MrFreeze5

If I had something running well enough to pull it home the 20 miles I would. Not that I have anywhere to put it... :D

Ive got a class 2 hitch for a comanche that I don't want. One of the side plates is slightly bent, but would be SUPER easy to fix. $20 plus shipping.

Yes, there are 2 panels that slide together, and 2 fixed panels. PM on its way. Image Not Found

I need the latch that holds the 2 pieces of sliding glass together. My window is missing it. Security isnt an issue considering I don't have a key for the doors, but its been raining a lot lately and getting the seat wet. And of course, thanks to the unibody, every time i drive, the window ends up partially opened.

I used Wet Okole neoprene covers on my ZJ for 6 years. Just took them off a few weeks ago and my seats look great. And I have put them through hell. Rain, mud, $#!& or blood, it all came right off and never touched the seat. I even had an axle leak about a 12" pool of gear oil on the backside of the back bench seat while it was laid down. Wiped the pool off the seat cover, it left a little stain on the nylon outer layer, but the seat was safe. The downside is theyre really expensive and application specific. i got lucky and got an entire used set for my ZJ, but I wouldnt spend that kind of money on my Comanche. But they are the only waterproof covers I know of, so I may break down and get a pair once I take my doors off.

I pulled the powertrain from my ZJ on monday. The transmission is trash and the 242 is going back in the ZJ with my new V8, but the 4.0 is in great shape. It only has 150k on it with a brand new water pump on it. And I rebuilt the top end a few years ago, and the cylinders looked perfect inside, still had the crosshatch honing on the walls. This engine will end up being the basis for my stroker for the MJ. I am also swapping out the entire exhaust on my ZJ, so Ive got a good flowmaster muffler and nearly new catco cat that I can throw under the pickup. That will be nice considering it has a leaky cherry bomb under there now. More ZJ overhaul pics I also plan on stripping off the accessory brackets and moving it over to my Renix. This way, I can get rid of the goofy clutch fan and install dual efans, and move the alternator up higher. I suppose I could add AC if I wanted, but I don't feel like messing with it right now. UPS just dropped off a package for me today! I got my new Fel-Pro valve cover gasket, so I can swap the HO valve cover over to the 'manche until I can swap engines. My MJ has terrible blowby, so hopefully this will help. I also received a new O2 sensor and front exhaust pipe and doughnut gasket. Ive also decided that instead of trying to swap the disc brakes over from my ZJ axle to the MJ axle once I pull it, I am going to just weld some perches on it, run a new rear brake line, and swap axles. My ZJ axle is 3.73 and disc brake already. It should only cost me for a few brackets. This should serve me fine until I can afford to install the 8.8 later down the road when I do the 4wd swap.

Wow? really? I havent seen many 4.0s with the 249. Sucks for you :P j/k well, only a little. Ive owned a 96 4.0 ZJ with the 242 since '02. I'm right in the middle of a 5.2/44re swap. Personally, I love the 242 case. Ive never had a problem with it. Its served me well in Colorado winters on the highway, as well as offroad. Never had a problem with it. Put more than enough hard miles on it to know I trust it. I'm also putting a 5.9/46re/242 in my '58 willys wagon. Its a Tcase I'm very fond of.

No, its a 4.0. Only the V8s came with the 249 Tcase. The 4.0s uses a 242, which is a decent case. Not quite as strong as the 231 on paper, but practical application may differ a bit. If the 4.0 is in good order, the main things you need to worry about on that truck are water pump, transmission, and occasionally head gasket. Otherwise, the 4.0 is a great engine. The ZJ powertrain was a decent setup. The 42RE auto is a bit on the weak side, but if you run a near stock engine and service it properly, its not an issue. Ideally, if you are looking for a ZJ a 96-98 is the best, but that 95 does not look too bad. I would try to talk the seller down below $1000, but if it runs, and is in good shape and only ~155Kmiles, then its not a bad deal. There is a LOT of room for improvement, but its not a bad deal.

In addition to what was mentioned already, the trackbar mount must be raised over the axle for proper geometry.

Just double checked and the seats were 17.99 ea and the console was 9.99. There werent many 2drs, but LOTS of nice 4dr bucket seats.

Ive been back and forth to pull-n-save in Aurora, and U-Pull and Pay at 66th and Broadway. I got the seats and console at Pull-N-Save for about $50 total. the best part is, the seats were already unbolted and sitting in the back of the jeep. Both those yards have a few comanches, and there are a few 2dr XJs, but the seats i got were the best ones I have seen for at least the least few weeks. There is a yard called Metal Movers right by U-Pull and Pay. they have a lot of cash for clunkers cars and have a pretty nice selection of newer vehicles. I was picking over a 99 2 dr XJ there last week, among some WJs and other late model trucks.

I made some indirect progress today. I am completely redoing my ZJ Laredo by adding a V8, limited climate control, heated power leather seats, ltd dash harness, etc, among other drivetrain and suspension mods. Today, I pulled the stock dash harness and interior from the ZJ, and tomorrow, the 4.0 engine is coming out, along with all the engine bay wiring. Sounds like a good head start on an OBD2 HO 4.0 swap for the MJ don't ya think? The transmission is junk, but I want to keep the MJ manual anyway. Once I get the engine pulled, I will be pulling the valve cover off for the MJ ASAP. The previous previous owner just used RTV on the VC and it leaks badly, plus the blowby is really bad, so it needs to happen soon. The ZJ 4.0 has 150k on it but runs great still. I rebuilt the top end 3 years ago, and just replaced the entire cooling system a few weeks ago. I may use it as is, I may stroke it. Depends on what becomes available and when. Its nice having spare jeeps parts to use on the spare jeeps :D

I'm kinda near downtown. All of my projects are ambitious ones unfortunately, but Ive been looking for a while for a truck that was nice and simple to begin with and was cheap, but reliable. I was originally building my ZJ as the toy but got a bit too ambitious for a DD, now Ive got to fix it, then build the crap out of the MJ. Luckily it runs strong, and the problems it did have are motivating me to mod it. It will be a little while before I manage the AX15/231/HP30 w/WJ outers, but hopefully not long since my ZJ isnt too far from being done. Surprisingly enough, I plan on keeping this build fairly simple, at least this year. It will be limited to stuff that pretty much bolts in from other jeeps. Then once the ZJ is happy and the MJ has the right guts, then I can start working on the 231/300 doubler. I also have a HP D44 and a custom built FF 8 lug 9" with Spider 9 housing, but I'm not quite to a point where I am ready to install them in this rig as it would require quite a lot of other mods to make them work right now.

Hey all! I picked this MJ up about 2 weeks ago for $600 in running condition. Its an 88 SB 4.0, 2wd Pioneer. The interior was ROUGH when I got it, and the carpet was FUNKY! the bench seat was busted, and the windshield leaked onto the seat and the driver floorboard. It needed a lot of work, but it runs and drives just fine. It didnt have a boot on the shifter, and theres an exhaust leak in the front pipe that would suck into the cab. That wasnt fun driving it home the first day. Image Not Found Image Not Found Image Not Found Image Not Found The original interior was funky. Most of the dash was in the bed when I bought it. Wires hanging everywhere along with a flubbed attempt at wiring in a stereo. The fuel gauge doesnt work, I need to check the circuit and sender. Ill be doing that next week. The original cluster was broken and the needle was missing from the fuel gauge, but otherwise it had oil pressure, volts, and coolant temp already. Image Not Found Image Not Found Image Not Found So far, I have replaced the gauge cluster with an XJ setup, replaced all the dash panels, and added a set of 2dr XJ seats and full console.The seats, console, and gauges ran me about $60 total. These are the rocker style seats and I love them. They sit quite a bit higher than the bench, which I was really hoping for since it seemed WAY too low, plus the seat was broken, so it leaned quite a bit. Now i just need to free the lower torx bolt for the seatbelt on the driver side. Its rusted badly due to a leak and funky carpet. Ive already broken 2 T50 bits trying to get it out, so Ive been hitting it with penetrant every few hours for the last 2 days. My old seatbelts were crap, so I found some nice 2 door XJ ones from a 98, but of course, one of the bolts was stuck, and I couldnt free the driver side. So I grabbed another one from a butterscotch interior for the driver side to serve temporarily until I can get a grey one. Image Not Found Image Not Found Image Not Found The truck has a horrible blowby issue, but luckily I am pulling the 4.0 engine out of my 96 ZJ this weekend in favor of a V8, so I'm going to rob the valve cover and swap that on. Then in a few months, Ill use the block to build a stroker engine. Ive also been spending a lot of time at the junkyards lately. Luckily Denver has quite a few good yards and I know of several nice MJs and tons of XJs in the yards. But yesterday I found a few WJs that had already been picked over, but they left the good parts. I got a WJ brake master cylinder and booster. Found it already unbolted. Just had to pull the 2 lines off. I also grabbed the WJ knuckles and brakes. I plan on doing a HP30 axle swap on the front end, and Ill use the WJ outers on it. Ive also got a 8.8 axle sitting in my backyard that will be perfect for this truck. I plan on adding a AX15 and 231 soon, but after I replace the engine in my ZJ. can't have both vehicles down at the same time. The door hinges are all starting to tear off, and one has been welded, but the door is all wonky. I'm not all that concerned about it and plan on removing the doors anyway and putting on tube doors in the near future. Thats as far as Ive got for now. Ill be replacing the exhaust bits and O2 sensor, along with the HO valve cover within the next week or so. I also plan on pulling the seats and console back out and giving them a thorough cleaning. I don't plan on putting much of the interior back in. I have some steel to repair the floorboard, so I'm going to work on that soon too, then bedline the interior.

That did the trick. Thanks!!

Does anyone know what size bolts are needed to replace the rivets when using XJ seats with MJ seat brackets? Ive got a set of 2dr XJ seats to put in, but Id like to go get the hardware before I tear my existing seat apart. Thanks!!

Ive got an excess of spiders everywhere, so it pretty much keeps the other bugs away :D

The WJ axle is different and will not bolt up. It also has a different bolt pattern. But the knuckles and brakes are a nice upgrade. Id look for a 93ish-99ish XJ front axle.

Cool, thanks for the input, Ill check that first thing tmrw. I'm pretty sure it isnt the gauge itself because it did the exact same thing on 2 clusters. But so far I think thats the only thing I have ruled out :D. An open circuit was my other thought. I wasnt sure which polarity it was, so that helps a lot. Thanks!!

Hey everyone! Ive been lurking around here for a little over a week now. Last week, I bought a 88 MJ Pioneer 2wd, 4.0/BA10 for $600. Its a little ugly, but it runs pretty well. I'm a little new to this Renix thing, although the rest of the Jeep I know well. Ive got big plans for this thing, and have a few other Jeeps to pull parts from for this build, but Ive got to get a few simple things fixed first. When I got my MJ, most of the interior was already pulled apart, and the gauges were in bad shape. The gauge package it had was coolant, oil, volts, speedo, and a big gas gauge, but the gas gauge had no needle. I went to the junkyard and found a few older MJs and didnt really pay attention and pulled a cluster of a V6. Needless to say that didnt work, so today I went back and exchanged it for an XJ cluster. I already had most of the gauges, so I didnt need to swap senders or anything. The XJ cluster is from another 88 4.0, but none of my idiot lights work now(the XJ was auto). Not a big deal since the shift light irritated me and I know the emissions need matinenence. But thats not my real problem, Ill mess with them later. The gas gauge will go all the way to the right, well past F, so its pointing straight right. It did the same thing on the 2.8 cluster too. I am guessing it is an issue with the sender, but I'm not sure yet since I havent checked that. I currently know of 3 comanches in the junkyards right now, but theyre 2 4 cyls and a V6. And I don't know how much gas I have left...:D I'm guessing it might be grounded out since it immediately pegs to the farthest extreme, well past the markings. But I am hoping for some ideas before I crawl up under it to check. I'm not sure if this is true, but from what I can tell the senders for the 4.0 arent available anymore, is that right? Thanks for the help!