schardein

Daaamn. Looks like the door panel is cut for speakers. Looks like the knee panel may be cracked. Seat looks great and has the mini console. Old 2 spoke steering wheel, full gauge cluster. That's a shame, beautiful truck.

Mine was tucked in the springs under the pass side of the bench seat. I've found one from an 86 there also.

All the factory brackets I've seen are for 4x6. I put some low end Alpines back there (coincidence?) and I think they round out the system nicely. They are covered by the rear pillar panels (there is a grill) and blocked by the seats, so I think one has to be reasonable in expectations. I'm not into over the top stereos systems (anymore) but for a no compromise system some old school box speakers with woofer/mid/tweeter behind the seats might be the way to go. I've also got Alpine 5.25 in the stock location in the doors, a decent Kenwood head unit https://www.crutchfield.com/p_113KMBT318/Kenwood-KMM-BT318U.html?tp=5684&awkw=274635583599&awat=pla&awnw=g&awcr=168744391860&awdv=c&awug=9023661 , and one of those tiny Alpine amps http://www.alpine-usa.com/product/view/ktp-445u/ Since the stereo is a "media player" and doesn't have a CD player, it isn't as "deep" as a regular stereo, and I was able to fit the amp behind the stereo (it's a tight fit) I'd like to have a powered subwoofer like https://www.crutchfield.com/p_20611HS8/Kicker-11HS8.html mounted behind the pass bucket seat on a custom mount that ties into the backerboard mounting holes on the floor (rather than just attached to the backer board) to round out my system.

I once saw an old movie clip on youtube. It was an older (but in color) movie with Martin Sheen and Walter Matthau. Walter is painting a sign and Martin is talking to him, as he does so, he says, "do you mind if I lean on your Willis here?", indicating a 50's Willys Wagon. I've tried unsuccessfully to identify the movie. I think it's interesting how the proper pronunciation has been lost over the years, but as stated above, if you say "Willis", nobody knows what your talking about.

I put a full MSD system with rev limiter in my 67 CJ5 after toasting a motor during an extended high rpm hillclimb. Toasted the next motor during a "to high" water crossing... you lose some, and you lose some more...

Since our column is a Saginaw, widely used in other vehicles (GM), I wonder if one from an older Chevy truck or Chevy/Buick/Oldsmobile/Pontiac car would work? I've never paid any attention. Might be close enough to get you on the road until a genuine MJ one can be found.

We all know XJ seat bases don't work in an MJ? I am guessing that those who are mounting the rocker seats in their MJs are drilling out the rivets, removing the seat tracks/rocker assembly, and bolting them to the MJ seat bases? If so, they would be sitting higher. Exactly how much I would have to calculate, but obvious from the comments, high enough to be unusable. I do have a pair of rocker bases in my workshop. I just have a lot going on at work and projects at home right now. Eventually I will get to it. If one could modify the MJ bases to accept the rocker style tracks at the correct height, I think it would work. Would it be with the effort? I don't know. It would require "sectioning" some height out of the MJ seat bases, I guess by cutting and then welding them back together at the correct height. I've got some standard XJ bases, so I could measure the difference, and then use that number to take out of the MJ bases. Should end up with the seats still sitting at the factory height. Not sure if that makes sense.

I've meant to do a write up on the rocker bases but have many projects in front of it. IIRC, the rocker assembly/tracks are taller, and the XJ mounting bases/brackets are correspondingly shorter to make up for it. The rocker bases also use their own specific plastic trim. A guy could swap the tracks/rockers onto MJ bases, but they would be to tall. There may have even been a left/right offset to account for also, but it's been to long since I looked at them to remember. Anythings possible, and it just might be worth it, since the bases pivot, you can actually get into a "reclined" position without the seat back/headrest going to far back. I think they would be great in an MJ if done correctly.

Sounds like you got it done Don. I have a pass bucket seat from a 1984-86ish 2 dr XJ. It's already stripped down so I snapped some pics. Glad to hear it was so easy, the ones in my XJ are stiff too. They have the "rocking" bases so I haven't felt the need to mess with it.

Adding the ballasts defeats part of the benefits of LEDs, which is much less resistance than other types of bulbs. If you have to add ballasts, then it's purely for looks. To each their own.

Sounds like you might have some bad ground/bad connections. Since you just replaced the bulbs, the front turn signal bulb holders were in good shape? If not, you might need to replace them, if they can't be cleaned up. Another likely source for problems with the front lights is the harness connector. It is located at the lower driver side of the front header panel. Sort of in front of the air cleaner, or behind the front driver turn signal. It can be difficult to get to, Removing the air cleaner housing can help. I've actually removed the whole front header panel to get to it also. Once you pull the connector apart, you'll likely find it full of crud and corrosion. Clean it up. The individual pins are removable for cleaning, and I've found clean ones in the junkyard that I spliced in to replace especially bad ones on my harness.

Me either on the HO speedos. The Renix odometers/trip meters are cake to alter/fix, but not the HO's. I tore apart a HO speedo to get the small shaft mounted white plastic gear. I put that in a variable speed drill at a moderate speed, and put it on a folded towel so it meshed with the speedo. Worked like a charm.

Locksmiths are hit and miss. I've had some quote outrageous prices, and others do fantastic work very inexpensively. Maybe if you take the locks to them (so they aren't making a house call) it would be cheaper. I had a locksmith make a key for the missing one on my Chevy fiberglass hinged bed cover. Took him about 30 minutes including removing the lock, determining the proper key (which he said was a cheap import but had in stock), cut two keys, installed and tested for $15. This was in Jacksonville, NC. You can google Rockauto 5% off codes. 5573649049747010 should work.

I've had no luck repairing trip odometers. My fix has been to replace the entire speedometer. If you go that route, it is possible to adjust the odometer mileage on electronic odometers, but it helps if you find one as close as possible to your current mileage.

If I had a penny for every minute I spent just staring at my CJ figuring out how I was going to run this wire, or mount that electronic throttle pedal, or route this fuel line and secure it with that bracket, I'd be comfortably retired and off four wheeling somewhere.

$8000 invested but can't bother to fix a broken windshield for $150? There's an indicator.

I am wrapping up a Vortec swap in my CJ7. I've been collecting parts for about 10 years. Got most of them secondhand at a big discount. However, I bought the motor and harness complete ready to run from BD Turnkey. Not cheap but worth every penny in my case. I did modify the harness to get rid of the standalone fuse/relay block and incorporated that into a stock jeep power distribution center (not stock to a CJ7 of course). I'm a professional auto tech, and portions of this swap were still challenging. IT WILL ALWAYS COST YOU MORE THAN YOU PLAN FOR. IT WILL ALWAYS TAKE LONGER THAN YOU PLAN FOR. My 2 cents, I would never try to swap a V8 into a XJ/MJ that was never designed to have one. At least a CJ did have an optional V8. If I felt I needed more power in an XJ/MJ, I would go with a stroker I6.

Yep. I saw one locally about a year ago. Everyone was talking about this Comanche getting a V8 swapped in. A mutual friend invited me over to look at it. I didn't say anything but as I drove away I shook my head. They ruined a really nice MJ.

I believe I have one. Will post up a pic but with work it may be this weekend before I get out to the shop.

Interesting because I noticed my MJ turn signals seemed to be working, but slowly. I've cleaned my bulb connections and ground points on the truck. So I went to my spare parts bin where I had several different flashers (different part numbers, brands, plastic, metal, etc) and tried them all. Some that looked the same and had the same part numbers performed noticeably different. I kept swapping until I found one I liked.

This is interesting because I was planning to get one when I did my 4wd conversion. Now I am thinking no. My XJ used to pop out of low range, and I had to take the whole shifter out because it was rusted together and I couldn't adjust it. Once I freed it up and adjusted it, it works perfectly. Should I stick with stock or is there a better aftermarket choice out there?

Pink inner fenders is a long story. The entire Jeep used to have a Panther Pink show quality paint job (look up Panther Pink, it is a factory Mopar color on Dodge Chargers). Judge all you want, but I had more women start conversations with me than I could shake a stick at. I was stationed in Hawaii at the time, and the salt air ate the whole body. The only original body panels on this thing are the inner fenders, lol. The only original parts left from 1983 are the frame, steering column, steering gear, some brake lines, and the inner fenders. The Jeep has been in the family since 1995. It will be getting a relatively quiet exhaust, I like to hear the tires crunching over rocks when off road. :yes:

Is that an Ipod shuffle? Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk I have this knob on the NV3550 in my CJ. I personally like this look the most, very OEM look. When I was still running a 4 speed, I had a vintage plastic (bakelite?) 4 speed knob that I really liked. It had a "L" for the granny first gear (T18) instead of a 1. Also love seeing the burgundy interiors!