Motorcharge

I wouldn't swap in a D35 if it was free. Especially one with a locker in it. For the work involved anything but an 8.8 is kinda pointless unless you want to run tons or find a bolt in D44.

Out in general but it really depends on the tire and color of the vehicle. I wish my MT/Rs had white lettering.

Champion or NGK copper. 4.0 is pretty picky about spark plugs.

Doubt there's anyone out there that makes reverse gears. Really no point given the number of front axle options out there.

Aircraft stripper works but can damage the chrome. Clothing steamer with a wand will make removing it easy without causing damage. Also works well on window tint, stickers, decals, molding, ect. You can pick them up for $20-30 at Walmart, Target, ect.

5150s on 4.5" They're as nice as OME's and not nearly as pricey.

There's no need to regear on 33s unless you're doing a lot of highway miles, but even then it's a waste of money to regear a D35. Both my MJ and XJ are on 33s and 3.55s and they just feel like driving a 4 cyl instead of 6. Definitely not worth spending $1000+ to regear on an axle you're going to get rid of anyway. Around here I can find an 8.8 with 4.10 gears for around $100 no problem and spend another $100 or so on the swap. Much better off spending a couple hundred on an 8.8 and matching the front for another $500 or so. Same. I'll see if I can't find the part numbers. I only spent like $30 for both sides at Napa and they're significantly longer.

I wouldn't even bother with anything but an 8.8 or an MJ D44. Same amount of work as an 8.25 for an 8.8 and they're significantly stronger. In hindsight I'd have done that with an SOA swap rather than drop $500 on the HC 4.5" leaf springs. Flatter springs will ride and flex better and it's significantly cheaper than the HC springs are. Get some 5" coils for the front, adjustable control arms, some Bilstein 5100s and you've got a pretty cheap 5" lift. Spend the money on building the axles and upgrade the steering. At a minimum for 5" you're going to need coils, shocks, brake lines, control arms (you want adjustable, much better for fixing caster angle), and leaf springs or shackles. Suspension and steering are the same on Cherokees and Comanches in the front. Cherokee shackles will work in the rear, but whatever size they say they are they'll be an inch to an inch and a half less on a Comanche.

14 deep socket with an extension on the passenger side and a 14 ratcheting wrench on the driver's work just fine with minimal effort. Sure, that tool might be nice if you're replacing shocks daily, but I'm not gonna go digging for that thing the few times I need it when basic hand tools are more than enough.

That's actually not her.

Easiest thing for anything like that including stickers, body side molding, and window tint is handheld clothing steamer. You can pick them up for $20-30 and they'll remove the decal and the glue without leaving residue for dirt to stick to. Like others have said you'll notice because the rest of your paint is faded from the sun while the paint under the vinyl isn't. Good buff job can usually blend it pretty well though.

Had a 98, it's my cousins now but I still drive it sometimes. It's a pig compared to the XJ and MJ. Feels a lot more sluggish and it gets worse gas mileage, but it's very comfortable and rides great. Yeah, the trannys aren't as good and are more prone to issues, but nothing all that major and they're pretty easy to work on. It's not like they're piles of $#!&.

96+ are your only real options for that drivetrain. 96 is the only way you're going to get the old style interior because it was the only pre-97 year to use OBDII. Like richasco said, the dash from a 96 will bolt directly in more or less and work with a 97 drivetrain while keeping the older style looks. On the other hand you're going to have to mod the firewall quite a bit to get the 4.0 in anyway so you might as well swap the interior while you're at it.

Call a Jeep dealer and see if you can't still get them. They might be discontinued but the dealer by me still has a lot of older parts in stock. Hell, they even had shackle bolts still when I needed to replace them on my XJ a couple years ago. At that point Jeep hadn't built anything with leaf springs in over a decade. If that doesn't work you can always go to a local pick n pull and just get some off an XJ.