darwin

They're taped too. All the lights, windows are masked. Smartass :D

See that blue around the headlamps? That's masking tape, the paint will come off with the tape leaving the lights untouched. Newspaper+masking taped all the windows too. Most everything else saw paint. It will look good when I've put another coat on the front and finish the bed and pull the tape.

Here's what she looked like today. Paint looks weird because I touched up the thin spots. Where the paint stops in the rear is where I'm chopping it.

How cheap are fenders? I'm trying to find replacements for my '98 without spending $300 shipped.

That was pretty condescending considering the differences.

There's nearly nothing in the way on the '98. You could use a ratchet or a wrench without any problem. Should I take a picture? I could tomorrow. It's much, much different. The antifreeze reservoir for one, along with the positioning of the brake fluid reservoir. I can take a pic if it's this big of a deal :D

A 1998 and 1988 might look a little different under the hood... :cheers: The difference is that the fluid reservoir is in the way on the 88.

Jesus christ it's tight. I'll have to look in my XJ's hood and see what they did so much better. Good excuse to buy some ratcheting wrenches...

How the hell are you supposed to get this bolt off? Ratcheting wrench? It's a 14mm and the brake fluid resivior is right above it. Two piece ratchet extension? Can't fit a wrench... My cherokee was a lot easier to get them out. The last thing holding the damn axle on the mj...

OD green has been purchased... what an expensive paint job at $30 with masks and other assorted hardware store stuff I couldn't pass up :cheers:

It's in the for sale section :D

I think OD green wins... I wanted it too, just never seen it on a manche before. Probably painting the sucker tonight.

Awesome pics!

Very cool. Sounds like we're doing semi-similar builds with the exception of my axle swap. What trans is it?

Hmm... I checked and Wisconsin isn't on my way to work. Any easy way to get it to ya?

I can probably get ~$175 for the bumper and $150 for the winch... I've got another one I can use anyway. The 2x4 to make a new one won't cost nearly that much :D Cash back in pocket. What's the bed worth? Ballpark? It is a longbed. No rust really, small bits of surface rust that is extremely superficial.

I'm not even titling it, it's never going to see a paved road, EVER. It doesn't need to be street legal. Like I said before, if we bolt up the rear and they're not right, I'll just weld in new perches... It's like $20 + 15 minutes on the MIG. I'm going to be selling the tail lights and the tail gate. If anyone needs them let me know. I'm cutting the bed at the rear shackle mounts, since all that from the rear back is going to do is mash trees. Decided to keep the bed on for now. I'm probably going to sell the bumper and the winch and build a new bumper out of 2x4. I don't really need a winch right now for the kind of stuff I'm going to be doing. It's short armed so the 3.5" coils and spacers are fine...

I already got that paint for when I paint your junk in your driveway while you're sleeping :brows:

Why do you think spacers suck? They'll work absolutely fine for this application. I'm not using blocks...

The 88 is the baby blue color, and it just isn't my cup of tea. It's going to get painted one way or another... definitely just cheap rattle can over top of existing paint. It's a trail pig and the paint is going to get messed up anyway. I'm undecided about what color... So I'm making a poll.

Good to hear that the front is a direct bolt in and that the lift up front should be enough to keep up with the rear.

The XJ is lifted like 5.5 inches in the front... did ya miss that? :D That suspension is going on the MJ... ???

Before I start all the swapping and everything money will constrain me for a few weeks (moving, vacation, other expenses related to the two)... So It'll be getting painted first. I can't stand the color so it'll be getting a new coat. I'm thinking OD green, black or dark blue...

My buddy is absolutely sure he's got the right measurement? Weird.

45.75" on the XJ and 45.25" on the MJ for the perches... is that really enough to have to move them? I've got big long shackles and am only worried about standing up on the trail, no road driving.