Gjeep

My 92 was a daily commuter for years -- 4.0, AX-15 4x4, swapped in 3.55 axles early on and loved it. Felt right.

Looks great

I took a closer look at the breather line patch this morning and had a feeling I could pry the welded cover off as I didn’t see any prep done. But first I needed to remove the brake line... Done, no struggles. On to the breather line mess – I saw a lip in the patch and went for it, wedging a flat blade screwdriver in the spot and hammering away. Sure enough it came off with little effort or clean up. 10 swings at the most. Knocked right off. Neither were the fight I was expecting… It’s a good day.

At some point, this Dana 44 made it's way onto a ‘92 long bed 4.0L AX-15 4x4. The axle is a 1st gen MJ 44 having the separate breather line. And that breather line opening has a small plate welded over it I’ll be removing. The diff tag says it’s a 3.07 factory LSD axle, and although it’s not original to that truck it is correct for that trans (as the factory set things up). And u-bolt plates were also first gen but not 44 variants. Always an adventure hunting down a rare-ish bird... In the end I’ve got a 44 for this Chief clone. Guaranteed it will be 100% gone through towards the end of this year. Eaton locker with 4.10’s. Keeping the drum brakes this round.

Congrats!

Good chance this Jeep is getting an early birthday present. I have a lead on factory MJ 44 with low miles, 3.55 gears. If all works out will put 4.10's in it... and get a proper length driveshaft made. That will be an end of year project as I want to get the Stroker MJ done first. Lucky to find one.

This — and I bought it and installed it. I believe this is what you’re talking about. The BT reception radio quality wasn’t as good to me as RediRad and that was the priority. If Redi-Rad didn’t exist this would be my option.

Sharp MJ, nice job -- Hella's look right at home.

Now this is right. Bolted the new shifter in this morning and it not only looks but feels/ falls right. No bunched-up boot in second gear any more. Some pics: Comparison: First: Neutral: Second: Sitting in driver seat, neutral: Glad I swapped it.

Will do.

I went through the Hurst website couple years back looking for the proper angle shifter for this MJ. It took some time going through the options and I ended up ordering 6 of them that seemed close to what I was looking for. Once received, there were only two that I kept to decide between once I got to it… and I finally got to it. The stick in place is what came with the short shifter kit. I always felt to be at too hard an angle towards the driver. Photos really don’t depict how odd it looks, especially when the outer visible interior boot is removed. When the boot is in place it crumples up tight console side even in neutral. Looks bad. First gear sits about where I think neutral should be. These pics are first gear shots. The options: The Original: P/N 5388009: P/N 538 7236 The 009 is the winner. It has a bend in it like the factory stick and feels right where the throws should be. It shouldn’t be too difficult swapping this out as I have a cut factory floorboard boot over the top of the Hurst boot. No need to remove the factory one, just slide the Hurst one out and unbolt the stick from the assembly.

I revised the graphics slightly for this build and submitted them to the local graphics shop for production. Sounds like I’ll get them back Tuesday and will be able to lay them out on the test truck (my ‘91) by end of next week. It will be the side, hood, and tailgate blackout. Looking forward to seeing them right and ready for final installation on this ‘92. In the meantime, the ACC floor mats have been haunting my sleep for close to 2 years. Ever since I first dropped them in. They’re too wide. At least by 1.5” all around and curl up at the tunnel. Not the best look. I asked they redo them and unfortunately a miss again… so I traced out a proper template on cardboard, taking into consideration the border that will surround the carpet. Then I got to tracing/ cutting the rubber underside and carpet itself. The final glue-together in a week or so. After that I’m going to replace the Hurst shifter – just the stick itself. The angle of this is perfect for the ‘97+ XJ’s but not quite right for the first gen dash in my eyes that is more vertical. Got to get it right.

Refinished rear flare with NOS bumper end cap. The brackets holding the flare on are original to my ’92 MJ and I anti-seized the hell out of those studs before tightening down. Every single stud broke off this MJ’s original brackets when removed a year or so ago even though I soaked them. NOS refinished front flare with Crown repop brackets. It’ll be a couple weeks before I get the driver side and hood graphics on as I’m still finalizing changes to the Stroker Comanche’s graphics. This MJ is my test mule for those.

Upper pinstripes in place, passenger side and tailgate done. A never to have existed ’91 Chief is born.

Chief graphics in progress! I started laying these out wet with the eventual help of a heat gun in certain areas. The passenger quarter of the bed is probably the most challenging panel on the truck because of the curve and all the body damage. The exhaust pipe had crinkled up the lower portion of the sheet metal. It was bent up pretty good and I straightened as best I could without refinishing. Also in general, the paint on this Comanche is far from perfect — when it was repainted they painted over scratches, dents, scrapes and the occasional spec of dirt. Love it. Trying to embrace the ‘beater is neater’ mantra… Something I did around the graphics that the factory did not do on the MJ Chief (but did on the XJ Chief) was paint the lower rockers matte black to blend the graphics into. Looks better than seeing streaks of body color in areas where the graphic doesnt fully cover. Which is quite a bit. I trimmed from some spare vinyl I ordered to get this to wrap right into the jamb area as it should. The graphics as they were didn’t have quite enough to make it happen. Tomorrow morning I’ll install the upper thinner stripes above whats already laid out. Here’s how she currently stands…

AI did a good job recreating the MJ...and toad.

Comanche on the road! Always a bit nerve-wracking to test drive a build… especially these days as my neck of the woods is 2 lane with ditches on either side. You break down and you’re pushing to the nearest driveway. Fortunately, the drive went well. Took it to town and all around. Brakes need to be bled again as a pinch spongy, but other than that all is well. Graphics, emblems, and only little things left. Can’t help but notice the MJ does look good withOUT graphics. Fairly sure I’m going to go Chief, just need to get them on there and see how it looks. Hopefully not too busy looking. Will see.

Have a feeling it's 4-cyl but clean-ish, low mileage MJ.. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/895679579720819/?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3Aebf568dc-b4d1-4f08-adbf-062784121ffe

Aftermarket made both SB and LB versions.

Got the Holley RetroBright’s installed. For those thinking about going this route – two thumbs up. Crazy bright – I went with the 5700K option and followed up with matching 5700K bulbs for the driving lights. I also have these on my red ’97 XJ and for those who aren’t familiar with the ‘97+ XJ, the headlight buckets are a different design than the first gen. The later XJ buckets (red paint pic below) allow the Holley headlights to mount up properly; for the older MJ/ XJs the first gen buckets aren’t as deep so the Holley’s sit 1/8” forward. Don’t really notice it visually. The flares are mounted only temporarily as I'm still test fitting the other MJ custom graphics on this truck. Flares will come off again soon to then install Chief graphics on this MJ.

Just tracked it down AUVECO #12993. Some sites say this is a discontinued part; though I found on eBay. Looks like they changed the design a bit aftermarket... which may not be a bad thing/ easier to remove. https://www.ebay.com/itm/335742512541

They're different. Crown made/ makes the interior ones but they are hard to source. 34201545. It's termed a 'screw' but is not.

Not NOS but pleased with the aftermarket quality of these front fender liners. Much thinner than factory but made of a plastic-ish material that will likely not get brittle for a very long time. Teamed with these are the liner extensions made by Detroit Muscle. Inside the center console is the hard-wire connectivity if desired for the BT set up. And to keep things from rattling around, trimmed an insert for the bottom side.

https://offroadanonymous.com/product/diy-toe-alignment-tool-plates/?attribute_extension-wing-kit=No+Thanks&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23168474619&gclid=Cj0KCQiAvtzLBhCPARIsALwhxdpYcFrmS9raiMa7l_JHI9_I8IjSivGUi2NSr1u2frqvCn74ohVs6VYaAn7FEALw_wcB

Got the front suspension finished up, complete with alignment. Still need to break-in brakes, adjust the parking brake, put engine splash shield and fender liners on. Grand finale will be Chief graphics.