UNL1MTD

My Cat's output cracked 100% off last weekend. I bought a direct fit replacement along with a new front pipe. The bolts at the flange are rusted crazy bad. They don't appear to be anything special, but does anyone know their size off the top of their head? Thanks, Sean

Maybe I'm just lucky but I've been using them in my D30 and D44 on my LJ for about 3 years and about 10 or so changes with no issues. It makes life very easy when it comes time to change diff fluid.

I'll bite, what is the function of this thing?

Being a Redskin fan, my season was over around week 10. But I'm still an NFL fan. Having been to many games at Fed-Ex and experiencing both Steeler nation and the Pack, their fans both rank in the extremely annoying category. So I default my decision to who I dislike more, which is the Stillers. Having to go to school in PA and enduring that for 4 years is enough to root for the Pack for one night. So GO PACK GO. In all seriousness, I just hope for a great game with great comericals.

My backfires were related to an exhaust leak. Once I fixed my exhaust/intake manifold gasket i've been good to go, not a single backfire.

I don't, but just another thing not mentioned that IMO should knock off a bit of $ on the sale price. As ultimately it will effect how much I can part out to recoop my money.

bleh ... dealing with some people = herding cats XJ is a 1990, Renix, Aw4, NP242. Basically a perfect donor for what I want to do to the MJ. However the vehicle on the whole has issues. It over heats, leaks ATF from coolant lines of trans, AC is broke, interior is busted, rust of doors, and its got very bad death wobble (reason for him selling, been parked since November). And at one time the jeep must have had some really bad oil leaks. Those were fixed by 'some guys' that evidently smoked a lot and left they're butts inside the jeep. But... I went on time, 1100, to look at it. Offered low amount, settled at fair amount $525, but he had to get the wife's approval. Suppose to hear back by 1 lateast 2. 1:45 I hear back with the word that the price is good, but he left for Richmond and won't be back until 4. Meanwhile had a friend in route as tow rig to be doing the deal at 2. Head to Hooters eat, drink, oogle. 4:00 he calls and says now he might be back 5:30ish or could be later. Meh. Also unavaible tomorrow. Meh Meh. Ball is in his court, I can't play games well. I honestly feel like I might just blow it off and spend the money on a home project or OBA on the TJ. I don't really need to do a 4wd/Auto swap on the truck.

Herculiner is designed to be 2 or more coats, it says right on the directions that it won't look good or complelety apply to the bed during the first coat. I did herculiner, its definitely not as good or as clean looking as a professional spray in job. But rolled in using the kit plus supplies, I did mine for about 55 bucks. Which fits my budget for my truck. The surface is fairly rough, so that definitely doesn't work for everyone either.

Yea I'm getting the whole truck. Good deal, going to take a look this week. I will probably pull the trigger on it.

I'm looking to convert my 2wd BA/10 to a 4wd Auto. Would a '90 xj be a good canidate for the swap? I have an 87. Same engine, so trans would bolt up right? Would the cross member be interchangable? Thanks, Sean

I used the Eautoworks wiring kit when I did mine and would recommend that to anyone looking to do this and not piece together the wiring part of it. I put in Rampage H4s as I got a deal on them used. Big difference, especially for low beams. I will say the Rampage lights didn't fit without some trimming to the headlight buckets. I probably wouldn't buy them if I couldn't get them on the cheap. I would probably opt for the Hellas. Check my build thread for pictures/write up.

Took the day off to finish up the MJ. I had tried to finish up the install last week and was rushing. In the process of installing the new injectors I ripped two O-rings when pushing them into the fuel rail. So that halted me until I got the new o-rings yesterday. I popped them in no problem and installed the fuel rail. I cleaned the inside of the air box which was filtly installed it, put on the vaccum lines, clipped together all the wiring. Clamped the down pipe to the manifold (had to use 3/8 16 nuts as the factory metric size didn't match the new manifold) and installed the O2 sensor. I had to zip tie the warm up air tube to the lower rad hose to get it out of the new fan's way. I had things 'done' and cranked her over. Cranked and Cranked, no start. Got out, found a fuel leak at the return line. Depressurized the fuel rail. Uninstalled the fuel rail. Got frustrated ... raked leaves. Went back to it, reinstalled the fuel rail, cranked and START. I think that I just didn't let it crank long enough. I counted and it took 11 seconds for it to turn over. I've started it about 10 times now and each time its been very smooth since the first and at a reasonable time about 4-6 seconds, which is normal for the Renix. Put about 10 miles on it, got to 65 mph. She pulls a lot better, didn't backfire once, and no longer sounds like a diesel. No fuel leaks after the test drive either. Here is the engine bay all put back together. I am looking to quiet things down more though and will likely add a full muffler and a tail pipe vs the glass pack and turn down I have currently. But honestly the BA10 is freaking loud as hell, so until that is ditched its going to be a loud ride. Also my coolant pressure bottle is leaking at the cap. Little dissapointed as I replaced that within the last 2 years. The new fan is super quiet compared to the old and really effects the underhood temps. When I let the MJ idle I heard some whining in the engine bay coming from one of the idler pulleys. Something new to keep my eye on.

I ended up trying to use a spiral style easy out. It broke off in the hole. :mad: Luckily it had a small sliver of it protruding from the hole and I was able to use a small hammer and chisel to back it out in one piece. Then I decided to go down the HeliCoil path. I bought the kit plus a drill bit from Napa and picked up the replacement stud while I was there. I was nervous about drilling it out too far, but I don't think I did. I definitely hit the end of the bolt and there was a small pocket, which I didn't drill past. So I'm hoping that I didn't nic the water jacket or anything. I supose I won't know till its fired up. Anyway, tapped, then installed the Helicoil. Screwed the stud in with some Loc-tite and that was that. Thanks for the tips, advice, and warnings. -Sean

Progress, I went down the HeliCoil route and was able to replace the stud today. The gasket fits, so thats a good sign I was holding the drill straight and level. I'll start putting everything back together next week some time. I also took advantage of the empty driver's side engine bay and replaced the motor mount. Access was darn near perfect and this was a simple job. Old: New: Hit the yard last week and picked up a newer factory aux fan. This is a curved 8 blade, which replaces the straight 6 blade. This fan is in better shape, it doesn't whine at all like the old one did. Great upgrade for 15 bones at the yard.

Any reason to put a stud back in or would a bolt do just as well?

This bolt (or was it a stud?) has been broken off in the block since I bought the MJ. Up until the last couple months I didn't pay it any attention though. But after having a bad exhaust leak from the apparent torn gasket in this location, I figured I would do the right thing and try to fix it up. But my work came to a stand still with this. Any ideas on replacing this? Its recessed about an 1/8th of an inch so I can't get anyting on it and don't really have a way to cut a slit into it. I could drill it out, but that makes me a bit nervous. Thanks, Sean

Had been driving the MJ a good bit, but the apparent exhaust leak had put it parked in the driveway for the past two weeks. I knew the gasket was blown at the front, but ordered a new manifold just to play it safe as I didn't want to have to do this twice. Also ordered a new manifold gasket and down pipe gasket. Removal went pretty easy. I just followed the Haynes manual and it went smooth. Pulled the fuel rail, one hold down bolt was very grumpy, PB got it out, but it looks like I may need to chase out the threads. Dirty Injectors - going to order up a new set. Almost out. To my surprise all of the bolts came out of the block with little effort. Using the correct amount of extension to get the ratchet in a place you can actually use it was the biggest trick. Smacked my head on the lower control arm mount when getting out after removing the two nuts on the down pipe. Everything out. Now here is the big red stop sign for today's work. That front hole shouldn't have a stud broken off inside it. You can see how the gasket got blown out at that point because there wasn't any clamping pressure. Not sure how to fix this yet. I did take a razor blade to the block to clean off the old gasket material. Then I cleaned up my tools and left it as it was.

Finally grabbed some shots

A while ago I scored some Herculiner from Napa for $45 buck after rebate, it was too good to pass up, but sat in my basement until today. I got a late start and set the pop up on the concrete and pulled the truck under. This is how I've been operating, with the BigMat in the back. Its kept the bed rust and relatively damage free for 23 years. Thats pretty darn good in my book, but its time for an upgrade. Everyone knows the drill by now on how to install herc, but I'll try to point out my successes and failures so others might benefit. I used the supplied scuffing pad for about 10 seconds. Then put on an 80 grit pad onto my orbital sander. In about an hour I had the bed well sanded and all the rust removed. I did have to use a scuffing pad on hard to reach spots, but I got some 3m pads that worked better. I was prepared to use my angle grinder with wire brush, but it wasn't needed. Next was the tailgate. Here you can see the only three bolts I had to tape off. I backed them out 3 turns then put the tape under and around them, leaving a decent 'tail' on it to help pull it off later. I used 3m automotive masking tape. I had bad results with the blue tape sticking to the paint and not making clean lines. So I figured to give this a whirl. Then it got some Herc. I used the brush in a tapping motion to do 75% of the tailgate. The brush just made the herc stick a lot better and could get into the nooks/seams of the tailgate better. Then the bed. I managed to not paint myself in the corner, but by this time I was really starting to sweat and because the gloves I was wearing weren't breathable it was pouring out of my gloves. Kinda sick. The roller was a lot more useful here, but still used the brush on all the edging, even on the inner ribs of the bed. Here is a close up of the texture after the first coat. I only waited an hour before applying the second coat. It was still tacky and fit my schedule. I could have definitely gave it more time. The brushed used for the first coat was thrown out and a new one was used for the second coat. However the roller worked a lot better getting the second coat on, so the brushed was used just for seams. I had some trouble accessing the center of the bed while applying the second coat. I would recommend not going over the rail untill the second coat in the bed is done, this i will allow you to lean on the bed a lot more than I could, making it easier. Getting in the bed to do the seond coat isn't an option due to the tackiness of the first coat. I tried, it resulted in an epic fail. The second coat covered a lot better and the finish was what you would expect the end result to look like. I used the entire gallon, but I had about a pint or more which was left over after the second coat. I loaded up the top of the tailgate and the first 3 ft of the bed. Texture after the second coat. Here is my tape line on the side of the truck. It came off great, the yellow tape was stronger and didn't tear or break while pulling it off, it also left a decently clean edge. My only complaint is that at joints of two pieces of tape a bit of product was able to get it, but I will chalk that up to user error. I feel like I should have pressed the tape harder to seat it. Biggest advice, cover way more than you think you are going to need to cover. The rubber splatters everywhere. My bumper got hit hard, along with my legs and forearms. I wish I did this with long sleeves and pants. I also wish I put down paper on the rear bumper and tapped up more. I should have ran tape on the rail between the cab, but didn't. Its ugly in there, but I don't have to see it everyday. Ohwell. The acetone did a great job removing the over splatter on the paint. Having a large can was a good call for this project, I used over half of it. I would have lots of gloves on hand so you can change them frequently. Overall though, it looks darn good and dresses the truck up a good bit.

Ever since I drove the MJ at night, I knew that the stock headlights were going to be replaced eventually, but this and that became more important and its now 3 years later. Doing the research showed upgrading to H4s isn't the only piece to this and that a wiring harness upgrade is needed to truely get any performance out of the lights. Luckily I snagged the eAutoWorks harness, which is a song compared to others out there. (LINKY) Then I got a set of Rampage H4s via the forsale on NovaJeepers. So for just under 100 bones I was able to make this happen. New vs the Old Started by removing the grill and headlight surrounds. Then snaked in the harness, mounted the relays and taped off the driver stock headlight socket. I also mounted the grounds to radiator support bolts after brushing off the paint under the washers. Then plugged in the passenger headlight socket to the new harness, this keys on and off the relays using the stock wiring. No splicing or hacking, very easy. I then tapped up this connection to make sure it stayed put. I then went to put the headlights in the Headlight Buckets, but realized after some pushing that they didn't fit. :? I never saw this in all the write ups, but the H4 rubber socket boot didn't fit in the headlight bucket. So I first tried just bending the tabs out, but that didn't solve the problem. So I uninstalled those aswell and took them inside to be cut up by the jigsaw on the vice. 5 minutes later, no tabs. Reinstalled the buckets, realized I broke a clip for the adjustment screw on the pass side :( . But just kept going, the spring compensated a bit for the broken plastic piece. I also zip tied the harness down. End result looks something like this. I didn't capture a before shot of the light output, but here is the after. My initial impressions after driving around a bit is that the new amount of light is very impressive, however not ridiculous. The lights have a nice cut off to not impare other drivers. The fog lights no longer provide additional lighting while cruising, they won't get used much anymore. They still need to be adjusted a bit as the converge too early creating a bit of a too bright spot in the middle. The high beams are kicking bright. My only complaint is that on low beams the reflector pattern is visible a bit at the bottom of the light output and I found it mildy distracting. I also noticed that the lights dim very quick without the jeep running, not very surprising considering the age of the battery and the corrosion on it. That'll be a mod coming in the near future. For the cost of this mod, its a wonder why I didn't do it sooner and a wonder why everyone doesn't do this immediately. Its a large safety upgrade that will be used as often as I use the truck at night. Dollar for Dollar for cost effective mod, just like on the TJ.

Got a Crown cup holder insert for the factory console. Its a fairly basic product. I was excited to get back cup holders in the MJ as getting the coffee to work has been a bit harder without them. Install is suppose to be remove existing screws, put in the insert, reuse screws. BUT the factory screws no longer gripped the plastic threads and didn't hold it down well. So I opted for some counter sunk allen head bolts with washers and nuts on the back, this really helped secure the insert to the console. Next issue is that the lid no longer closes. This is annoying. The thickness of the insert causes the latch to be too far from grabbing. Taking the latch apart shows there is no adjustment and since its built on an internal pyramid plastic thing, you can't just put a spacer there. I might try dremeling/cutting out the factory insert peice so this sits flush, but I'm not willing to invest that much effort immediately. I'm a bit bummed this basic product didn't live up to my relatively basic expectations. Oh it doesn't hold my standard coffee mug, so a fail there too. The cupholder are way to small at the bottom and riggid overall, so its gott be a perfect fit at the top circle or bottom. Thankfully can soda and bottled water work. Also the color doesn't match the gray console lid or the black paint I used, so I will likely paint this to make it a bit easier on the eyes (cause otherwise it just wouldn't fit on the MJ :wink: ).

I used a trackbar from my 05 TJ in my 87 MJ and haven't had a single problem in the three years I've had it in there. Not sure if the bushing from a new trackbar would or wouldn't work in an older trackbar though.

I went out and screwed with the latch and it has zero adjustment. In order to make it close I'll have to cut some plastic. I was thinking about cutting out the top of the console insert so the cup holders can sit flush. For now, I'll get some better fasteners to hold it tighter, see how that goes before cutting.

I just purchased the factory cup holder insert for the center console. The link to qtec is below. http://www.quadratec.com/products/72151_01.htm Its almost embarrassing to say that I'm having trouble installing it. Two issues, one I feel like the two screws don't really hold it snug. I figure I can get longer screws and put nuts on the back to really tighten them down. Two the lid for the console no longer latches. The raised height of the front now puts the latch too far away from catching, is there a way to adjust this? Just curious if other have had the same problems and can share some ideas. Thanks, Sean

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that you should have no issues getting the pan out since it is 2wd. My issues were the pumpkin getting in the way. I should have done mine before or during my 4WD swap, but I was limited on shop time I have a 2wd and drooping the front axle made it a lot easier. Also removing the steering and trackbar made it a breeze. I know it sounds like a lot, but I just unbolted the Drag link from the pitman arm and track bar from the axle, it really made it a breeze after that.