Minuit

First of all, you're going to have a hell of a time finding the connectors for it to plug into an MJ. I don't make them. I have them for every other kind of radio except those. Other than that, the sound quality won't really be up to modern standards. The best of the single DIN AMC radios don't sound bad at all, the RX-171 and later sound about as good as any aftermarket I've heard, but I wouldn't expect that one to keep up. Without knowing for sure, you're probably playing with less than 15 watts across all 4 speakers. Also, the wiring for the rear speakers is gonna be weird. Also, finding a way to properly mount it might be weird. The typical XJ brackets might line up, but they might not. I don't know. Adding aux input will be a matter of "pay me straight time while I figure out how to do it" rather than "I do the thing I've done on 30 other radios and turn it around in a weekend with a 6 month warranty" on an RX-171. TL;DR - it's possible to get working in an MJ, but there are things to figure out and lots of sacrifices to make.

Yep. The only reason I didn't order my carpet from them is because they didn't have the exact color I wanted. With a vinyl floor, no problem. Expect to spend a while getting the fit right, but if you put the work in you can make it look very good. Most people think that new carpet ought to just fit like the original (I agree - it should) the reality is that it takes some finesse to make it right. Just go slow, and think about every cut you make. I think my new carpet looks excellent, and I imagine the vinyl flooring is made from the same mold.

What you've got there looks like the very last of the shaft style radios made by AMC before going to the single DIN style used by most of the AMC lineup from 1985 on. I've seen an identical radio in a 1984 XJ, but that's not an XJ bracket. Those connectors were also used in the 1985 single DIN radios, so I would date it between 1983ish-1985. Getting it to work in an MJ should be very simple. Mounting it might be a little more difficult. The radio ought to turn on with 12V applied at (I think) the purple/white wire and ground applied to the chassis (or the black wire on the 3-pin plug) If one wire has a fuse that'll be it. The speaker wires should be the same colors as the later AMC radios (I have a pic in the factory radio guide in my sig). The speaker wires are weird. If I remember correctly the front left and front right are conventional stereo +/-, but I want to say the rear speakers get the same signal.

I 2x4'ed the door frame a little bit this morning, then replaced the 97+ door seal with an original style one I had sitting around. After bending in the door frame it compresses the seal much better than before but still not what I'd call great. The door is still tough to close but easier than with the 97+ door seal. The top of the door frame to me now looks WAY too far inside relative to the cab, but whatever makes it seal I guess. I've never seen what that gap should look like, but it just looks wrong to me.

That's the motor out of my vacuum.

This is the '91. Will upload pics to explain what I'm talking about tomorrow. The driver side has for a pretty long time had some door seal issues. I have tried a number of door seals (new pre-97, new 97+, used 97+) with no fix. Right now, the door seals are original but still pliable 97+ seals. I would very strongly prefer to go back to the older, smaller door seal. The main issue is that the top of the door doesn't compress the seal as much as it probably should. When inside if I just barely squeeze the seal, I can see daylight and if driving there will be air coming in through the seal. Some slight wind noise can be heard coming from the top of the door at all times. To get it to seal at all I have to use the 97+ seals, the original style aren't even close to sealing along the top. My first thought was that the top of the door was bent outward, but if anything relative to the cab the door is too far in at the top. Other than that, the door lines up with both the cab and fender extremely well. As to the wind noise, all other door weatherstripping is recently installed NOS parts. The wind noise is definitely coming from the very top where the door squishes the seal. To me, it looks like the door seal is positioned too high to meet the door in the fattest part of the seal. I'll upload pics tomorrow, but the top of the door frame barely touches the "bottom" of the rounded seal. The secondary problem is that the driver side door is EXTREMELY difficult to close. Some people I've tried this with can't get the door to fully latch at all no matter how hard they try to slam the door. When the door is opened it springs open by itself. This has been a problem since I first installed new aftermarket 97+ seals a few years ago. The striker is in its original position and the door lines up with it correctly. The hinges are slightly sagged, which has been temporarily compensated for by removing a shim from the top door hinge. This changed nothing about how difficult the doors are to close but did help the door to line up with the striker again without dragging on it.

Oh, this must be one of them "space saver" spare tires.

I. Freakin'. Wish. Other than that, looks super clean. Would be a great truck to buy and do absolutely nothing to.

Don, are you still running the itty bitty factory auxiliary cooler? Or is that someone else I'm thinking of.

Heater duct

Well, I didn't really intend to update this writeup much more, since other than those crappy mono AM-only radios and the ones without electronic tuning, I've pretty much said my piece. However there's one more important thing I really need to talk about. That would be the unique 1985 radios - the model numbers I know are RX-131 (cassette with DNR) RX-141 (cassette with Dolby) and AR-7550 (AM-FM Stereo, without electronic tuning). Make sure you verify what you're buying before you actually buy it. Those models, as well as any others from the 1985 model year are to be avoided unless you have a 1985 model year vehicle. My side business, Jeremy's Radio Emporium, will not purchase, upgrade, or offer any credit for these radios. For reasons I will discuss below, your repair options are also very limited. Disclaimer: Prior to 1986, the radio set up in pretty much all Jeeps is like the wild west. 1984 seems to have different connectors than 1985, which are both different from 1983 and earlier. I can verify this information for XJ and MJ platform vehicles and most AMC cars, but not for full size Jeeps or CJs. The AMC Oddballs Radios from the 1985 model year will, from the front, look part-for-part identical to their 1986 and 1987 cousins that I have discussed in this article, but they have some very important differences. The most obvious one is the connectors. Here's an RX-141 out of a 1985 XJ Wagoneer: This is a terrible picture, I know. but if you look at the very top of the pic you can see that those connectors don't exactly look like something we talk about a lot here. Those aren't the twin 8-pin connectors I associate with the AMC era. There are 4 connectors coming out of this radio! They're some manner of Delphi connectors, and I have tried without success to find any of them. As a result of that, JRE does not furnish connectors for 1985 AMC radios or 1984-1985 Jeep/AMC vehicles. If you see an AMC radio (and they come in all of the usual flavors - AM, AM/FM, Dolby, and DNR) without two 8-position connectors, unless you have a 1985 vehicle, avoid it! But that's not the only thing I don't like about them. They are almost impossible to repair in 2018. Long story short - the 1985 radios contain parts that are absolutely impossible to find from any source today. It seems that the AMC radios were internally simplified for 1986 and 1987, at the same time the connectors changed. So, to summarize, you want your AMC radio to have the below connectors on it. If there are more than two connectors not including the all black antenna wire, I do not suggest using the radio. At the junkyard, before you go to yank a radio, make sure the vehicle is a 1986 or 1987. 1986 and 1987 AMC radio connectors (the ones you want)

Lack of a dipstick is a deal breaker for me but I understand why they got rid of it, and I hope it'll serve well for those who need it.

I believe some early (very early) XJs could have 3.31s as well. I've heard some tow package XJs had 3.73s but never seen anything to back that up.

Yes. They are the same transmission, the AX-4 just doesn't have 5th gear.

Good idea.

I bought a rainbow MJ and a crapton of parts for that money, and I even had 50 bucks to set on fire afterwards!

Silly Don, everyone else knows that black trim is the way to go on a silver truck. Excellent work. This is one of the best examples of a 97+ swap I've seen in a long time.

Most of the stereotypes about my hometown are absolutely true.

Trying to add ones nobody else has said... South Main Auto Repair - a mechanic from upstate New York who puts an emphasis on diagnosis and finding the root of the problem rather than changing parts. Lots of good material about auto electronics theory, using an oscilloscope for diagnostics, and a whole lot more. Also shares my burning hatred of aftermarket modifications. Videos are well filmed, easy to digest, but very educational. Techmoan - British guy who reviews stuff. Focuses on vintage A/V equipment and cameras, but he reviews a lot of gimmicky kitchen stuff too. Forgotten Weapons and sister channel InRangeTV - Firearms videos without all of the stupidity. Forgotten Weapons focuses on rare old guns and the history behind them, where InRange is about sensible discussion, very indepth reviews, match shooting, and some other stuff. OsbornTramain - LOTS of vintage car commercials and dealer videos. Some Jeep and AMC stuff mixed in too. Kurzgesagt - Science videos about lots of different things. Very well polished. The background music is almost always excellent.

Oogly. Doesn't match the MJ's look at all. And what is that hooked onto the drip rails?

No officer, it's a complete coincidence that my decorative bumper accessory happens to be an almost exact replica of a Jeep Comanche receiver hitch! this is a joke

As someone who isn't really a fan of the look most of these aftermarket bumpers have, this is probably what I would go with. The lights look tacked on though, they need to go. The site says you can add an optional hitch. For a large fee, I'm sure. At that price I would expect a hitch integrated into the bumper. With that being said, I'm as far from their target market as you can possibly get If only someone made faithful replicas of the original bumpers.

Looks like a good starting point and pretty original too. Other than patching it up, what kind of plans do you have?

You will want something to prevent the control arm bushing mounts on the axle from folding in when you press the bushings. When I did it I discovered that a 4.0 main bearing cap fits perfectly in the control arm mount, but if for some reason you don't have that a half circle shaped section of nice thick pipe ought to do.