jeff351

Those of you who are familiar with XJs know already but the rear wiring harness is divided from the fuse box, one side goes along the passengers door sill to the passengers tail light and the other along the drivers side doorsill to the drivers taillight. I was concerned about exhaust heat cooking the passengers side wiring, so I removed a knockout plug on the floor behind the drivers seat and ran both sides together through that hole following the stock MJ wiring route. Looking at the MJ taillight wiring, I was torn what to do as wiring is one of those OCD things that takes me FOREVER to do. Instead of messing with mating the XJ wiring to the MJ wiring, I instead modified the MJ taillight housing to accept the XJ sockets. The sockets are physically different sizes and don't fit. The only wiring mod needed now is just extend the straight section from the fuse box back to the tail light connectors. Other than that, its a direct plug in now. Tools used: hot knife tool (soldering iron with a tip ground to an edge), Dremel tool, sander, sand paper, JB Weld. Comparing the 2 housings side by side, the socket difference is clear. At this point, take a sharpie marker and make a mark at the 12:00 position so you get them installed in the right direction at the end. I have a soldering iron with a sharp edge attachment, and just cut out the socket bezel from the XJ housing. Quick hit on the belt sander to clean up the edges. MJ housing. Dremel away the sockets. Scuff up the area with 60 grit sandpaper. JB Weld the rings on. Ensure they are oriented in the right clock direction and you don't have the reverse light in the wrong place. Let it cure overnight. Next day, put it together and install. Done!

Yes, I'm still working on Scuzzy but wiring isnt the most interesting thing to take pictures of. Funny thing, a couple pages back when i installed an aftermarket radio I commented how I'm not much of an audiophile so sound quality didnt matter so much. BUT....that system really sucked. The donor XJ I bought came with a nice Kenwood head unit, so I figured what the hell and did a minor upgrade from there. Pioneer amp, and a set of JBL 6x9s behind the seats and 6.5+tweeter components for up front. I mounted the amp so it has just enough clearance with the seat all the way back, and the crossover mounted where the stock 4x6 speakers went below the seatbelt retractors. To power the amp (and front offroad lights if I decide to mount them) I made a little housing out of sheet metal and mounted a fuse block next to the battery. While at it I made a new hood prop rod bracket since the other one is missing.

Funny story, somewhat related. Back in the 90s I was working on my 1970 Torino GT (351C, 4spd) and ordered set of headers. Naturally after taking the exhaust manifolds off and getting everything ready, the headers didn't fit. And I had to go to work in a few hours. I tell ya.... driving a V8 car with open exhaust straight out the heads is the definition of loud. Managed to do it for several days without the police taking notice.

I have that same drill press. Its great!

We miss our dog after losing him in June. Now a stray cat has moved into my garage so that will have to suffice

This isn't our cat. He walked in one day and decided he likes it here, so we started feeding him. Makes for a nice garage cat. At least I don't have to worry about critters (other than him) Super friendly and loves to make biscuits

Its all personal preference and how you want it to work and look. Duals just adds to the fabrication time. Mines just in the stock location. When I got it back on the road the muffler was rusted out so I just put on a cheapo Rockauto muffler in its place for time being.

Thanks!

Just pulled the entire harness out of my 4-door 98 XJ organ donor for Project Scuzzy. Question for those who have done this before. Did you strip down the harness to remove the unneeded connectors, or did you just leave everything and only connect what's needed?

nice to see that almost everything has a bid. Some good deals there so far....

Packs are a personal preference, I like the newer Gregory packs while my friend swears by Osprey. If you are still using a 20 year old pack, you should go to an REI or outdoor store and check out the new stuff. Lightweight, comfortable, and very well thought out. We all carried Sawyer water filters. The go-to method is just carry two 1-liter water bottles; one for 'dirty' water that you just screw the filter onto and squeeze it into the clean bottle. But for the 2nd year in a row I tried using the Sawyer bags but after having 4 spring a leak I've learned my lesson and will use the water bottle method next time. Each of us also had hydration bladders in our packs. On this trail though we were never very far from a water source so I didn't bother topping off much to save weight. We make a point of one of us bringing a pack of water purification tablets for emergency use only. Here are a couple more pics. On the back of my pack you can see my water shoes which are lightweight mesh shoes for water crossings (we had a couple crossings which were knee deep) and the section of orange sleep pad I cut into a square to sit on in wet areas. Also the Garmin inReach GPS on the shoulder strap; I got this primarily for emergency use but it came in handy for weather updates. Tomorrow at this time I'll be in Times Square in NYC for something for the wife. Within a couple weeks I've gone from being in a very remote part of the country to one of the busiest parts of the country.

Yeah I tried the super-minimal packing once and hated it. My happy medium is going for pack and sleep comfort; I used my Gregory Baltoro 75L pack, a Big Agnes Lost Dog 15 sleeping bag with an inflatable insulated sleep pad, and Marmot Tungsten UL tent. Everything else is just food. The food weighed the most since we were on our own for the duration. I vacuumed packed breakfast in the form of oatmeal mixes, and a variety "add hot water and enjoy meals" from various hiking food vendors like Mountain House Meals or Packit Gourmet. And a LOT of on the go snack stuff. Folgers instant coffee is good enough for me on the trail. I also prefer to hike in trail running shoes vs hiking shoes, personal preference. When we stepped of each of our packs weighed in in the low 40 lb range.

Just returned from our annual backpacking trip; a couple of friends and I did a section of the "100 Mile Wilderness" on the Appalachian Trail in Maine. Due to time constraints we dropped in at Gulf Hagas and hiked the 70 miles back to Abol Bridge which is at the base of Mt Katahdin. Planned on 6 days out but with bad weather coming in we hauled @$$ and pushed through to finish up at 10pm on the 5th day. Beautiful scenery and good times. Its so nice to take a break from normal life and just be in the middle of nowhere. I remember getting up one night and looking around, but it was absolutely pitch black with no moonlight and dead silent. Some might find it creepy, but man it was so peaceful.

99% of the interior and firewall holes are now in the right place. I made sure to go through and weld any little hole and coat it in seam sealer to prevent leaks. Next I spent a ton of time putting down sound barrier followed by a layer of heat barrier on top. Tonight the HVAC box goes in, then the dash, then things start falling into place after that. Mental note: if I had to do it again, I'd just cut the entire firewall out of the donor and weld it in vs modifying the MJ firewall.

I was just thinking the same thing! They can be repaired

oh so you got that bumper. I was tempted!

JPSU-6P2.5 http://www.mtscompany.com/sendingunits.htm **NEW** 1986-1990 Jeep® Comanche MJ 18 & 23.5 gallon "side mounted" gas tank sending unit with fuel injected engines (w/ pump) for the 2.5L engine. Includes new lock ring and O-ring. Replaces # Top Plate View: pic 2 Ohm range: Full 80-90, Empty 0-10. '86-'90: L4, 2.5 Fuel Pump #EFPK-3210 Lock ring #GMLR-1 O-ring #GMOR

I think MTOD is in a death spiral. As they cut shows like DED to save $$, they are only losing paying subscribers and their customer base shrinks. Glad Fred and Dave have their own Youtube channels instead; better they don't have to worry about corporate decisions what they show or how dramatic things have to be. A few months ago my wife and I went through our subscription list, it was ridiculous, as in $300+ a month for various subscriptions that we might spend an hour a week watching. We canceled a ton and now just have Youtube TV and a couple others for "her shows"

GM had a thing with that color interior fading like that through the 80s. Friend in high school had a Chevette with the similar pinkish dash. Cool car. Plenty of support for these cars, your wallet is the only limiting factor

Once I click on BaT, the next thing I know an hour is gone and I'm looking if I have space for 1 more project

IMHO that is the perfect stance.

Picking away slowly. Got the dash and related brackets out of the XJ without breaking anything or cutting any wires, which is a personal achievement. Discovered more mouse poo everywhere but luckily no chewed wires, so going through it tonight with a case of beer and cleaning products to remove the mouse smell.

that overhead console is most excellent The 98 XJ I am swapping into my MJ has one, I hope mine comes out that nice.

May I make a couple of suggestions (not intended to offend you, just lessons I learned over the years myself.) -Be realistic with your fabrication skills. -Make a budget, then at a bare minimum double it. You'll be buying a lot of parts and materials to rebuild this one. -Do you have a TON of free time? This isn't going to be a quick and easy project. Add up the cost of materials, tools, all the extras (driveline, body, electrical) and you might just be better off buying a different truck.

The ducks in the back of that guys truck is great!