KoopaKid

Would you happen to have the exhaust manifold off the MJ?

Hell, I bet, I don't think I'd ever let it go. I'm doing a pretty basic rebuild with just a little bit of customizing, and I already feel like I'm in over my head.

I’ve been following your build on reddit! Still interested in it if you decide you’re tired of it someday. I just found a 2 door Cherokee...thinking maybe of picking it up to do something like this someday.

Thanks, I don't really use facebook, but I'll check them out.

Where would one follow to see what KeyParts is up to?

if mine turns out half this good i'd be happy.

Any welding necessary or was that something you could do with hand tools?

You’re saying I should just repair the current manifold?

I had considered going with a Dorman, and the prime it/paint it with very high heat paint to help prevent rust. This isn't a bad thing to consider.

In yet another turn of events (shocking! ), as I was cleaning the rust off the exhaust manifold, I found a nasty crack at a weld seam. I'm definitely not putting that back in and don't want to bother with repairing it. My goal on this build is to have it last another 30 years with fewer band aid repairs to keep it going; I'm hoping to upgrade anything that can be upgrade. I don't mean I want it to do quarter mile runs, I want whatever new that's going in it to last longer and better build than OEM. What are my options for an upgraded 1988 exhaust manifold? I should also looking into replacing the whole exhaust system, as it's had a series of what looks like amateur MIG welder fixes in different places and it's rusted in way more places than I'm comfortable with. I'm looking for any and all opinions, so feel free to let me know of any options I haven't even considered yet...though I'm not crazy wild about the idea with upgrading to a 91+ manifold, EGR deletes, O2 relocation and all that, I'd consider it if there was a performance difference and it didn't involve welding stainless. Thanks for looking!

@carolinajeepman i am definitely interested in a set once you have this situation figured out. Mine look really faded and I'm rebuilding my 88 and would hate to stick on old looking tail lights. If these turn out as clean as your prototype, count me in!

@Greentoy I've been trying to get a 3D printed set of brackets to fit JK tail lights into the MJ. You solution looks clean but regrettably requires the sacrifice of a set of comanche lights, ouch. Not a bad thing to try if they're already in rough shape.

I currently have an 88 Laredo. It’s a 4.0L AW4. I’m working on a transmission swap to pop in an AX15 from Novak. I got the idea to swap out the ECU. I’ve read/seen that swapping out the 88 for an 89 or 90 ecu ending in 428 or 429 will work and get you a boost in performance. Not interested in racing, but would love to get it to run as smoothly as possible. so I bought an ECU. It’s from an auto 90 Cherokee...numbers end in 6078. Anybody who might know anything about this? If so, will It give the truck the upgraded performance I’ve heard about? Thanks.

Could you retrofit a radio with Bluetooth that would fit into a 1988 Comanche? I am super interested if you could do that, especially if it appeared stock from the outside.

Might be a stupid question, but can cruise control work on a standard? I only recently found out that my truck even had cruise control (has never worked in the time I"ve owned it), and now I'm swapping from AW4 to AX15. Would be cool if I could get cruise control going with it too.

Since I've posted this, I bit the bullet and went with Novak. I'm sure I overpaid for some parts, but overall feel like it was worth it. I did NOT buy their bell housing, but I did get an external slave bell housing and bolts thanks to deadjeep. The rationale was that anything I was going to buy was going to require some rebuilding...that, and I got tired of trying to source things from different places and nothing working out. I appreciate this, but I will continue to be a deadjeep customer; so far, I've bought parts from them in the past and while they can be ugly, they definitely work. Thanks for the help!

Looking to buy an AX15 transmission, bell housing and np231 transfer case with proper spline. The more I can get to do this swap, the better. I have an AW4 I pulled out of my truck that was working okay if you might be looking for one. Thanks for looking.

Fair enough, I just wanted to be able to return stuff if I needed to. Thank you very much for your help.

Would an AX15 setup for a 91 work? If that's the case, do I get a slave cylinder for an 88 or a 91? If you could tell me where I'm right and wrong on this list, I'd appreciate it: Transmission Clutch set Slave Cylinder 1 or Slave Cylinder 2? Flywheel Transfer case Didn't find the bell housing, shifter, boot, or cables I'd need, figure I can look elsewhere for that. If you could tell me if I'm on the right track i'd REALLY appreciate it.

i've just been poring over what parts I need. the transmission setup I was supposed to get I don't think is going to happen because the guy who is selling it randomly stopped responding after I'd agreed to buy it. I looked at autozone today for what I THINK could work but man, I'm scared of order a bunch of expensive crap that isn't going to work. My next option would be novak, but I don't want to totally blow my budget away.

Sorry for the late response, just logged back into my account. The truck is at a friend of mine's place right now, but I'll see about taking a pic for you. It still has the stock pedals in there, haven't mounted the standard ones in yet.

Well so far, I’ve purchased: -Remanufactured 4.0L Renix motor from the powertrain company -various parts to put on new block -Jeep Commander headlights -97-01 Header Panel -97-01 front fenders -Triangle motorcycle turn signals -Replacement LED’s for Commander headlights -3D printed JK to MJ tail light bracket from saltydawgsauto (Etsy) -JK tail lights -91 clutch pedals On the hunt for an AX15 or NV3550 transmission, just need to look more into what would be required for either swap. Lots more parts to replace, I’m sure, and body shop won’t be able to take in the chassis until beginning of January.

That isn’t a joke, the endless amounts of research I’ve done is an obsession in itself, just ready to get more done. today, we out the engine on the stand; clearly it’s been gone through before, and they did a crappy job. Started taking parts off of it. Moved the transmission into the bed of the truck; probably just using the transfer case off of it and not much else.

I'm hoping to do this soon. Doing my damnedest to find all the parts without spending too much money and going to Novak for conversion kit. This is a solid write up.