Papa ken

Here are some pictures from Eric at Monkey Bars on some progress from yesterday afternoon (I dropped the mj off late in the morning).

Ok, so after fighting with the gas tank, I developed some fuel injector ring leaks. After I changed them out, I had one injector that started to leak at the body, so I replaced all of the injectors because I didn't want to deal with it anymore. I finally have all of the leaking gas issues taken care of. On to the next phase, I drove it 70 miles up the highway to Monkey Bars Offroad fab who is going to replace my crusty rockers, build and install my DIYJCR Offroad rear bumper, and then install my clayton 3 link kit and front truss. While that is happening I am stripping down my old 2001 XJ for the nose conversion and some other odds and ends.

I have a set of just the brackets I would sell for $50 shipped. They came off a bench seat.

I am not sure I am going to be able to drop my 5.0 in before the winter and I need to convert it over to 4wd. Consider the following options and let me know which one is the best, please. I am not that familiar with the electronics of the aw4. I have a 2001 running/driving XJ at my disposal for parts. My first option is to pull the aw4 and 231 out of the XJ. Is the wiring for the aw4 set up in a manner that I can strip it down to standalone and just swap the wiring and tcu over to the MJ? My second option is to pull transmissions out and swap the outputs and tail housings, which would keep the wiring all the same. I don't want to spend the cash for an unknown aw4 because I would end up throwing clutches, bands, etc in it. I am familiar with both transmissions and have confidence in them. Thoughts?

The pump assembly is most likely for an XJ, but they list it will work on a MJ (which it doesn't if you use the correct MJ gas tank). I am going through this very issue. My solution, after doing some research on here was to order the JP5A tank, which supposedly does not have the baffle pan inside the tank. The tank is due in on Monday. There is no new source of MJ fuel pump assembly's. ***Edited to add - My new fuel pump assembly is a mirror image of the original (atleast I assume it is the original) MJ fuel assembly with the float and filter hitting the edge of the baffle. I am just learning about MJ's after spending the last 15 years running XJs, so my information is all internet based. Ken

The tank was pretty much junk. It was seeping out from quite a few spots on the side, along with the sending unit o-ring.

I found a guy about an hour away from me that has parted out a dozen or so MJs and picked up some bucket seats, some interior parts that were missing, and a rear sliding window. I swapped in the stainless pre-bent brakelines and eliminated the load sensing valve in the process. The brakes are still soft, but there is a pedal now, I just need to bleed them some more. I took it for its first drive and identified some minor things that need to be worked before I can daily it. I filled it up with gas and added some dry gas to it since the gas is probably a few years old. I went out the morning after and found a big puddle of gas underneath of it. So, a new tank is on order. I also picked up a new fuel pump for it as well. I broke a metal fuel line stub coming out of the sending unit assembly (it was pretty thin as it broke just trying to get the rubber line off of it). Does the Delphi fuel sending unit work in the renix Comanches? I have seen a ton of posts about no one making new sending units, but I saw that Delhi has them and are sold at autozone. I have one on order for tomorrow, but not overly confident it is going to work.

I guess both wouldn't hurt, but I was looking for top of head rest.

Nice! I still haven't had a chance to fight my seats some more. I did find that those brackets are an inch to short to mount the seat to. I already have some angle iron cut and drilled and mounted using the same idea as the universal mounts. What is the measurement from the top of the bucket to the ceiling? Thanks, Ken

I have the slider assembly removed from the XJ seat brackets so the plan will be to drill and mount the sliders right on top of the bracket. I was planning on flipping the base brackets around to clear the tunnel. We will see if they work or not this weekend.

A couple of pictures the MJ before I started playing with it.

I have had 5 XJs over the years and with a recent purchase of a new home, my wife and I figured it would be a good idea to own a little truck for dump runs and for me to drive back and forth to work. Being familiar and loving the XJ platform, an MJ seemed to be a logical choice. I found a 1988 shortbed 2wd Comanche with 116k on it and purchased it with the idea to get it on the road and then do a minor build over the winter. Did I mention this MJ already had a 5.5" lift from the previous owner and had a hp Dana 30 already tossed under it with preps of converting it 4wd? I also have a '01 XJ I was daily driving before the rot got to bad on it that I am planning on using to donate the seats, console, and front sheet metal. The plan currently is to remove some of the lift and get it down to about a 2" lift to make it legal in Maine. I am already in process of swapping over the seats and should have that wrapped up over the weekend. I am also replacing all the brake lines in it and should be done this week. Next will be the sheet metal swap and finally the 5.0 swap. I am working with Novak on making a bolt in mount, similar to their LS swap mount, and will be doing a thorough review on that. For axles, I am still a little bit up in the air. I have always desired a little wider than stock, so I am leaning towards a fzj80 front and rear end. I figure if they can survive under a +4000 lb Toyota Land Cruiser, they should be just fine a little Comanche. I will run a Dana 300 behind the 5.0 and 4r70w and will be using the obd II computer and wiring from the mountaineer donor. I will be running 33" tires and will trim sheet metal as necessary to fit them. Once I figure out how to attach pictures I will throw in some "as arrived" photos and go from there. Ken

I am swapping a set of '01 XJ seats into my '88 with these brackets. They should work well. I will post back up this weekend with how it went. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/jzp-450-010-09