JeepcoMJ

MJ's don't get much cooler or better riding than the way yours is set up...and aside from lack of power options, yours has an optioned out interior in very good shape. Would you rather drive our beat up old diesel (more common interior/exterior condition for an mj) than your civic?

as far as the swap, to each their own. I almost bothered to get offended with him not restoring one of 30ish diesel mjs in the states...then realized that, aside from letting you guys know the end destination and intention of the project, i really don't care.

I can give you his number, rob. But there won't be anything unused...he's swapping engine harness, engine, fuel system, fuel tank, amc20, swapping front to leaf to put in yj, using gauges, interior harness for the most part, etc. There won't be anything left that you'd want or need, as none of what's going to be left will be diesel specific.

you probably won't find any, and are going to have to make something work. I couldn't come up with anything to replace mine, that was back in 2004

i think you're all nuts. my 2wd conversion mj's used their original cables for awhile until i added cruise, and the cruise cables didn't necessarily come from one with the same engine option. never had an issue with mix and matching them. the only thing i ever had to worry about was making sure that the upper clip is the same style for whichever speedometer i had.

try teamcherokee.com or rockauto.com. short of that, IIRC, sewer hose for an RV will work.

Diesel left today. New owner bought it months ago on ebay, weather has been too bad for the trip from NYC to WI. months of not starting and sitting outside, plug it in for an hour, put a good battery in her, started right up. He's putting the drivetrain in an 88 YJ. And I am so far done with it that that does not bother me one bit.

no, i wouldn't. they were still garbage in cavaliers.

I drove a 2.8. The only way I was able to get anything better than 13mpg was to ditch 100% of vacuum emissions B.S., then tune out the carb as best as you can...it's garbage from the get-go. Ended up doing an edelbrock 4bbl intake manifold with holley 390cfm carb. got 16mpg tops out of that. Ended up ditching it all for a buick 3800 v6. There is nothing good about a gm 2.8l. never has been, never will be.

that's a hell of a stretch.

the buick 3800 is not a bolt-on to the transmission nor the motor mounts, and the ax5, ax4, and auto trans cannot take the power. it's a 60 degree mounting pattern on the bell housing, but you have to notch and move the starter hump in order to ensure that you can mount the starter. I would NOT swap a 2.8 for a 2.8. And I sure as hell wouldn't leave the carb....even if you go TBI injection from an 80s s10 with a 2.8, you gain a TON. and it's only a 5 wire system if you just lay over the engine harness to make it run. the biggest issue with the 2.8 IS THE CARB and also the EMISSIONS HOSES. get rid of those, you improve it alot. put a 3.4 in it, out of an early 90's camaro or firebird, with the fuel injection off of it, and get similar power to the 4.0 little late for that, a 2.8 was all i could find that'd fit in my MJ, i'm keepin the carb cause i already have all the parts for it and brand new emissions tubes and check valves Redwolf well, i hope that you don't plan on using 5th gear, or getting better than 14mpg.

the buick 3800 is not a bolt-on to the transmission nor the motor mounts, and the ax5, ax4, and auto trans cannot take the power. it's a 60 degree mounting pattern on the bell housing, but you have to notch and move the starter hump in order to ensure that you can mount the starter. I would NOT swap a 2.8 for a 2.8. And I sure as hell wouldn't leave the carb....even if you go TBI injection from an 80s s10 with a 2.8, you gain a TON. and it's only a 5 wire system if you just lay over the engine harness to make it run. the biggest issue with the 2.8 IS THE CARB and also the EMISSIONS HOSES. get rid of those, you improve it alot. put a 3.4 in it, out of an early 90's camaro or firebird, with the fuel injection off of it, and get similar power to the 4.0

I've towed a 5 hauler enclosed sled trailer (steel frame) with an MJ. and several sleds. not far, but i've done it. the trailer alone weighed darn near as much as my truck.

yup. which means that you are going faster than you should by the time you get trailer sway. end of story.

Don, I'll take your opinion with a grain of salt.

the only time controlling trailer sway works with acceleration is when your vehicle is heavier than the load being towed. and if you have trailer sway in that instance, the load wasn't balanced and should be adjusted accordingly.

accelerating during a sway ends up increasing the sway. the sway is occuring because there isn't enough weight in front of the trailer to keep the trailer going straight at certain speeds. slamming on the brakes isn't a good idea. but dropping speed by pulsing the brakes will get you to a reasonable speed, reduce sway, and allow you to regain control. accelerating does just what that video showed. period. end of story. any argument otherwise is wrong.

so you are in or around WI.

Finished her up today, put around 80 miles on her. Start of the day I had to put new power steering pump on, fan shroud in, lower bumper bolts in, trans crossmember in after removing broken bolt, exhaust hooked up, rear driveshaft ujoints changed and installed, coolant in and top off trans fluid, front brakes on, swaybar on, and then I was able to finally drive her. Once I did all that, game on! Throughout the test drive, I noticed that the part time light was on while in 2wd. It's the switch, I'll figure that out. Aside from that, I had one of the old PCV hoses that was questionable and I hadn't replaced break on me, so I had to buy a new one. But overall, with the exception of those two problems, this is hands down one of the best driving vehicles I've ever had the pleasure of working on. runs awesome at all speeds, no wobbles or funny business, great power response. Just a dream to be behind the wheel. It will be up for sale once I put the break-in mileage on the motor.

... the venturi effect only works if you have a properly restricted pipe to create the "sucking vortex". try again. smaller pipes build higher pressure, yes. Larger pipes build lower pressure. stock exhaust is ALREADY optimum size for the 4.0 to run. it's an inline six, not a race car motor. If you build it up, bore it, stroke it, and generally get it to a point where it's pushing way more power and exhaust, then you NEED a bigger pipe to let more air pass. I worked for coca-cola for quite some time installing and maintaining fountain soda equipment. We had to run 3/8" line for syrup, running 120PSI CO2 @ the BIB pumps to push the fluid. run low on Co2, you can't push the syrup fast enough and hard enough to build the right pressure. Run it through 1/2" line, it needed twice as much Co2 to keep pressure built and get the product pushed. run it through 1/4", you couldn't deliver enough product to the valve in time to meet proper mixture ratio. So. too small of an exhaust will build too much pressure and choke the engine out. a clogged catalytic converter does essentially the same thing. Too large of an exhaust doesn't build enough pressure and lets the engine run free...negating any type of assistance from the venturi effect, making the motor do all the work, which will bog it down OR require more fuel to deliver the proper end results The right size exhaust (factory) or just a tiny bit over will result in everything flowing properly, burning less fuel, not bogging down the motor, not causing any harm, and not sucking your wallet dry because it's using more fuel. I've had strokers, borla exhaust, etc. In the end, I would always end up with a borla header and downpipe (2"), oem replacement cat, flowmaster 40 or thrush welded running 2" in and out, and a stock tailpipe. 19mpg mixed, up to 24 on long hauls, could beat a stock subaru wrx

thanks. we will need to detail the engine bay out yet, but I will do that once i've put the miles on it.

Just a quick update. I have about 3 hours of work left on it if I take it easy. Rob stopped by and even though it was for something else gave us a hand putting the body on the motor. got the body lined up, steering shaft hooked up, brakes on, abs hooked up, engine wiring hooked up, computers in, suspension bolted in, radiator in and hooked up, battery tran and airbox in and hooked up, trans and tcase cables hooked up, then test fired it. purrs like a kitten. Then put the front clip on and tires on, put her on the ground and put the ventshades on, called it a day. Tomorrow I've just got to remove a broken trans crossmember bolt and then bolt that up, and hook up the muffler. Then it's 500 sweet miles of test drive on, one more oil change, and on the market she goes.

I can understand that. For me, there are two things that I do NOT want; ABS Traction control I've owned one vehicle with ABS...a 92 ford crown vic. the ABS would NOT let me lock the wheels at under 2mph when I NEEDED them to. twice. on patchy snow/ice conditions, coming up on an intersection that I was very careful to slow down way more than a mile ahead of time. Those two incidents alone are what cost me the transmission. I slammed it into park to avoide sliding across a busy highway and getting tboned by a semi truck one time, and a dump truck the next. My mom's 01 saturn LW200 has ABS. driving it from the house to the shop to put a new power steering pump in this past winter, the abs wouldn't let me slow down coming on the end of the driveway to turn into the shop. You're *supposed* to be able to steer with ABS. that is a load of crap. I couldn't steer for crap either time. Also drove a zj with abs, it sucked for stopping and had all new brakes etc. Drove an 07 chevy POS with it, didn't like it, and a few more vehicles. I know how to drive. I want to be able to lock the brakes and come to a dead stop. The only vehicle that i've ever had ABS in and liked it was a 93 bmw sedan that stopped great. Guess that's what you get with quality vehicles, though. I am sure that a dodge viper stops great. Traction control, to me, is the same kind of deal. after driving many different vehicles in some very slippery conditions, I just don't drive with crap tires, and do drive with care. if you feel a spin starting, let up on the pedal a bit, you're fine.

exactly. If you watch, that beamer flipped because the idiot driving it was speeding up. You don't speed up when your trailer starts to sway. you slow down.

That beamer obviously had the power to get it moving. The problem was load balance and weight of vehicle towing plus speed. You can tow anything with just about anything if you travel at the appropriate speeds. Example: no one batted an eye at a toyota pickup towing a space shuttle. Just sayin.