Dove in and bought an MJ -- 4.0L shortbed, 4wd, AX-15 swap. Per the VIN, she's got the Chief trim but I have no idea how much of anything is original. None of the snazzy decals, unfortunately. It doesn't look like she's been repainted, so I don't know if that means she isn't actually a Chief, or if they've just been lost to time and neglect.
I got the basic config I wanted and a reasonably rust-free body, but I knew that otherwise she was a bit of a hot mess. Now that I've got her home, I'm slowly learning just how much of a mess... This is also my first truck, and my first Jeep, so it's gonna be a hell of a learning experience all around.
Off the top of my head and in very vague terms, here's what I've gotta fix:
New front wheel hubs
Rebuild half the front end (has a new track bar, but looking at probably needing new drag links and outer tie rods, plus who knows what else)
Un@#$% the engine and the wiring (I found a service report that basically sums up the entire truck: "ENGINE IS NOT SET UP AS IT WAS IN 88.") There are vacuum lines that don't go anywhere, and others are connected to the wrong things. There are wires that don't go anywhere, and if the vacuum lines are any indication I bet there are wires that are connected to the wrong things too. There's a random connector (that wasn't connected to anything) that was hanging out of the bottom of the engine and melted itself on the exhaust. The engine block to firewall ground was cut or torn, which is baffling. I am going to be getting very familiar with renix wiring diagrams. Honestly, the entire wiring harness probably needs to come out, but that's a problem for Future Me.
Half the instrument cluster doesn't work -- probably has something to do with that whole missing ground thing... Haven't checked these since I refreshed the grounds so I'm hoping that this one is actually resolved. Prior to pulling the battery, the speedometer, tach, voltmeter, and temp gauge worked, but the gas gauge and oil pressure gauge were inop. I was also told the AC, blower motor, and wipers don't work, but again -- I suspect at least the blower motor and hopefully the wipers will magically start working now that they're actually grounded.
Parking brake -- mechanism exists and seems to work, but the release cable is gone and so it won't stay set. Probably a result of the Cherokee dash swap.
Floor pans...
After all that, I want to do some sort of rust mitigation on the frame. I live in Minnesota and rust is inevitable, but I'd like to slow it down as much as possible. Not sure if sandblasting and painting is the way to go (I don't have the tools/space to do a full teardown and restoration), or just do an oil undercoating. The seats are a Dakota 40/20/40 bench using the original seat mounts, but it's a bit janky and the seat is just a tad too far back for me, so I'd like to do something about that eventually. The interior is okay, so it's lower priority than all of the mechanical and electrical work, but it's definitely on the list to clean up soon™.
What I've done so far:
Started cleaning up the grounds. Obviously replaced the engine block ground and cleaned up the blower motor etc ground. The driver taillight ground is extremely stuck but I'm hoping it'll cooperate soon. Still gotta check out the ground inside the dash and refresh the grounds at the dipstick tube.
Pulled the driver seat and adjusted it so I don't have to stack 7 phonebooks behind me to fully depress the clutch (I am not tall). Could probably still stand to sit in front of one phonebook, but I can deal with that.
Started checking and properly routing all the vacuum lines. Going to start replacing a few of them today.
New front brakes and hub assemblies are ready to be installed as soon as my impact wrench arrives in the mail.
Pics to follow!
