beaterjeep

Hey now Don, I resemble that remark! Wait, I said that wrong, didn't I?

barillms is on here, he just hasn't posted much in quite a while. I remember his build thread, as I had been following it because it was so different. As has been stated, pong is on here as well, and is in process of anouther rebuild.

I can't say I didn't see that one coming, it was the same thing last year. You would think the mods could think of something new :nuts: , but, with Don's memory from old age, and Rob's attention deficit dis.. squirrel!, it's not an easy task. :rotf: I myself have gotten some people on here going today, as well as a lot of my friends with the same story. I even got jokingly threatened by one friend for supposedly getting rid of Baby. Apparently I'm not the only one that likes her.

Party pooper! You're no fun. Yes, it has been a ruse, I still retain ownership of both my Jeeps. Although, if I were to find a less rusty 4.0/4x4/5spd XJ for dirt cheap, Gizmo would probably go. Baby will remain mine until the day I leave this Earth, and that won't be for a long time yet. My health has been down, but at a stable down, which just means I'm getting too old. I figured I would have a little fun with you all, since I hadn't seen any other 'fooling' threads, hope no one minded. :clapping:

I wanted to keep this under wraps until everything was said and done, but that day happened yesterday. That's right, I no longer own any Jeeps. :???: I watched as Gizmo was hauled off by his new owner, and sent the signed title to Baby's new owner earlier this week. You have all been a great group of people that have helped me along the way, and for that, I am forever grateful. The time just came that I had to think of my health first, and what's actually important to me, so they had to go. It was not an easy choice in the least, and I already regret doing it, but I had no choice. I will eventually return to Jeeps, after everything is good with me again, but that won't be for a minimum of at least 2-3 years. I will still stick around here and pop in every now and then when I can, but for now, I just need a break to think of myself first.

I went through the same problem with my Cherokee this fall. It turned out that my battery cables were corroded and they had gotten too close to the engine because the previous owner routed them wrong, so the insulation melted off and exposed the cables. New cables and battery fixed it right up! Lesson learned; always check your grounds and cables first, as it is usually the simple things that get overlooked. Also sounds like either your fuel pump is on it's way out and/or your ballast resistor, I'd check them out as well.

Sorry for the delay in this, I had family things to deal with. 87Warrior: That looks a lot better than my paint versions, and I'm sure you can get it a lot better too. Nice subtle touch of the K. State logo on the plate, aside from Michigan, K. State is my go to team for basketball. 1990 Pioneer 4x4: As you requested, here is a medium grey Pioneer.

Thanks, it definitely inspires me to do new works along these lines. I can do that right quick, as soon as I'm sober. :rotf:

That would be the part that is between the bottom of the knee board and the actual full center console. It is merely just a small piece of plastic, but is crucial to the true center console swap. Whereas the traditional MJ/XJ with the mini console has a black piece with the two holes for vents, the full console version is completely different and will not work with the mini console version. It allows not only airflow to the back of the cab, but also allows the console to butt against the duct work properly.

How about this one? I actually like the bright green idea and look as well.

As requested, here is a '97+ conversion and a lime green one. The '97+ is still a little bit of a work in progress, as I am playing around to get the right colour and nose format, but this is where I'm at for now.

Thanks, appreciate it. I've been in a struggle to stay healthy this past 6 months, but am seeing the light again, and all is going good now. Can't wait to see what you're working on as well. That's what Baby is, and what inspired me to start doing a bunch of different looks actually. I can definitely work on the '97+ doors and header panel though. I'm actually surprised I hadn't thought of that one myself, thanks for the tip!

I had some 'down time' not too long ago, so I sat and repixelated an MS paint drawing I had saved from one of JBhill's threads. I repixelated it so that I could save it as a .bmp and alter colours on the fly without having to go pixel by pixel over and over again. The end result is that I came up with EVERY MJ model made, plus a few extras including Baby. Each one as you will see, has it's own unique paint design scheme. This is something I actually enjoy doing, so if anyone has a paint scheme in mind, don't hesitate to ask, and I will see what I can do, as long as it's not changing the stance of the truck, I haven't gotten that quite right yet, but will continue working on it for you all. :clapping: Without further adieu, here they are, starting with the '86 lineup. Base: Custom: X: XLS: SporTruck: Pioneer (yes, it's real woodgrain!): Chief: Laredo: Eliminator: Now the 'fun ones'. Flag: '55 Chevy inspired: Baby with the Waggy clip: Feel free to criticize, offer advice, etc. I am open to new ideas as well!

Took her off of a 3 1/2' tall dirt mound at around 45 MPH and nose dove hard enough that I was pulling dirt out of the JEEP letters on the header panel.

With more airflow coming in, you'll also need more fuel coming in, therefore necessitating the Mustang 5.0L injectors or anything that will work that has a higher flow rate. Some might even venture to say that you would need larger exhaust as well, to relieve the extra backpressure it may cause.

My attention has been piqued. Loving both, especially the air dam. :yes: If they can be done as Jeepco suggested, with a positive centered flat for the license plate, that would be about perfect!

Looked at pictures of her again, since I haven't seen her in a very long time. :cry:

Definitely bucket seat brackets! The XJ and MJ floors are not the same, and the bucket brackets are a lot harder to come by than the bench brackets, even though both will work for bench to bucket conversion. Pretty much everything but the dash and steering column on the interiour, and everything from the rear of the door back on the exteriour.

I have the wrong time, and the left time. But I guess that doesn't help any.

How much drop do you want? If you use the rear coils out of a ZJ it should be good for about 2" of drop... I think. Can someone verify this? Dunno yet, as low as I can go without hitting the pan and still having some room for suspension travel on a road course. The ZJ rear coils netted an initial 2" drop, yes. They have settled to about 3" with the old 2.5L in it. Since then, it has a new front axle ready to go in, which has had the coil buckets modified for anouther 1/2" or so drop. Add in the weight of the new 4.0L going in, and Jeepco and I figure it to be about 4" total drop, which is perfect as it will not interfere with the oil pan, and still leave enough room for travel when bumpstopped properly.

I know you asked about the rear, but what all are you doing in the front? If you're simply switching the 4wd axle to the 2wd beam, you won't net any drop at all. You will have to switch coils as well. As for the rear, yes, older mid 80's FSJ Grand Waggy leafs have been shown to be bolt in with minor mods possibly being needed, such as the bushing bolt holes might not be the same size. Easy fix would be new bushings with correct diameter bolt holes. If you want a bit of inspiration and ideas, I (well, Jeepco) happen to be lowering my 88. Just click on 'Baby' in my sig.

Have you thought about using the Comanche main leafs and leafes from a Cherokee for the rest of the pack? Stock Cherokee leaf springs are pretty much flat with the weight of the vehicle on them, and they are easy to find. i think you're over-thinking it a bit beaterjeep... if we can run spring over (increasing likely-hood of spring wrap) and short blocks, and not have an axle-wrap problem... i highly doubt you're going to have a problem from SUA with a short 1-2" block. then get explorer 2wd springs, which should lower a couple inches, or waggy or whatever you want, a cherokee rear-shackle will lower a tiny bit. i mean, you can't go much more than 3" up front without worrying about the oil pan anyways right? All good points indeed, but I've had a set of 3" steel blocks for a while now, so might as well use them if I can. One thing to remember though, if the ZJ coils settled to 3" with my 2.5L, what will they do with the 4.0L in it? Not to mention the added 1/2" or so from modifying the axle side coil buckets. I'll be looking at approximately a 4.5"-5.5" drop in front alone! No oil pan interference to worry about, as it's staying 2wd. The XJ shackle is a good idea that I had overlooked until you just reminded me of it, and would be nice since I could direct swap from my trucks.

First part: Comanche specific items like that simply do not exist. As for springs, as stated, the REAR coils from a ZJ will fit in with minor modification (the lip on the bumpstops needs to be ground down a little bit to fit) and depending on what engine you have, should net between 2"-3" immediate drop. Mine is a 4cyl and has settled to about 3", so with the extra weight of a 4.0, it should be more. You can also modify the coil buckets on the axle side to add anouther 1/2" or so of drop. Second part: How do you figure that the rear end is the easy part? As I'm sure you know, the MJ is already SUA (spring under axle), so therefore the only choices are using drop blocks, which aren't usually advised, or using a set of FSJ Wagoneer leafs for a mere 1"-2" drop, 3" at most. The rear is the part I have been struggling with, and think I may end up having to use a combination of the FSJ waggy leafs and drop blocks along with a set of old school traction bars to fight the axle wrap. Jeepco has measured it out for me, and the only way I will have any interference issues at the suspected 4"-5.5" drop I'll be getting in the front, is IF I had a 4wd axle in it. The diff would run into the oil pan around 3.5" drop otherwise. I had thought about creating a dropped AWD MJ for a long time, but the reality is that with it dropped as much as it will be, it's not feasible. Yes and no. There was the limited run of 'Street Comanches' that got a full body kit inspired/built from the Archer Brothers' SCCA winning MJs, but no other companies that I know of since then have offered anything.

Is it bad that I actually like it, aside from the Blazer front clip? I think it'd be cool to have a targa top like that! :brows:

Alright, I'll bite. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=514340835