Eagle

And you seriously don't think that's weird? If I saw you doing that in my yard, I would call the cops. Just act like a civilized human being and knock on the door.

I think it looks a lot weirder to have someone snooping around a vehicle parked in the driveway rather than just knocking on the door and introducing yourself. I've had more than one person drive into my place and just start looking over my Cherokees. They usually aren't very happy when I walk up behind them with my hand on a gun and ask "CAN I HELP YOU?" in a very loud voice.

Yes, it is. I hope whoever made that reinforced the "frame." Back in the 1950s, AMC pioneered the use of unibody construction for automobiles. (Actually, Hudson did, starting in 1948, but Hudson merged with Nash to form American Motors in 1954.) My brother and I bought a 1966 Rambler Classic in 1966. All Ramblers were unibody, but the convertibles had the floor section considerably beefed up to prevent them from folding in half.

A fusible link is a terrible idea. A fusible link is a wire that self-destructs if overloaded. When that happens, instead of just popping in a new fuse you have to replace the melted wire.

How are your springs twisted? Is it possible that a previous owner did a spring-over conversion by swapping in an XJ rear axle without relocating the spring perches to the correct location?

You have a manual transmission. That means you have a clutch, and the XJ and MJs have a history of the clutch master cylinder leaking brake fluid onto the fuse panel. Brake fluid is rather nasty stuff and it doesn't play nicely with electrical connectors. The fact that the terminals for the turn signal fuse fell off (did I read that correctly) suggests to me that you may be in need of a fuse panel.

I've seen a number of SBC V-8 swaps in Cherokees, and they ALL had massive cooling problems. The best swap for the 2.8L is a later GM 3.4L V-6 out of a rear-wheel drive car like a Camaro or Firebird. It's the same basic block as the 2.8L so it's a bolt-in swap. You can do it carbureted (although that Jeep carb is trash), you can do an aftermarket throttle body injection, or run it with the GM multi-port injection. The biggest headache (and it's not big) is that the 2.8L was externally balanced -- it has a weight at one spot on the flywheel. The 3.4L is internally balanced and doesn't need that weight, so the flywheel from the 2.8L has to be neutral balanced. And automotive machine shop should be able to handle that.

I didn't say you can't use the rubber trim on an MJ. But you can't just remove the stainless steel trim and install the rubber without taking the window out of the vehicle. As others have already explained, the rubber goes onto the glass first, like a perimeter gasket, then the entire assembly is glued into the vehicle.

It doesn't work that way.

Good plan.

You don't need the YJ gauges. I don't think a YJ cluster will fit the MJ dashboard. Find a gauge cluster from an '84 to '90 Cherokee. Best years are '88 thru '90 because the tachometer in those years could be adjusted for 4-cylinder or 6-cylinder. If you get an earlier cluster, make certain that it's from a 6-cylinder. The early ones will also require a different speedometer cable. You can't just plug the YJ gauges into your existing cluster. The clusters use printed circuits, and there's no way to convert an idiot light cluster to gauges. Just buy an XJ cluster and install it.

Donor can be '87-90. 1991 was when Chrysler introduced the HO. Those have a totally different electrical system. Different ECU, different injection, different ignition. Assuming the XJ is complete and undamaged, you can open the hood on that and use it as a road map to check what's been messed with in the MJ.

Yes. In fact, the factory issued a TSB (Technical Service Bulletin) recommending exactly that.

The sensors for oil pressure and coolant temperature are not part of the engine control harness.

You didn't ask. You started off insisting that you need an HO cluster, and that you need an XJ HO under=dash harness. Did the YJ have gauges? If so, the engine already has the correct sensors for the gauges.

1. Is the MJ harness melted? If so, the XJ harness should be pretty much the same, so you should be able to use all or most of it to replace the damaged parts in the MJ. The biggest difference is that the '88 has the C101 connector -- high on the firewall, on the driver's side in the engine bay. That's where the engine side mates with the under-dash part. The C101 connector was troublesome, and for the 1989 model year they eliminated it. 2. Unless you plan to run huge tires, there's nothing wrong with the D30 axle in the XJ. Just engage the disconnector and lock it in place -- there are several articles here explaining how to do that. There's no reason for you to buy another axle if you already have one. Just be certain the ratios match. 3. You'll learn a lot. We're here to help when you have questions.

YOU DO NOT NEED AN H.O. DASH HARNESS! How many times do we have to tell you this? Your existing harness has a connector for the temperature sender in the back corner of head. That's what feeds the temperature gauge on the dashboard. The temp sender in the thermostst housing feeds the ECU. Your existing harness has a connector for the oil pressure sensor. Your '92 engine has an oil pressure sensor. Put the wire on the sensor and you get an oil pressure reading. Use a gauge cluster from a 1990 or older Cherokee. If you use a cluster from a 1991 or newer XJ, the gas gauge will read backwards.

Possibly -- but it was the JL axles that created the aftermarket industry for tube sleeves and 'C' gussets.

My ex-wife and I had a dryer that started making noise. I bought a new bearing unit (that the drum rolls on) and installed it. Not wanting to do it again, I made certain to lubricate the new bearing unit. I used (and still use) Never Seez on all nuts and bolts when working on a vehicle, so I figured Never Seez was the miracle lube, and I used that. The new bearing unit ate itself within two weeks. Next time around I used what I should have used: moly chassis grease. Anti-seize has flakes of metal (usually aluminum, sometimes copper if you buy the high-priced spread) in it, and they are abrasive. The stuff is not intended to be used on things that move in use, and it should not be used on things that move in use because it's an abrasive.

It may have happened, somewhere, some time, but I'm 75 years old and I have never heard of it happening so it's not exactly commonplace. And it is optional, not mandatory.

You can get a gauge cluster with full gauges and a tachometer from a 1984 through 1990 Cherokee and it's plug-and-play with the MJ chassis harness. Your '92 engine should still have a temperature sender on the back corner of the head -- that feeds the temp gauge. The oil pressure sender is a no brainer. And the fuel gauge in a Renix cluster will read correctly, whereas if you pop in an HO cluster the gauge will read full when the tank is empty, and it will read empty when the tank is full. Plus -- an HO cluster has an electronic speedometer, so then you have to deal with wiring that up. The engine harness doesn't enter the cab with an HO system. The ECU is under the hood. You're making a simple job much more complicated than it needs to be.

Okay, but ... You do understand that "may" is optional, right? The home country "may" prosecute does not mean they will prosecute, nor does it obligate them to prosecute. Have you ever heard of even one instance where that happened?

Plug what together? Do you understand what "stand-alone" means? You do NOT need to connect the YJ engine harness to anything at the firewall (what you call the "bulkhead"). The '92 computer mounts on the inside of the driver's side fender, under the hood. Why would you want to get an HO dash harness for a Renix vehicle? If you do that, your fuel gauge will read backwards. Leave the dash harness alone. "If it ain't broke ... don't fix it."

Don't use anti-seize! It is NOT a lubricant. And, yes, there is a story that explains how I learned that rather painful lesson -- and it was a lot more expensive than a speedometer cable.

He's looking for a 2.5L aluminum valve cover.