Unglar

I didn't replace the manifold gasket or the flange so I decided to start there: After pulling the manifolds I realized I had snapped off the alignment tabs at some point. :dunce: So I pulled the intake manifold off the MJ motor. It is alot harder to put those bottom bolts in with the engine in the rig... After alot of knuckle wracking and meditation I managed to get the manifolds in without breaking anything this time and all the bolts in and torqued. Got everything hooked back up and tried to start it. Battery died after 4-5 cranks. :( :dunce: should have been charging the battery while I worked on the engine...

By the way, I have been taking pictures all along but until yesterday I didn't know how to put them in, so this started a couple months ago. :cheers: Got the truck out of the garage for a bit and did some cleanup: The motor/tranny was pretty dirty so I decided to clean it up: Got the tranny cleaned up nicely, just getting started on the XJ motor: This is the point where the city decided I had too many broken down jeeps in my yard: So I had to get busy and get the engine back in the truck: I got stuck here because I don't have a welding rig (yet). The MJ header was a 3 bolt, while the XJ header is a 2 bolt: So I had to cut the pipes at the tranny bracket: And get someone to weld it for me, wasnt willing to pay the muffler shop another $200. :mad: Finally got it welded: Installed it and fired the truck up... major exhaust leaks at the manifold, so bad that there was no clear idea of where it was coming from. :(

So, with the front bolt snapped off I decided to pull the MJ motor and go with the XJ motor, it ran ok when we drove it home about 45 miles. To pull the motor I needed to remove the radiator so I decided to replace the front clip while I was at it. These are my donor parts: Time to pull the motor: You can see the XJ motor in the background.

Yeah, I like taking stuff apart and I learned alot from it. I got $37 for the body, now I wish I had cut it down and saved it.

Now I had a tranny, pukegoat but it was working when pulled. I replaced the internal slave and installed it. I put everything back together and got a permit to drive the truck around a bit. It ran ok, but loud, no exhaust, it was cut off behind the CAT. Took it in for the exhaust and inspection. It failed. After the exhaust was installed you could see and hear the exhaust leak at the manifold. I had an aftermarket header and the leak appeared to be coming from the collector. The exhaust manifold on the XJ engine looked good so I was going to use it. The bloody bolts under the manifold on the after market header were a major pain. After I got the PS pump out of the way I realized there was no front bolt on the exhaust manifold, theres another leak. Turns out it was snapped off. :(

Tranny, T-case, Master/slave combo, and some miscellaneous parts came to about $300. Turns out though that the internal slave in the tranny (it was from a 91 I think) need to be replaced, this would be another $160 at Napa. I found a '89 XJ for $500. So I returned all the parts to the JY and got my money back and bought the XJ for a donor. I figured it was a better use of my money as I need alot more than just a tranny. I still didn't really know what I was doing so my buddy told me to start by tearing apart the XJ. Here it is after a couple weeks: I removed just about every thing that could be removed. I think the only thing left was the rear leafs and shocks, rear bumper and 1" hitch. I have sold $300-400 in parts so I easily made out on this deal. Not to mention learning alot about the XJ from the tear down.

A note about my mechanic'ing skills, I don't have any. This is my 1st foray into serious automotive repair. I don't have any way to work on the rust at the moment so I started with trying to get it running. I researched the pukegoat and found all the recommendations to go with the AX-15. So I ran out to the JY with my tool box and got to work. There were 3 XJ's with the AX-15, all were around 175,000 miles. One had the t-case and cross beam removed so I figured that would be the easiest to work, I pulled all the bolts accept the top 2, and then those striped out (at least I thought so). So I moved to the next donor. I had to drop the cross beam on it. Pulled all the bolts and striped the top 2 (see a trend?). Now I was starting to wonder what was going on... I moved onto donor #3. This time I dropped the crossbeam and went after the top bolts first, very carefully I got one bolt out, I think I used a 7/16 or 12mm, don't recall now. Then the 2nd bolt striped. I was like "what is going on!" Just about this time my buddy shows up to see how I am doing. I tell him about the bolt stripping out and he takes a look at the one I got out. He says, this is Torx. Doh, now I remember reading about how the top 2 bolts are Torx... :dunce:

This is my $300 MJ with no tranny. It looks better the farther away you are. The PO freaked when they told him how much to repair the pukegoat and he didnt even bother to get the broken one back. Here are some highlights:

blah blah blah...

Explorer, its sold. :( Oh well, didn't really have room for it anyhow.

Weird, I don't have the option to 'copy image location'. I had to choose properties and copy the url from there.

Thanks Pete, but whats the trick? I can't start my build thread till I figure out these pics?

The ax-15 is worth the $300 eh? Also, when I try to link the photo I get this error: It was not possible to determine the dimensions of the image

Yeah, there is a pic in the link, the right front is pretty hammered. So whats an ECU cost? Can prob grab one at the JY.

Is this a good deal? It has high miles. I'm looking at putting at least $300 into one of these older Renix 4.0's to get it running with a pukegoat behind it, maybe I should scrap that and go with this HO which most likely has an AX-15? What should I look at on the engine to make sure it isnt damaged? http://www.ksl.com/index.php?sid=&nid=4 ... ad=1733641 Jeep Cherokee taylorsville, UT 84118 - Nov 4, 2009 $300.00 For Sale by Owner Ad: # 1733641 Contact: Zack Phone: (801)963-0176 This car was hit in the driver's side front corner and is damaged up to the steering pump. The rest of the car is in good condition. We are asking for $300 and the person who buys it when they strip it of all parts needed can sell the scrap for $200 at a scrap yard. It also has a nice bike rack that would go for $200 itself. All tires are fairly new with 3 months of driving on them and can be salvaged. Engine is in good condition. Seller Type:For Sale By Owner Specifications Body:Sport Utility Make:Jeep Model:Cherokee Year:1996 Mileage:197000 Number of doors:4 Exterior condition:5 Damaged or Not Running Exterior color:Green Interior condition:2 Good Interior color:Charcoal Gray Type of engine:4.0 I6 Type of fuel:Gasoline Type of transmission:Manual Drive Train:4 Wheel Drive

Darn, back to testing all the bloody sensors. :fs1:

:hijack: So, if I swap a '89 XJ 4.0 with my '87 MJ 4.0 I need to use the CPS for the '89? No wonder it ran so bad.... in addition to the exhaust leaks... End Hijack!

It seems solid enough, what about putting a spacer between the hinge and the pillar?

My MJ was hit at the front of the passenger door and it pushed the body in about an inch right at the bottom hinge, how would I go about trying to pull this out? http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/2N ... directlink Sorry, I couldn't figure out how to get the image to show up from Picasa?

Perfect, my MJ was wacked in the passenger cab corner and both rockers are beat up. Those pics help alot. I also like the protectors! :thumbsup: Now I just gotta find a welding rig an someone to teach me how to use it! :dunce:

No Grief from us mate!

Wow, that looks nice Pete, is there a build thread for that rig?

Is there a DIY for rockers and cab corner replacement?

:agree: After having pulled my engine twice with the tranny and installing the tranny with the engine in the rig, I must say it was not much extra work to pull the tranny with the engine, and it was a royal pain to install the tranny with the engine in the rig(which would be almost the same as what your planning to do).

Yeah, I could go back to Oregon but I would be lucky to get half my current pay. You gotta be in the city to get decent wages. :headpop: