Gojira94

Pulled the dash and the heater box. This MJ doesn't have A/C so it's pretty simple, but damn, so. many. pieces. 2 large mouse houses in it and the heater core is original so out it comes. Once I got it apart and the heater core out, the smell of mouse piss was overwhelming. Glad I got in here. First I cleaned the surface grime from the dash, front and back and inside the air passages in the lower half. The heater box is getting full wash by hand. The defrost and floor door surface foam is fragile but not trashed under the surface so those thankfully won't have to be re-coated with (I don't know what would be suitable). The blend door foam is a more sturdy sealed foam design so it's fine. The box liner foam areas are stained but intact and now clean. Cut and capped the pink vacuum line for the heater valve (long gone anyway). Just need to finish up the blower motor and temp blend door in the last pic. The rest was the delicate part.

The more I dig into this thing, everything and I mean everything needs fixing or replacing... Wiper transmission and motor rebuilt with new bushings. Motor works but I'm not 100% sure on the park function. Resealed with RTV, then hosed down the top with Flex Seal rubber in a can. The original cover was completely rotted. Duplicolor DE1634 on the trans parts. Small thing, but pedal pads are nice. The parking brake pad is the same as any GM GMT400 truck.

Thanks for the heads-up. I ended up finding a HP D30 locally with zero rust on it, from a 99XJ, with 5-297x stub shaft u-joints.No more hub-style rotors lol.

Thread necro... Pioneer CA-3068 advertises as 94" for vehicles w/out cc. I've read elsewhere someone measured one from an 87 4.0 4WD Cherokee and got 77". I'm going to assume guess that that would be the back half cable's length for an 87 XJ 4.0 4WD with cc and NP231. My 87 MJ is on the way to 4.0/4WD with AX-15/NP231, never had cc. CA-3068 also is a match for an 89 MJ 4.0/4WD manual or auto, so I'm going to believe it's the right choice. Yes?

Didn't catch it on first read, you said "same spline." So you did answer both parts of my question. Thanks, and my bad...

Oh man, I didn't notice you're in CA. Yeah, pretty much all Aeromotive products carry this line in their instructions: "Aeromotive system components are not legal for sale or use on emission controlled motor vehicles." So not even 48-state compliant... Maybe you best bet is to use a stealth adjustable regulator that looks factory and verify the pressure 39psi KOEO and 31-32 at idle with a test gauge. Fancy as it may look, that's all I'm trying to do, really. Verify my old Renix ECM is being given the fuel it expects with the rudimentary injector characterization it understands for accurate fueling/ best economy/ performance.

Better performance or reliability was what I was thinking might be possible.The 'stud' I was referring to is the peg on the wiper transmission that the wiper arm anchors to. If they'd changed the diameter of that, the later arm wouldn't fit, was my concern. This answers the arm mount diameter same/ different question. I would prefer a lower visual profile of the early arms but the attachment point fails more easily with the early design. I got the whole assembly out pretty easily, without climbing onto the hood or wrestling it. the cowl panel bracket that sits against the wiper motor can be slid out with some wiggling. Tilt the whole thing backwards about 30*, slide it all to the right side recess, rotate back forward and pull out toward the left side at the same time and it's out. Standing at the left side. I have bushings for the assembly, everything else has little to zero play in it and I have an original wiper motor with torn cover. I'm going to open it and clean/ lube test and see if it's any good on the bench. Meanwhile give it the cheek poker, stop rust and a final coat of undercoating to protect the main surfaces and fashion some sort of moisture shield for the motor. If all that's good to go, I just might try a pair of 97-01 XJ arms and see if I can live with the visibility. Thanks to you both for the info!

Well, damn. I'm jealous of your project already! She's a beaut, Clark.

There are links to copies of the 87, 88 electrical manuals and some other stuff on this forum. FiatSlug87 has links, and I think Cruiser54 does too. In the 88 electrical manual, p.91 ("instrument panel harness heater/air conditioning harness 2.5L/4L") and p.93 ("front lighting, underbody and cruise control harnesses") both diagrams illustrate there is a brake switch (C249) and cruise control interrupt/ dump valve switch (C250) but no NSS. If you're manual without cruise and they see C250 tucked up or dangling (light blue with black stripe wire, and black wire) they may think the NSS has been removed. Shown in 2nd pic of 1st post in this thread, though connector numbers are slightly different for the 87 MJ in question there. But same thing, 100%: here

The donor motor for my MJ project came with an aftermarket aluminum rail ("Fasster" brand). Hadn't been used yet, and I looked at it... the end caps come off and almost any Aeromotive or clone will be ORB 6 on the regulator side to ORB 8 on the rail side (for that aftermarket rail). That rail as it comes is meant for a returnless system, so it has a single 5/16" quick disconnect. I cut that off and welded it shut, leaving just the ends and the included Schrader port. On the front side I added an ORB 6 to ORB 8 swivel fitting and an Aeromotive 13107 for LT1 on it (which does 35-80psi and is vac. ref.). I pulled off the bits the regulator came with and added an ORB 6 to 5/16" barbed fitting for the return with EFI clamp. Feed side is an ORB 8 to 3/8" barb. The idea was to use stuff I had and spend < $30, so braided hose and AN fittings were beyond what I wanted to do. But I do applaud the setup above, nicely done. My go-to VRFPR is the Aeromotive 13301, does vacuum and boost reference 1:1 so is ideal for NA or boosted applications and comes with 2 springs; 3-20#, 20-65#. But Aeromotive stuff has gotten hella expensive lately, so I'll swap the LT1 regulator out at some point for the 13301, given the right opportunity. The factory rail kind of binds you to a really narrow range of options. I'll add a pic when I get a chance.

I needed to get into my wiper cowl to see what's going on with the wiper transmission (really, really loose). The arm release tabs were so badly corroded I had to cut apart the old arms to get them off. I see that generally the Cherokee lists compatible arms from 84-96 and 97-01. Did they change the wiper transmission mounting stud size for the arms in 97? Anyone ever try transplanting a 97-01 wiper trans, motor and arms into an MJ?

I can go to my local pack & ship and send them off to you. You can pay whatever that is via PayPal. Obviously I’d do the cheapest option to ship. PM me with an address and I’ll get em cleaned up and on the way.

2 sets of (5) wheels like yours down here, too. One set 17" and another 18" though I can't speak to the PCD or backspace measurements without knowing what they came off of. https://raleigh.craigslist.org/pts/d/raleigh-jeep-rims-like-new/7514112043.html https://raleigh.craigslist.org/pts/d/raleigh-jeep-rims-18s/7505138193.html and this radio with lower dash speakers has been listed for at least a month for $10.00 https://raleigh.craigslist.org/pts/d/cary-oem-jeep-am-fm-radio-cd-player/7489295750.html

Craigslist spot, posted July 25, 2022: https://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/d/franklinton-89-jeep-comanche/7513275900.html Front end damage, somewhat repaired. Says "manual" and rear tailgate says 4.0 but you never know. For $600 I'd hit it if I wasn't already a$$ deep in my current MJ project.

Oakland county, Michigan? No idea. It’s 2 sections, maybe 15-18 lbs. USPS or FedEx home delivery would be 3-4 days, probably. Wild guess in the neighborhood of $40-45? If you’re serious I’ll clean it up, separate it and see what packing and shipping would cost if you really would like to have it.

I'm going to sell the 2.5 and AX-5 for local pickup if anyone within driving distance might want them. Selling as cores since I've not run either. Will post in for sale section after I get a couple pics.

About done working through the engine bay wiring. Ignoring/ working around the 2.5 that sits there at the moment. Sorted and loomed all the strays on the passenger side, repaired the orange wire from the fuel pump ballast resistor at the starter relay. Pulling and cleaning everything as I go, down to the engine bay sheet metal. Now that the wiring on this starter relay is repaired and verified, I'll pull it and clean it and its wire leads. Cleaning the wires themselves takes the mystery out of wire colors and helps to spot chafed wires looking to start fires.

Interior panels all cleaned and reconditioned as well as possible. Dome lights are Euramtecs. Old ones were dust held together with electrical tape. Still have to pull and condition the driver's door panel and drop the dash to clean it and under it. Considering shaving down the cracked portion and doing a vinyl over foam layer or something. Worst case a carpet dash pad... All 4 crappy aftermarket fog lights ("Blazer!!") pulled off, all associated wiring cleaned from factory harnesses, repairs made where needed. Hacked in 4 flat trailer lights connector also gone, repaired and split loomed the plate lights and rear lamps harness. All factory connectors in the dash restored to factory. Procured a correct clock. Added ash tray light, courtesy lamps/ brackets for them. Sony head unit, 6.5" door speakers, 4x6 rear speakers acquired. Using Metra modular connectors so as not to hack up the factory harnesses again. Cargo lamp and dome lights wiring will be modified cleanly with spade connectors, best course at this point.

4WD shift linkage from a 96 XJ; cleaned and painted. Plus the plate for the trans side. Think I goofed since I now know the trans side plate is for an auto. Think I changed my mind anyway and am going with stouter linkage between the factory handle and TC: https://www.boostwerksengineering.com/231-HD-Shift-Linkage-Manual-Trans-V20_p_29.html Also pulled a 2 lamp harness piece from the shift console of that 96 XJ. One lamp for the transfer case position indicator, plus an extra for something else (96 XJ was an auto).

A little progress made. In trying to figure out what year the 4.0 harness and computer came from, I've determined it's from an 89-90. It has the B+ latch relay feed pin in pin 12 on the diagnostic connector instead of 5 like an 87-88 would have. Front lights harness repaired and cleaned up. Missing the passenger side horn... Floor panels arrived, looks like the fit will be good. Haven't started cutting anything out yet. It'll need an extra patch on the driver's side behind the clutch pedal. May be able to use a leftover piece of the rear portion of the new floor pan.

I'm finding I have no appetite for doing the floor pan work. For lack of a welding rig of any sort, and the time that's passed since I last tried to weld sheet metal, I'm thinking I'd rather pay somebody to do it properly. Local fab outfit does on-site work, quoted me about 250-300, which I can live with. Been cleaning up all the dash parts that show, stripped down the column, cleaned and lubed the ign switch and high beam rods. Also installed a new key cylinder. Will have to do the door locks as well. It came with no keys at all but it does have a title lol. All dash wiring labelled and accounted for, ordered ctsy lights/ brackets from an Ebayer who's a member on here as well, and a clock (didn't come with either). Repaired the hacked radio wiring and ordered speaker connectors for the doors and cab corners. I did a Dual AV head unit, TBX10A sub and Sony Walmart speakers in my 92 C1500, like the way it came out for the price, so I'm going to do the same for this MJ, minus the sub. And a stock radio can go right back in with no wiring hackery in the future if ever needed/ wanted. Harness to speaker connections and the radio harness to aftermarket are Metra, from Crutchfield. Main dash is ready to pull so I can clean up under it and get into the HVAC box and clean it out, too.

Pulled the interior to see how bad the floor pans are. This one had a vinyl floor liner over jute padding with fiberglass matting along the exhaust route on the passenger side. Passenger side, there's a big hole by the rocker just behind this (where did that pic go?) Driver's side - holy crap... look how far it goes up toward the firewall.

Craigslist find in Raleigh, NC. POs were trying to take 2 MJs and make 1 good one. Originally a 2.5l / AX-4 / 2WD. At some point in the past a 4.0 swap was started but didn't get far. The engine and engine control harnesses were swapped, along with a Renix 429 ECM. That seems to be as far as they got. Currently has an early era 2.5l bolted to the mounts with an AX-5 behind it. The 2.5 I say must be early era because it has provisions for a mechanical fuel pump on the passenger side of the block. It does have a single popper TBI intake on it right now. I briefly considered pulling the 2.5, light hone & rings, recondition the head, fix all the leaks. But to have any fun at all with it, I'd need to invest in converting the AX-5 to 4WD and end up with a weak combo not capable of doing much more than pulling itself up a steep hill. Plan: 1) complete 95-99 drivetrain swap and run it on the Renix ECM. 2) (re)build fuel system, kind of suspect at the moment 2) acquire HP 3.55 Dana 30 front axle Goal: light duty factory-ish (to start) good, reliable runner 4WD for climbing/ hiking access roads on trips in western NC/ beyond. Shopping list: 1) complete 4.0l / AX15 / NP231 drivetrain (acquired 93 YJ 4.0/AX15/NP231 July 2022) 2) late HP Dana 30 from an XJ, front shaft 3) figure out rear DS length, cut & balance old one or have a new one made

I found a logo on one end that says VDP. I googled them and apparently they still make stuff and sell through NAPA, maybe some others. "Vertically Driven Products" wheel well storage. So not an 'uncommonly surviving vintage dealer accessory.' If it was, I'd have sold it here for basically shipping cost, lol. Still would if anybody wanted it. I'll probably just put it up for $10 on the local craigslist. https://icreativesandbox.com/dev/vdp/product/wheel-well-storage/

This was mounted in the bed, passenger side rail when I bought my MJ project. Over-the wheel hump 2-section cooler/ box whatever. It has a drain hole at each end, so I'm obviously thinking cooler. I absolutely have no desire to keep it, whatsoever. Before I throw it on the local craigslist, I wanted to get some input as to whether this was made specially for MJs, or random crap somebody put in it... Keys are long gone but it's not locked and the locks can be changed out. That nasty roll of rubber mat is unrelated...