Htchevyii

Ha ha, I guess that would m a few years late. Looks like a sweet ride.

Thanks, it's definitely changed and evolved over the years. I left out that the Original owner and my dad were timber fallers, so it was already pretty used and had about 160k when I got it. I actually remember seeing it when it was brand new and didn't even have plates yet when his friend bought it. I loved it then, I'd been reading about them in magazines and they were so superior to the S10 and Ranger. I proposed to my wife on the tailgate on the beach.

We were at a yard sale and there was a guy selling a set of axles from a TJ. The front had this HD steering link, it takes a larger drag link end on each side, so I can carry a new spare that will replace any of the 3. It also included a Warn hub conversion, diff skid and a Lock-right. The rear Dana 35 had a Super 35 kit with a Detroit Locker and 30 spline axles. I had already swapped in a Ford 8.8, so I sold the rear axle for enough to pay for everything. We use a simple battery isolator with a group 31 lead acid battery in the bed to run our 12v Dometic fridge and change devices. We've never needed more power than that, but we usually don't stay more than a day or two in one place.

Then we headed out on our first big trip, still the longest one that we've ever been on. 3,000 miles in the old MJ that had sat dormant for years until the Gambler trip. We hit the Mojave road, Death Valley, route 66 to Kingman AZ, Valley of Fire, Etc. It was kinda nerve racking in the untested truck and we didn't have the satellite communicator that we now carry. We had the u joints replaced in Barstow because of a vibration. It didn't fix it, so we just kept on trucking and let it shake for another 2500 miles. It was such an awesome trip even though some aspects were weird because of COVID and even though it was nerve racking at times, it was fun and exciting.. we were hooked!

We needed to deal with the tire rubbing and high under hood and cabin temperatures before heading out on a 3,000 mile trip to Death Valley and Mojave. So we added a set of Napier Precision flares, ( I wish that they were still available) and a hood louver for a TJ. Overheating was never an issue, it just got so hot under the hood after several hours of driving that you couldn't touch anything. A thick single core radiator from Performance Radiator and upgraded E-fan from a newer XJ complete the cooling system. We also replaced every hose on the Jeep and any other wear part that seemed critical.

We had parked the MJ in about 2016 when the distributor drive gear on the cam went bad. We have lots of other vehicles and projects, so the MJ sat on the back burner. 2020 during COVID was when things changed. We got bored and decided that we wanted to go to the Gambler 500 in OR. For those that don't know, it's kind of an unofficial off road rally where you go to different waypoints and pick up trash on public lands. Sometimes BIG trash like boats, cars and trailers. The event revolves around cheap beater vehicles, although everything is welcome. We decided that instead of buying and putting work into another vehicle, we should just put that time and money into the MJ. So we rebuilt the engine and fitted it with a modified Amazon ladder rack, a tent off of Marketplace and some new 33's that rubbed like crazy. We were afraid to spend much money during the uncertain start of COVID. I'll include a few photos and a video link for the Gambler if anyone wants to see more, it's a hoot. Pretty much a giant party. Some of the photos are of latter years, photos of the first event are scarce. Anyway, the hook was set. We had a great time camping in the MJ and started planning bigger trips. Now the real work would begin. We had 4 months before we would set off on a 3,000 mile trip!

Thanks! Here's the MJ when I got it back from my dad in 2011. It was pretty much in the same configuration as when I gave it to him except for some windshield frame rust and the SEM bedliner that he applied. It already had an AX15 & Ford 8.8 swap when I gave it to him as well as a new 4.5" short arm lift & 32x12.5's (long arms were rare back then). There was also a crappy Pacesetter header that I had installed.

Much appreciated!

It's a little late to start a build thread, although the truck is in a constant state of refinement. I'll go over what I have done, what worked and what I'd do different. My dad bought the MJ when I was in highschool in 1992. I purchased it in 1995. In 2005, I gave it back to my dad and in 2011 he gave it back. In 2020 during COVID, we got bored and decided to get the old MJ back on the road. The distributor drive gear had worn out on the cam. Early pictures are scarce since we weren't walking around with cameras in our pocket in those days. When I first got it, it had a set of nice Prime 2 piece wheels and 30x9.50's. The oldest photo I could find is below, it had a 3" Rancho lift and 30 or 31's. The chrome wheels rusted, so I sandblasted and painted them. There is a walk around video on YouTube link f you're impatient and want to see everything now. It's a few years old, I'll probably do an updated one eventually.

Thank you, I'll pass it along.

Thanks, Heather has a few more videos to make from our last trip in Sept. This year is looking bleak for new adventures. Her back started hurting on the last day of our Sept trip and hasn't let up. She has a herniated disc. We have a surgery consult on Monday, hopefully they can get her fixed up.

Thanks for watching! we live on the N. CA coast, basically in the rainforest, so the desert is about as opposite as it gets. There is so much to see if you know where to look though! Not much to see locally, old logging roads and trees while beautiful get kinda boring after a while. Luckily, we can get there in a long day of driving, two if we're heading to the far side of Death Valley or Mojave. We usually try to avoid the Interstates, so sometimes it takes longer, but we get to see a lot more stuff and it's easier on us and the Jeep. We're 2a friendly, but usually just take something for protection on long trips, so we don't have to worry about theft, (plus space is at a premium).

Yes, the whole trip was pretty great! (Except for the brief period of time when we thought that we might have to backtrack over 50 miles of washed out roads). 😂 Luckily we found another route. We love seeing new places.

Another epic trip in the old MJ. We traveled from the remote and awesome town of Jarbidge to the ghost town of Rio Tinto. The scenery was amazing! This was part of our 2,600 mile adventure. I'll link the adventure to Jarbidge as well in case you missed it.

Do you still have the window switch clips? I'll take a half dozen or so if you do!

I've got one that looks just like that! It came of my sister's '89 Tempo. It doesn't fit the mount on my windshield though. I know that I could just glue a Ford one to the Jeep one. I did order a mirror off of eBay, the pictures weren't great, so we'll see if it's worth a darn. If you do end up having a decent one, the first one on my XJ is doing the same thing, so I could use another.

Unfortunately the nearest junk yard is 3 hours away, I usually just end up buying stuff either here or on eBay. There were about 5 when I was young, but CA restrictions put most of them out of business.

I've got an OEM Ford mirror kicking around. It wouldn't fit on the tab on the Jeep's windshield. I suppose that I could glue a Ford tab to the Jeep one, I'm not going to try to pry that sucker off of my new windshield.

For sure, I remember looking at the individual adapters on the AA website, but the application guide was so vague, it was hard to tell which one was correct. Here's a list of their PN's for the fittings in the kit, not sure which one is correct for the MJ though? JEEP SLAVE CYL KIT FOR JEEP NV3550 AND AX15 BELLHOUSINGS CHRYSLER 52107640S Bill Of Materials 5/16 -18 X 1-1/4 H.H.C.S. / 723134 HOSE-60 STAINLESS -3 FITTING / 716130-60 FITTING -3 MALE TO MALE 7/16-24 INV / 716130F FITTING- JEEP YJ MASTER CYL / 716130 JEEP SLAVE CYL /NV3550 BH / 716341 FITTING JEEP TJ MASTER CYL. / 716130TJ

The kit that I bought form Advance Adapters had two or three different fittings in it and came with the line.

Anyone have a good condition original mirror for sale? The silver is coming off of mine. I tried a parts store one and it was a flimsy POS that vibrated like crazy. I can generate a shipping label from you to me if that makes it easier, Pirate Ship is the cheapest place that I've found for UPS & USPS.

Body Armor 4x4 carrier for a Tacoma mounted to a home made bumper. I wouldn't purchase from them again, some welds had zero penetration and cracked. They gave me the run around and said that the vendor had to file a claim. The Vendor was Amazon, so I just fixed it myself.

Happy New Year Jeepers!

So far so good. We took it on a 2,600 trip across NV in September. We went on some rough enough terrain to break the rear shock mount off, but no issues with the pipe so far.

I hope that you have better luck with that Optima than I've had. I ran them in my Classics for years with no isues, but I've heard that the quality went downhill after the plant moved the Mexico. Sure enough, every one failed in a relatively short time. After three warranties, my dad went to an O'Reilly's lead acid and never had another issue, that's been about 5 years since, so the replacement outlasted 3 Optimas by a few years. I've been running the O'Reilly AGMs with good results and had an XS Power brand AGM that lasted 11 years! When you warranty a battery at Costco, they refund you and recharge you. Sometimes the price goes up a few dollars, but your warranty starts over.