DirtyComanche

Well, that's some major progress. I am curious how the fuel economy aspect works out. If it does, for research's sake, could you try swapping the bigger 97 TB on to see if it hurts it?

Yes, the first generation of Grand Cherokee was the ZJ. Prior to that there was the SJ Grand Wagoneer, prior to that they were just Called a Cherokee or a Wagoneer. The SJ Cherokee/Wagoneer (maybe only came in Wagoneers and J-trucks?) could be had with the Borg-Warner Quadratrac (BW1305 had no low range, BW1339 had low range) full time tcase. The later Grand Wagoneer came with the NP228 (open diff in full time) and NP229 (I believe a VC style limited slip in full time).

Full-time transfer case "option"? I wasn't aware the Grand Cherokee came any way other than full-time. The early ones had some funky transfer case that the off-roaders hate -- 247, maybe? -- that didn't do something. Was it no low range? The later ones (in the ZJ series) I thought all had the 242. The ZJ and the WJ could have the NV247 AFAIK. It's got a viscous coupling that always fails. Junk. They also could have the NV242, but it is not the same as the XJ version as it uses some odd internal arrangement to move the shift forks, I believe it's a cable. They have problems with popping out of part time 4wd under load. As to the limited slip axles, there was options for them on the ZJ and WJ I believe. They aren't a clutch pack setup. I believe they use a VC instead? The one out of the front axle might be worth swapping in if somebody had the time and interest. I'm totally not a ZJ/WJ guy though, so there is absolutely no warranty on this post.

That hose is to draw warm air from the exhaust manifold during cold starts or cold operation. There's a little flapper door on the front of the airbox, and it's controlled by a little thermal switch in the top of the airbox with the vacuum lines running to it. Personally I think it's a gimmick and remove it, and I live in a cold climate.

You definitely have the right sized socket on that bolt? It's an awkward thing to get the angle right, and I want to say it's a 5mm socket. I'd have checked the fusible links off the ignition relay first, or that the big wire to said relay is hooked up.

I'd monitor it. Like I said, I doubt it was the oil. If it keeps making metal like that then it's a time bomb.

Who rebuilt it? I do not think running the 85w-140 caused that. A bunch of that looks like outside contaminants, i.e. unclean work conditions.

The IAC is the same. The Renix TPS can be adapted onto it. Same with the GM throttle body.

A HO one is a little more streamline. Early GM vortec is bigger, but flows way better. Hard to say without seeing what you're working with.

There's maybe a 5% chance it has a D44 rear. If that.

What diameter exhaust pipe? Are you running a full tail pipe past the muffler, or just a dump? I used two of those mufflers on my plow truck, 2.5" diameter, and dumps. It's loud. I mean, it's not terrible, has a decent tone with the V8, but probably not what I'd want for a daily driver. :eek: If you've got a full tailpipe past it, it probably won't be too bad.

I'd probably put a fuel pressure tester on it, but without one you can still check a few things. You should be able to hear the pump humming when you turn the key on. The pump is in the tank. If it isn't humming you should use a multimeter to see if you have power at the plug for it, or jump, prior to pulling the pump out to replace it. As said, if the gas is old it's quite possibly no good. You also might be out of gas but the sender is stuck, if it's been sitting for a long time. Also, ethanol fuels may rot the 'sock' filter off the inlet of the pump, which will plug the pump. Likewise that, or other contaminants can plug the filter on the frame rail. See if the pump is running first, and if you actually have fuel in the tank (add some fresh gas) and go from there.

That's a nice fuse panel. What all are you planning on using it for?

Maybe that trunk lid isn't original and was sourced from another car? A fat chick might have sat on the original or something...

$2500 for just the shell seems high. If he wanted $2500 for the shell and all the parts, I'd jump all over it. That said, if a guys spent a couple hours picking that thing apart, and it really is amazing, yeah, I'd certainly consider paying $2000 for it. Consider, that is. I actually don't like that blue (my first MJ was that colour actually), so I wouldn't be happy just buffing that paint, but that's a very personal thing. If he doesn't want to budge on the price, you will probably have more luck trying to get him to include other things and keeping the price the same. I'd try to get the 8.8 rear and the good engine thrown in.

$300-$1000. Varies greatly by locality though. If I could find a pristine body without a driveline, and the timing was right, I would quite possibly drop $2000+ for it, with a smile on my face. What do they want? Is it worth it to YOU?

This. I do not think we will see a diesel. They will not meet emissions and perform satisfactory.

That trunk lid rot would make me wary that the rest of the car is hiding rot...

Worst case cut the needed/unneeded piece out of each cluster housing with a bandsaw, line them back up and liberally apply the 3M Plastiwelder. :laughin:

The fuel gauge mounting being different is a bummer, since the fuel level sender is the unobtainium part. Otherwise it should be fairly simple to drop the HO cluster in and either swap the temp sender or the gauge, the tach and volt meter should work fine. I'll have to try to track down a HO cluster to see how different the mounting is for the fuel gauge. But, this might be the option I want for my XJ. I want to replace my rusting fuel tank with the later plastic one at some point, and I have only a partial gauge cluster in it anyways. Hmm. Too bad I didn't know this before I spent money on a speedometer cable extension (it has a doubler in it).

Run it and see if it just needs some time to wear in. Mine jumped worse when I replaced the cable. It's quieted down a bunch now, but still does it around 60-70km/h.

I think those power switch panels look better in black, personally. I like the clean look with the factory radio. Too bad the aftermarket has never figured out how to make anything that looks clean.

Is it possible to put the HO electronic speedometer in the Renix cluster, or put the other Renix gauges in a HO cluster, in order to make a hybrid cluster that will work with the Renix sending units (temperature and fuel level) but allow you to run an electronic speedo? Obviously you would need to at least add a few wires to the chassis side of the harness, plus if using the Renix cluster you would either need the HO circuit board for it or to add those wires to the cluster. I'm not sure if the pin location is similar on the plugs, or if you could adapt/splice to make it work. Is this anything that anyone has ever tried?

That new bumper should work good for a long time. :thumbsup:

And buy a good valve cover gasket too. Don't be like me with my 10 cork gaskets I bought for $1 each when a NAPA closed. Eventually I'll use them up, but even for $1 they aren't a good deal because they're a pain in the @$$.