terrawombat

The thought has cross my mind...several times. Initially, the thought was that the frame sustained some major damage, but after tearing into it, it looks like the front axle and control arms took the brunt of the hit. Swapped in an axle and control arms and have been driving it around my property a bit testing out the transmission. Unfortunately, the axle I had lying around wasn't the right gear ratio so I didn't connect the front driveshaft and cannot test the transfer case, but I suspect it's fine. I also got a clear title with the Jeep so I could fix it up and sell it if I chose to. For now, I'm going to continue prepping my MJ for the 97+ conversion. I've got a lot of work that still needs to be done and I'll be keeping an eye out for another wrecked XJ on the cheap. Still looking for that MJ that got hammered in the rear, is not fixable, and has all good front end parts on it :D

Yea, I think I have a couple of those lying around somewhere...

Factory Five are kit cars. I've always wanted to get a Factory Five Cobra, but I think the base price on that is $15K and it don't give you much :D

Swapped a front axle from the '88MJ into this. Different gear ratios so I removed the front driveshaft entirely. I just needed an axle...any axle in the thing so I can move it around for a bit. Just finished up with the swap and drove the XJ around a little bit outside of my shop. Transmission seems solid. No odd clunking noises from the rear end. Couldn't get it up past 20MPH as there are no headlights on the truck and my only light is coming from the outside light on my shop :D

Thanks. I bought it completely sight unseen except for a couple of small, crappy CL pics. He posted this truck for sale a couple weeks back and was trying to part it out or sell it whole. I passed on it because of the extent of the front end damage and his asking price. The PO, like me, expressed his extreme frustration with CL buyers that talk a big game but never show up. He decided to not bother with them anymore and just send it to the scrapper. He had a guy put a deposit on the engine, but when he came to look at it, the gauges were acting screwy and showing zero oil pressure so that buyer walked away. When I got there, the gauge also showed zero oil pressure, but I pushed on the gauge cluster - it was loose. Oil pressure jumped up to 45-50psi. The 242 was a real treat. On the way up to get it, I was thinking to myself wouldn't it be great if this thing had cruise control and a 242 - nah, it's only a Sport model so it probably won't have a 242, but maybe cruise. Didn't get cruise, but got he 242. It also had factory fog lights as it has the switch for them, but those were destroyed in the accident. Unfortunately, the wiring harness for the front lighting is about trashed too - cut and smashed everywhere. Hoping I can get some money for the rear glass, too. It's factory tinted so maybe that'll draw some attention. The hatch seems to be in decent shape, but it doesn't seem to close right for some reason. I can't tell if it's the hatch or if the body is tweaked in the back. There are also no Jeep or 4.0L badges on the hatch which makes me wonder if it was repainted. Also noticed that the previous owner was using Wix oil filters. Atta boy!

Front driveshaft has already been removed. This thing will not see 4WD with this loaner D30 in. Yes, the actual tube is bent. Came out of an XJ I just picked up that was involved in a front end collision. All four control arms bent, control arm mounts on axle bent/snapped, passenger side of the axle pushed back several inches, passenger side axle tube bent.

I just pulled a D30 out of a '99XJ w/4.0L, AW4, NP242 and it's bent. I need an axle in it to move it before it gets torn down. The only unused, spare axle I have is still sitting under my '88MJ SporTruck w/4.0L, BA-10/5, NP231. I understand that the axle ratio on my XJ is more than likely 3.55 (haven't checked yet, but can tomorrow) and the ratio on my MJ is 3.07 (also not entirely sure). Either way, I don't intend on using the XJ in 4WD, I just need something to bolt the wheels to and steer it around so I'll just remove the front driveshaft. My question is are the two axles between the two years completely compatible from a bolt-on and go standpoint? The control arm mounting points all seem to be in the correct locations, but the '88 D30 is a vacuum disco and the passenger upper control arm mount is cast into the axle whereas the XJ mount is piece of sheet metal. Anyone know? Thanks.

I picked up this trucks FOURTH 97+ donor. Lets recap the others before and see what happened and why. 1st donor: 2001 XJ Sport - My main DD at the time ('98 Chevy Blazer) needed significant repairs so I sourced an engine for this XJ, threw it in and have been daily driving it ever since. 2nd donor: 1999 XJ Classic - Front right collision. My girlfriend's mother lost her job and couldn't afford to loan out her vehicles to her daughters (one of which being my girlfriend). I made a quick decision to get the frame on this XJ pulled back out, replace body panels, and sell it to her my gf's Mom for exactly what I had into it ($1500) and my girlfriend got to keep her (well, her Mom's) '06 TJ. 3rd donor: 1998 XJ Sport: Theft recovery with a salvage certificate. This XJ is in very nice shape with minimal body damage (couple of dents on the bottom of the drivers door) and low mileage (74K). Don't have the heart to tear it up as a donor so I'm going to paint the floor and reinstall the interior and get it re certified with the state of NJ so I can register it. My cousin needs a car for the month of December while he's home from New Zeland. if I can get it done in time, he could drive that. 4tth donor: 1999 XJ Sport: Just picked it up today. Has 146k miles, 4.0L, AW4, NP242, D30/8.25. Has the right color interior that I'm looking for and the 242 is an added bonus. Car was hit hard on the right front. No useable front end body panels except for maybe the drivers fender flare. Front axle was hit hard and bent all four control arms. I pulled the front axle tonight and not surprisingly, the right side axle tube is bent. Since I need this truck to be running and driving until I'm ready for the swap, I'm going to throw the front axle from the '88MJ into it for the time being. No idea if the gear ratios are the same so I'm not even going to hook it up. Just need an axle in there that will turn the wheels. Here are some pics of the XJ and tonights progress. Axle was pushed so far back, the PO had to install a spare tire from a boat trailer to get it to fit in the wheel well Unfortunately both passenger doors took some damage. May be able to fix easily, though. Worst of the four control arms Bent Axle hit the oil pan Front driveshaft hit the body Runs great - good oil pressure, doesn't overheat, and runs smooth with no noises Factory CD/Tape player, but I can't seem to get it to turn on. It will only display the time if I hold the volume button down PO gave me a new passenger airbag NP242 :D

Got it in the shop. The front axle took a good hit - broke the control arm mounts right off and pushed the whole thing back several inches. We had to use a spare tire from a boat trailer to get it to fit in the wheel well. Going to pull the axle out and rig it up as best I can so I can move this thing around for the next couple of months while I prep the MJ. I'll be salvaging what I can from the front axle and scrapping the rest.

I've never personally seen a black leather wrapped 3-spoke. I have seen some late 80 XJ Limited's with the dark gray interior with leather wrapped 3-spokes...that's about the darkest I've seen. You can get a factory leather wrapped 2-spoke wheel out of a Grand Wagoneer, however, I've only ever seen those in maroon and tan.

Pics coming as soon as I can get it in my shop...need to make some room. Here's how much I'm into it all. Jeep: $400 U-haul Trailer Rental: $60 Gas for friend's truck: $60 30-pack for friend letting me borrow truck: $20 Total: $540 Not too bad. I expect to make around $150-$200 back on selling off parts I don't need and then whatever the scrapyard pays me for the bare shell. I'm hoping the yard will take the Jeep without a title or then I'll have to shell out an additional $60 for a title transfer.

Finally got one. It's not ideal since all of the front end parts are damaged except for the drivers door, but the interior is in pretty good shape and the engine/trans seem solid. Guy was going to scrap it so I offered him a little over scrap value and he took it. It's a '99 Sport with about 145K miles, 4.0L, AW4, NP242 (this was a nice surprise), D30/8.25. Runs, drives, but took a decent hit to the front right and bent control arms enough to make the front driveshaft rub on the frame rails. Guy also gave me a bunch of extra interior parts, including a gauge cluster, trim pieces, and drivers window regulator. Going to sell the parts I won't use for the conversion (rear doors, hatch, headliner, rear seats/carpet/trim), strip it down to the shell and scrap it to recoup some more money. Since I'm still a ways off from having the MJ ready for the swap, I'll put in some straight control arms and drive it around the farm until it's ready to be stripped. I'll get some pictures later...gotta get the rental trailer back.

1989 Comanche SporTruck 4.0L/2WD Pukegoat 5-speed/D35/SWB Build date: Didn't get this Current Location: Morrisville, PA Status: Sitting in the junkyard - soon to be crushed Notes: Still has vinyl bench seat, vinyl floor matting, factory rear slider, rear fender flares, interior plastic minus the rear-most one. Most of the engine is still there (143K), rear axle is out and on the ground. Current owner: Junkyard Barbie in Morrisville, PA

Thanks for all of the info. I decided to pass on it as it turned out to be more of a project than I was willing to tackle at this point. Plenty of rust in and around the fender wells and random rust spots around the body. I've got enough rusty vehicles to deal with :D If anyone else is interested, I can post up some pictures and forward you the contact info of the owner.

Thanks for the info, guys. As long as the original accessories on the blown engine are good, they should swap over to my donor engine - that's my main concern. I'm not really sure why I need a FSJ other than I've always liked them and it'd be neat to own one. I've only seen this truck at night with minimal lighting so I'll make a final assessment tomorrow morning to figure out if it's worth it or not. Any common areas of the frame that rust/rot out? I need to find enough GOOD parts on this truck to justify spending any dough on it.

Thanks for the info. I'm going to hit the junkyard in the morning to see if they hopefully still have the GW and get the specifics on the year engine mileage etc. If it's what I need it will probably be the determining factor on whether or not I get the 87 GW.

Agreed. Times were tough back then and money was real tight. He DID have electric brakes on the trailer, but I can't imagine they did too much with that much weight :D

Local guy has a '87 Grand Wagoneer for sale for $500. Seems to be in decent shape - straight body, decent paint, couple of rust spots on the wheel wells. Has a new auto trans in it, but the engine is toast - lost oil pressure and seized. There is a Grand Waggy at my local pick n' pull with the 5.9L V8 in it, but I can tell by what's left of the interior, it has to be in the early to mid 70's. Assuming the engine is good in the junkyard waggy, would it swap into the '87? From my quick searches, it appears it's the same, but was wondering if there were any specific differences between the two engines.

Good, then I'll consider my D35 to be in excellent condition :D

I know the stories and I've seen the pictures of the carnage. The D35 simply just isn't up to the standards of the 'other' axles. I finally got my '88MJ Pioneer running so that it doesn't randomly overheat on me anymore (solution - ditch the Renix closed cooling system). My Dad sees me driving it and proceeds to tell me some stories about what he used to do with that truck when he owned it for a few years. After my father sold all of his dairy cows, he still filled his silos with silage - a finely chopped up, high moisture food for livestock. This stuff is dense, REALLY dense, mainly because of the high water content contained within. Anyway, he got this odd job of delivering silage to a facility known as American Cyanamid where they did medicinal experiments on cows. They needed to feed them, my Dad had the goods, so he would deliver the silage twice a day, seven days a week on his 16' utility trailer. They were paying him by the pound, so he threw as much as he could on the thing until the trailer wheels were rubbing the fenderwells. He said he would often have 3,500 or more pounds of silage on the trailer. You may ask what the point of this story is. He used my '88MJ w/4.0L, AW4, and D35 to haul this trailer for about a year. I don't even want to guess how many of these "hard" miles the MJ saw, but it has to be over 5,000. He said it was no picnic using the MJ, but it got the job done. After a year, he was finally able to afford a heavy duty Chevy pickup that handled it with ease. That MJ is still kickin' today....Wish I had some pictures of his trailing hauling setup to see how low to the ground the rear of the MJ was.

Complete modification of the 97+ seat brackets to fit on the unique Comanche floor pan. OR Remove seat brackets from an MJ Bench or Bucket and modify those to fit onto the XJ seats OR Remove the front support bracket on the floor of the 97+ XJ, remove the front support bracket on the floor of the MJ, weld in the 97+ support and the 97+ seats should bolt right in (although I'm not sure if the rear studs on the MJ floor line up with the rear holes on the 97+ XJ seat).

No.

Thanks for all of the tips in this thread. Went to the auto parts store, picked up some hose, flush kit (just in case) and some clamps. Also got a universal coolant overflow bottle w/metal basket, hardware and hose for $10. Installed everything and took the truck through it's normal "test" route around town, in a neighborhood, and on some 50MPH roads. Temperature held pretty steady right below 210*F. Would rise a bit when I came to a stop sign or traffic light, but nothing too drastic. Looks like my overheating problem may be fixed. I think I need to add some coolant as I got nothing out of the overflow line, but I'm out of anti-freeze. I think once I get the system completely filled and burped, it'll stay under 210*F when I'm stopped and idling. Now, onto the oil pressure problem... Here are some pictures of the setup:

Anything can be done with a little custom fabrication. I think you would have a better time matching the stock gray color of the MJ with Explorer seats. Jimmy/Blazer's generally used a much darker fabric, but if you don't care about that, it's a moot point. I drove a '97 Blazer for a few years before I got my XJ and I always thought the front seats in that truck were pretty comfy.

What are you looking to trade for? And how did you mount the bars to the bed/fenderwells?