Rymanrph

Here is a better shot of the new wheel cover: Does anyone know where I can get a new brake pedal cover? Mine is torn to shreds and I can't find one. The local part stores can't get them and I couldn't find one on rockauto.com either. You can see in the above photo how badly I need one. Today I took care of a couple nagging issues. The exhaust kept rattling on the shackle bolt. I guess the SOA and longer shackles just put it right in the right spot to contact, so I hacked off a couple inches. It doesn't look that great from below, but you'd never see if without crawling under the truck. I also had an issue with the gas filler neck. Every time I fill up I'd get several drops of gas dripping down on the ground. Turns out the filler hose had a kink in both ends so when the gas was pouring in so quickly, I don't think it could handle it. I ended up moving the gas tank forward slightly and flipping the hose around, so hopefully that solves that problem. I finally got around to lengthening my rear axle vent line too. After 6.5" of lift, the stock hose just wasn't adequate. Nothing spectacular, but all little things that needed doing.

4.56 gears, 33s with an AW4 transmission.

Good luck Eric. I'm in the Charlotte area, so you won't quite get to me. Are you making the trip by yourself?

So I have my '97 swap with over 200k on my 4.0l. I've re-geared to compensate for my larger tires, but my truck just doesn't have the get up and go like I feel like it should. I know down the road that I will either stroke or swap the engine, but for now, that's $3k+ I don't want to spend, especially when what I have runs and isn't really causing me any problems. What are my best upgrades for the buck? I'd like better throttle response, so would a larger throttle body or spacer benefit a stock 4.0? Header, new cat/exhaust? 1999 intake manifold, high flow filter? Also, lets says I invest in these parts, when I put a stroker in, will I be able to retain them? I've spent plenty of money on parts that I had to swap out later because of more upgrades. PS - anything to improve fuel economy would be extra bonus :thumbsup:

You are correct. I found them through the Miata forums. You can almost build an interior with all the options they have for those cars.

I second this. I used to work for a small engineering company that serviced the power industry. I'm not an engineer, so I didn't travel, but most in the company did. The turn over was insane. Those that didn't quit after a month or so, stuck around long enough to earn the money to buy all the toys they wanted and when they got married and started having kids, they would all quit and go work for one of our customers. Less pay, but still very good and no travel. If you don't mind the travel, its great money. I worked on a couple jobs and mine were only 6 days or so. I can't imagine being on the road 75%+ of the time, but that's just me.

If I had known that I could have pulled the bed that easily, I probably would have done it during several different projects. Nice job.

The company gave me a discount to just keep the wrap they sent me, so I ended up using it. Here is a shot of it on the wheel: Here you can see the stitch pattern. This was right after I did it, so the glue wasn't dry and looks a little shiny where it seeped through a tad. Here is a comparison of the original wheel on the left and the new on the right. The original is going back in the new Wrangler I bought because its in really good shape. And finally, here's an installed picture: Overall, I'm very happy with how it turned out. On the bottom of the wheel you can see where the foam was slotted for the original seam, so I wish I would have filled that in beforehand. The leather quality is very good and the stitch pattern wasn't difficult. Stretching the leather in some places and getting the thread tight was difficult however in some spots. When doing the top portion, about two thirds of the way through, the thread broke. Fortunately, we were able to tie a knot and tuck it away so I didn't have to re-stitch the whole thing and you'll never be able to see the knot. I will try to get some better pictures this weekend with my good camera to show off the color a little better.

I'd like to have a set of Lebaron Turbo vents, but I've had a hard time finding any that weren't super expensive.

I'd love to swap a V8 in my truck, but my biggest worry would be making sure all the electrical systems play nice together. I'd still want all my power options, overhead console, keyless entry etc. to work, not to mention all the gauges. If I had my choice, I'd put one of the more modern 5.7 Hemis in it. I'm sure a Chevy motor would be easier, but I'd like to keep it in the Mopar family.

OK, so here it is... sorta. Its a new leather wrap for the steering wheel, obviously not installed. The top and bottom of the wheel is a medium gray with the sides being charcoal. The company sent me enough thread and some needles to install it myself, but not much by the way of instructions. They have some info on their website and a couple videos on youtube, so we'll see. The only problem is the material is incorrect. The charcoal is perforated and the medium gray is solid. It should have been the other way around to match my seats. I've emailed the company to see what I can do about getting that fixed. The wheel in my truck really is in decent shape. However, the one in my new TJ is awful. From what I can tell, they are the same wheel, so I'm going to move the MJ wheel to the TJ and recover the TJ wheel and put it in the MJ.

I wasn't aware that the 42RLE was so bad. I had a '97 with the three speed auto and I didn't think anything could be worse than it. It was a total dog. So I take it that your recommendation for the LJ would be an '05 or '06 six speed manual?

Congratulations! I was in the same boat as you almost a year ago. Right before I decided to take a car sales job, I got another opportunity. I've always wanted to do it, but without the pressure. Good luck to you.

I like to try and get a color I've never had before. Although, I've had black twice (three if you count my '97 XJ donor), red twice (three if you count a color change), green twice (if you count a color change - moss green and rescue green are pretty different though) and white four times (ugh), but I've never had any shade of blue. I've never repeated yellow and I finally got a dark gray when I bought my last Miata. I'm still holding out for tan/brown, orange and a better blue. I'd take purple on the right vehicle too. The post office tried to deliver it yesterday, but couldn't leave it because it required a signature. I hate that because I'm never home when the mail comes. I'll go pick it up at the post office in the morning.

Why the repaint? In the pictures, the paint looks great. If you change the fabric on the seats and door panels, will you be changing the dash and interior plastic colors too? You've got a lot of chrome pieces. Factory chrome rear bumper?

Looks good Jeff. I just picked up a TJ too, but yours appears to be in much better shape than mine. Guessing by the wheels and the mirrors, I'd say its a 2003?

My 2000 TJ Sport had a rear Dana 44 with 3.73 gears. It was an option. Rubicons came standard with front and rear 44s with lockers and 4.10 gears. I believe the LJ came standard with the rear 44, but not lockers or front 44 unless you got an Unlimited Rubicon.

If you're dead set on a straight drive, you'll need to get an '05 or '06 because I think the '04s were automatic only. I believe that a rear Dana 44 was standard on them also.

The TJ tank is only 19 gallons; I'd like to have the extra capacity of the Dakota tank, not to mention having to fab a whole new mounting system for it. Right now I can't get too low on the MJ tank without the slosh pan because the truck will start to buck as the fuel moves around. I'm filling up at about 15-16 gallons and at 14 mpg or so, that's less than a 225 mile range. A 22 gallon tank that I can use more of will get me much closer to 300. I think I would be more comfortable modifying an earlier '90s tank to add the vent line, than I would be modifying the frame rail to clear the late '90s tank. I'll have to see what I can find.

I hate to bump an old thread, but I was a little confused. It appears that the '97-04 pump/sender is the correct assembly, but what year is the best bet for the tank. I've seen several different years used from '92-'99. Jeepman, what do you mean you drilled the sender? Are those two pictures hosted elsewhere?

You must have the slowest body man in the world. Do you have any anticipated date of having the paint finished? I can't wait to see it.

Thanks! Over three years ago, I saw two Comanche builds that pushed me go look for my own. AnotherJeff in Winston Salem and yours (back when Go4Lo) was building it in Charlotte. I will always have a soft spot for both his truck and yours.

When I did my conversion, I hadn't seen anyone else use them. I mounted it the way I had seen in done. The main support bracket for the steering column is bolted to the firewall and to the side of the cab in at least a half dozen places, so its not like the bracket is just free floating under the dash. And then the dash is bolted up in the same spots as it would in the XJ with the addition of the tabs I added. I understand that my setup is not how the factory designed it to work, but when the airbag fires, I would think most of the forces would be toward the firewall, not away from it. I would use them if I were to do it again, but I am not worried about the dash being blown apart by an airbag deployment.

Just a word of caution with those wheels. If you wheel in a lot of rocks, the rings will catch and very easily bend. I have a friend that had his ripped out of the threaded portion of the wheel. I have the same wheels and I'm almost tempted to remove them before I go wheeling again.

I could see the right person spending $20k on it. I would actually sell mine for $15k if someone offered, but I've got a lot less in mine than you do. The problem with upgrading parts is let's say your stroker motor cost $3500, its not like you're selling the truck with two motors, so you can't ask anywhere close to what was spent on upgrading. I'm glad you're not selling, but for the sake of the argument I'd say $15k easy and $20k for the patient seller.