Dzimm

Went ahead and installed the new (from an 86 MJ) window regulator today. Pulled the old one out, which was a pita with those big rivets. After looking at it I realized that the new one was missing one of the mounting brackets so I grabbed the one from my old one and attached it to the new one with adhesive and zip ties to keep it steady until it cures. In place of rivets or nut and bolts, I used rivnuts to reattach the regulator. Rivnuts are my favorite thing to use for something like this because it doesn't require a wrench on the back side. And attached with nice shiny bolts. I then went to reattach the window to the regulator, which resulted in a bunch of glass all over the ground... It had one of those newer style bolt things for the window and the only thing I could think of was that it bound up and tweaked the glass. I got ahold of ComancheJager again and was able to pick up a new window for a good price. He also threw in the fixed vent with the window because it was in much better shape than mine. The only downside to the window I got is that the top is all chipped but it's better than no window at all. And now it rolls all the way down. And with that, a simple project wound up taking all freakin day so I got nothing else done..

Yeah it looks like plastic all the way up to the master cylinder. Very strange but it works for now. Thanks!

Yup that's what I'm thinking. Very good summary and explanation!

As far as I know, mine is stock. Sits at 63" tall.

I'm not in it for trophies, I'm in it for fun and to see what vehicles I can compete with in a jeep. Having said that, I'm not in it to spend a bunch of money. I want to build the cheapest possible truck to run with. I know I could drop a ton of money into it and build a true racecar but that's not what it's about. That's not what autocross is about either. I've talked to the rules guy and I know what it takes to pass tech and I know what's gonna fail me, and that's the height of the vehicle. That's all I'm trying to fix right now and it doesn't seem that is gonna happen and be able to stay in street classes.

I could do that. Backspacing is the only thing that is talked about for wheels.

The rules state that backspacing cannot be changed by more than 1/4" so no go on extending track width and the springs have to be a production part for the same vehicle unfortunately.

They are the super basic stock wheels.

I measured off the pavement since that's the direction I need to go. I imagine tires of a smaller size will squish relatively close to the same. I didn't even think about the reduction in tire size only applying to half the tire.. I'm starting to think there is no way to run an MJ stock..

Welp so new problem.... The interwebs says my current tire size equates to 27.5" well thats not the case, they actually sit at 26" tall. This means I need 5" smaller tires. That's a 21" tire with no other changes. Basically now my only choice to run stock is to find the smallest tire possible AND find production springs that came stock on an MJ or XJ that will lower mine slightly to help this situation. I saw in another post here, there was a list of about 20 coil spring part numbers that came with these trucks. Anyone know of a spring that would be softer or shorter than the springs that come on a 2wd MJ with 4.0? A spring from a 2.5l perhaps?

Ah that size wasn't on the chart. Definitely a good option, tire rack only shows two tires in that size, one of which is on closeout. I'll have to go to a local tire shop and see what they have available in these sizes.

Yes track width is center to center. Would changing tire size change track width? I thought that would only change by changing wheels because your tire should sit centered on the wheel correct? I attached the rules relating to width/height. Yeah I'm not sure tho because there were some minis racing at the event last weekend and they looked pretty dang close to too tall. The turbo is coming later. I want to start stock and build it to an end goal of lowered and turbo, which would put me into modified at least.

There is a local forum but it has had one post since 2014 and that one had no responses. I talked to the rules guy and he basically gave me the run down on the rollover rule, which is the one on vehicle height based on track width and said the only modification I really want to make right now is changing tires and wheels to get the truck height down. As for talking to other racers I definitely am planning on it for modifications moving forward, however the next race I can make it to is in October. As for the classing, I know the turbo will put me out of anything street but I wanted to start small and work my way into the higher classes. The rules guy told me that would be the best approach to learn and develop the truck and still be competitive along the way. So plans for lowered suspension are midyear next year and turbo is end of next year at the earliest. I did find the tire rack tools as well as tiresize.com has a chart of sizes. My options are looking to be 195-60r15, which is 24.2" tall and 7.7" wide and require a different wheel or 175-65r15, which is 24" tall and 6.9" wide and I can use the wheel I have. I was really hoping to find a tire in the 8" width range or higher.

OK so for my autocross truck, I want to try to bring it into legal racing requirements while being stock so I can get an idea of what the change will be after suspension changes and a turbo. In order to do this I need to bring the truck height down 3.5" by only changing wheels and tires to remain on the stock street classes. I have zero knowledge of tire sizes and am struggling real hard to understand it and figure out my course of action. Current setup is P225-70r15 which is roughly 27.5" tall. Track width is 58" and truck height is 61.5". To be legal, the track width must be equal to or wider than the height of the truck. I am also only allowed to change stock backspacing by .275" and rim size by 1". I've attached a screenshot of the applicable rules for those of you who want a better explination. I've talked to the rules guy in the local group and he wasn't really much help. Basically I need the truck to drop or become wider, that equates to a 3.5" change. Stock backspacing is 5.25" according to my research and stock rim size is 15". So my thought is drop the rim size to 14" to get me into smaller tire sizes and find rims with 5" of backspacing. Anyone know of a tire size that is roughly 3.5" shorter than a P225-70r15?

Will do! It prolly won't be until next year though. Only two races left this year, one in September and one in October. I know I won't make September and am 95% sure I won't make October. I will be at the Iowa Jeep show with the blue MJ this year tho. It's in Cambridge, IA at the end of September.

My accel/resume button on my 97+ truck is extremely touchy. I have to hit it in just the right spot or it won't work. I'm guessing you just have a bad switch much like mine.

I finished up welding some gaps on the panels and threw some paint on it so I can drive it without worrying about rust. I still have a ton to do on it but I don't have time until Thursday to really work on it. The new coolant temp sender came today and I got that installed. It would be way easier to install with a crows foot but I managed with a standard wrench. I haven't tested it fully yet but it was moving the gauge. I left the truck sit in the shop for about an hour for the paint to dry and when I walked back in I could smell gas really bad. I was worried about the tank because it's rusty and its obvious now that it's leaking. I could smell gas ever since I bought the truck but it never actually leaked until now. It seems to be at the top of the tank and doesnt spray fuel when the truck is running so I'm gonna continue to use it until I can get a new tank here, plus it's full so I need to run some out before I drop it. I like the price of the Spectra kit from RockAuto that comes with the tank, pump, strainer, and straps for $164.

Went to my first autocross event today as a spectator. It was a blast to see all the different cars and see how everything operates. There were a few spinouts and a few times there were close calls between cars due to confusion of the course, which was later corrected by using more cones. There was mostly Miatas, Subarus, and Mustangs but there were a few jems there like this Chevy pickup, Camaro, and Corvette. I got quite a few comments on my blue MJ while I was there, which was cool. Unfortunately I had some other stuff to get done today so I was only there for an hour of actual racing. I didn't get a chance to really talk with anyone or do a ride along so I'll have to come back when I've got more time. After autocross I went to Comanchejager's house to pickup a driver's side window regulator for the red truck. He isn't very active here at all but he is a good guy and has a nice collection of XJs and MJs. Gave me a real good price on the regulator and about a half hour of Jeep talk. Turns out he has done some parts deals with 90PioSport99, who I bought my blue truck from, as well as done deals with JeepDriver on some gun forums a while back. Had a good time at his place and look forward to meeting him again. Hopefully tomorrow I've got enough time before work to get the regulator installed and finish the repair panel I started yesterday.

Started replacing the rusty sheet metal today. I immediately realized I hate working with sheet metal. I am really struggling to have the patience to stitch all this metal together. I'm cutting along the body lines to create rectangles that I can then weld together and keep the body lines intact. I'm pretty pleased with how well it's coming out. I need to get more flap disks to clean up the welds but the body lines are looking pretty good. It will look much better after applying body filler. It's amazing how far rust spreads behind the panels. Those of you who live outside the rust belt are lucky.

Just did the first round of mileage testing and got 19mpg on this last tank! I know I can do better but it's making my wallet happy already since I go through about a quarter tank every day going to work. Also found out my gas light comes on with about 4.5 gallons of fuel left and doesn't quite touch the F when completely full.

Awesome. Thanks!

I've seen people stuffing that egg crate foam stuff between the springs and seat cushion to firm it up and fix the sagging.

My new MJ is the 92, HO wiring. I took pictures of what I've got. It's a plug, not a threaded connector or even a push onto threads connector. All I can find for gauge senders shows the threads and no plug like this. And in this picture you can see the sender body in the head and the connector with the guts in my hand..

PVC is used for things like the dash pad, door panels, arm rests, and other soft things that obviously aren't real leather. Polypropylene is used for slightly harder but very flexible stuff. PC/ABS is going to make up about all the other hard plastics in the cab such as your pillar trims. There may be some Nylon or ABS sprinkled in there somewhere but not very much since Nylon is much more expensive and overkill when it comes to strength of the plastics in a truck cab and ABS is too flexible or weak for most of the plastic in the cab. Clear PC will be used for stuff like the gauge cluster lens, switch light lenses, and other slightly transparent or fully transparent plastics. I would get both the paints and use the ABS one on the hard plastics and the PVC one for the soft stuff. And definitely use an adhesion promoter.

So my temp sensor on the new MJ is broken. I can pull the sensor apart and it doesn't go above 110 on the gauge. I've been searching around and cannot find the proper sender. Mine seems to be the plug type but I can only find a screw on type for gauges. The plug type only shows up for the idiot light. Attached is a picture from RockAuto. Am I missing something or does my sender indeed have threads even though it appears to be a plug?