Eagle

By the time you finish doing everything you'll need to do to make them fit and clear, it won't be such a smokin' deal.

A SBC is a tight fit. Good luck with a big block.

There's a link to the factory electrical manual floating around here somewhere. Your post wasn't clear. Do you have 12 volts at the input side of the selector switch?

Backspacing on factory Jeep wheels is 5.25", and on factory rims 31x10.50s fit and stuff inside the stock fender flares -- but rub on the lower control arms at full steering lock. On wheels with 4 inches of backspacing, you won't rub on the lower control arms but you WILL rub on the flares at full steering lock, and the tires won't fit up inside the flares and fenders when the suspension is fully compressed.

I thought the 904 used ATF, not Dexron.

An internal combustion engine needs three things to run: fuel, air, and spark. If you know you have air and spark, the question is fuel. But if you were able to start it and drive it home, you have fuel. I don't think your mechanic is qualified to work on your vehicle.

Small block Chevy is a popular choice. EVERY single one I have seen has had cooling problems. The stroker version of the Jeep I-6 is, IMHO, the best option. It increases the displacement from 4.0 liters to 4/6 or 4.7 liters. Combined with a mild cam upgrade, you won't believe it's still a 6-cylinder engine.

The MJ does not have a front proportioning block. It has a front distribution block. All proportioning is dome by the height sensing valve in the rear.

I need two of each. I would like to upgrade my '87 MJ to SelecTrac, and I'd also like to upgrade the 2000 XJ 5-speed while I'm at it. If you have 'em, please drop me a PM. Thanks.

That truck in the photos appears to have a factory sliding rear window. That's definitely worth grabbing.

The sending unit (for the gas gauge) is different than for the XJ. The correct sending unit for an MJ is basically impossible to find.

The operable triangular vent windows ALWAYS leak when it rains. I repeat: ALWAYS It's a design flaw. When I bought my '88 Cherokee new, I had to pay extra to get those operable vents -- they were an option back then. They leaked from the first time I had it out in the rain. I took it back to the dealer under warranty. They put me in touch with the factory rep. FR: "We have a fix for that." Me: "Great! What's the fix and how long does it take?" FR: "We remove the operable vents and install fixed glass. It takes a couple of hours." Me: "But I paid extra for operable vents. Do you refund me the cost of the option when you remove it?" FR: "Oh, no. But it stops the leak."

Basically, from the MJs grab everything that's grab-able. Try to get the rear flares and support plates -- no, they are NOT the same as Cherokee 2-door rear flares, regardless of what anyone tries to tell you. * Rear bumpers * Tailights * Cab side (B pillar) vent louvers * Seat brackets and pedestals * Parking brake assemblies * ECUs -- even the '87. They don't make 'em anymore. * If they are automatics, get the TCUs and harnesses * Headliners (even if the fabric is bad, get the moldboards if they're solid) * Rear windows. They aren't flat glass, so replacements are unobtanium * Tailgates * Spare tire winches

My grandfather used to tell me that anything worth doing is worth doing right. I still subscribe to that notion. Which means if it were my truck I would move the TCU to where it's supposed to be. The tranny harness is, I believe, mostly a separate harness, so I would look for someone with a junk Cherokee and grab the TCU harness out of that.

Do you have 2WD or 4WD? The 4WD front hubs don't have a spindle, they use a hub assembly with captive bearings. Some years the 2WD used the same hub/bearing assembly, with a dummy stub shaft. The earlier year 2WD MJs used a conventional front spindle with greasable wheel bearings.

What did you get? I've bought CUNIFER brake line from Amazon and had zero problems with it. It's much easier to flare well than steel brake line.

It would be great if some of you who bought it would post reviews. That one 5-star review is getting lonely ...

Former Javelin and AMX owner here. I bought a 1968 Javelin sight-unseen with my combat pay from Vietnam, and it was waiting for me when I came home. The next year my brother bought an AMX, and we plus a friend created the Javelin/AMX Sports Car Club. I believe our state club was the first in the country. Welcome aboard.

When I bought my '88 MJ it had a 4" lift installed by the previous owner. It was a TrailMaster lift, with coils and control arm drop brackets for the front and a short add-a-leaf in the rear, along with a set of TrailMaster shocks that would shake your fillings out just driving down the interstate. After a year or so, I had had enough and I pulled the lift out, restoring the truck to factory ride height. I had a complete set of shocks from a stock height XJ that one of the guys in NAXJA gave me for my help in installing a lift on his XJ. The front shocks, of course, bolted right in. Not so the rear. The XJ rear shocks, when fully extended, were about a half inch too short to reach from the lower mounting stud to the upper mounting stud. I had to head over to Advanced Auto and grab a set of Gabriel rears for the MJ.

How old are the spark plug wires? Have you tested them for continuity and resistance?

The ZJ was intended to be the replacement/update for the XJ.

Heh, heh ... At one time I owned the '88 Jeep XJ and a 1993 Honda Accord 4-door sedan. Guess which one was built entirely in the U.S. and guess which one had more American-made parts in it?

True. Chrysler killed the Comanche because it was too much competition for the Dakota. Also, IMHO AMC royally screwed up by not offering an extended cab. My first XJ/MJ was a 1988 XJ that I purchased new. I really wanted to buy an MJ ... but I needed more secure interior storage space than the MJ offered, so I had to settle for an XJ. An extended cab MJ would have been a game changer.

I disagree that the Comanche was ever, in any way, a replacement for the Scrambler. The Scrambler was a stretched CJ.

The swing arm on the rear load-sensing valve should be approximately horizontal (parallel to the axle). For the rear, your shoes have material left, but I would replace the wheel cylinders. Here's my view on why: As with most (probably all) front disk/rear drum brake systems, there's a basic problem. Disk brakes are always adjusted. When you take your foot off the brakes, there aren't springs that move the pads away from the rotors -- all that happens is that the pressure is removed. That doesn't work for the rear, because the rear brakes are "servo assisted." This is why it's important to not get the front and rear shoes on each side reversed. When the vehicle is moving forward, once the shoes make contact with the drum the friction tries to rotate the whole assembly, and the geometry of the internal parts is such that the rotation increases the pressure. This doesn't happen in reverse, which is why your parking brake may hold the truck when you're pointing downhill, but not when you're pointing uphill. So you have all those springs and things to pull the shoes away from the drum when the brakes aren't applied. But ... because the front pads are always ready to rock and roll, it doesn't take a lot of peddle movement to engage the fronts. Once the rear shoes get worn, they may not be making much (or any) contact by the time the front pads are fully deployed. The rear brakes are equipped with self adjusters, but those only work if you back up "smartly" and then slam on the brakes -- multiple times. I suspect that you, like most MJ drivers, are actually driving around using only the front brakes because the rears aren't properly adjusted. With my '88 XJ (which is by far my highest mileage of the fleet), I've replaced the front pads probably three times for each time I've replaced the rear shoes. Why? Because the rears aren't doing anything -- and I used to be sort of anal about adjusting them manually every few months. One of the side effects of that is that the seals inside the rear wheel cylinders get gummed up and don't like to move. Once that happens, even if the shoes are properly adjusted you still won't have rear brakes. Wheel cylinders are cheap. Just replace them.