jpnjim

I shouldn't post anything else w/o pics, but it's dark, and I'm wet from playing in the rain, so some typed words will have to suffice for now. The fuse was pulled on the radio circuit feeding the stock radio (am/fm only, but says JEEP on it). I replaced the fuse, and the radio would light up, but shut off once you turned up the volume. I'm amazed no one ever tried to replace it/butcher in an aftermarket one. So I dug through 15 years of hoarded Jeep parts, and 'found' a mint perfect JEEP Hi-power stereo cassette player :banana: . Unplugged the stock uncut harness from the broken one, and the new one plugged in & worked perfect, even pulls in some stations my stock 98' XJ radio doesn't The stock speakers even sound decent for being 21 years old, and low end components even when new. I fought with a bead leak on one of my 'new' wheels. After dismounting it twice, I ended up hitting it with a flap wheel, and a new coat of paint to finally get the tire to seal. I also mounted up the Weatherguard side box, looks OK, but I'm not bowled over by it. That's it, hopefully it'll be clear enough out tomorrow to snap some decent pics, and I'll start a build thread in the forum it actually belongs in (sorry mods :D )

:cheers:

um, do these fender flares make my @$$ look fat? :rotf: :rotfl2: Tough to find any non-biodegraded CJ-7's around here, so flares, or not, very nice find :cheers: :thumbsup:

Back to the OP, FWIW, 84-85 are one of the few places your gonna find 3.73's in an XJ, the ft & rear axles are worth saving for that alone (good combo for an otherwise stock XJ). You can swap in 87-89 D35 shafts for more strength (comparatively), and the ft axle is the same, except for the way the track bar bolts in (same location, but the back of the bolt hole isn't opened up for nut access). They also have the crappier 2-piece outer knuckles & 260 joints, but all early XJ's do.

:yes: :thumbsup: :wavey: :agree: :cheers: :banana: :D :waving: :beerhead: (that's 15 yes's ;) )

I bet you could: 1) bring it to the shop 2) get prices on exact match patch panel 3) sell that NOS bedside for the patch panel $$, and still have some bucks left over.

You didn't like the chrome plates behind the armrests? (I took mine off too). Funny, my 'new' MJ ('89 Pioneer) has the big chrome plate behind the armrest, but not the little diamond shaped one behind the upper portion of the armrest. Must've been a 'Laredo only' thing. :D (My first XJ was a Maroon interior '87 Laredo, and it had all the little chrome do-dads)

:yes: They did beef up the axle with the 4.0L's introduction, judging from the M15's use in the past, and the 4.0L's HP/Torque ratings (WAAAAYYYY higher than anything ever used in front of an M15 before), it's possible the 'improved' D35 was just AMC's stopgap measure till they could fully ramp up D44 production. Either way, it's really doubtful AMC spec'd Dana to build a specific XJ D44, just so they could cancel it after one model year. Maybe I'm jaded, but I chock the XJ-44's demise to another Chrysler cost cutting measure. The biggest joke was when Chrysler kept the D35 (originally spec'd to be a 120hp/3200lb vehicle axle at best), and slid it under loaded V8 Grand Cherokee's. :rotf: AFTER further weakening it with C-clips. :rotfl2: Redesigning the XJ HP D30 to use the (at the time, dropped from production) low pinion D30 center for use in the ZJ even further showed exactly where their feelings towards Jeep axle durability were.

I wouldn't say 'no' signs of rust, there was some bubbling started on one of the lower edges of the bed, looked like there could've been a repaint in that spot at some point (some trace evidence of bondo). The floors look great from below, but that doesn't mean a whole lot. As much as I'd like to go through it with a fine tooth comb, and find/kill every trace of rust, with 'her' ZJ being down, it's 'function first' for the moment. That means getting it mechanically trustworthy (so far it seems to be), and letting rust-chasing be an issue for when there's less snow in the driveway, and more time to play with it. I'm still not sure what I'll end up with for wheels, stock Pioneer wheels were the steel 6 spokes, with the 10 spoke alloy's being optional. I've run both these wheels in the past, but don't really want to run either on this Jeep. Eliminator wheels would be nice, and period correct (tho not actually available on a Pioneer), but I doubt I'll find a nice set with decent clear coat. There are some newer wheels I like: 5.9L wheels look great on anything :yes:, as do Rubi's, and they might look decent with the newer mirrors I'm planning (I forgot how bad the old mirrors were :ack: ).

Yep, the 7 9/16's AMC axles were the original counterpart to AMC Model 20's (7 9/16" axles were also called "AMC Model 15"s back in the day). Seems like (as with the M20's) AMC custom spec'd them out for Dana to build, only with the M15, at some point Dana/Spicer renamed them (Dana 35), and started offering them to other manufacturers. I don't know the first year AMC used the M-15 - 7 9/16's, (probably some time in the 1960's) but they used them throughout the 1970's\80's. Lightweight to middleweight vehicles (Gremlin-Javelin) got them with L6's, or less. V8 Gremlin/Hornet/Spirit/Concord/Javelin = M20 L6/L4 as above = M15 Bigger AMC's (Matador, Ambassador, etc) all got M20's, no matter what. M15's used 2 piece bolt together axles, just like the M20's through these years. Even the 7 9/16" axles used in 84-85 XJ's are supposed to be 2-piece shafts, though you can't tell by looking at them. I never took one apart, but supposedly the shafts were 'friction welded' to the ends. If you look at the shafts of an 84-85 they are very different from 87+'s. Instead of a keyway in the center of the wheel surface, there's a round center. Carefully examining them, there appears to be a seam between the two pieces, but that's as far as I got to proving, or disproving this story. Either way, later 87-89 shafts will swap right in, though they are a slightly larger diameter, so you should swap the axle seals at the same time. I ran a set of 84-85 3.73 axles in my 87' XJ for a while, and I swapped in the later shafts for more durability.

For what I'm gonna use it for (street transportation, maybe a little towing), a V8 swap would be but it's not gonna happen. :D I've been driving it for a few days now, and am pretty sure the direction I'm going to go with it. I probably should start a build thread, but this is already the second thread on this one MJ, so I'm going to hold back till I get a little further on it. Grandpa Jeep in all it's glory: I swapped on some stock 30" TJ wheels & tires to replaced the dryrotted originals (I actually swapped tires again since this pic, hopefully I'll snap some of those today). I've been daily driving it since the GF's ZJ is down for the moment (tranny S.T.B. :roll: ) but it needs a little more attention before it's really a decent DD (radio not working, no bed storage yet, need to do plugs/wires & the rest of the fluids, etc). I will say it's the quietest MJ I ever owned, zero wind noise on the highway, and the quietest muffler of any Jeep I owned (even her ZJ). I removed the ft mudflaps (all good Grandpa Jeeps should have mudflaps at every wheel), changed the oil, filled the antifreeze, tossed out the rotted piece of plywood in the bed, and added a plastic bedliner (had the side effect of covering up the dead clearcoat on the top edges of the bed). I also swapped the Canyon wheels in the pics for some factory 15x6 steelies, painted olive drab, with newer center caps & 235/75's. They actually look pretty good (I'm not sure why, but I do not like Canyons on XJ/MJ's :nuts: ). So here it is in all it's granpa-ish glory: Plans include: new (84-96 factory) ft bumper & caps 97-01 mirrors (one of the few 'mods' planned) decent receiver hitch (haven't seen any 5k lb rated ones tho :???: ) straighten out rear bumper (may have to patch in some obvious 'pushing' dents) tool box for rear (I'm leaning towards using a Weatherguard side box I already have) clean up paint & exterior where possible (flares were repainted for some reason, and paint is cracked & checkerboarded) pull rug & POR-15 Keep my eye out for an MJ D44 & enjoy driving a 31k mile MJ. :thumbsup: :banana:

My opinion on (D30) 30sp vs 27 spline: Even 27sp aftermarket shafts move the R&P down on the food chain of weak links, 30sp move the R&P that much further down. If/when you do break a 30sp shaft (U-joint lets go, and takes out the ears), what will you put in to finish wheeling, or even just get off the trail? When I went from 33" (33" TSL's, so more like 34's) to Q/78's (35.5's) I wanted to give the D30 a fighting chance, so I went to (old style) Alloy-USA 27 spline shafts for peace of mind, and the ability to keep using my same spare shafts.

:rotfl2: the 2009 - 2010 thing got me too. Reading the thread, most of the info seemed old, but I kept checking the date, and thinking it was current :doh: [50 times on the blackboard]"2009 was last year"[/50totbb]

Restore it, get a taillight for it, and hang it on the shop wall. :thumbsup: :banana:

I used an external tranny cooler as a PS cooler in my last MJ (PS would go out after it got hot on the trails). Simple instal (plumbed it into the return line), and it eliminated the problem, the cooler in the radiator might work too, but the external type is cheap, and will definitely work.

I don't think we'll see that, but if we do, atleast you'll see $150 MJ's for sale..... without taillights ;) as it becomes cheaper to buy a whole truck for $500, grab the taillights, and dump the rest. :nuts: Honestly tho, I'd hate to see even a single MJ get scrapped because the owner couldn't find taillights/get an inspection sticker. :roll:

This will be a nice build to watch :popcorn: You definitely have your hands full, any thoughts to looking for a different donor truck (or two) instead of cutting up your 'other' MJ? Just seems a shame to chop up something you've been working on already when there are still decent MJ's around. BTW, great eye on your dad for finding that engine. :eek: :cheers:

The 'quick' version of 'Superior', 'Alloy-USA' & 'Ten Factory'. 'Ron', a fellow enthusiast, and all around good guy ran the axle operations at Superior. They made the best axles in the industry, here in America. He decided he'd rather work for himself, so he, along with some backers started Alloy-USA. They made very similar axles, in India, for a much lower price point. I bought a set of these, and have been very happy with them. I prefer to buy Made in USA stuff (this is an understatement), but if my only option was the (very high quality & expensive) Superior shafts, I would have had to stuck with stock. OK, so Ron runs Alloy Usa for a number of years, makes alot of friends, they sell a decent product for a good price, and back up what they sell. There is competition (Yukon) that also sells India made shafts, but generally speaking they end up not as well regarded as Alloy USA in terms of perceived product quality & company reputation. Alloy USA makes some big corperate deals (buys other companies), and there is an issue with Ron's backers, and Ron is left holding the bag financially when the backers back out. With the money gone, he resigns as President of Alloy-USA, & they are sold to a bigger corporation, so they can make axles under the Alloy-USA banner. At this point, old Alloy-USA warrentee's may, or may not be honored by the new company. Ron dusts himself off, and gets back to doing what he does best, making axle shafts. He starts up 10-Factory, and the first thing he does is post that he is going to honor all of the Warrentees for existing Alloy-USA shaft owners, now to be replaced with 10-Factory shafts. That's it in a nutshell, I apologize if I got something wrong, flubbed any facts, mislead, or spun the info in any way. Most of Ron's original departure from Superior, and his later departure from Alloy-USA were played out in detail on multiple message boards. Through it all Ron has seemed to be a class act, and given the choices of what you posted, I'd choose 10-Factory over Alloy-USA in a second. If money was no object, I'd probably go with the USA made Superior's, or even the new Yukon Extreme's (or whatever they're called). Yukon purchased Warn's line of made in USA shafts, and AFAIK are still making them here to Warn's high standards.

Amazing, There are (so called) collector cars that they are no longer producing taillights for that never come close to $300 for a set of used lenses. NOS, yes, but junkyard take-offs, no friggen way. Even still, I doubt anyone will ever reproduce lenses for us. :(

X2 on the Ebay tank, I bought one, painted it, and mounted it up. If it rots out in 15-20 years, hopefully I'll be able to get another, and do it again.

:cheers:

Welp, I did NOT get this registered yesterday. Seems the date on the title was filled out as '09, instead of '10 (neither I, nor my insurance guy even noticed) So, according to the registry, that would have made the sale more than a year ago, and void now :doh: I have a notorized letter of correction from the seller now, so I should be able to register it Monday AM.

The toughest part (for me) to build these myself would be: 1) getting the right size & shape to properly fit the opening & bolt in 2) matching the outside body line (soft corner/edge where the tailight bends around) The tough part of #1 would be getting both sides to look good AND match each other, but it could be done. Making the bend for #2 (each matching the other side) would be close to impossible with the tools I have. As long as the finished product takes care of #1 & #2 above, if I don't like what holes are cut, how many, where they are, etc, I'd be happy to plate mine over, and cut holes that better work for me. :cheers: Right now I'm leaning towards getting some LED universal (CJ/YJ/TJ style) taillights & recessing them in towards the top of the box. Then maybe use some Military style LED side markers. If the universal tails aren't reflective, I'd slap a couple of red reflectors on the bumper, and call it done. :thumbsup:

FWIW, Ignore the above if you are NOT talking about closed throttle coasting down. If you're just maintaining throttle (small opening, to maintain speed), when the problem happens, the above wouldn't apply.

Just to add my 2c, the engine should be in 'fuel cutoff mode' when decelerating (foot off the gas, and coasting):