Spinnakerblue89

Around my area in NE Indiana, it's a bit of a cliquey thing. Unless you are in a lifted Wrangler/Scrambler (They call it Gladiator), Bronco, FJ Cruiser, or a lifted 4x4 pickup, you ain't getting acknowledged on the road. And at least around here, most of the Wrangler and Bronco owners just have mall crawlers, it's a status symbol. Now, if I'm out and about in my Comanche, my Ranger, my Rover, or my Bronco II, I get a plethora of responses. "I remember those!!" And "where did you find one of those?!?!" There's a gentleman working in a local Advance Auto who was a mechanic in a former life for many years and he gets a kick out of me. One day I pop in for engine degreaser driving a Navigator, we talk cars for a moment. Next day I come in driving the Ranger, he sees it and goes "man you got all the really neat stuff!" Then I come in with the Comanche to get a part I had ordered, and he went on and on about how his son had one with the 4-banger. Parts store guys love these things. Even the young kids want to know! Then there was this elderly gentleman who worked at the store once a few years back who was helping these two teenage boys out at the counter. I was busy looking at motor oil or something when the kid proudly said he needed something for his XJ. The older guy asked "okay what year is your Jaguar, son?"

I have a lot of Mr. Clean Magic Erasers that I scored at an estate auction on the cheap. I might just have to try that first.

I get that the '97 XJ has some nice updates, but I much prefer the look and style of the earlier ones. They just looked SHARP, especially before the airbag steering wheel.

I know this stuff, I'll definitely look into it.

Is that usually sold as Xylol?

Need some input. On one other vehicle, a previous owner decided to spray paint vinyl seats black, and on my MJ, I've got either black/gray Overspray on certain interior pieces, like the B-pillar trim as an example, and even a little on the door card. Does anybody know what is safe to remove Overspray from hard interior plastics and vinyl seats? I've tried going lightly with soap and water, degreaser, and now isopropyl alcohol- I don't want to go any more aggressive without first trying to get some input. I figure with the cold coming in, now is a good time to start restoring interior pieces on both of my projects vehicles.

I'm not entirely sure if this will help you, but it has helped me in the past with timing an engine. Sometimes the pulley's timing marks can be off, and even significantly. I have had an older vehicle where TDC on the pulley wasn't actually true TDC, and this I had to insert a pencil into the hole for cylinder #1, gently crank the pulley one direction until it stopped- mark the pulley at the indicator where it stops, and then go the reverse directly and repeat the same. Then at the center between those two marks would be true TDC. But your problem may not be that, it is only a suggestion.

I think you're right.

More like is stainless the way to go?

Eh you're not wrong, there may be a myriad of reasons the fluid was so swampy, and line degradation is a high likelihood. Speaking of which, I have to put in a new fuel line to replace the old steel one. What's the consensus on stainless steel for a fuel line?

Update y'all! The Sequel has been fully converted to Duraspark, a project many old school Jeep owners may be familiar with, and it lives! I have some more work to do before the end of the year, but now that this, the ZJ, the Disco, and the Ranger are pretty much where I need them to be, I can resume the work on the MJ. I'd love to say it drives well, but sadly, the Bronco II essentially has no brake power at all. I had to stick with just driving it around the yard because I have to floor the pedal in order it to even begin to brake. So I'll start with bleeding the brakes, because the fluid in the reservoir is so nasty and putrid I'm afraid the brake flush is the least of my worries. Nevertheless, I'll do it at least if the brakes work better after the fact. As a bonus for me, everything I'm about to do to it I learned on my '93 ZJ just this year. My late father was right, although he may have meant it disparagingly, I picked a good brand to LEARN with. I don't mind it one but, I love learning all of this stuff. The only high better than bringing this Bronco II back to life was my first time hitting a bullseye at 1000 yards. Cheers!

Over the ear muffs all the way for me. Carb'd or fuel injected?

I have one of those in the blue. Actually, I've bought a ZJ shirt off of him too, he's right up the highway from me. The only problem I had was the neck tore on me once from a light, and I mean LIGHT tug. But other than that, no issues.

I've not yet seen a pair of LED headlights I would trust long term, or any other LED lights for that matter. Every LED I've ever had unless it's like a small replacement one I've had to solder into a circuit board, has petered out quicker than incandescents and halogens for me. Locally, I think they have become a bit of a menace. A lot of good ol' boys in their lifted Chevys and Dodges like to blind people with improperly adjusted lights.

But I'd imagine that the YJ would at least have more room.

And that was decent in the 80's. Can't really judge a product beyond it's time.

Right! Can't ask for too much from these older rides!

Was that all 2.5? Or just the XJ/MJ platform?

It's good to know that you are fine, or at least feel fine. I hope that the MJ isn't a loss though. I had a neighbor few miles down the road from me get into an accident with his rust-free J10. Someone ran a red light because they decided texting their boy toy was more important than stopping, I guess. These things happen and unfortunately, there is always a victim.

At least for me, I can find more obscure parts through NAPA, O Reilly tends to have some of the actual OEM stuff (like Mopar, Motorcraft, Delco), and Advance Auto has the better rewards program. But at AutoZone, all you get is in the zone.

Funny you should say that. The picture doesn't do justice at all. But hear me out: There actually is plenty of room to do just about everything. It actually has more room than my 4.0 MJ and certainly my 4.0 ZJ. However there is one supremely serious flaw to this layout. Equipped with AC from the factory, spark plug #3 is extremely difficult to replace. On the left side of the picture, you'll notice a large black box mounted to the firewall, and a disconnected silver tube sticking out kinda below it... Yeah, that's all in the way of cylinder 3. This is one of those things that make me say "sometimes those Chevy guys do get the last laugh." I was not aware the Eagle shared that mod with its Jeep cousins. How was the idle? How were the MPGs?

I looked at those but I wasn't sure about them. Do they have plain glass lenses without the diffusion pattern cut into them? I have a set just like that which I took off of my Ranger.

16 July, 2025 Update: It ain't a project til ya paint the valve covers!! I don't have other rocks going on but basically, it runs and it doesn't run. I did the Duraspark Conversion that surprise-surprise- some Jeep owners do as well. Before I did the conversion, it would start, but had a gas leak at the carb. Not only that, the valve covers were leaking and the valve lash likely needed set anyways. So because of the perfect storm, I decided instead of rebuilding the old feedback 2150 Motorcraft carburetor, I'll just start the conversion process. Now, this is mostly for the Full-Size Jeep crowd, as I understand it. A lot of older, really end-of Malaise Era Fords up to about 1985, have a lot of government intrusion under the hood and a lot of that- including the computer- can be done away with if you set up a Duraspark or similar ignition systems. My knowledge is fairly limited on the subject, but I believe that similar-era Jeeps that utilize Motorcraft carburetors can be Durasparked as well. The benefit is debatable, but noticeable. Meaning, whether you get improved fuel economy or power is hit or miss, I think. But what is noticeable is the cold starts are improved, engine idle and performance in general is improved. Reliability is improved. There are less sensors that get in the way. Really, an expert can tell you more. The really way to make the new ignition system shine is by utilizing a GM HEI ignition module, which simplifies and improved reliability, as well as spark output. So truly, it's a hybrid ignition system. Lots of wires, a computer, and relays were removed.

They may be more expensive but the only other option I see for Koito 200mm is Daniel Stern Lighting, and he's more expensive. So I guess I'll bite the bullet and hope it's worth it because I just called ROCO 4x4 to see if they had access to IPFs and they are absolutely 100% discontinued as of 2025. I'm not dead set against Hellas, I mean they work great on my '88 Ranger, but I'm always trying new things to avoid being blinded by product loyalty. It's $65 more than I wanted to spend but Hellas are also about $30 more than I wish. Might as well try them out. I'll probably try these first in my BII to test them when they get here because I'm currently redoing some under hood wiring on the MJ.

Here it is: I am looking at a pair of Koito H4 headlight upgrades for my Comanche because apparently IPF /ARB 820H is unobtainium. It is my understanding that Comanches and Cherokees use 5x7s (except for Wagoneer Cherokees). However, I also see them being referred to as 7x6- supposedly they are one in the same, just marketed differently. Additionally, I also see those being marketed as 200mm headlights. BJ's is selling Koito E-code RHD 200mm headlights, obviously for full-size Jeeps. There is the link. I've tried researching this and while I'm about 90% sure that 5x7 = 7x6 = 200mm, I want to be more certain because they wasn $165 for a pair of these, and allegedly, they are seriously GOOD. Bottom line, would headlights for a J-Truck/GW fit in my MJ? Oh, and I have had Hellas before and I liked them. I preferred the IPFs and I want to give these a try.