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Here I am, posting another new build...again LOL. I wasn't really actively looking, just browsing the local marketplace and came across this SWB, 2WD, 5 speed, 4.0 comanche that looked pretty clean. It hasn't run in a few years at least, and the trans is known to have problems. It was headed to the scrapper the next day. So I scraped together $500 and got myself my 4th MJ. I loosely told my fiance the other day, after the Wagoneer restoration is done, and some loose ends on the others jeeps are tied up, I'd like to start a sport/muscle truck build. And then this happened to pop up for sale, on my birthday weekend, so it was a sign lol. This jeep likely will get the drivetrain, electronics, and some other odds and ends scrapped off of it in the next 6mos - year. It's got some rocker rust, and I'm sure the floors need love too, since it was $500 truck, it'll likely get some sort of budget oriented build, as my other three were very high budget builds. Currently it is: -Renix 4.0 -BA-10 2WD -Dana 35 The plan is: -LS (likely 4.8 or 5.3) -GM ECU/Harness -Cam setup for high RPM power -AX-15 W/LS bellhousing -NP242 or NP249 -D30 with CV axles -C8.25 with KJ Disc Brakes, and an LSD of sorts. -WJ Master/Booster -Nice stereo -Working AC, Heat, etc. -JK Sahara 18'' wheels -V8 ZJ Sway bar -coil Spacers/leaf mods to level it at near stock height -WJ lower Controls arms -Tie rod upgrade -Bed toolbox? -New bushings/bearings front to back. Going for a really fun and reliable road cruiser, be able to slam gears and get sideways at will, or slap it into AWD and do some sprited driving. Where I live, a lot of fun, and smooth curve roads. Also I live up a dirt road that is slick when weather decides it is lol. After I bought it I found out it was an Eliminator, not that I mind either way, but a nice perk. See Photos:

So back sept of 2021 after over 100 xjs I finally got the chance to score a Comanche. Drove 2.5 hours one way and drug this 1988 off the side of a mountain literally. Factory 4.0 5speed 4x4 with tcase skid and gas tank skid so from the get go I knew I wanted to do a full 97+ swap. So I got it home and started going to town then proceeded to rip the entire interior out and found some rust :/ booo also picked up a rust free bed for it for 300 bucks Fast forward a couple months had a baby moved blah blah Picked up manual 98 doors and a Comanche Lund visor for CHEAP then got to work. Cut the bad floor spots out and installed some c2c floor pans. Had to cut some relief cuts but other than that they fit pretty well forgot to mention picked up a 98 donor and got the front clip fenders and wiring harnesses and dash from.(forgot to get s couple brackets so I’m buying another donor this week) yesterday I used the cut out steering column hole thing whatever you call it. And got that in. Still gotta do the wiring harness hole too. The Comanche whole is square as the xj one is more oval. as soon as I get the donor I’ll cut out the steering column bracket mount on the xj dash and a couple other pieces. So today didn’t really have time so I installed some kilmat in. so next I’ll start swapping in the dash brackets and steering column mount as soon as I have the appropriate mounts. I’m not good at write ups but I do take a lot of pictures so ask away if you have questions cause I have read every single 97 swap thread there is to learn this swap.

This is my project truck It has 4.0, pukegoat trans, np231 case, front was a vac disconnect hp d30 but is now a lp d30 out of a tj and rear was a d35 but is now a d44 out of a tj too. It's also a long bed. Current location is pflugerville texas and as far as I can tell she's been a texas truck her whole life. Status is that she's a work in progress but I have big plans for the truck. it has red interior with a bench. The interior is almost 100% complete. The color when I got it was half bed lined black but I plan on bedlining it an electric blue. Some plans for the truck are to bob the bed, ax-15 swap it, maybe diesel engine swap it, put jeep gladiator axles under it and enjoy the hell out of it. Current owner is Colby chapla and the truck has an Instagram, it's @sidechick.the.mj

Picked up a mostly finished 97+ swapped 88 SWB. Plan is finish the swap get it driving, paint it, then 3 inch lift, flat bed, 33” tires. Need a nice daily capable of working and carrying my tools.

I want to put the 97+ dash in my truck, but I don’t want to convert to OBD ll. Has anyone done this or know a way to retain the Renix engine management and gauges while swapping the interior? I thought about using a custom gauge cluster in a blank template that fits the newer dash, but I wasn’t sure which gauges work with Renix. ideally I just want to update the interior and allow the ability to run a double din radio with the already existing center dash swap that’s out there. Any ideas would be helpful!

Starting up my thread for my Comanche build. As it sits today, its a 1992, 4.0L, 5Sp, 2wd, SWB, Dana 35 that runs and drives fine with a few small issues. Overall, looking to make it go anywhere and be able to daily drive if needed. Currently, its being used off and on for quick rides/errands. History: Bought it from @kryptronic last fall Installed 2 new tires, changed oiled and trans fluid to get ready for inspection Passed PA inspection with the addition of license plate lights (the only one i didnt check) Picked up a 99 Donor with a blown engine for the start of the 97+ swap (4wd, 5sp, dana 30 and dana 35) Fixed a power steering leak Bought a (supposedly) XJ Dana 44 rear axle with what the seller thinks were 4.56 gears and no mounts for $100 Sold to a jeep aficionado here just south of Pittsburgh. Current Issues: Damp Floorboard (need to investigate more) Some weather stripping is rough Multiple Dents/Dings (especially in the bed) Windows are rough to roll down Plans: 97+ Conversion (interior and exterior) Onboard Air Air lockers possible axle shaft upgrades Determine gearing (will depend on lift/axles) SOA Rear Front lift (3 Link, 4 Link?) Steering Upgrades Bumpers, rock sliders, bed rack, bed sliders? Lighting upgrade (LED or halogen, adding fogs) Tires/Wheels Paint/body panel fix Frame stiffeners? Engine Rebuild/Stroker/LS Swap TBD Pic Dump (a few from the day i brought it home and of the parts jeep):

Hello fellas!!! I present to you "1BeastMJ". She's my 1989 jeep Comanche base model, originally 2wd, 4cyl, 4speed manual, short bed. I bought the truck from a craigslist seller about 2 years ago for $650 and within a few months she went through a drastic transformation. It was a good deal because she was rust free and ran strong. Only thing I didn't like is that she came with no tailgate but I saw a good future for her. My plan here is to share with you the process of her transformation, maybe make some friends and hopefully go wheeling someday who knows maybe in a wonderful place like Moab Utah. Here are a few pictures of how she looked when I bought her. As you can see she was very ugly but for me she was precious . The day i bought the truck I had to drive 3 hrs to its location. The initial idea was to tow it back home but I couldn't find a truck to tow it, so instead I drove my car out there with my wife and kids. The truck had been sitting for a while and was missing headlights and grill. I didn't know if it was able to drive 3 hrs, but I took the chance. I took the complete header from my Cherokee and after I test drove and made the deal, I zip-tied it on the mj. The engine and transmission ran excellent but the suspension and steering were another story. The steering had a lot of play and it would terribly dead wobble even with the smallest imperfections of the road. Luckily I made it back home safe with a new project truck. The next day I began changing the looks. I immediately sprayed bed liner over the red accents because I just didn't like that theme. I changed the wheels and tires from my xj which were in excellent condition aside from the plasti dip peeling off. I replaced the front bumper also borrowed from my xj, and I also plasti dipped the rusty hood that came on the truck. I also got rid of the factory stereo and installed an Alpine. She is starting to look different and I can now daily drive her to work. A few weeks later after I took ownership of the mj, I began searching craigslist and facebook market for a donor xj to do the 97+ swap. I've always been a fan of mjs with the newer xj front end, specially the ones who have the interior swapped too. So I got lucky one day and came across this 2wd automatic 2001 limited edition xj with 125k on the odo. I paid $400 for the truck and the guy delivered it to my house for $20 bucks on a flat bed of course since it had front end damage. I was really happy because it had all the luxuries of the limited trim such as heated seats, power seats, mirrors, windows, cruise control, overhead console with compass, a/c, and all four oem wheels in excellent condition, airbags were intact, but the best thing of all was that the damn thing ran really good; It just couldn't get any better. I even though about fixing the front end damage and daily drive it, but my main goal was to convert the comanche. Within a day or two after I got the donor xj I got down to business and started taking her apart. The first thing I swapped over where the wheels. In the past I had been after a set of limited trim wheels for my xj and my comanche just got lucky. The next thing which made a big different was replacing the doors because the original doors had most of the window trim and rubber seals missing and they would rattle like crazy down the road plus the mirrors on the mj looked funny to me lol and I wanted to get rid of as much bedlined panels done from the previous owners. I knew it would be a while for the power functions to work so I just added power and ground whenever I want to keep them up or down. The dashboard came out in a few hours along with the a/c unit. Only thing I wasn't a fan of at this point was the damn tan interior, but sometimes you gotta work with what you have. One month later after I bought my mj, I took her on a 14 hr round trip to my hometown Brownsville Tx. I even took her across the border to Mexico for a spin and on the way back she got x-rayed by the customs. When I got back home, I didn't even let the truck cool down before I started removing the engine and striping all the interior. Many won't believe me but it took me less than 3 hrs to remove engine, tranny, dash, seats, and carpet. The engine was still hot by the time it was out. I left all the wiring harness and accessories on the engine because the idea was to sell it as a complete package. Exactly 2 days later I sold the complete engine and tranny along with the steering column for $400. My goal was to get back the $400 that I had spent on the donor xj and I did. After I sold the mj's 4 cyl, out came the 6 cyl from the xj donor. I also left all the wiring and accessories in place just like with the mj's engine. I had to do it this way because I didn't have much time left before summer was over and my wife was gonna need the family car which I was using for work in the mean time. With the engine out and ready and with the mj striped to the bones It was time to work on the firewall for the dash swap.

okay so I'm doing the famous 97+ swap.. and the little less famous full interior swap. here's my problem. If i choose to use the center console from the 97 that means I'm going to have to relocate the ebrake setup. i understand i could still keep it in its orignial spot but id like to keep the center console emergency cable functional for more of an authentic feel. now. How would i go about doing this; would i need the orginal cable from my mj, or the cable off the cherokee? either way ill have to buy one new so your guys help would be greatly appreciated as to which one to buy and where. thank you - paul