JeepcoMJ

correct. but it's not actually the front clip (the grille) that needs to be swapped. it's the part underneath, which supports the radiator and goes from between the fenders all the way across, and the front crossmember. these are not bolt-on parts, so you will have to do some fabrication.

hence the holes burned through three of the pistons in my 87 MJ right now... :ack: :yes: as Pete said, you need it. wrong ignition timing can cause lean or rich burns, which will utterly destroy an engine if left unchecked.

I agree with your position on gearing...to a point. the phrase "there's no replacement for displacement" does also apply, except in the case of the 2.8 liter. as for the 4.0 swap, don't forget that the 86 models use a completely different radiator support, all the way to the inner fenders, a different front crossmember, and a different hood. that would all have to be swapped...and that's fab work to do it (not easy either if you don't know what you're doing with a spot weld drill bit)

nice, but why would you need a 2nd gear lock? you can shift into 1-2 and the problem, from my experience, is that I'm trying to keep it in 1st gear...and it wants to shift up...

dude! sweet rig...love the paint! keep up the good work, and git'r'done so we can see the finished product!

first. wiring, that's easy...I have all of the diagrams, or can get them from alldata. second. swapping to auto will make it worse. it will become even more of a dog than it is, you lose a gear, and your gas mileage will likely decrease. you'll want to swap to 4.56's with that combo most likely. third. the transmission in the xj will bolt right up to the 4 cylinder, and to a 2.8, since they both use 60 degree gm bellhousings. you may have to re-drill the flexplate to get the torque converter to match up, and you'll probably have to get a different TV drop-down cable for the transmission. fourth. yes, the pedals and shifters are interchangeable between the vehicles. fifth. you'll be able to find an MJ 4.0 sender from someone on the club here, if you can't at a parts store. as far as write-ups, I don't know of anyone who has opted to upgrade the 2.5 to a 3.4...the 2.5 is generally just fine for a DD, and does well off-road too. the 2.8 is what is usually upgraded because of how bad it sucks. it would be fundamentally the same swap though. just do yourself a favour and make sure you keep the camaro F.I....don't put a 2.8 carb and such on it, that's worthless and is half of the 2.8's problem anyways. the other half is that it's just a $#!&ty motor to begin with.

somewhat-kindof-ish you'd still have to do a complete wiring swap, you'd need to swap to the auto, you'd need to swap fuel lines, remove the MJ sending unit and find a 2.8 MJ sending unit, then swap the engine bay accessories to the 2.8 ones, and you'd have to splice tail lights. I will not ever give you advice to do this swap...all of my advice is against it. get an auto transmission with a 60 degree gm bellhousing that's 4wd, then go get a camaro or firebird 3.4 liter v6 and drop the camaro motor into your jeep. take the un-necessary parts out of the camaro wiring (headlight wiring, abs wiring, etc.) and piggy-back it to your current harness. this will give you multi-port fuel injection then you just need a 4.0 MJ sending unit for the gas tank, automatic brake pedals, and transmission shifter for the auto. the 2.5 oil pressure and coolant temp. sending units will pretty much bolt on to the 3.4 , so you won't even have to swap out gauges. this leaves little to no interior work to be done. I recommend spending your $$$ on a camaro or firebird 3.4 complete with engine wiring (and dash if you can get it), then stripping the wiring harness of all unnecessary electronics, then getting a VATS bypass module made by Bakerelectronix so that you won't need to run with the coded gm key in your ignition. the entire swap will only cost you a thousand bucks, if that, and you will net around 145 hp with 17 to 22 mpg, and a great towing capacity.

DON'T do it, DON'T even consider it. the 2.8 has less power than the 2.5, and is even more of a dog. you'd be wasting your time on that swap, it's a completely worthless idea...if you want a nice upgrade, get a 3.4 right off the bat

I bled the coolant out on the 87 MJ today, after swapping the water pump and thermostat yesterday... then I replaced the MAP and IAC on it, since it was idling erradically...though it is still doing it after an ICM replacement too :nuts: oh well, I got her running again. anyone else get anything done?

be careful. the contour of the roof will trick you...it's very hard to seal if the sunroof doesn't match the roof contour-wise.

good to see you back Alex.... as for me, I'm buying my 2009 Dodge Challenger in a couple years white, R/T with an aftermarket shaker hood (if they make them by then)

those are pretty much all of the pictures I have of my interior...I think. some of it's vinyl dyed (like the rear and lower panels), the headliner is something that I did, and most of the dash, all of the seats, and center console, are OEM black.

you can technically install one using a 87-88 cherokee 4 cylinder aw4, torque converter, and flexplate. but...you'd have to have the flexplate balanced out to match the 2.8's flexplate, IF the 2.5 flexplate would even bolt to the 2.8 ...or you could drill the holes to locate the TC on the 2.8 to the TC on the 2.5...IF they're even different. but... you'd have to adapt the TV cable to fit, IF it doesn't already and you'd have to install a BrettM manual shift kit, and up-shift + down-shift with manual buttons. that's IF you cannot adapt the 2.5 Aw4 wiring/computer to work with the 2.8 and that's alot of IF's... the only undoubtable thing is that, with the 2.5 aw4 bellhousing, you CAN bolt it to the 2.8

ummmm it is.... :rotfl2: :D great, now I cannot wait to have kids.... I think I'll name my unborn/unconcieved son Stewie...

sounds like they're saying she should give booze to the baby...

True Pat, a bit of a hijack, but you missed the bigger point mate. Besides, I hijacked this thread first, not the Wildman. Think about it. :D I didn't miss it; the point is that you shouldn't post unless you've got something worthwile to post. I've learned this (with guidance from members here).

eesh. :hijack: :huh???:

no sh*t right? I test drove one a couple weeks ago when they came in to the local dealer...they let me test drive an R/T and a v6...I was impressed by both, and would probably get the v6 for $20k less, and then get the supercharger kit for $4500 and have the same output as the hemi...then clone the body decals. but, regardless, I'll be driving an '09 challenger when I finish college. i don't even care about the $$$...college debt won't be more than $15000 since I payed off everything for the past two years already.

:P I have two spare gauge locations with my current setup, and already have a tranny temp gauge, and OBA pressure gauge. just because I don't need it, doesn't mean I don't want it

my answer to the 2.8...the buick 3800

Har - you replied before I could. :D Exactly right, if I were to run a fuel pressure gauge into the dash it would be an electronic w. the sender in the engine bay. I just wanted a quick check permanent FP gauge to look at w/o going thru the hassle of hooking up an external gauge. so, do you think I could do this with a stock sender and stock oil pressure gauge? I know they're not all that accurate, but as a temporary solution, I should think that it would work...

nice. how about an electric variable pressure switch connected to a similar electric gauge...say an oil PSI gauge with an oil PSI sender adapted to fit. that way you could read it in the cab...

thank you, thank you very much 8) I'm done with the engine now, just need to bolt the flexplate back on, and clean the trans plus mount them together along with the trans mount. this weekend I'll pull the dash out of the jeep, and disconnect the engine electrical. next weekend I'll pull it all, and clean/prep the engine bay...I also need to repair the front left corner at the same time, so I may get into a little inner fender trimming while I'm working on it. paint the engine bay, run the wiring in the engine bay, dash wiring, install the dash, splice the tail lights and fuel pump, and then the following weekend I would like to install the new motor and transmission.

*raises hand* what about me? :P and no prob wade. as you say, I'm only 21 as well...and prone to thinking I'm always right. unfortunately, I'm also prone to throwing wrenches when things don't go well, and doing stupid things that result in personal injury and near-darwin-experiences. we all try and take it in stride though. and wade, no on the pokemon cards. I'd trade you the gears for your gears though (or axle for axle). ;) of course, I'd have to keep the discs...I'm sure you understand.