dasbulliwagen

I agree.... Just connect the two wires together and drive.

You obviously haven't seen the new Hyundai's. I recently sold my 97 Accent with 175,000 miles on it still running great. Still have my 05 Tucson. And recently bought a new 14 Elantra. Don't get me wrong though. My MJ has been good to me. But I wouldn't jump in it right now and drive it cross country like I do a couple times a year. Especially with a wife and kid in the cab with me. Hyundai has come a long way since their early days here in the states. When I bought the 97 used back in 2000 I was looking for an XJ a YJ or TJ. But everything I was finding at the time had over a hundred thousand miles on it and was priced ridiculously. I wanted something with low miles and that I could afford so I bought that Hyundai. It was so good to me that I bought the next one and the latest one. Don't knock em till you try em. They're nice cars.

I'm interested as well. I have a set of stainless trim to put on but I'm afraid to pull the chipped black ones off for fear of ruining the clips.

That looks a whole ton cleaner than the one I just replaced.

Another welcome from an NC Mj owner, and former Ghia owner. I had a 72 exactly like yours back in the early 90's, and then a 73 Ghia vert in the early 2000's. Last VW's I had were a slammed 68 Beetle, and a slammed built to the hilt 59 Microbus. Wish I never sold that bus, but Oh well. Also.... I named my daughter Ghia. She turns 6 tommorow. Welcome to the club, and don't be afraid to ask ANY question.

For those of us here who appreciate it, what kind of art do you do. We would love to see some pictures. And I also reccomend new full spring packs when you are able to. And new U-bolts are mandatory, not optional. Just FYI.

Front lift parts will fit, rear lift parts won't, but grab them anyways, Someone you know might want them later. As well as front springs, grab any other non stock looking parts up front. Depending on lift height it may have aftermarket control arms, shocks, track bar and steering parts, and sway bar links. Control arm drop brackets are another possibility. All those parts work together to make front end geometry right, so get them as a set if you want them all. Depending on the lift height on the XJ as well, if its in the 5 inch range, you can go spring over axle in the rear of the MJ to get the rear lift you will need.

I am still willing to bet that there is an American VIN on that thing somewhere. Please... If you get the chance to look for a stamped VIN we would all appreciate it very much. and by stamped we mean stamped directly into the steel of the body structure.

I don't consider the trucks posted above as Prerunners. They are more like Trophy trucks.... all out build compared to mostly stockish capable runner.

The cost of a prerunner build will be roughly the same as building a wheeler. All the lift parts are the same between 2wd and 4wd, as well as tires and wheels. Then beyond that the rest of the look is up to you. Wide fiberglass fenders, roll cage/roll bar, suspension seats and harness... Just depends on what you want. I thought about doing this same thing because I never thought Id find a 4wd donor I could afford, but one fell in my lap, so I converted to 4wd and have been building much more conservatively. I imagined a lift kit, spring over in rear, wider tires in back, narrower in front, with custom bumpers (2wd truck example).

Mine leans too, and I have an adjustable trac bar. It leans to the driver side. All I could think of is that the track bar is pulling that side down, but depending on when I think about it, it either does or doesnt make sense. I noticed it after swapping to 4x4. It is a high milage truck and the springs seem OK, but you never know. I figure Ill try to adjust it on my next round of mods with some extra isolators or something, but who knows when that will happen. Another way to adjust it would be adjustable coil springs spacers ACOS.

Pictures?

Could you get a pic of the tags or stickers in the driver door jamb, if they are still there? And also as mentioned there should be an aluminum tag riveted somewhere under the hood, either at the firewall or on the core support (where mine is... 1987). The tag will be painted body color as will the rivets. That VIN of yours looks like the homebuilt vehicle VINs they give out at the DMV for when you want to register a kit car or buggy. Definitely not "Factory". I would almost guarantee that your truck was originally built in Toledo.

84-85 the 2.5 was carbureted. They went to TBI in 86 and MPI in 91.

Time for a real update. As stated above, Ive added some new JK takeoff wheels to the truck since youve last seen it. I used Spidertrax adapters, to try to keep it reliable and safe. With little to no lift over a stock 4wd I only have minor rubbing. I can live with it no problem. Buying the takeoffs and the adapters was really cheaper than getting new 15 inch tires for it. I did do MINOR trimming to the lower edges of the flares. The comancheclub sticker I got from Pete finally went on just in time for the East Coast Willys Restoration swap meet. I handed out a few cards, but otherwise received very little attention from a group of die hard Willys enthusiasts. It was a nice show, makes me want an old flatfender. The night before the Willys show, I installed a new radiator. I had been having intermittant overheating issues lately so I ordered what was advertised as a 2 core radiator. Most of the real 2 cores I saw advertised were $250 and above in price. This one was $150. I got it and found it was a single core, but double width. I'm not sure how they get away with advertising those like that, but I guess as long as it cools better than a regular single core Ill be OK with it. Taking the old one out, I could then see all the issues the old one had. Leaking had begun, and the inner cores were getting clogged up. Before the new rad, I tried a new cap, and new thermostat, but they didnt help. The pump isnt that old so I wasnt worried about it. I was trying to see if those items would fix it without having to spring for a new rad. I added a new TJ 2.5 18lb rad cap with the new rad. Should be an improvement over the stock 13lb cap. My booster is starting to leak quite a bit on me as well. Time for a WJ swap. I'm hoping to go to a PNP this weekend if the weather holds out. There is one about a half hour north of me. Ive never been to one before, so it should be interesting. ive been to other junkyards that have let me wander around and look, but not one like this. I love looking and wandering through them. It seems like such a peaceful place, for some reason. Ive been wanting to do paint and bodywork on it, but there is never enough time or money. I'm begining to think about a roll on Rustoleum, just for ease and speed of application. To do several coats with wetsanding in between should make for a decent end result. And affordable. I can buy a little bit here and there to spread out the cost.

There are writeups to add WJ knuckles to the MJ Dana 30, which will give you the bigger brakes and the 5x5 bolt pattern. This really should be moved to the TECH forum.

Yeah, 6 inch, with adjustable control arms and or control arm drop brackets and adjustable track bar, alignment, longer brake lines and brake bleeding, Longer front driveshaft? Longer shocks with the lift springs. It should be done as a complete package to make it safe and drive correctly. Good luck.

That truck has a lot of options on it. The 2.8 sucks, The A904 trans is OK, the NP 228 transfer case is vacuum actuated and can be a nightmare if neglected but could be ran in 2wd, 4wd full time, 4wd part time and 4low. I had one of those grenade on me just putting down the road at 30MPH in my old Grand Wagoneer. I replaced it with and NP208 and sold it. The next owner said he removed about a mile of vac lines from it just cleaning stuff up underneath. I have an 86 XJ Waggy parts truck that has all those option as well.

They say it the future of transportation. People can't drive cars correctly, how will they be expected to fly any better?

Are we sure this is a Venezuelan built vehicle? Ive seen before where a vehicle is assembled or changed somewhere else then is assigned an arbitrary VIN number for local titling purposes. Maybe could you comb over this thing with a fine tooth comb and see if you can find a stamped VIN starting with a "1"? If it did start out as a Toledo built truck there should be some kind of American VIN on it somewhere. Other than all that, like was said, it might be time to contact Chrysler, though in my experience with them, all they will do is the same I can do here at the dealer... run the VIN through their database and have it come up as "NOT FOUND". Which then points you back to Venezuela. You might look up Chrysler Jeep Venezuela and contact them directly with your issue, maybe have a translator with you when you do this in case they no hablo ingles. ( I'm assuming they speak spanish and not portugues ). If you can find an american VIN on it somewhere feel free to PM me and Ill run it through Chrysler for you. Good luck and let us know how this turns out.

There is no Dodge drivetrain that will bolt up. I'm not sure where youre heading with that though. It would take a lot of time and custom fabrication to make any Dodge drivetrain work in your truck other than the 2.5 engine that was offered for a while in the Dakota. And as was said, the 3:55 gearing in your truck won't be very happy to drive. You could source an 8.8 out of an explorer with 4:10 gearing (and rear disc brakes!) You most likely won't find much of anything that will fit that has 4:56 gearing unless you buy new gears and have them installed. I think though that 4:10's would be OK in your application, and the 8.8 would be a fairly easy swap to someone with some welding skills ( though this can be cheaply outsourced ). To find some of the parts you could look on www.car-part.com

I forgot about the power steering question. I started with the same platform as you. 87 2.5 4speed 2wd no power steering. You should have a dummy pulley in the place where your p s pump should go. The 87 has a remote resevior so you'll need a new pump, resevior, high and low pressure lines and the gearbox. This is a good time for an upgrade so research that before getting the gearbox. It will bolt right in with the same hardware and steering shaft. This isn't a hard upgrade to do. My biggest issue was that the resevior is no longer available and I couldn't find one anywhere else so I had to improvise. I think they are available now. That should make for an easy install for you. And it is probably the best upgrade I ever did to my MJ.

The A904 auto is a decent one from the earlier models and has no electronics to worry about hooking up. It is a lighter duty version of the Chrysler TF727 and was used behind slant 6's and small v8's in Chrysler products. If you do a little research there are a couple upgrades you can do to them that are bolt on that improve shifting and durability. I have a 4wd one sitting in one of my parts vehicles that I might use in a future build. Good luck and let us know what you figure out.

I too have seen issues with the wrangler radial. From balance issues to odd wear patterns. These experiences havent been on Jeeps. Mostly Ford Rangers and Mazda B series. There's no way I would use them on a vehicle of mine.

I went to this show today. I was hoping there would be more "modern" Jeep people there, but there were a bunch of sweet Willys Jeeps there, and even a MIghty Mite for sale. Ill go again next year, but won't attempt to sell JK parts to Willys enthusiasts again.