500 MJ

Yah, you did do a great job on it for sure. Quality work. After looking at it and owning two shortbeds, it really looks odd to me though. I keep finding myself wanting to reach into the screen and move the flare and rear axle forward! ;)

Clean your Throttle Body and see what that does for you, won't cost you but a can of carb cleaner and a couple hours of your time. Renix setups like clean TBs. I like to take them right off of the manifold and take them apart, use a brass brush to scrub the aluminum. While you have the throttle body apart, take a look at the idle air control valve and see what shape it is in... Renix systems are actually very easy to cope with as long as you have a way to test the sensors. Here is a link to the FSM, it will tell how to test everything. viewtopic.php?f=9&t=12517 As far as the manifold crack goes, that has never been the cause of issues with engines I've worked on. They crack and run weird, look into things and you can still trace the problem to something else, fix it and they run fine with the cracks. The cause of the cracks are most likely your motor mounts. Replace them before you mess with welding or replacing the exhaust manifold. I drove my '88 for about a year on a cracked manifold, ran just fine the whole time even though it was a little bit louder than normal.

Back from the dead it comes again. THANK YOU!

Nicely Done.

Looks Good! How did you come across getting it?

I don't have any of those removed from an engine currently. I'll be swapping them out sometime this spring/summer and I can grab a pic of them then.

Don't know. I just nab all of the cast iron ones I find (I think they are a carry over from the 258) and put them on my 4.0L engines in place of the crappy Aluminum ones. I've taken some of them off of Renix motors, that said I can't guarantee they came from the factory with them... maybe someone before me had the same idea.

Are you looking for the Renix style Cast Iron or Aluminum ones OR the HO style Aluminum ones with the sending unit hole in them? I'm about to swap out a few Renix style Aluminum ones for some Cast Iron ones. I'll have two of those Aluminum ones up for grabs if I don't break them getting them off.

You've got to pull the steering wheel and take the lock plate off to get in there and do the job. You really should have a lock plate removal tool to do this, makes it way easier. Once you are in the column, it is pretty easy to get the old one out and put the new one in, just a couple screws hold it in, swapping it out will take you about 5 minutes. I've got to do this job on the new XJ that I bought once it gets nice out...

Were you going to go there for anything in particular Jake/Ashley? Could you guys wait a few weeks? I'm looking next at March sometime...?

Should we wait for another weekend? I'm really in no rush, I can use my Sunday afternoon doing other stuff that I really need to get done.

I've never heard of Lizard Skin, what is it specifically and where did you get it at?

That one is not worth the price they have it listed for. Stay with the private market. Dealerships are not the way to go when buying an MJ.

That's the thing, none of them are in super shape so I doubt I would ever use one on my trucks. Look for one from the south, no need to buy one from the salt belt.

Yep. You guys and going out on your Sundays and all. I gotta hit up the first service at Church, then I'm coming home, changing and getting on the road. ;) Today started just like every other day, up at 5:15, out the door at 6:00. I'm in bed each night by 9:15. You get used to it, especially when you are home each day from work well before 5.

I really like it. I've got lots of MJ tailgates that I'll never use... :D

So who else is planning to make it?

Nope, the way I read it was that just the lights for the Tach were not working. If none of them were working on the last cluster or this one, it most likely is a fuse issue. Try that first.

The reason the lights don't come on in the Tach are probably because the bulbs are bad. I didn't test each and every bulb to see if they were good or not. If the lights come on in the rest of the gauges, then the fuse to the gauges is OK.

Yep, Get everything MJ specific now or else you'll wish you would have.

I know THAT feeling... WOW. Way to persevere!

I echo all of the comments above. Dress attire is not really needed, but certainly don't wear a Hawaiian shirt and swim trunks. Lots of people wore a comfortable shirt with stripes and a nice pair of jeans to mine. Guests can bring whatever they want as a gift. Their presence at the occasion and a verbal "congratulations" to the lucky guy is certainly enough. If you feel like giving a gift, keep it under $25 in value. Leave his family to give the larger gifts to him. My Parents got me a Ruger M77 Mark II .270 Deer Rifle, something that I will treasure forever. The occasion ranks in the same echelon as a Religious Confirmation and Graduation (High School and College) to me. Above all, enjoy the experience!

So here is the game-plan from my end: I've found a buyer for the ZJ, he'll be coming by to get it this week. So I won't be needing to look for a transmission for that thing. I am going to be looking for a good Renix motor now. If I find one here at LKQ that is worth pulling, I'll probably be looking to grab it. If not, I've found one in South Beloit at a yard for $250, 124K, tested before it was pulled with a 3 month warranty and I'll go that route. Of course I'll be looking for other fun stuff while we are there. Should be a good day picking. Might even find something for Valentines Day in the yard too, who knows. Look for me to be there around noon on Sunday.

That means he must have made it to first class in about a week. :eek:

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