zjrog

I kinda like it... If they hadn't used the Chinese XJ 2500 looking lights and grill...

Brotherman, hope you get well soon. Take care and God Bless... Roger (USN Retired)

The way I see it, you got another MJ as a solution for extra tires and wheels... I wonder if that would work with my wife...

I live close and still haven't been for speed weeks... Then again, I have been to Moab yet either and only managed parts fo the Pony Express Trail. Might finally get me out to the salt to see a MJ run it... :cheers:

That Duplicolor wheel paint is some neat stuff. I painted some aluminum wheels for Neon with their graphite color a couple years ago and they have held up very well through two Utah winters and the crap they throw on the roads here. Granted, its on car wheels, but you will like the results. And I didn't use any primer either, I had previously sand blasted the wheels and almost dropped the coin for powder coating.

Now, will that be an XJ with a frame, or is it still considered unibody? Nice work.

Might make the neighbors nervous!!! I LOVE THAT!!! I think most of my neighbors are resigned to the idea I will always have some project in my driveway... Though someday, I might privacy fence the RV pad in...

242 is great on snowy roads. Slip it into Fulltime and away you go. You still have PartTime for the traisl and 4 low for climbing. There isn't a 4:1 kit like the 231 has available, shure would be nice if it did. Then again, maybe I'll look into a boxforrocks 231 kit and slip the 242 behind the 231 crawlbox.

Well, hopefully the final chapter to this thread. I drove the beastie around last week and didn't have any issues. So my daughter came home for the weekend and I gave her her XJ. She called after getting back to college last night quite pleased with it. She says more power than it ever had. I'm happy, now, on to the next project... :cheers:

Thanks. What a fun problem to resolve... NOT! My daughter will be happy to have her Jeep back though. I am going to drive it every evening this week. :wavey:

Well, buttoned up the front of the XJ, replaced the bent bumper with a nice chrome one, dropped in the center console from the parts rig, and generally got it ready to give back to my daughter. I took it for another spin this evening, and am very happy with the performance. Its fun to drive right now too. It could snow a little this week so I might even get to do some MINOR snow wheeling... If I can get the longer U bolts before my daughter gets home, I'll do the 2" coil spacers and rear lift blocks. Otherwise, that can wait till XMas break when it also gets a different set of wheels and tires. Now, i can get busy stripping the parts XJ. The front axle is getting new gears and will go under my 90 Ranger. I do have to fab some long arms and mounting brackets. But should be pretty straight forward to swap in... Just maybe, this will be doen so my son can take that with him for next semester at school...

So I got the CPS the other day, put it in today. Man what a pain in the butt that is!!!! But there was no change. :mad: And so I pulled the Ignition Module from the parts rigs. No change... :no: Back to the parts rig. Pulled the distributor, I mean, it COULD be the cam sensor... Umm, no. By this point, I'm very frustrated. EXTREMELY... :headpop: So I go back and look at everything I've done to this point. Touch everything and check every connector. Again. Check all the vacuum lines again. Decided to take a break. Since I thought the CPS had to be the deal, I didn't check the fuel pump, but there was fuel at the rail, and I don't have a pressure gauge. Wish I did!!! Fuel pump pulled and HELLO!!!! The little 3" length of hose INSIDE the tank is ROTTEN!!! I pulled it off the fittings, clamps and all, by HAND!!!! And the clamp wasn't even fully on the fitting... :huh???: Started it up, and it settled into a REAL nice idle. REALLY nice. Blipped the throttle, no stumble and it kept running when I let the throttle go. Decide to take it for a spin... Hey, this thing has BALLS! Well, compared to the best it ran before. Spun the tires around a couple corners. :brows: Pretty happy, this things run really good now. Now I can finish the cosmetics and install the console from the parts rig. I think I earned a couple brews... :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

Three years ago I almost bought property near where I was working at the time. I was in an apartment 4 nights a week driving back home for the weekends. My wife and my goal was to buy some property, drop travel trailer on it for me to live in, build a large garage with a sort of apartment in it. In a couple years when the kids were out of school and gone, setup a modular (not double wide) home on the property and sell the other house. Some of my co-workers did the same thing, and most of the homes in the town were either modular or mobile. Luckily, I got an offer elsewhere. Moved the fam and have a 2 car garage and large RV pad and plenty of parking space. But would love a 30x40' pole barn or steel building for a workshop. Maybe, if we survive Obama, I can find a little property outside of town and build on it...

Its my understanding that ZJ springs tend to be about an inch taller than XJ/MJ springs. That said, Upcountry springs are an inch taller than stock ZJ springs.

Decided that my friends might be right. Renix manual indicates it might indeed be the CPS. Ordered through Rock Auto. Should be here Monday. Gives me time to pull more from the parts rig. If its not the CPS, i'll swap the fuel pump.

That has been suggested, and that is NOT what I wanted to hear. But -- it may well be the problem. :roll: I know it was suggested. Funny thing, I was all set to swap in a fuel pump off my parts truck. But I didn't want to listen to my friend that the CPS might be my issue. Going back and re-reading the Renix EFI manual, it might indeed be the problem. Ordered one though Rock Auto, should be here Monday. Now I just have to worry about my friend doing his "I told you so" dance in my yard...

Those rocker arms don't look to badly discolored. On the motor I just did the headgasket on, the rockers were kind of rough in texture. Like it had been run hot and low on oil frequently in its past. 199,900 miles and counting... Looks like I really need to consider rebuilding the motor from the parts rig to have on hand when the motor in my 90 finally craps out. The parts rig had 220,000 miles under it.

When I was active in the turbo Dodge community, what you describe as runs then just dies and won't restart, wait for 30 minutes or so and it starts right up, is completely indicative of a fuel pump in its last days.

No change. MAP or EGr didn't change anything. AIC is working. Next to try is the fuel pump form the parts rig. And I might as well see if I can try that mod tha allows a little more fuel capacity in the tank...

Been over a month since I pulled the head off the XJ and since my last post. I've been sick and have had surgery since and 10 days ago a friend helped me put the head back on. Took my time cleaning parts as I went, and got it all back together. I was hoping for a nice running machine. But... Started up once I had fuel pressure. Idled OK (but it did before too). Had a fuel leak shut it down. Fixed the leak... And, it still runs poorly, but at least it isn't backfiring. Quick rehash of previous stuff looked at or replaced. Radiator and all hoses. Distributor cap and rotor, plugs and wires. Checked all vacuum lines. Replaced O2 sensor. Replaced TPS and adjusted (and adjusted again after headgasket swap). Headgasket and all other associated gaskets. Replaced injectors because one was missing the nozzle, replacemetns were from my parts XJ. Again checked that everything was plugged in and in the right places. I also replaced the 1990 gauge cluster/idiot lights over to 1987 full gauge cluster and changed the coolant temp sensor and oil pressure sender, so I can see what is going on (and everything works!!). So here is what it does. It is a little hard to start, but will start. Settles into a smooth idle, but then will either surge to about 2000 RPM, or drop down to almost nothing and try to die. If I add throttle, sometimes it revs at that point sometimes it dies. At the nice smooth idle, if I add throttle, sometimes it revs at that point sometimes it dies. The exhaust smells a little of gas, but not excessively. Last night a friend suggested MAP sensor (which in my first post I suggested, but had since forgotten about), and in another forum last night it was suggested the IAC motor and the EGR... So I have three things to look at when I get home. My friend that suggested the MAP sensor is pretty sure the Crank Position Sensor is OK since it starts and stays running. Ideas, thoughts?

Been drooling over that place since I first saw their website. Luckily, my brother is moving to Phoenix soon and that gives me a good reason to go!!!

I'm undecided on the spare parts I might be collecting. I can get a well robbed 87 XJ 2 door with an unknown condition non-running motor, to trans or tcase. Origianlly had a pukegoat 5 speed. So the D30 probably has 3.07 gearing so if I were to use it for the Ranger, I'd need a different carrier for 4.10s or maybe 4.56s... But might just use the XJ as a trail trailer. Make it simple and easy to pull for my ZJ.

Personally I'd love to see the ZJ as a 2 door.

Well, picked up the headgasket set and an O-ring set for the injectors, so here is today's update... So, after I cleaned the garage a bit so I could back the XJ into the garage, my buddy Scott swung by and we tore into the beastie. Disassembly was only a little challenging with the last couple manifold bolts are really tough to get to for bigger guys like Scott and I. I had to go get some new sockets as I didn't have any deep well 1/2 drive 16mm. Scott is a monster and tried really hard to break some of my tools, but then, they are cheapie stuff. One 3/8" drive ratchet has a misshaped square and one short extension is twisted, and one 1/2-3/8 adapter. But I will say that it was easier with two than when I did this myself on the ZJ last year... So, what did we find? Nothing earth shattering. No blown through sections on the headgasket. No cracked pistons, nice clean cylinder walls. Though the ridge at the top of the cylinders is pronounced, it does have 199,000 miles on it. There has been some leaking between 3 and 4 and between 5 and 6. Looks like some exhaust leaked into the oil galleries, but there was never any excess pressure in the PCV. And some carbon on the rear stud... So the plan for tomorrow, is to do some cleanup on the block, the passenger side is pretty greasy. Try to get some head oil and coolant passages cleaned up and put the thing back together. What is obvious is that I will need to run a coolant system flush/cleaner to break up some of the mess in there, and of course a oil flush or a run some ATF or Marvel Mystery Oil to clean the oil system out. So what is next to go wrong with the XJ? I mean, you'd think it would be happy to be a nice fresh color... And new rear axle bearings, and new hoses and TPS and O2 sensor and... Considering what it looked like when I bought it. Really want to get this thing out of the way once and for all so I can rehab the front axle or swap it for a D30 on that Ranger...

Thats kinda how I looked at the timing issue. Since I still don't know what I'll find when I open the motor up, I'm already getting other things lined up. Like, a replacement motor... Just in case! :brows: