90MJ

The doors I picked up to swap are all manual so it should be fairly easy as far as electronics, basically just speaker wires. I even got the key to the locks with them. My original doors are paper thin on the lower 4-5". There is no saving and swapping things. They need to be replaced. The panels are in excellent shape on the originals though. Worst case I paint the ugly gray panels on the new doors tan to match my interior but I would prefer to keep my original panels

Since I already started painting panels today welding extensions is out of the question. Guess I will just cut them. As long as I can use them I am ok with it. The one donor fender didn't have a flare (the one in the pic). Mostly I just didn't want to buy flares lol Also.. will the old door panels swap to the newer doors? I don't plan on doing the interior. Mine is in really good shape and I like the older look. Realistically I wouldn't even be doing this swap if my doors weren't shot and I didn't get all of these parts dirt cheap

Just beginning a 97+ door and front clip swap on my 90. I have read tons of write ups on here. The only thing I haven't seem to be able to find is if you can use the old fender flares with the shorter fenders. Do I HAVE to swap to the newer flares and bumper caps or can I use my original style? Everyone seems to use the newer style. The older style bumper caps and full length flares just look more truck-like to me. Plus the flares join the lower air dam on mine. Any advice about this before I start taking my front clip off would be appreciated.

Update: Vacuum lines... replaced every one of them and left the stepper screwed all the way in. Idle is down to about 1000rpm however I have to pump the gas like a carb to start it cold. Fuel pump and filter are new and I am running about 16psi at the TBI. I am happy with it for now but it still is not correct. Planning on cleaning every ground and electrical connection and also the throttle body this weekend. It is a step in the right direction so far.

Limited slip. Is it an open carrier or does it have a factory trac-lok?

AMC 20 parts are far from obsolete. There is a ton of support for them (CJs,FSJs,AMC cars,etc). The ring gear is just a hair shy of 9" (8 7/8 IIRC) and overall they were not bad axles despite having a bad rep by people who abused them beyond their design. They DO have a tendency to bend tubes under hardcore abuse which can be remedied with either a truss, by sleeving, or both. Unless you are running at King of the Hammers it would probably be fine and will handle the power of a stock v8. Also being from a FSJ it SHOULD have 11x2 drum brakes. I ran my 67 FSJ for over a decade on 35s with 11x2 drum brakes both front and rear. If adjusted correctly a drum brake is a good setup that works well. Sure, discs stop better generally, but if drum brakes can stop a semi truck I am sure proportionally they'll stop your truck. The AMC 20 and Spicer 53 are the two most bashed FSJ axles by people. The internet is your friend. The parts and upgrades are out there. If it is a LSD version even better. If it was cheap enough and it were me, I would get the spacer/adapters, sleeve it, and enjoy having a cheap full size jeep axle under my MJ. If you don't want it and are in the northeast I will happily take that off your hands

Maybe it would look horrible, but I just had a random thought about what a MJ would look like with an old Willys pickup bed and I am not sure if the thought intrigues me or repulses me. Has anyone actually attempted this in the past? Don't get me wrong, these trucks are perfect how they are but I have always liked the thiftside look on the old willys and early J-trucks. I think a stepside MJ would be pretty cool if done right and definitely would be different. My bed is pretty rusty so it got my gears turning. Just curious as to if it has ever been done or if anyone has ever put some sort of stepside bed on one of these that actually looked correct.

Ac and power steering are out of the equation since the truck has neither. By halfassing I was referring to disconnecting it and leaving it disconnected as a permanent solution, not as a troubleshooting step

2nd update: Upon start up when cold I have to pump the throttle like it is carburated since eliminating the idle stepper motor. Once started it idles about 5-600 rpm for a minute or two and then goes to its normal 1500rpm idle, which is still better than a 3200rpm idle, but it just isn't right. With that said, I may reconnect the stepper this weekend and try to find the actual problem. It seems disconnecting it is just a halfassed bandaid to get me back and forth to work this week and not a permanent thing

Update. Unplugged the stepper and turned it all the way in. Idle is now at 1500 with occasional fluctuation to about 1700. It is warming up to go to work at the moment and still not up to temp but at least it isn't racing as high. So now where do I go to get it into the 800 rpm range? We are expecting a heat wave this weekend in the mid 30s so I may wait til then to explore further. Currently its 12 and windy. I've had enough for this morning. Other than vac leaks is there anything else to check out?

I am eliminating it either way at this point. Anyone have any advice on vac line rerouting and things I can eliminate while I am at it?

I like the "unplug and forget about it" idea. It would be one less part to fail in the future. At that point I would fully remove it and make a bracket with an adjustable idle screw just to get it out of the way. Same with the vacuum lines and wiring. Once the weather gets nicer I plan on eliminating all of the unnecessary stuff under the hood. The truck has not had a consistant idle since I bought it back in Nov., usually between 900-1500 RPM depending on the day. I was dealing with that and not really worried about it, however 3200RPM at idle is far from ok

So ultimately I don't even need the stupid thing? You are saying it is basically going to become an idle screw that I set and that's it? Sounds too easy. So what is the actual point of it? To increase idle at warm up or something?

It has been insanely cold and windy here so I really have done nothing more that a quick glance under the hood at obvious things. I drove it to work today because my wife needed the car and i refuse to drive the Gladiator in the Winter months. All I can say is I drove 10 total miles and didn't touch the gas pedal once, just clutch and shift and it was all go. The stepper motor looks like it is out further than it should be. Either way I want to replace it just due to age (appears original and the truck is over 210k). When I get a day that doesn't feel like Siberia outside I am replacing every vacuum line. They are all oil soaked and soft and it is a matter if time before failure, plus the PO has them spliced and hacked everywhere. My biggest concern is if I swap in a new stepper, is it simply plug and play or not. I have never dealt with one before. If the motor blows up before the part arrives I am at the point I could care less. It will give me a justifiable reason to to swap a carburated V8 in. In the meantime I am hoping I can bolt a new stepper on and go. Is it that easy or is there more to it?

Everything has been going good for a while and I knew it was too good to be true. The other day it intermittently would spike up to about a 2k idle speed when at stop lights but it was only here and there. Went out to warm it up before work yesterday and it raced a hair over 3k the entire time. After 10min of it not changing I shut it off and took the wife's car to work. I didn't start it up yet today but I anticipate the same result. I am thinking the idle stepper motor is screwing up. I don't know much about it though. Can I simply replace it with a parts store one and be driving it no problem or will I need to somehow calibrate it as well? I wouldn't sweat it so much if my scanner would connect to it when I plug it in to the OBD1 but it has no communication with my scanner and I don't know why. Feedback is appreciated!

I had the same issue recently. I modified a sender for a 87-90 XJ and it has been working well. Basically all i had to do was bend it slightly on the internal side of the tubes and modify the pump mount slightly and it went right in. Only complaint is the float doesn't sit in the slosh pan of the tank so the gauge goes up and down with acceleration/braking slightly. It bothers me but not as much as a non-running truck bothers me.

If I pinch the vacuum line going from the valve cover to the lower port on the TBI it idles perfect. Can I just cap that off and install a breather on the valve cover? Update: I capped it and just drove to work. Idle is steady at about 850. Runs smoother than it ever has since I bought it. Screw it, if it works it works

Correct me if I am wrong but it looks like I already have the brackets when comparing to the pic you posted.

Yes still TBI. Is there an easy swap better setup than that?

All the images I have seen on the internet of the bracket basically looks like just a triangle shaped piece of flat steel with 3 holes. What's so hard about finding the pulley? Will the pitman from the manual box swap to the power box? Steering box bolts up in place no problem? I wish I had a pic of the pump mounting bracket

I have a 90 2.5L without power steering. I want to add power steering. Other than a pump, 2 hoses, steering gear, and different belt, what else is needed? Brackets? Basically the bearing in my idler pulley that is in the position where the pump would be went bad today (yay, another problem with this thing!). This got me thinking, since I need to replace the pulley and I want to add power steering, this is a good time to start this project. Feedback?

Get 3157 bulb sockets from a later model XJ. Use a test light to determine wire function. Solder and heat shrink the connections. Install 3157 led bulbs with dielectric grease. Snap new socket into housing. Do the same for the tail lights. Never look back

I have access to another front beam axle. I am contemplating if I could cut it and press/weld the tubes into a 44 center section for the front. I really want at minimum a pair of 44s under it if I go 4wd. I have stockpiles of 44 sh*t laying around from my Gladiator and will have even more once I swap the 3/4 ton axles into it this summer. Plus I already have lockers for it then. OR, try to find a TJ Rubicon front 44. I am the guy that will do conversions as overkill as possible even though a 44 front is excessive for what I would need. My theory is like the 'take a jacket' theory. If you don't need a jacket you could always take it off, but that one time you need it and don't have it, you'll wish you did. I use that mentality on everything I have ever built. I am new to the Comanche world again after a 20yr hiatus but not new to Jeeps and fabrication. If it wasn't freezing here realistically this post wouldn't even exist, as I would have crawled under the truck and figured all of it out myself. I don't like wrenching in the cold haha. I think a rubicon TJ 44 front would be the way to go though. They sell narrowed 60 rear housings online pretty inexpensive also. It would be cool to run a 44/60 combo thats 5 lug. At least that route I would feel comfortable if I did the AMC V8 swap eventually as well. The thought of breaking axles and things that are underbuilt would keep me up at night.

My rear is a D35 with 3.55. Was hoping to upgrade in the future to a Chrysler 8.25 or a Dana 44. I am torn whether I want to do a 4wd conversion or leave it 2wd and do an AMC v8 swap eventually. I'm really just weighing my options at this point and doing a v8 swap wouldn't happen anytime soon, at least as long as the 2.5 is still alive and kickin'. The 4wd swap seems more practical to me since this is my daily driver and I live in the northeast and rotted out but running XJ donors are plentiful around here cheap, but I don't want it lifted though, just keep it stock height and get the body cleaned up. I appreciate all the feedback from everyone so far.

The plan is to eventually find a cheap XJ for the parts. They are a dime a dozen around here. Was hoping to not have to swap to auto. AX15s can he had for under 200 bucks all day also around here. I figure I could do the whole conversion with a $500 donor. Upgrading to a 4.0 in the process seems like it will be a longer project than I want. If I could bolt the transfer to the current transmission I could have the whole swap done in a weekend providing all the donated parts are in working order