comanche09

My '07 Dakota/Raider 40/20/40 seats are more comfortable than my '08 KK seats. After a couple hours in the KK my lower back hurts. After a couple hours in my MJ, no pain. :cheers:

Yes, they are 97+ manual window doors. Pics of the strikers are above. If you can't seem em, PM me and I'll send them to you. I did not have to mess with any relays as I retained the original front lighting harness and modded it to work. Now that I think about, it I had to use the side marker sockets from the 97+ XJ too as the originals would not fit in the 97+ lenses.

Pretty sure you are correct about the MJ never came from the factory with NP242, much less NO Jeep came from the factory with an AX-15 (or any Manual) bolted to an NP242. One of the reasons I decided to go with the NP242. :dunce: Was your's behind an AW4 because that would make sense. It looks like I would just have to cut the rod shorter and reweld for what I have to work. Failing that, I'm going to try this: http://www.bsfab.net/?p=26 I just picked up the inverted tcase lever from an '85 S-10 Blazer at the yard.

I'm dealing with making this work on my swap right now. I have an AX-15 mated to a later model NP242. When the selector lever on the t-case is all the way up that is 2wd. The rod I have is from an AX-15/NP231 and it is just a bit too long. The AW4/NP231 is WAY too long for my application. I was able to manually select down to 4 full time (2 clicks down) with the truck off and in my garage. I did not try to go to Neutral and 4LO as I was nervous the truck needs to be running and moving a bit. Anyone know if I can select Neutral and 4Lo with the truck off??? The procedure to adjust the linkage is something like this: -Put the tcase lever in the cab to 4LO, but place a 1/8" shim between the gate stop and the lever arm (a 1/8" drill bit works) -Underneath the truck, loosen the adjustment bolt, check for binding then tighten down the bolt. HTH

Striker Pics: I may drill a hole through the lower striker hole for a bolt, put its seems plenty sturdy for now. I kept the +97 interior door panels and just sprayed them black to match my interior. They are manual window doors. I though about swapping the old style panels, but I like the interior door handle setup better. It would take some work to get the older panels to fit as the holes for the plastic pins don't line up. The handles and mounts for the armrest are also different and in different locations.

Bring a long set of needle nose pliers. I have a spare tailgate handle assembly with rods if you need one.

I will post pics of them up this evening. This was that part I was most worried about, but turned out to be pretty simple. Mounting the doors is definately a two person job, unless you are an experienced body man. The door's are adjustable in at three axis's (in fact there is a fourth for tilt) and thats not including those darn shims on the hinges. I ended up taking my shims out all together and the doors fit fine. The drivers door is perfect and the pass door is about a 1/16 of and inch too high. Combined with the +97 door seals the noise reduction on the road is dramatic. I sprayed it with a Automotive Spray Gun kit from Harbor Freight and my little 8 gallon compressor. I had to use the smaller trim gun in the kit as my compressor was not really up to the task. I bought a gallon of silver truck and trailer paint, a gallon of anti corrosion primer and a pint of hardener from Tractor Supply Co. The paint is actually made by Valspar. I made a makeshift paint booth in my garage, basically covered everthing in it with plastic tarps. This was my first time painting a vehicle. If I would have spent a little more time with prep, it woulda came out better. Can't see your reflection it it, but oh well not building a show truck. A friend said its alot like the Harley Davidson Denim paint jobs. I still kick myself for not being able to take before pics, as my MJ looked ready for the scrap heap when I got it, paint condition wise (surface rust throughout and roof almost rusted through).

Thank you! I don't have a whole lot of money into the conversion. I got all the parts off of one XJ at my local U-pull yard. Let see: Front Header Panel Complete: $30 Front Fenders: $30 for both including fender liners, flares and antenna. Front Doors Complete: $60 Front Upper Radiator Support: $15 - but I ended up not needing it Front bumper end caps: $54 shipped ebay Front fog lights: $40 shipped ebay I already had leftover paint for the parts. So around $250 in it including little odds and ends like electrical connectors and such. Oh, not including the 6.5" Pioneer wal-mart speakers, they were around $40. The old grille was in horrible shape when I got it. Cleaned it up a bit and sanded it then hit it with Krylon Fusion Satin Black, did the same with both sets of fenders. Haha, Thanks. I was wondering when someone would make a comment about the paint! They are painted to match. I painted the truck myself using silver Tractor Supply Co. Truck and Trailer paint. The conversion parts just haven't "seasoned" yet. :yes:

Thats correct. Most gear lube is GL-5 rated now and the formulation attacks the brass synchros in the AX-15. So, Redline MT-90 is friendly to the brass? Much rather be running a 90w oil...

Thanks for the compliments! :cheers: If you have an '87+ MJ all of the front end pieces are bolt on. If you retain the original wiring harness (like I did) you have to cut out some of the header panel behind the turn signals to fit the OEM turn sockets because they are longer than the '97 ones (you'll need to splice an extra turn signal socket on each side too because the '97+ have two bulbs per side) The old style bulb sockets fit right into the '97+ lenses too. '86 MJs require some minor mods to the header per the writeup in the DIY section. When you grab the fenders, make sure to get the "L" brackets affixed to the front of them. The triangular fender support on you MJ can stay, but you get rid of the lower fender support. Try to grab front doors from a '97 as I've read there were some changes in later years. The '97 door hinges bolted right up to my MJ. For the striker, I just went and got a Grade 5 metric bolt from Fastenal to match the original striker thread and drilled out the '97 strikers to allow them to move inboard so that the doors would close flush. I gotta say these doors are nice. Much quieter and allow running 6.5" door speakers. I also grabbed tweeters from a 97+ Limited and they plugged right into the manual doors. I got the D-rings from Tractor Supply Co. and the brackets from here: http://store.hicountryoffroad.com/Xtreme-Tow-Hook-Bracket-with-D-Ring-Mounts-_p_41.html Its a very nice setup for not alot of money. However the kit was missing a few bolts, but I was able to pick up Grade 8s at Home Depot no problem. My '88 did not have the holes in the frame on the passenger side like later XJ's so I had to do a little drilling. I also had to cut the lower bumper valence a little to clear em. The nice thing about this kit is that it also replaces the weak aluminum power steering bracket. No black trim on the taillights. I painted them with Krylon Fusion in Satin Black and polished them up. Haha, yeah that is just the way the photo came out, they are the same size. Thanks!

Hi All, Posting pics of my '97 XJ front end and door conversion. To those interested, feel free to ask any questions about the swap. I did it about 3 weeks ago so its all fresh in my memory. :cheers: Before: After: Before: After: Before: After:

Please re-read. One of my peeves is posting of bum info. I've done it myself in the past and was humble enough to correct myself. :cheers: The original poster went out and bought something based on this info...

:huh???: Um, I just swapped a '95 XJ One-piece Master/Slave into my '88 4.0L and both masters had vertical bolts. The '95 bolted right up to my '88 firewall. :???: I would be more concerned with the slave's "throw" being correct vs. the 4cyl slave.

Thanks :cheers: Yes you need just one line running from the radiator cap neck nipple to the coolant overflow bottle. Get at least six feet. And yes, it cuts down failure points significanty and bumps up piece up mind big time. :thumbsup:

Yes go higher amp if possible, but check the pull-it yards first! I pulled a like new 100 amp alternator from the junkyard with napa label on it for $10.

Why would you want to, when the correct fluid is available??? What fluid would you suggest? Redline MT-90 or Amsoil MTG are both excellent choices. The both meet the API-GL-4 rating which means much lower levels of sulfur, which is what attacks and destroys the yellow metal parts of the transmission. Both are 75w-90 gear lubes, so they meet the original viscosity requirements also. Great info thanks! I'm running M1 10w-30 High Mileage right now and the case seems to get awfully hot... I've read good things about Amsoil, but its not easy to get in my area. Not sure about where to get Redline it in my area. Do you think the trans will run cooler with the correct viscosity?

Why would you want to, when the correct fluid is available??? What fluid would you suggest?

Anyone running this in their AX-15?

:agree: 165k is still fresh for these motors. Mine has 104k and was neglected (thick sludge under the valve cover). But after some cleaning and fixing from advice on these forums, she runs great. Before you decide to swap the engine. Try swapping in a '97+ XJ steel valve cover. You'll need the specific gasket and bolt gromments for it. Cured my "blow by" issues. HTH

Some Pics: One of my truck for fun :yes: :

That's what I did, just make sure it has the bung for your fan temp sensor on the drivers side. Make sure you buy either a Stant Superstat or OEM TSTAT in 195 degree flavor. I just picked up about 8 feet of some bulk IIRC 5/8" coolant hose for the heater core lines. That'll save ya some money. One of the fittings is slightly larger at the firewall, but a managed to persuade the hose over it. Be careful to not apply and side load to those heater core fittings though as I've heard their somewhat delicate. I had no problems with it. Put a vacuum cap on the valve line and zip tie it to the firewall. Personally, I rather have coolant circulation through the heater core at all times, to help prevent corrosion. My A/C still works and have coolant circulating through the heater core does not affect interior temps even in the Alabama heat down here. For the coolant bottle, I was running a junkyard HO tank, but it did not fit very well into the space, so I found one from a '95 Suzuki Sidekick that fits nice and works well. I'll post some pics of my setup in a bit. Enjoy your new simplified cooling setup, FWIW my temps never get to the halfway mark on the gauge anymore.

Heh, when I did the swap I had no trouble at all with the passenger door (original '88), but it made my drivers door harder to close ('94 door). :ack: Now that I have '97 doors, no problems and mucho quieter.

I did the same with my rear lines, then just removed the height sensing valve from the equation. Big improvement. Just be aware of it when you don't have anything in the bed. Where did you find a new height valve??? +2 On the '95-'96 XJ Booster (WJ booster is another option too) I have a '95 XJ booster and combined with the bypassed valve, it stops like a modern car.

:agree: ALL of my fender flare nuts were seized, braking off the stud with them. I was able to carefull drill what was left of them them out using a drill press and replaced the hardware with nuts, lockwashers and bolts. I suggest using galvanized or stainless steel hardware. :thumbsup:

Hi Geonovast, Yup that was the problem... duh :dunce: . After reading volumes of info on this swap I somehow missed that important detail. :doh: Got the part next-day air from man-trans LLC out of Tallahassee, FL for $80 including seal and rtv, dealer lists it at $302. This trans is like night and day compared to the pukegoat! :banana: