Megadan

Plasma Cutter... :brows: Or you can tell your passengers to get in Dukes of Hazard style. I actually had the same problem on my passenger side a few weeks ago. I third the "You can remove the door panel with the door shut" thing, because I had to. Mine ended up being a little plastic clip that broke. I managed to get the door popped and got a "new" clip from the junkyard for the cost of entrance.. they didn't even think it was worth charging me for it lol.

2k with a thrown rod is too much IMHO. Even if the body and chassis were 100% perfect. I wouldn't pay more than a grand for it, tops, myself. What it's worth is partly up to the region you live in but mainly up to you in the end There are other MJs out there that run you could get for less than $2000 that don't have a bombed engine. Just keep in mind that, short of throwing in a junkyard engine, you are looking at at least 1500 for a rebuilt engine, plus figure in more costs for hidden things and little parts you are guaranteed to run into while swapping out the motor.

You would actually be surprised at how much your truck is actually worth. With the work you have already done to it, it is a very clean vehicle, and up north you could probably ask and sell it for more than your budget. I know a lot of guys would disagree with me on the price thing, but they are cheap asses :D I like what you have done so far. Great attention to detail, and excellent job turning her into a good driver again.

Honestly, I would replace the ignition switch as it sounds like a very likely culprit. That, and they really aren't very expensive anyway, unless you are on a tight budget. Have you also checked or replaced the starter relay? If the ignition switch isn't the culprit, a relay can sometimes go bad and have intermittent work/not work issues. I ran into that before on a car with my headlights. It's worth looking into, and also not a very expensive thing to replace if necessary. It could simply be a matter of a loose connection on the starter relay, or a wire that may be shorting out on something. Have you tested or replaced the ignition coil by chance? I doubt it's the problem, but it never hurts to be thorough. I know on my 1988 it wasn't a leading problem, but it did contribute to making other problems worse. They don't always just fail, but sometimes die a slow death, and eventually get very weak like mine did. Just tossing that out there as something to think on. Try and keep a cool head and be methodical. Once you have ruled out the common headache causes via Cruisers guide and still have a proble you can then take logical steps to diagnose, and start with the most likely cause.

I've seen a couple pictures of MJ's with about 6" lift with 33's and IMHO Think they look fine even at that height. I agree with the opinions made already. 4.10's with the AX-15 gearing and 33" tires will put you right at about 2000rpm in 5th gear at 60mph. at at 70mph you will be sitting at 2300. IMHO, that's perfect. Going up to 35's drops those same RPM values down roughly 100rpm at the same speeds in 5th, but that's enough to make it be a bit of a pig at 60mph. Going off of just the numbers, 33's for both on and off-road use would be the smart choice. You can always make the switch later if you somehow find yourself needing a whole extra inch of ground clearance, but I would personally pick the tires that make the most practical sense across the entire spectrum. 33's offer a lot more for your current setup over 35's Unless you do have plans to re-gear it, or can live with it being a bit of a dog on the highway below 65mph, then by all means get 35's. It's your money and truck after all, do what you want with it.

This is the company that builds the Hurst shifters. You can buy from the site or through one of their e-bay sales. http://www.core-shifters.com/servlet/the-822/Core--fdsh--Hurst-shifter/Detail I am currently running one on my 88 Pioneer, and While I can't say for sure if it will help with how tight the shifting is (I never had a factory shifter on mine) I will say that the shorter throw is really nice - especially compared to my old BA-10- and the shift knob ended up in a very comfortable spot for me (6'5" of me) while driving. The throws are still decent in distance, so mistakenly grabbing the wrong gear hasn't been a problem for me, although admittedly I am used to cars with very small gate patterns which might affect how I perceive it compared to you. To the OP. I am actually running the same thing and going through a similar problem. I have about 3000 miles on my external AX-15 conversion, The trans is a fully rebuilt unit with new SACHS clutch and a SACHS pre-bled master and slave setup. (Yea, I like my German stuff lol). I am running regular ol' Mobil Synethetic 10w-30 in the transmission, and my shift gates were pretty tight at first too. AFAIKT I am getting full clutch release, but I did notice that the first 500 miles I had the same problem that you did with getting into gears, even on upshifts. Now, aside from an occasional hiccup from 1-2, it's been shifting fine, although the gates are still tight and the shifts are very notchy feeling. At this point I am thinking to drain the mobil out and run Redline MT-90 instead, because the way this trans feels tells me that the oil just isn't "sticky" enough because it lacks the additive package of a gear oil, even if the working viscosity of 75-90 is the same as 10-40 it does seem to make a big difference. I've had a couple of toyota transmissions in the past that felt the same way, and it got much better using Redline MT-90.

Try harder. Worked for me first try. I literally clicked the link and copied and pasted the part number into search bar and selected Jeep.

I've ordered quite a few parts from here. http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/index.cfm?siteid=213948 Put the PN given to you in this thread, 52003040, into the search and it will pop up. Should be $23.88 through a web purchase, and you can use a card.

If you just want the rubber bit... http://www.4wheelparts.com/Performance-Parts/Front-Pipe-Bracket.aspx?t_c=74&t_s=49&t_pt=7794&t_pn=cro53000101&utm_source=google&utm_medium=froogle&utm_campaign=product&emlprox=out&ppcfon=1&gclid=CMXg7eSY3L0CFVKDfgodz7MAXA

Mine is from a 94/95. It is narrower than our stock axle by probably 3". I chose this one on purpose so that I could run adaptors and get my 5 lug bolt pattern back without having the rear tires sticking it a ridiculous amount. The 96+ isuzu axle is wider. I am 100% positive this 94/95 axle would not fit into an XJ. My spring perches are out to the very end of the axle in the MJ. The XJ axle perches sit out wider. Sorry for the late response to this (just now saw it lol). The Isuzu Dana 44 was a standard 8.5" ring gear and a 58" WMS-WMS measure all the way up to 1997, but with a few popping up in 96 as well for whatever reason. (I have a 97 In my garage for my other Project...that happens to be an Isuzu lol). Of note though, to anybody wanting to do a D44 from a Rodeo is the 98-04 Dana 44, which has a 60 3/4" WMS-WMS (this is the 3" you are talking about) and also features the thicker and taller "Heavy Duty" 8.9" ring gear with the thicker Pinion shaft (Dana 60 spec), in an iron housing. Pretty much the strongest Dana 44 made - rated about 2000lbs higher than a Standard D44. I was actually going to use a 98+ Rodeo D44 in my truck since they are far easier to find than a factory MJ unit. Either have the axles re-drilled. go custom, or do a front brake/hub upgrade that converts the front to 6 x 5.5 and get different wheels. Would also give a great overall brake upgrade as the factory rear Rodeo discs are 11.75 x .71 vented units. BTW, I am loving your project and it's progress. Looking forward to see more!

I have another set of wires I could use, but considering they weren't a problem for a couple of months, and then to suddenly be a problem for no reason that I can think of is just strange to me.

They are about equivalent, and that little 130 will be more than enough to do almost anything you plan on doing. Even my 175amp 230V won't go welding 1/4 inch plate, and I don't plan on trying lol. Does that little welder at least come with hookups for a tank if you wanted to run gas? Flux core does well enough, but I have never been a fan of it when I can use shielding gas. As far as a welding helmet goes, My buddies and I discovered a little hidden gem that is the Northern Tool "Wel-Bilt" brand Auto darkening helmet. Works really damned good for a $50 helmet, and the light mode is way better than the helmet that I got with my Eastwood welder.

Funny you say that, because I have an Eastwood 175 Mig welder. Something you don't know, is that it shares a majority of its components with the sub 200 amp, 230v, Miller/Hobart welders (which, if you didn't know, The Millermatics ,and most low end Hobards, are only assembled here, most of its parts still come from overseas). I had to replace my gun due to my own stupidity, and i bet you can't guess where my replacement came from for $50. FWIW, I've been using my Eastwood unit for the better part of 3 years, and not lightly, I have yet to have one problem with it. In fact, one feature I love about it is the infinite adjustment knobs on wire speed and amps. In any case, you have a good little welder.

Looks like a good starting point for a project. They never end and eventually eat your soul (and your pocket book). I too have a Vic for a daily driver, at least until I can make my Comanche actually work for a given length of time. It makes most people look at me funny, because my Crown Vic is an 05 with a whopping 55,000 on the clock (I bought it with 14,000). They wonder why I would give it up for something far better as a daily driver. (Pic of it)

Looks like a good base for a project truck. I would almost bet that the rear suspension lift was a cheap Add a leaf kit that sagged. Or maybe the rear is fine and they went too far the other direction trying to level out the suspension by lifting the front. When I first got my truck the rear end sat level with the nose and tilted to the drivers side. I first thought it was just normal, because the PO was a large fellow. Turned out the drivers rear leaf pack had a broken middle leaf on it. Now with new rear leaf springs and old saggy fronts, it sits like this! (yes, this picture sucks lol)

Nice score on the disc hardware. I'm patiently waiting for a ZJ in the local yards to show up with a set that I can ninja. My drums are fine, but I hate drums...

Yea, I got a timing light in my hands now so I am going to check it tomorrow. The question is, if the harmonic balancer has slipped, then wouldn't it be reading wrong from it's true position?

Ok, so I discovered that the ECU I got from the JY is a Reman unit that is only 2 years old (score!). Finally got a chance to plug it in and see if it made a difference. And it did, but it didn't solve everything. It runs better, way better. It also now does not die once the engine gets warm. It actually stays running, and my fluctuating idle is gone completely. If I rev it up slowly, it doesn't stumble, but does when I rev it fast - It still backfires, but now only through the intake. You can still tell by the way it's idling that the timing is still not right though. The only thing left that I can think of is that my harmonic dampener has slipped, and my timing is set wrong and off a tooth at the dizzy or something.

Another name for ceramic tint is Crystalline Film. As far as functionality in blocking heat, it is currently the best thing on the market, but also costs a little more than Carbon tint (my personal favorite) and metallic based tints. In simple terms a Crystalline Film tint will block about twice as much IR energy as Carbon tint. UVA and UVB Blocking depends more on the actual film and manufacturer usually, but as a general rule of thumb the Crystalline films are generally better at that too. I prefer carbon films for the color, as they have a purer black shade to them, while most Crystalline films, even the darker shades, are surprisingly light and fairly easy to see through. Whatever you do, get a good quality brand. I personally love Solargard films, and as mentioned above, 3M is another safe bet. As a side note though. If you don't do anything to block the sun coming through the windshield it will still get hot in your truck anyway. Spend the money on a good reflective windshield screen.

I was actually thinking about that not too long ago. Voltage drop as it gets hot...

Carter fuel pump, and Yes, the ballast has been bypassed. Every part I have replaced on said truck has been a brand quality that I do not question. Most of my sensors are from SMP, (Standard Motor Products) which which I have been very happy with over they years. I know better than to cheap out on some things.

Yep. If it's not sagging too much you can probably get away with a small spring shim/spacer to bring it back to level. Moog front replacement springs are pretty cheap through Rock Auto, but the shims are a cheaper alternative if you are on a really tight budget.

That slightly perplexes me, because the pump is brand new and doesn't even have 500 miles on it. And currently the tank is completely full, so it has a lot of fuel with which to cool itself. Also, if that were the case why would it run fine for hours the night before, which was actually warmer than the next morning (cold front came in) and then suddenly not work after running for less than a minute. It tries to stumble and die almost immediately after being started. The issue just gets worse as the engine gets up to temp. I did manage to pick up an ECU from a known running 1987 2dr 5spd cherokee at the junk yard, well it was tagged as such at least. From what I could tell it looks to have blown a headgasket, or some other type of catastrophic failure judging from the oil spewed all over the passenger side of the engine back below the cylinder head. I figured for $20 it can't hurt to find out.

Cut the guy a little slack. As a newbie to the Jeep world myself, searching for information can be a long, tedious, and often rather annoying process to get correct information. I had ordered and re-ordered my transmission mount 3 times to get the one I actually needed. Mostly because until I stumbled across a thread on the transmission mount bracket, I mistakenly thought the mount bolted to the transmission...which the one I had did have the right bolt pattern to do so. Besides, I didn't see one person mention the difference in length, or website stupidity as a warning.to him either. Sure, he could have found it on his own soon enough, but I went through the same confusion trying to order leaf springs even with successful searches that lead me in the right direction. All of that being said though, you (the OP) definitely need to do a lot of reading and research on things before you buy parts. With so many different types of jeeps, jeep forums, and constant forum traffic doing searches can be a rather frustrating affair sometimes. It's best to become familiar with the specific differences between an MJ and XJ. Luckily though, most of the real differences between an MJ and XJ are behind the cab. Everything from the doors forward is the same. (at least mostly).

I'm testing it tomorrow. Borrowing a tester from a friend to do said test. The thing is though, I have had vehicles where the FPR failed, and they never acted like this. They also never got worse as the engine got up to temp, and then better as the engine cooled again. It would be nice if it was the regulator though...that's the only part of the fuel system that I personally haven't replaced yet.