DirtyComanche

I'm pretty certain the input gears will swap between them... unless you have a later (95+) NP231 right now. There's a NP242 21 spline input gear in my Ecobox with a set of NP241DLD planetaries right now.

Rockauto, Ebay, Amazon, etc sell multiple brands of tanks. They're likely all made in the same factory. I bought a Spectra, seems fine. Rockauto lists the straps too, IIRC. They should be all the same length.

I wonder what model that repair manual is actually for?

I like the 242 but I don't know if it's really worth it. Ripping around in AWD is fun, and a certainly is a bit useful in less than ideal road conditions. Lack of a decent/inexpensive SYE is what kills it for me. But that's me, most people don't care to run a SYE. So...

Since every helicopter ever built features many inaccessible screws, I have a collection of options. The most basic is a wobble bit, which allows some 20 degrees of misalignment. It can then be put in a bit holder and turned with a ratchet if there's no space for the screwdriver. If that doesn't work the braided wire style flexible extension is an option. If there's no space for that, sometimes an extremely low profile thumb driver can get the job done. Failing that the shallowest bit in a 80, 90, or 100 degree bit ratchet is a possibility. If nothing else I twist them out with Cobra pliers. Or break $#!&. Sometimes it just comes down to breaking $#!&.

Yeah, soldering irons back from when they were actually irons... As in a chunk of metal (iron) that was heated up in a fire and then used to melt the solder. Much like early clothes irons were also just a solid chunk of metal.

I find it fascinating how those rides/attractions work.

Meh. Just another stroker. But that Offenhauser intake is worthwhile. I had one on my 4.0L when I ran propane. It does flow well right out of the box, and obviously it could easily be improved. The big plus then is you really could cram some air into it, because if you look at any other modern engine in the 4-6L displacement range you're going to see the intake/TB is absolutely massive in comparison with even the bored out HO TB. I personally believe the throttle body and intake design is a huge hindrance on these engines, with them having made some incremental improvements over the years but never actually getting it right. IMHO you could probably make more power by running the TB on it's side too, pointing towards the runners/head, and thus eliminating the bottle neck of the hard 90 degree turn right after the TB, but you'd probably have to fab an entire intake manifold for that. And yes, you are right, running the stock ECM is going to limit you. That's why many guys go to mega/microsquirt, although I think it's pretty much an abomination in most forms. Throwing a Sniper on the Offy intake would be a dead nuts simple solution for many people, but it is leaving power and economy on the table versus a properly tuned MPFI setup.

Damn, that thing looks great. Buff the paint and run it!

Ditch the filter. Dakota box makes zero sense with hydro assist. WJ pump is better... But don't buy a reman because it probably won't be the right pump.

Damn, that WJ arm might be perfect. Guess I'm going junkyarding. Thanks

I need a different one and I'm coming up blank. The SJ Wagoneer arm I'm using does not have quite enough drop. An XJ one has too much. TJ arms have more drop than an XJ, IIRC. Is the ZJ or WJ the same as the XJ, or more or less drop? What else is out there? Looked at the Scout II, but it looks too long (I'm already tight with the Wagoneer arm). Somewhere there used to be a great comparison picture of all the commonly available pitman arms. I'm afraid it is lost to photosuckit.

You can take a reasonable guess by looking at what they power and what gauge the wire is... At the end of the day the fuse is not protecting the device it is hooked to, it's protecting the truck from burning down. I think I replaced most of them with 20A fuses, save for the alternator one. But I'd have to look. My harness has about half of it cut out, so it's not exactly a fair representation either.

The angle on them is/was different and works better. They had a patent on the actual angle of them so they were unique. It might be expired now, so it may not matter anymore. Price wise I believe they're the same as the Mac anyways. I'd use the student program to get a few things. Quarter drive ratchets and sockets, a cotter pin puller, side cutters (not so sure on their current ones, maybe Klein or Knipex is the way to go now), flush cutters for zip-ties (P/N is PWC19, they warranty them for life and you're going to break them about once a year, so it's well worth it), a few of the small combination wrenches and other little funky wrenches, ratcheting screwdrivers (I guess, I actually rarely use them), a combination screwdriver (SDDD101 is the P/N, but ask for them to get you the old bit/holder setup for it that only had philips and flat), and that's about it for off the top of my head. I guess their torque wrenches have the 72 tooth/dual 80 head now, so they might be worth buying the 1/4 drive one from, but personally I prefer the Mac/Armstrong/whoever else torque wrenches because the adjusting mechanism is just nicer to me. I have more Snap-On stuff than that, but like your friend says there isn't any hurry, and lots of it can be some other brand. I like my Proto stuff, I'd have more Mac if there had been a dealer around more when I was starting out, and I have zero Cromwell since they didn't have dealers in Canada until a few years ago. Knipex makes some amazing things, get a little pair of the Cobra pliers as well, and then the bigger ones of them and the plier wrenches when time allows. Also, I'd recommend Channel Lock adjustable wrenches, I've got a couple of the 12" ones with an extra tooth cut in the jaws so you can open them right up, you wind up needing them every now and then because you can hit them with a hammer to break things free.

Nope. Long as the pressure bottle looks happy I'd just keep running it. I prefer the closed system, but with lack of radiator availability there's not much point keeping it now. Cleanest install is to use a new style rad and an old style 2.5L overflow bottle. Only annoying thing with that is the overflow outlet off the rad points exactly the wrong way, but you can't have everything I guess.

If it runs good I'd leave it alone.

Yup. You can't just grab a pinion from one ratio and a ring gear from the other. They may be able to mesh if you shim them enough, but you'll never run the correct pattern. Beyond that, gears are matched as sets of a pinion and a ring gear... You can't really get away with using a pinion or ring gear from one set in another, even if they're the same ratio and brand. In theory if they're the same brand and ratio, and the checking distance is marked the same, and they're from the same batch, you can get away with it, but it's just not a great idea (and I can't see any scenario in which you would want to do this).

Not even rust. Just a slight inkling of corrosion and they snap. It's a dissimilar metal thing I think.

The chrome handles are metal. They're the only handles you can actually get off the doors without snapping the studs.

I'd be torn on doing the intake/exhaust swap. There is more power to be made by doing it, that's absolutely for sure, but there is an awful lot of headache involved. I would solidly say it isn't worth it unless you're interested in trying to get as much power as you can, and damn the time and costs to do so. If you were to, you could either keep the Renix FI, or switch it to HO. Switching it to the HO would be far easier done with the XJ that engine came out of, assuming it was out of one, as you need all the wiring for the engine and cab (have to adapt some of it to work in the MJ), the ECM, etc, along with the intake/exhaust manifolds and associated bits, exhaust downpipe, etc. You can also just put the HO intake and exhaust on it and use the Renix FI, my Renix XJ is like this. You'll have to adapt the TPS, fuel lines, vacuum harness, intake, etc. I did it because I bought a stainless steel HO header to replace my cracked manifold, and when it didn't fit with the Renix intake I convinced myself that I should swap the intake rather than just buying a manifold/header that actually fit. In retrospect it was stupid and I wasted a ton of time on it. However when I pop the engine I have a HO head sitting here, so I will be able to get another 4 horsepower out of it next time. I'd guess your current high idle issue is related to the TPS or IAC, assuming the throttle isn't sticking.

84-86 XJ/MJ stuff is so much fun because they more or less played Parts Roulette when assembling them.

I'd concur. I have a mix of late model ZJ and XJ stuff on mine, which has an 87 front axle. It works fine.

I'm not aware of any modern automatic trans that requires sequential shifting. I'm curious what ones would.

It won't. The AX-4 trucks came with 3.54s typically as they didn't have OD. Put an AX-5 in place of the AX-4 and you now have an AX-5 truck with 3.54s. But gear ratios are all Schrodinger until the cover is off.

Out hiking rather than working. Working at a not yet functioning mine I last visited in 2011ish.