Minuit

Let me be the first to say this: F :mad: people who use their phones driving. And any other distraction for that matter. It's a beautiful car. I hope you can save it.

Looks like you're off to quite a good start on this. Definitely one to follow :thumbsup:

The demise of the man-pedal is a metaphor for the demise of modern society and the impending doom upon us for sure. :D I much prefer manual as most of us do and every once in a while I consider converting my MJ to a 5-speed, and if the AW4 dies any time soon I just might. But the automatic sure is nice in traffic and in town with stop signs every 3 feet. With that said, if a nice donor comes along, I may not be able to stop myself.

Humm... are you going heavy duty and changing out plastic parts? I found on my 87 no rivet gun is required. Its all screws and bolts. The only rivets I saw was holding the plastic to the sheet metal frame; which is removed as a single unit. Swapping the VIN tag maybe?

Here's a write up: http://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/dash-removal-35444/ The guy does it on an 89 but it will be the same for any XJ older than 96.

The buyer's guide (if I ever decide to continue work on it) could have an addendum to the 2.5 section with some helpful links also.

Make a build thread!

It looks good. If at all possible I would like to wire up the other functions too. I've seen one video where the OHC in the guy's 90 (I think) XJ had an MPG readout. Accurate or not that might be fun to have. Thanks for showing me that, though.

Here comes one of my weird thoughts again... :shake: There's a little bit of information from a few years back on swapping an XJ overhead console into an MJ, but I was wondering if anyone has come up with anything recently and if anyone could explain what this swap entails. I know I could use the storage, and I was wondering how difficult it would be to get it wired up so it works like it belongs there, since I very, very strongly doubt that any of its wiring exists in the MJ. As always, I welcome all thoughts and opinions.

While I understand the merits of the 8.8 etc, I'm not pushing my truck terribly hard (a D35 managed to survive for 152k miles and is still going albeit noisily) and I'm going for a factory build. With that said, I'm going to be pricing an 8.25. What type of LSD did they come with? Is it a trac-lok unit similar to what the D35 got?

It always brightens my day when someone comments on my truck, regardless of how (understandably) misinformed their comments may be.

All ZJ steering boxes are the same. ZJ steering ratio is 12.7:1 as opposed to the XJ/MJ's 14:1.

The early 4.0s (and some HOs) have some headgasket seep. Mine does it too. It's not anything major unless it's just spewing out. I believe they issued a revised headgasket in 92 or 93 that fixed the issue.

Wow, that's a huge difference. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

This is good advice. Never assume something just because a data sheet says so. Jeeps of this era (it got better after '87, though) were very much thrown together from the parts bin with no real rhyme or reason. Verify things yourself, and chances are the diff needs new oil anyway :thumbsup: It's hard to mess up a gear oil change too so it's a good way to become more familiar with how your truck works without getting into danger.

2.5L automatics after '86 are quite rare. You have one of the slowest drivetrain configurations offered throughout the model range, but it's enough to get the truck moving at least. The 4.0 Comanches had impressive performance for their day and still hold their own, but the 2.5 was and still is perfectly usable. For an '80s 4 cylinder engine, it's very strong. The AW4 is a reliable transmission with the 4.0's torque and the 2.5 is substantially weaker, so unless the transmission has been abused (more on that later), you probably won't have to worry about it. Nothing is guaranteed but you likely have 4.56 gears. This means that for every rotation of the wheels, your driveshaft (after being multiplied by the transmission's ratio) must rotate 4.56 times. This means that the engine must rev more for a given speed, but it also multiplies the engine's torque and allows the engine to reach its peak power quicker. This was done to compensate for the relative weakness of the 2.5L engine coupled to an automatic transmission - the downside is that the engine will be running at high RPM on the highway, reducing fuel economy. Lower (numerically higher) gear ratios make the throttle feel more responsive and "quicker", also. 235/75/15 is probably the most common "stock" tire size now. That's 29" in diameter. A 1500lb trailer isn't very heavy but at the very least you want to have an auxiliary transmission cooler. There are a number of these out there and they're all fairly decent. Heat is what destroys automatic transmissions so it's a very worthwhile investment. Otherwise, make sure everything is in order mechanically and be very careful. Someone with more experience than I do with the 2.5 (and towing in general) would know more about how it handles when pulling a load. Comanche receiver hitches are quite rare and very coveted by us Comanche people. If you have any questions, please ask. Don't be embarrassed. Us weird truck people like explaining this sort of stuff. Also, post pics. Lots of pics. :thumbsup:

My mother had a minor stroke last year, so I know what it's like from an outside perspective. I echo johnj's comments, it's fantastic that you seem to be back to normal so quickly. Welcome back, Jim! :cheers:

I agree. If the D35 does turn out to have serious internal issues, it's immediately being replaced with something worth my time. I just don't want to jump the gun and buy an axle that I really don't need. I've already looked and most of the 8.25's brake parts swap from the D35, which is nice because I have all of the parts to rebuild my drum brakes in the garage, although if I did swap an 8.25, discs may be on the cards. Until I've diagnosed the D35, I certainly won't waste my time working on it though. I'm going to the JY next week so while I'm there I'll ask about how much they would want for one. When did they get the stronger shafts? 96?

I'm about as far from the new jeep market as you can possibly get, so I really have no right to talk, but I don't necessarily hate the idea of the luxury JK. The JKs are far, far more luxurious than the TJs and YJs and yet they're some of the most capable stock Jeeps ever made. I don't necessarily think a tarted-up JK with tons of options would really change that - although I strongly doubt that the kind of people that would buy a "luxury" Wrangler would want to take it on the trails. With that said, most current Wrangler buyers don't do that anyway. For every trail modified Rubicon I see, I see at least 3-4 soccermobiles. People that buy current Jeeps with the intent to regularly take them wheeling are a small but very vocal minority.

I haven't had much time to jack the MJ up but I did get a chance to play with the driveshaft. I couldn't see any up and down slack at the pinion end but there was some that felt like it was more toward the transmission end. I did try to rotate the DS and there did seem to be a tiny amount of rotational play. This weekend hopefully I'll get a chance to take a closer look. I'll throw it on jackstands and spin some stuff and report back later! Thanks. :cheers:

Looks like a TBI to me. It should be pretty much identical to yours. 2.5s got MPI in '91.

I agree with Alicia, the amount of stereotypical "stupid PO" stuff you've got going on is amusing from here, although I'm pretty sure it isn't for you. Great start, this is gonna be interesting.

:agree:

I used JB Weld to patch a couple of pinholes, although they were very small.

:cheers: