Eagle

The Custom was 1986 only. Don't remember for certain but I think it was the top trim level in 1986. The Dana 44 has a 10-bolt cover. https://www.extremeterrain.com/wrangler-jeep-axle-identification.html

Or drill out and install threadserts.

Definitely not. Too much mismatch. Because not all axles have the same size ring and pinion gears, there are combinations where the front doesn't match the rear perfectly -- at the second decimal place. In the XJ and MJ, for example, you'll actually find a 3.07 axle mated with a 3.08, and a 3.54 mated with a 3.55. Those are close enough to work. But 3.07 with 3.73? Nope!

Thanks. Off to Lowe's hardware department ...

Does anyone know what size the bolts are that hold the crossmember to the "frame"?

Only the upscale ones. Judging by the side bolsters, those are from a Laredo or Limited.

Front should be 17-1/2", same as the XJ. I don't think there has ever been a definitive measurement taken for the rear using the hub-to-flare method, but my informal measurements suggest that it should be somewhere around 21-1/2".

I'm fairly certain the specified resistance for the CPS is to be measured at normal operating temperature. That always bothered me, because how do you get it to normal operating temperature if the engine won't start and run?

Are you working from a wiring diagram, or are you guessing?

They're in. I haven't seen them in operation at night yet but, considering how blind it was before, I have to think it's an improvement.

I was always upset that my dealer didn't rtell me about the rack & pinion steering option when I ordered my '88 Cherokee ...

That's the problem, and unfortunately it's inherent to the design of an I-6 engine. With an I-6, the crank throws are spaced at 120 degrees and the power pulses are absolutely uniformly spaced. At higher RPMs, the exhaust is just a uniform flow, there are no real pulses -- and it's pulses that make an exhaust sound good. That's why I gave up on turbo mufflers for the I-6 decades ago and now I just use OEM replacement mufflers. IMHO, to get decent sound out of an I-6 you need to change the cam to a grind with higher lift, shorter duration, and less overlap, so the individual pulses are more "pulses" rather than "flow."

Remove #1 spark plug, stick finger in hole, crank until you feel pressure. Then stop cranking. Doesn't matter if using a timing light. The light is on #1 spark plug. Crank with the light installed, and watch the mark on the vibration damper to see what degree mark it aligns with when the light flashes. #1 plug doesn't fire when #1 is on the exhaust stroke -- at that point #6 is firing.

It didn't go yet. The ZJ isn't mine, it belongs to a good friend from NAXJA days whom I owe several favors. The keadlights in his ZJ are badly sandblasted, and the driver's side was damaged by the original owner and doesn't work. So I got him a pair of replacement lights, but I decided to let him do any breaking involved. He used to work as a tech in a Jeep dealership and he has owned ZJs before (for some inexplicable reason he prefers them to XJs -- go figure), so I took the coward's way out. I'll report back when I hear from him how it went.

Do you have a timing light? If so, hook it up, point it at the vibration damper, and see if the #1 plug is firing at or before TDC. It should actually be a few degrees before, but I don't recall how many. I know the distrubutor isn't adjustable for timing (in theory), but "back in the day" there was a factory tech bulletin on indexing the distributor to correct for incorrect timing.

Not nearly as bad as I envisioned from your description. That roof dent can be hammered out so nobody would ever know it was there. Takes time and patience, but nothing more than a light body hammer. Offer him $100, see what you can settle on. It's worth saving.

But is it TDC on the compression stroke?

Consider what a pair of taillights alone sells for. Of course it's worth getting, if you have a place to put it while you pick it apart. Unfortunately, as much as I'd like to see tham all saved, that one sounds like it might be too far gone, but ... they don't make MJ body parts any more. I'd offer $100 for starters.

You have spark, but do you have spark when and where you need it? Is it possible the previous owner got the distributor in 180 degrees out of phase? That would mean #1 is "firing" when it's at the top of the exhaust stroke rather than the compression stroke.

Anything you can download today will probably not be valid for an MJ, because Chrysler has recycled many of the option codes. To find the original, look inside the drivers door, and under the driver's side of the seat. Those are the two places the factory typically stashed 'em.

Piston hanging up in the caliper? Worn caliper guides?

Look at it another way -- why would we NOT use an MJ?

Be sure to keep the link secret so nobody else can try it out ...

Gibson. Everything else sounds like crap behind an inline 6. http://gibsonperformance.com/

What year vehicle did this cluster come out of? There's a reason for asking. At one time I had a 1984 Cherokee Wagoneer, with full gauges. The small gauges in the '84 did not (by design) return to zero when the ignition was switched off. They stayed at whatever position they were in when you killed the power. The next time you turned on the ignition, all the gauges would return to zero until you started the engine and they then had data to report. That had changed by 1988, but I don't know when the change occurred. I don't remember if the gauges in my '87 go to zero when the ignition is switched off, or not -- and it's not running at the moment, so I can't check it. It's possible that you just have an old-style cluster. Maybe your engine just has good oil pressure.