Hi guys and gals, my name is Dan. Not my first rodeo with wrenching, but it is my first rodeo with Jeeps. I ended up buying mine, a 1988 4x4 4.0L long bed off of a friend just 3 weeks after he traded with the previous owner for his beat up old Crown Vic. We both got the better end of the deal really, as I have been wanting to get a truck to haul around parts and such for my other project car and the various other times I always wish I had a truck anyway. Since photobucket is down, I will have to stick with a description for now, but I will try to get some up later today.
The Good: The body and chassis are solid and devoid of any rot. The long block is in excellent health - Compression tested 152-146 across all 6 cylinders. The wiring seems fairly intact, and the main positive leads, as well as all of the grounds have been upped in size. Somebody swapped out for axles from a 3.55 equipped Truck, and installed a limited slip out back. The steering is all in good shape, nice and tight.
The Bad: Remember that scene from Ghostbusters when Ray details the list of everything the Hearse needed? Here is my version. Front control arm bushings are shot, Track bar is bad, Does not fast idle on a cold start, and idle surges when warmed up. Also likes to stutter and backfire at light throttle around 1900-2000rpm once it is warmed up. Exhaust manifold is cracked (no surprise there) and it is actually missing a couple of bolts on the manifolds as well. Rear main seal is leaky. Radiator is showing corrosion and signs of small leaks in 3 spots. The body is surface rusted in a lot of small places thanks to the previous-previous owner rattle canning it and then sanding it to get a fake patina effect, and thus sanding down almost every corner on the body down to bare metal. The floor is surface rusted and worn down to metal by the same owner ripping out the carpet and not using any sort of floor mat. It has a few wiring gremlins to chase down - reverse lights don't work, interior lights don't work, etc. The parking brake also doesn't work, although I feel tension on the springs when the lever is depressed with my foot. The drivers seat is broken, it doesn't want to recline forward at all, and it leans to the left. The center console is only held in by the front mounting screws, so it only creates a lot of noise. It's also unbearably and obnoxiously loud thanks to the manifold leak and the lack of a cat combined with the worlds smallest flowmaster muffler. The hood doesn't stay level once i's closed - the rear left corner sits higher by 1/4" than the fender and cowl. I know I am forgetting things... The Ugly: BA-10 transmission's input shaft is on it's last leg, so it's going to go bye bye and instead be replaced with an AX-15.
On the upside, I have already sourced and ordered the Corssmember from a 1992 Comanche, and I am going to go look at an 89 Cherokee that a friend of a friend is scrapping to see if it has the AX-15, or if it is still one of the BA-10s. If not, I know other good sources for the parts I need. My basic plan is to get it road worthy and running well and then work on the body stuff after this winter. I will try to get up some pics later on today.
