we left theTemper-Mental...        read full caption When we left theTemper-Mental crew at the end of Day 8, they were still working on the rear section of the Cherokee's rollcage and planning the mount points for the Fabtech Dirt Logic remote-reservoir shocks. Jason Rivera (gray sweatshirt) is marking where the top of the shock will mount to the cage, while Jon Krellwitz welds.	By the start of Day 9, the...        read full caption By the start of Day 9, the bottom mounts for the rear shocks were in place. The shocks will bolt to tabs welded to the axle's U-bolt plate.	The tops of the shocks were...        read full caption The tops of the shocks were mounted to tabs fabricated by Krellwitz. This isn't just a bad picture of him; he's that tired.
One of the front shocks bolted...        read full caption One of the front shocks bolted to its top mount. Note how heavily the upper mount area was reinforced.	The front shock location was...        read full caption The front shock location was pretty straightforward; mounting the remote reservoirs less so. Dan Kiefer was tasked with fabricating the reservoir mounts, which consisted of brackets he fabbed and bolted to the inner fenders	Fuel was on Daniel Demonteverde's...        read full caption Fuel was on Daniel Demonteverde's to-do list on Day 9. He was under the Jeep running lines from the fuel cell to the engine earlier in the day. Here, he plumbed the fuel filter into the lines. The red box in front of him is the 32-gallon Jaz fuel cell.
In the Jeep's cockpit, Matt...        read full caption In the Jeep's cockpit, Matt McCallum checked the location of the wiring box and the battery shut-off switch, which will be mounted to the floor. The housing for the wiring box is made from a truly high-tech, dust- and weather-resistant material: Tupperware.	When we left the shop on Day...        read full caption When we left the shop on Day 9, LaFortune was working on the placement of the front bumpstops.	Day 10: Deadline day. There...        read full caption Day 10: Deadline day. There was still a lot to be done, and there were more bodies in the shop to make sure it happened. When we arrived, a bunch of the guys were test-fitting the hood and how it fit with the Hannemann fiberglass front fenders.
A major hood-fit issue: This...        read full caption A major hood-fit issue: This support bar runs up and over the engine to tie the engine-bay cage struts together, and the hood has to close over it. Note the flanges at either end of the support bar. They allow removal of the bar for engine work.	This is one of the brackets...        read full caption This is one of the brackets that Kiefer fabricated to hold the front shock reservoirs. The second aluminum tube next to the shock is one of the Fabtech front bumpstops.	The front shocks may be located,...        read full caption The front shocks may be located, but they're not completely installed. See the orange paper? That's a template for the shock's top mount tab. Dean Schlingmann will fabricate the top and bottom mount tabs and weld them in place.