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Considering how rough this thing started out I have no problem doing just that

Couple of things to clear up, the 231J’s all have the same clocking. The difference is in the transmission tailhousing not the tcase. As for the Speedo provision, pretty much any jeep np231 will have the Speedo provision you need. There are different speed senders over the years but they all fit the same Speedo hole in the case. Same goes for linkage. Your variable is the type of tail housing as some have an accordion style rubber and some gave a fixed metal tail one with seal for the slip yoke and also the spline count. You’ll need a 23 spline input which are super common anyway. No need to hunt down a specific serial number case.

For some of you wiring gurus out there, I’m trying to find the female plug that goes into this 97+ XJ grill lighting harness. Trying to integrate a factory connector here using my painless harness. The numbers inside the connector are: 52772 B6

Some more mock ups and test fitting. Also had to modify the trans shifter cover. The wheels here are just sitting about an inch from the rotor mounting surface. Flares will still be coming in another 1/2-3/4”. Wanted to get the tires mounted first so I knew the exact stance I was after. Ended up with a 20mm rear adapter and 27mm front adapter which will be custom made. Rear tires will be almost flush with flares but will tuck in about 1/4”.

No major updates but ordered up SKF bearings and seals for the NP242 along with an oem 6 pinion planetary and Tom woods SYE. Should be one solid transfer case. Also got some Eastwood inner frame coating to do the frame rails with.

Gotcha, there is no rated torque handling differences between the R151 and AX15. The R154 I suspect is the same in regards to torque handling but on a lightweight Supra making power at higher RPM’s it’s likely adequate.

Yeah Marlin can probably answer that as it’s more of a Toyota tech question. The AX15 is basically an R151 and similar to the rest of the R series but not identical. Out of curiosity, why would you want to put an ax15 bellhousing on an r series tranny?

The tail housing is not hard to drill at all (with a jig and out of the truck) but a clocking ring will work just fine too. Plenty of spline engagement still on the tcase. That way you can clock it wherever it needs to be. The 241 is slightly bigger and it does use an electronic VSS with no provision for a mechanical speedo on the output. The 242 is even larger and will fit under an MJ with some very slight mods. 241OR also has a different driveshaft coupler but can be simply adapted. The length difference of the tranny doesn’t necessitate a driveshaft change for most installs. https://www.ebay.com/itm/303597948710

What questions do you have? There is a huge knowledge base of people here who aren’t trying to sell you anything

It is paint not bedliner

The R154 was in Supra's for certain years in the usdm. Many more years in the JDM. The AX15 will not hold that much torque though with spirited driving. There are many factors here like vehicle weight, axle ratio, and driving style. The NV3550 that later replaced the AX15 for a time was rated at 300lbft of torque with a gross vehicle weight of just over 7k pounds. The AX15 was not officially rated on torque but new units have been advertised as capable of 385lbft with no listed GVW. That torque number likely holds true for all the AX15 years. There are new AX15s available from a few different suppliers. Advance adapters and Novak both offer to drill the tail housing to clock the tcase down a bit for XJ/MJ applications. Rockland standard gear also offers the “terminator” ax15, but it’s just a regular new ax15. All these companies advertise there units have the “latest revisions”. In my research, this has just been the 5th gear update which updates the synchro hub. That is not a strength upgrade just a functional upgrade. Marlin crawler will do a quality rebuild with all the upgraded parts for around 1900. My concern with rebuilds has always been the quality of the bearings and synchros used in these kits. Lots of low quality hardware in the off the shelf kits. You can source some quality bearings separately though. I had an ax15 rebuilt (not by Marlin) with a crown kit. Lasted all of maybe 12 months with many issues behind a jeep stroker in a YJ. Second unit was just a used ax15 with 140k miles and it worked flawlessly. So i’d trust oem components more than any of those kits. My current AX15 was original to my 90 MJ. I rebuilt the shifter, installed the newer style input shaft bearing plate for the external slave setup, and replaced the tail seal. Flushed with redline mt90 and refilled. That’s what’s in my LS swapped MJ now. I’m really not concerned about it holding up. If it does die at some point, I’ll rebuilt it with quality Japan made bearings and seals (since it’s a Japanese tranny) and add some upgraded parts from Marlin for the R151.

Very true, I spent many days stripping off old bedliner from both my MJ’s. And that was just the cheap rattle can stuff. That LJ looks great!

I’d also repeat same as above: don’t bedline the outside. Do you have any rust or body damage to repair?

Actually kinda hard to find 89 and older knuckles. Can you measure the hole size and also see if it has a taper or is straight through? If all else fails, you can get the 90+ knuckles but will hav to swap over all the brakes as well.

Are you talking TJ rubicon or JK rubicon?

https://www.marlincrawler.com/product/chromoly-r-series-thrust-washer-kit/ https://www.marlincrawler.com/product/r-series-heavy-duty-bearing-retainer/

From my research and some first hand experience: The stock gearset is plenty strong. If you need more torque handling the 2 main upgrades are the thrust washer and bearing retainer plate. 500ish HP an TQ have been run fairly reliably with those mods. If you need to speed shift and are mashing gears, then some upgraded shift forks are in order. There was a revision to the 5th gear synchro hub in later years. Main shafts have been broken occasionally and cryo treating may help but only under severe and repeated abuse. Keep in mind that most of the “upgrades” are made for the Toyota R series and are compatible with the AX15.

It shouldn’t make much of a difference. Sequential injection is a bit smoother at idle but untimed batch injection works just fine on many engines. Not likely to be the root cause IMO but would be good to get that fixed at some point.

Latest updates: was able to move the engine forward about 1/2” to get adequate firewall clearance which was a big win. Started work on the tcase linkage. I’m running the Novak cable linkage on the np242. Disassembled the original transfer case shifter to clean and restore it. Works very smoothly now. Also unpacked my 97 front grill. 97+ fenders in the way as well.

I think it’s the best setup on the market for the ax15. Really nice that you can use all stock Jeep parts up to the pressure plate.

If you happen to have an oscilating tool, grab a stiff caulk cutting blade for it. It works great to remove the factory seam sealer so you can get down to clean metal and find any hidden rust on that toe-floor panel seam.

BORA will make them in steel or aluminum. They are highly regarded. The link above is for the BORA adapters https://www.motorsport-tech.com/bora.html

Most definitely. I'd personally recommend a 140A-180A mig welder that can run .025 or .023 mig wire as that will work better for thin sheet metal. That being said, ive used plenty of 100a flux core welder for projects (including floor pans) when I didn't have access to my welding setup. Here is a link to dash removal:

In regards to sound dampening and insulation: I've been quite averse to laying Dynamat or any other similar butyl-based material on the actual floor pans due to a bad experiences in my last MJ. In retrospect, most of the negativity actually came from having the "mass backing" on my carpet. That junk crumbled into crumb rubber in every nook and cranny. For this build I lined the firewall with dynamat followed by 1/2 dynaliner. The roof and back of the cab is getting dynamat followed by 1/4" dynaliner. I used medium bodied 3m pillar foam in strategic areas between the structure and sheet metal skin. The doors are geting dynamatted inside along with a 12x12" 1/2" dynaliner behind the speaker to help reduce resonance. Instead of the factory water shield, I'm using 1/8 dynaliner to further insulate the doors and deaden the sound. The trans tunnel and possibly the floor will get dynamat followed by 3/8 dynapad which is a very heavy sound absorber and and thermal insulator. I'm still debating using some rubberized undercoating on top of the hard raptor liner as the rubberized stuff does much better at preventing chips from road debris.

Found a company online that repairs and refurbishes the old overhead console electronics. Just sent them my 1991 XJ sunroof console to get worked on and found a clean factory harness for it as well. More interior/electrical updates coming soon.