ThatJeepGuy

Inside of that bed and those rails look beautiful!

To resolve your coil tower placement you could get a set of acos coil spring mounts. Its rather convenient how they chopped the spring post flush and then re utilized the space for a shock mount.

How rusty overall is this XJ and also what year is it? A rusty and in need of mechanical repair XJ is not hard to come by basically at all. If your tickled more soo by the 96 and older xjs well then there's an argument for just how hard it could potentially be to replace it. The 97+ xjs however are still rather easy to come by though. There's a bit of blanket decisions being handed out here on its behalf to just be done with it... I'd say if the setup is ideal to what youd like out of the XJ, color, options, drivetrain etc then prolly hang onto it but if its the latter then lean away from it. I do though agree with the secondary, third-ary* vehicles in the line-up. I'm currently a 14 Caprice in the summer, 87 MJ in the fall/winter for hunting and 08 JK for winter and summer family adventure/spare vehicle duties. This year I plan to have a 4th in the lineup as an 04 gmc 2500. Registration costs are there for sure but ive been looking at it as reducing the overall mileage across each of them. I can wear a single vehicle out in mileage in a few years or I can spread that wear and tear across mutliple vehicles and gradually improve each one over time.

2 weeks time has not faired well enough... between holiday and sickness ive fallen off the progress wagon as it were... I was itching to get back to it this morning so i got the simple things done. Topped off the trans fluid, cleaned power and grounds, verified fuses are all good. My only sharable progress is the winters gated shifter i installed. Unfortunately I'm stuck on troubleshooting again... back to a crank and sputter but will not fire off - frustrating to say the least! I've had a few people ghost me for troubleshooting and honestly I'm rather tired of dealing with it - this may be the point where this jeep gets pushed off to the side until I can afford a painless harness and go from there. By no means is this the end/sale of the project - just the potential halt of progress unfortunately.

Exhaust is finished but now I'm dealing with a pile of codes... several codes for the egr and a couple codes for the transmission. The trans I'm sure will be resolved once I top off the fluid level - its been as is since I pulled the drivetrain soo I'm sure its more than just a qrt or 2 under. Egr codes heck idk but I'll figure it out. The new yokes are here. Did a similar thing with my other FSJ build and 241 tcase. Turned down some old 205 flange yokes to match the install of this factory front yoke and the aftermarket yoke that came with my sye kit. Last little bit is finally resolving this lower rad hose ordeal. The factory radiator lower hose is routed up - right into the LS steering pump pulley. This makes it challenging to find or fit a hose with a gentle bend to then go towards the passenger side - its awkward! My solution is going to be chopping the tube off and clocking it 90° in to the flow towards the passenger side. Simple enough deal, it will still clear the steering gear and eliminate the need of an awkward bend. More to come!

This is a nice change of pace for a build to keep an eye on. I've recently been project daydreaming for excuses to buy another jeep and a rather raw 2wd LS swapped longbed could be fun! For me itll never happen, but its nice to see others doing the thing! Keep us posted!

^^ i agree, interesting find regardless but more the Nissan Toyota Mazda vibe

The exhaust tubes got fully seam welded, retained some old sensors to keep the threads clean. Then along came the test fit which was a complete success soo the 2-1 collector got tacked to the down pipes. Complete Y-pipe for this swap is essentially done! The manifold studs weren't cooperating though soo i don't have new exhaust noises to show off just yet. Taking care of the stud replacement this week and then we're onto finishing up the wiring setup. Re-loom and finalizing some routing and relays/fuses. More to come!

I have a subtle need for a flat fender willy's. I've told myself numerous times if I stumbled across one like this I would find an excuse to make something out of it. My setup would be an obd1 era jeep 2.5 and manual trans; ax5 or nv4500. Abundance of either and simple, also modern enough for my interests. I've had too many vehicles sit and wait for "the dream build". At this point id prefer they are running and driving with any drivetrain. Thats better than it sitting with vegetation growing through the thing.

Just a little more progress to share. My custom 2-1 collector The Amazon 45° bits really helped I did pull both down tubes to start welding seams but I ran out of time. More to come on this and hoping next time I'll have some new exhaust noises to share!

The weekend update is here This went very well This however is not going as well... I even had to snapshot my photo as for some reason the actual photo was uploading here upside-down? Trying to utilize the donor tahoe 2-1 collector is proving to be a bit of a pain even for just a cobbled pile of junk. The driver side is alright - definitely going to have an issue with front driveshaft clearance. The passenger side however is where the problems begin. This clunky overall size and configuration of bends on this collector are more than a care to deal with. I went ahead and ordered a generic 2-1 collector on Amazon and some 45° mandrel bent pie pieces. Realistically though i have a feeling this new 2-1 collector isnt going to do what i want soo... In my preparation for disappointment I drafted up my own custom compact 2-1 collector. I won't be throwing myself under there again until potentially next weekend soo until thats all I have to share

Happy Thanksgiving a day late

That's a nice modified Johnny lightning. There's a Lesney J10 pickup (thats pre matchbox) I keep an eye out for the custom ones here and there - theyre neat to see but unless the actual 1/64 version comes out, I'm just a window shopper

Simple summary for this weekends progress. While visiting the you wrench yard for some opportunity grabs from an old grand wagoneer, the trans tunnel and trans xmember were set to be all mine! Tunnel came out fine but the xmember was not gonna happen on this trip - so i set my eyes on the d44 front axle instead. It was a little bit of a fight but in the end I Win! Got home and slung myself under the jeep to begin an exhaust hackery of sorts... There was little to no room though between the driver manifold and frame rail to even begin with setting up a crossover tube. I was left with either buying some cheapo manifolds online or modifying the factory one... Turns out chopping the flange off and repositioning it isnt as uncommon as I had thought. Soo with multiple cuts and test fits i came to an all new alignment. Going to weld this up this week and hopefully gwt back into the exhaust hackery this weekend. More to come!

Buy the coresponding year/model fuel pump for the motor you are putting in and swap it onto your sending unit

Here we go, pile of pictures and great progress! Junkyard 241c Installed a jb conversions super short sye and a simple rebuild. Problem free install, I'll figure out the shift linkage and everything else later on. Next came this factory body support, it was hindering the fitment of the XJ gas tank so its gotta go! That's gooder Sending unit got a refit with this evil energy fuel pump. Onward to the pcm wiring connectors. Dug through the red/blue plugs to find the obd2 serial data wire and also the check engine light wire. What an atrocious wiring mess! After a quick test wire setup, this is an encouraging sight! Now here we are - the first fire for this project! There is still soo much to do but at the very least Atleast it runs now! Wiring harness got some cleanup work done, planning to install and wire in the obd2 port under the dash and then start looming wire and mounting things. Pcm and fuse block are roughly where I want them, utilizing the factory coolant overflow for simplicity I think this will all fit nicely on this driver side fenderwell. Still need to configure an intake tube and the battery mount among other things. For now I'm going to shave on this factory fuse block mount this week to get it fitting a bit tighter to the fender. More to come!

This looks to be that classic "layer over the cap" method, shame. I dig the progress you guys are making though. I too am a bit of a sucker for the squinty mint stripes. Good looking truck!

This show rolls on!

Judging by the materials you've gathered in think you have a good plan ahead of your. Whether or not you seam seal the pans sandwich style and then weld your spots in i think youd be fine. Especially if your planning to hit your seams afterward with a finger drag of more sealant. I've done a couple bumpers now with that por 15. Sanding down rough, hit with etch primer x2, hit with 4 coats of por15 (10 min intervals) and then 2 coats of spray on bedliner (10min split). I would call my work lazy prep as well and its held up very nicely soo i think what you have in store will do just fine.

Thanks, we might have the Vats situation handled this weekend soo potentially I could have a first fire video to share - excitement Absolutely!

Not looking like much has changed since the last photo however I got the return-less fuel rail installed, battery hot and ground wires are setup also the pcm wires roughly placed. Engine cranks over just fine but without the vats disabled on the pcm and no carb clean to flood the intake as an alternate fuel I was only able to hear a couple little sputters. Planning to get the pcm setup soon and we can get back to this. Until then I have a tracking number for an sye kit for the 241c I'm patiently waiting to arrive and ill be able to freshen that up and potentially play with some driveshafts soon! More to come!!

I had a group of kids buy an old VW rabbit off me, the trail MJ was in the garage next to it and when I opened the door there was a sudden "Hey man Nice Taco!". I quickly corrected him "Hey man its not a Taco" Kid scoffed at me in doubt even after informing him it was in fact a Comanche. Young and I know what I know attitude.

The difference in attention is interesting. My Jk has all the waves and ducks - personally I'm not interested in any of it. When I'm playing or cruising in the MJs though its the folks who know what it is that seem to appreciate it. Otherwise its similar to most - oblivious. Whats more surprising to me is how many folks think the only jeep pickup they ever made is the jk-gladiator.

Love em or hate them - rough country... their 3" lift tack bar and bracket isnt a bad deal

Honestly the coil spring looks broken at the top in the first photo you have. Like the coil itself doesn't end at a full thickness like it tapers down to flat - and that flat thin section has rusted away. Putting your jeep up on some tall stands supporting your frame from behind the control arm mounts, maybe taking the wheels/tires off as well could relax things enough for the front axle to droop out and you could maybe wiggle on those coils to see the condition a little better.