boxyjeep

I'm in a rough spot trying to figure out what color to paint my MJ. It's an 88 short bed in good shape with zero rust (southern CA farm truck). Unfortunately, I can't make up my mind on what to paint it. It currently has a faded/oxidized patina and "natural sandblasting" from sitting outside all it's life in a dusty place. I'm debating between the following colors: Bright Silver Metallic (like ~2001 XJ) Rescue Green (although my wife may kill me) Chili Pepper Red The truck will have full JCR bumpers and sliders, and likely either 17" black steel wheels or 17" Rubicon grey/dark grey take-off's. 6" SOA lift with 33's. Will also be doing the 97+ Header, Doors, and Fenders. I have two sets of flares, so I can figure out whether body color or black would be better. All bumpers/sliders/tool box/trim will be black.

Awesome build.

Very cool non-traditional Comanche build!

The leak is likely in the cowl. There is an opening on the passenger side to allow fresh air in. Sometimes the sealant around that vent can fail which allows seepage during heave rains (as the cowl will fill with water and drain out the sides). I have a leaking problem in my '88--the passenger side floor gets super wet when it rains. I haven't tackled a fix yet, as I'm not 100% sure on what to do without taking out the dash and HVAC box, but I'm about 99% sure this is the problem. This thread describes it perfectly: https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/water-leaking-cowl-34969/

Man that thing is clean inside. I don't think mine will ever be that solid until I eventually do a 97+ swap in a few years...

Pics. Still need to get it stretched out and in place better.

Got the carpet unboxed and had a few comments--it is a good reproduction, but not perfect. The backside is covered in oil from the manufacturing process and there is way too much carpet around the edges that will need to be heavily trimmed. Additionally, the portion in the front the trans tunnel where it meets the firewall will need significant trimming. I'm also apprehensive on when I should cut the opening for the tcase shifter. I have a column shift transmission, so nothing else to cut. I'll also need to cut for the seat bolts and seatbelts. I also bought an extra "yard" of carpet to re-cover the rear cab panel and the color is not a great match (despite ordering the same color code).

Just had my Stock Interiors carpet delivered today. Will be installing it later this week and will let you know.

Thanks definitely more than I can justify spending on this. Will try to see if I can track one down in a junkyard down here in SoCal.

Whats your best price shipped to 92629 for your favorite seat bracket customer? 😁

Need the A Pillar Interior Trim for the passenger side on my 88 MJ. Prefer grey or blue. Need to shipped or available near 92629.

Just bought a 97+ XJ console and will be swapping into my '88 4WD w/ Column shift. I bought the JCR reinforcement bracket and will trim the console to fit as needed. Should have some pics up in the next week or so. I'm planning an eventual 97+ dash & interior swap, so this makes the most sense for me.

Any idea on where to get these? I need 2.

Thanks--that's helpful. I'll get a vacuum gauge and test it.

Sorry, forgot to mention. It has a new IAC (same behavior as the old one) and cleaned throttle body/new TB gasket. I've replaced almost every vacuum line that even looked close to failing and done a handful of vacuum leakage process-of-elimination tests by disconnecting and capping off certain ports. Unfortunately, still the same. I'm really leaning towards dirty/bad injectors or clogged cat. Both appear original on this 30-year old 211k truck. It was at a Southern CA farm most of it's life in very hot, dry, dusty conditions. Luckily no rust, but most of the plastic is melted/brittle. Also, it accelerates somewhat well, but still feels like something is restricting at higher RPM's. I'm comparing this to my seat-of-the-pants feelings from older XJ's that I had 10+ years ago, so this level of performance might be the norm. It also has a new distributor and plugs. I haven't indexed the distributor by cutting off the ears yet, but don't believe that would cause such a big issue at idle. I'm also somewhat concerned with timing chain slop, but it didn't seem too far off when rotating the crankshaft and watching the distributor rotor move simultaneously.

I've been reviewing this a bit more and am considering a possible clogged cat or bad fuel injectors. Will also be targeting to eliminate the C101 connector this weekend. The truck was in rough shape when I got it and despite this rough idle, it is running the best it ever has. When I got it, the block-side coolant temperature sensor was unplugged (and wiring cut), the fuel pump ballast resistor was bypassed, the O2 sensor was forcing a rich condition, and it had a bad exhaust manifold/gasket (among many other things). I'll also target to disconnect the exhaust before the cat to see if that shows any noticeable improvement before I buy any new parts.

Ok, got the fuel pressure gauge connected. Reads about 30-31psi at idle. Disconnecting the FPR it spikes up to 39-40psi. When giving the engine throttle, it stays around 30psi and fluctuates up or down 2psi. Should the fuel pressure be increasing with throttle or maintaining close to 30psi? Also changed the plugs today. No noticeable improvement.

That thing is super clean for it's age (and being in PA)! Where was it originally from? Looks cleaner than my SoCal '88 (with similar patina).

I've got the TPS set to 17% throttle at idle and 0.84-0.86v. Idle is still super low and unstable. Will order a fuel pressure tester and see how that looks. Also got some new plugs since they looked a little fouled.

Just took it for a drive and let it fully warm up. Unfortunately the low idle condition is still mostly there. The truck runs notably better with the new O2 sensor, but idle is still super low. I started adjusting the TPS for the second time and am seeing some big variances in idle speed. I'm also seeing a large variance in TPS return voltage using a backported voltmeter vs. MT2500. Not sure if you have any advice on which one is more accurate for calculating the 17% basis. Also, what % throttle should we be at for idle? 18% is what I am seeing. Regarding your site, it's been super helpful and I've even printed it out in a binder in my garage--thanks! I've completely refreshed the grounds, cleaned the throttle body, replaced the throttle-body-to-map hose, and done a handful of others. I still need to complete the C101 elimination and verify all sensor grounds. Additionally, disconnecting the fuel pressure regulator vacuum hose has no noticeable effect on idle. Previous owner replaced the fuel pump with a few months before I got the truck.

Any reason why a second LHD fan couldn’t be used instead? $340 is insane for one of these...

This thread is exactly why I will never be hacking up the rear of my MJ. Stock rear flares with minor modifications to the front flares and that’s it.

Quick update--got the new O2 sensor installed this morning and it's running about 10 times better. Now it's properly switching between LEAN/RICH, and CLOSED loop doesn't cause the near-stall condition like it did before. The O2 sensor reading is properly ranging between 0-5v on the MT2500 (as expected). I didn't have a chance to drive it or let it fully warm up, but the results were pretty immediate. The idle is still a bit low, but overall seems much improved. Thanks everyone for helping on this. Super pleased that this MJ that I bought a few months ago is finally starting to run better.

I believe I saw this posted on IG. Looks awesome! I'm also in Dana Point and drive by that spot pretty often.

Can you go more in depth on the 99 Intake swap into the Renix system? Is it just the TPS adapter and various vacuum hoses/adapters?