gogmorgo

The wiring harness that came with my '93 non-cad tcase plugged right in to where the cad tcase harness was plugged into my '91 MJ and works perfectly. The connector's at the transmission dipstick tube. If manual trans, I suspect it's in the same spot (towards rear right if head) but I can't confirm that. Can't say that the newer electric switch will be a direct swap for the vacuum switch in the old tcase, though.

Cool. My old team had some bad luck at Lincoln last year (DNA'd all the dynamic events), so they're working out some bugs and taking the car to Michigan. It'll be the team's first time back there in around ten years, although they've been hitting up Lincoln/Cali the whole time. I think they're also putting another car together for Lincoln 2016 as well. This is one of the things I that's bugging me most about not being in school... Sitting on the sidelines of FSAE. It's getting pretty difficult to keep up with everything. You're still running the single, I'm guessing... What are you guts expecting to weigh in at? Looks like maybe right around 400lbs? 10" kaisers, tire 15 x 6 /18 x 8 f/r? Hard to tell in the rendering. Looks like a similar "ball joint" (bolt through a spherical bearing) to what we ran, what do you have for the inboard ends of the a-arms? Steel a-arms? The direct coilovers was something I kinda wanted to try out. We had pull-rods in the front and push-rods in the back, and while it did kinda shift the cog down a little, it also added weight and complexity. And with student build quality, that meant more chance of something being not-quite-right and binding or otherwise causing problems in the geometry. We might have put a little more beef and/or triangulation into the chassis pickups as well, but you crunched the numbers and I'm sure it'll be fine. Less weight that way, and we needed a bit more beef, getting 80bhp or so from the CBR600RR we were running. Nothing wrong with the 450, of course. Less mass and much easier to package, I would guess.

Yeah, I think I remember prying it out with a sturdy screwdriver, now that you mention it.

I'd have to check to be certain which is which, but my '91 and '93, one popped out like the plug in the bottom of a piggy bank, and the other needed spun to line up tabs and holes.

They're probably just intended for postal service and recycled for export, meaning they would be wrong-hand drive for right-hand traffic here, not wrong-hand drive for left-hand traffic. Also, I believe most vehicles are aligned to drift slightly to the right, which would hopefully send you off the road into a ditch instead of into oncoming traffic, in event the driver somehow falls asleep without touching the steering wheel.

Welcome to the club! Bobbing the bed usually refers to cutting some if the length out of it to reduce the rear overhang. Hope you can get the rest of the truck sorted and driving. Just keep this one rubber side down :thumbsup:

All '91+ can be considered HO's, although they were only OBD1 until '96(?). '95 will be pretty well the same as a '91 with a couple small changes.

Should have been clearer. That was a crack at you Americans having a harvest festival six weeks after the onset of winter ;) But I guess celebrating Columbus getting lost was more important...

Tisk tisk, late to the party as always.

You're going to Michigan then?

I'm a little iffy on the name, too, but hey, it's your truck, call it as you like. I've kinda been holding out on naming mine. I'm also interested in rallying. Unfortunately there's not much going on locally motorsport-wise at all. I like the direction you're going with this build, and look forward to seeing it come together.

Everyone loves MJs. :D I'm an author on Oppo (who isn't) and spend a lot of time on truck yeah, and jalopnik. Haven't been on for a couple days because of work, but I'll head straight over and check it out. :thumbsup:

The chain parts store I worked at would have sourced a 4.0 for me from NorthWest something or other, I think out of Spokane WA. I was surprised at how little they quoted me for it, under $3000 shipped which was pretty much unbeatable where I was living. I also couldn't find a bad review. Only reason I didn't get one was because I didn't have the money. Bought a running driving XJ with half the mileage instead for $300.

I'm a fan of those 500W halogen construction lights. I really appreciate the heat they put off. Even heated garages, in my experience, aren't typically all that warm inside in the winter, so it's nice that you get that infrared hit where the lights are pointed.

This should be posted in the classifieds section...

^an excellent write-up. One thing it leaves out is that on an MJ, the parking brake release bolts to the lower dash panel.

If you can't find a set, throw up a classified ad on this site. I think I've got a set in good shape I could give you for the cost of shipping, but you'd likely be spending less at a junk yard because Canada.

The speedometer gear assembly needs to be clocked properly inside the hole in the tcase for the gears to mesh properly. There should be a range of tooth counts around the base of the gear assembly. Line up yours with the arrow on the tcase, in roughly the 5 o'clock position.

Sounds like what happens when the transmission controller is unplugged. What happens is the transmission goes into a kind of manual mode, where the gear lever corresponds directly to the gear you're in. D puts you in overdrive, 3 in third, and 2-1 puts you in first. Check the trans fuse, and wiring to the tcu, which is bolted to the back of the lower dash panel, about where the passenger's left knee would be. I suppose it could also be a bad tcu, but I think that's pretty rare.

It is pretty fun to drive. Just re-plumbed the heater so I can use it this winter. I'm excited, cause I actually have decent rubber on it now. I've thought about diesel swapping, but it's almost at the point of being overplayed. There are even commercially available kits for swapping to a VW or Peugeot diesel. They were even equipped with a diesel from the factory, although no diesels were sold in this market. People have swapped in small V6's and the odd V8 as well, but I have yet to see a straight-six in one. And I like straight sixes. :D

Ujoints?

Since it's an HO, check your codes. Its a simple process of rocking the key back and forth. http://comancheclub.com/topic/28111-reading-obdi-91-and-92-mj-fault-codes/

They had the 4.2 as an option, so yes, since the 4.0 is externally the same, it'll bolt in.

Well, yes and no. There were no '94 MJ's, so I assume you're talking about swapping XJ stuff onto an MJ. Like I said, yes and no. Assuming they both have the same drivetrain (and therefore the same gear ratios) the front axle and driveshaft will be direct swaps. The transfer case will be the same, although you'll need to reuse the MJ's speedometer gear assembly, as they changed from cable to electronic in '91, and if you're not also using the newer trans, there will be input shaft differences. The trans can be made to work, although there were some changes so if automatic the tcu isn't compatible, and if manual there are input shaft and pilot bearing differences. The MJ's wheelbase is longer, so you'll need a longer rear driveshaft. The rear axle is the same except the spring perches will need relocated, as the XJ is SOA with perches further apart than the MJ's sua perches. So, like I said, yes and no. It's not going to be a simple bolt-on job, but there's no too much to overcome to get it done.

The MJ's hvac was originally designed for a cabin with around three times the volume, so it's way more effective than it needs to be. I almost never have mine all the way hot, even at -40. If I understand it right, the op's blower motor is intermittent. If that's the case, check for power at the motor, and if there's consistent power and no fan, replace the motor. If you don't have power there, the next thing to check for is a bad resistor pack. Typically when a resistor pack goes bad, it results in max fan speed or nothing, but I had two in the same week in two different vehicles at work this summer go bad and completely kill the fan. If however what's happening is that you have no heat but every other aspect works, I'd look into making sure the engine's cooling system is in good shape. Start by making sure the coolant is clean, with a good antifreeze ratio, and the system is full. If you have to replace your coolant, do the following while it's drained so you don't have to dump out the new stuff: Make sure your thermostat is working properly, and then your heater control valve (protip: your heater valve causes more problems than it solves, so look into just getting rid of it.) and flush your cooling system, the heater core in particular. If you didn't have to replace your coolant, you may still have to do that stuff anyhow, so be prepared to dump and replace at least some coolant.