Comanche County Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Figured I'd throw up some pics of my Little Blue MJ. It's a stripper model, nothing real special about it and I plan to use it as a DD in cooler weather only since it doesn't have an AC. Got it at a Copart auction. Its a very basic model. See here....http://comancheclub.com/topic/44919-whos-got-the-lowest-optioned-base-model/ It was well maintained by some previous owner. New brakes, tires with practically zero miles, new radiator and hoses, etc. But it had a coolant leak from somewhere so I pulled the head to find it, it was that small center freeze plug that was leaking. Someone tried to chisel it back in and shoved a bunch of RTV on it. It runs good but had a lot of sludge build up under the valve cover. I also added power steering to it. Future plans include an AX5 and 4.10 8.25, a radio that works, and that's probably about it. But its a Jeep so who knows what will happen. :yes: Engine Pics.... I Someone kept the outside clean but whew the inside of the engine needed some attention. There is a small ridge on the cylinder walls but the cross hatch marks were still there. Not too bad really. I should have just taken the whole thing out cause I need to change the rear main too. I'll get to it soon. All cleaned up... All back together with PS added. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comanche County Posted December 10, 2014 Author Share Posted December 10, 2014 Thanks to Cody (Cocy) up in Ohio for sending me the slider! :thumbsup: As per the instructions of our fearless leader Pete M, I tore out the rubber mat (promptly threw it away) and found something bad underneath. :fs1: Now I need to round up some sheet metal and patch it. After some initial wire wheeling...there's a "few" holes. :fs1: Just primed till I round up some metal to lay down... Also started on that dent in the left rear corner...wish I had a bed skin laying around, or at least find an MJ in the JY with a good one I could graft on. I'm no body man, and don't play one online either. But I made a little progress on it with a 2x4 and a hammer.... :dunno: Before... Before - other angle... After... :doh: I know I stink at this. Give me a couple days and a $#!&load of bondo and I think I can get it looking better. Just a comparison shot. Its 13.5" lower than my other MJ. :yes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comanche County Posted December 13, 2014 Author Share Posted December 13, 2014 Got the passenger side patched up...The paint is actually black, just looks blue. Cleaning some carpet for it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjy_26 Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 Slam it! Keep it low to the ground. It'll offset your other one. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comanche County Posted December 20, 2014 Author Share Posted December 20, 2014 Haha, yeah I just need to hurry up and finish this thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjy_26 Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Come on...we all know that no Jeep is ever TRULY finished. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comanche County Posted March 6, 2015 Author Share Posted March 6, 2015 Okay, found a crack in the block by the water pump so I swapped in a 99'ish 2.5 Dakota block from the JY. I had previously pulled the bellhousing and flywheel...then hid the engine and AX15 in the back of newly dropped PT Cruiser. I figured it would be safe there, I mean who pulls parts for PT Cruiser, no one! haha. Total cost of engine swap, $150 for the block, about $75 for fluids and gaskets. Runs great so far idling in the driveway. The original engine ran awesome and is probably repairable but I didn't wanna mess with it. Now its got a Dakota block, 87' Renix head, 95' XJ AX5, and more subtle changes to come! I'm kinda proud of this little truck. I have the title inspector coming next week and can't wait to start driving it! The crack goes back about 2". Pulled this a while back... Disregard the Fram, it was just a placeholder. Its running a Mopar 090. Should've swapped the MJ oil pan on before laying it in...the MJ exhaust didn't fit with the Dak oil pan. The MJ pan has a recess for the down pipe...so I painted the MJ pan blue (ran out of black engine paint) and put it back on...all good now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comanche County Posted March 6, 2015 Author Share Posted March 6, 2015 Also, I had to drill out the pivot hole on the new master cylinder to fit the clutch pedal. Slam it! Keep it low to the ground. It'll offset your other one. :) Yeah its no where near the other one...but this truck is just gonna be my JY parts getter and grocery runner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 ...then hid the engine and AX15 in the back of newly dropped PT Cruiser. I figured it would be safe there, I mean who pulls parts for PT Cruiser, no one!... True... true... :laughin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88whitemanche Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 Nice! I like this build....I know now I can grab a 2.5 from a dakota...any other mods to get it going??? Or just plug and play? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comanche County Posted March 7, 2015 Author Share Posted March 7, 2015 All the motor mount bosses were the same so that aspect was a bolt in affair. The 87' block has access to the fuel pump lobe and the later block does not. Either way it's not needed except as bolt holes for grounding wires. The AX5 pressure plate will not bolt to the Dak flywheel, the holes are just a little off. I used the 87' flywheel. I guess I should have researched that in case there was a balance change somewhere along the line but so far it's humming along...idles and runs as smooth as the TBI can I guess. The Dak balancer is also snug against the timing cover and the 87' sticks out about 3/8" further. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comanche County Posted March 7, 2015 Author Share Posted March 7, 2015 Oh, the older block has a metric threaded oil filter, new block is standard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comanche County Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 Found the build sheet! Went to install an awesome Sony cassette player I pulled from a JY Volvo and install speakers and found the door panels have never been off. I was gonna cut a hole in them for speakers but I think I'm gonna keep the originals on the shelf and I'll probably end up converting it to a grey interior. LKQ counter girl just laughed at me, said I could have it and thanked me for getting it out of the yard. haha! Its got a pre-out on the back too. Stack o' radios, I've got three stockers left over which I prefer cause no one will steal it. But I think the Sony cassette is going in. Its got three different colors when it lights up at night!!! :rotfl2: My ZJ has the proper stuff, MJs get the junk. Don't laugh, the cassette player and one of those 12v school bus driver fans are gonna be major items in this build! :yes: Nice to work on something so unmolested for once! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmax Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 I have an 88 MJ Sport truck that is identical to yours, except red in color. How hard was it to convert to power steering? I would like to do that for mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comanche County Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 A Renix TBI 4 cyl XJ/MJ with power steering should be bolt it but I couldn't find one locally. Overall it was easy but I had to chase down parts from a couple different XJs. The pump and reservoir came from a 95' 4cyl MPFI XJ, the power steering bracket came from a Renix 4.0 XJ. The front accessories of the TBI 4cyl and the Renix MPFI 4.0 are the same. But the 4cyl MPFI power steering pump does not have threads on the back side of it...it threads into the MPFI intake manifold. So what I did was use some nuts and bolts which clamp the pump to the renix power steering bracket. It lines up the serpentine belt just fine, but now if I need to loosen or tighten the belt I have two more nuts to take loose. There are three bolts securing the pump to a MPFI manifold but there are only two slots on the renix bracket. The pics might explain what I did a little better... Also, you will need a power steering gear box and pitman arm - and the three mounting bolts. The non power pitman arm shaft is smaller than the power steering pitman arm. Pitman arms don't interchange between the two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comanche County Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 ...then hid the engine and AX15 in the back of newly dropped PT Cruiser. I figured it would be safe there, I mean who pulls parts for PT Cruiser, no one!... True... true... :laughin: I have the Dakota PS pump and reservoir stashed...its the same stuff as the XJ... So a Dak should be a good PS donor also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmax Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 Thanks very much, that's very helpful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comanche County Posted March 11, 2015 Author Share Posted March 11, 2015 :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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