terrawombat Posted June 27, 2011 Author Share Posted June 27, 2011 I got the entire package for between $500 and $600. I don't recall what the exact number was, but I remember it was listed for $600 and I talked the seller down some, but I just don't remember what he finally agreed on. It came with the engine, transmission, complete engine wiring harness, and the PCM. It was claimed that the assembly had 116K miles on it, but I have no way to verify that. Someone once told me that the PCMs on the ZJ's store the mileage, but I found that not to be the case this weekend when I swapped the PCM for the one on my 5.9L ZJ. I've got a spare 5.9L engine/trans/tranfer case/PCM/wiring that I can make you a nice deal on...just gotta drive up to NJ ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue88Comanche Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 as much as i would like to take that offer.. it would be a bit of a drive from Mobile, AL to NJ :rotfl2: ... I have family in Boson, I wonder if the 5.9 can be a carry on... :hmm: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted July 21, 2011 Author Share Posted July 21, 2011 Sadly, not much to update. I need to get this truck out of my shop, powerwashed, and prepped for paint. I want to get the rear frame painted, then pull it back into my shop, get the interior in, make all of the cuts I need to in the firewall, and then strip it all back down to paint the engine bay and interior. Without a front axle, it was kind of hard to move the truck anywhere. Decided to just throw the D30 from my 5.9L ZJ donor into it. Bounces around a lot without shocks and sways a ton without a track bar or sway bar :D Jumped on the front to check for oil pan-to-axle clearance...we're good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted July 25, 2011 Author Share Posted July 25, 2011 After a very amusing and poor attempt at removing the windshield, I got it out, but completely ruined it. Oh well, I wanted to the newer XJ style with the outer seal in there anyways. I just wanted to throw up these two pictures to document the differences in the mounting points between the older XJ/MJ dash and the new XJ one. Not a single hole lines up :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted July 27, 2011 Author Share Posted July 27, 2011 I finished the upper dash mounts last night. Dash is just about in and ready to go - need to drill the holes in the floor for the center dash support and get some nuts welded onto the body for the side dash supports by the doors. Then the dash comes back out and I need to work on mounting the steering wheel support and relocating the hole for the steering column. It's coming together...slowly, but it's coming together. I'll get some pictures of the progress up later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rymanrph Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 I think I took my dash in and out a million times trying to finish everything up. Hopefully you'll have a much easier go with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted July 27, 2011 Author Share Posted July 27, 2011 I think I took my dash in and out a million times trying to finish everything up. Hopefully you'll have a much easier go with it. haha - yea...I've taken it out at least two dozen times lining everything up. Luckily the windshield on this truck is out so it makes it 1000000x easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87Warrior Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 Can you post a picture of the A-Pillar where the lower dash will bolt to? I do not understand why you would need to weld a nut to the body in order to bolt the lower dash in. I simply drilled the dash bracket so that I could utilize the stock dash mounting hole in the a-pillar. Curiosity strikes me why you wouldn't try to use the factory mount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted July 27, 2011 Author Share Posted July 27, 2011 Can you post a picture of the A-Pillar where the lower dash will bolt to? I do not understand why you would need to weld a nut to the body in order to bolt the lower dash in. I simply drilled the dash bracket so that I could utilize the stock dash mounting hole in the a-pillar. Curiosity strikes me why you wouldn't try to use the factory mount. I wanted to use the stock location on the 99XJ dash to bolt it to the A-pillar. I would have had to drill a new hole in the side dash bracket above the factory hole (well, it's more of a hook) and that would have interfered with a dash wiring clip. Plus I thought it would be too cramped for me to get my hand up there to thread the bolt in. Pics of the XJ factory A-pillar dash mounts... Drivers side: Passenger side: Pics of my new MJ A-pillar dash mounts... Drivers side: Passenger side: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted July 30, 2011 Author Share Posted July 30, 2011 Dash is in. Just need to drill two holes for the center support bolts and weld some nuts on the backside of the transmission tunnel. Going to do the center console and e-brake next. Then I need to modify the firewall on the drivers side quite a bit. Patch old holes like where the fuse panel came in, clutch master cylinder and a few others. Need to relocate where the steering column passes through and a couple of other odds and ends. It's getting there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted July 31, 2011 Author Share Posted July 31, 2011 Also forgot to mention - the engine that's sitting in the MJ right now is gonna come out for good as it basically needs a full bottom-end rebuild. The thrust bearing on the crank was chewed up on one side and it also chewed up the crank. So, the crank would need to come out and I'm not sure if it can be salvaged. I may talk to my machine shop to see if they can rework it at all. Maybe turn it down smooth and get an oversized thrust bearing? I'm not sure, but if it needs a new crank, then that basically means I'd get the whole engine re-worked. Don't think I have the funds available for that - since I'd get all forged internals, stroke it, and get some dished pistons for a lower compression ratio so I can raise the boost. Then I'd probably get heads, cam, roller rockers, etc etc...you can see where this is going and it equals $$$. For now, I'm going to drop the 5.9L engine from my donor ZJ into this since I know that one runs well. Should be good enough to get me by until I can save up some money for the stroker engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reece146 Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 haha - yea...I've taken it out at least two dozen times lining everything up. Luckily the windshield on this truck is out so it makes it 1000000x easier. With the windshield out is there any possibility of not getting the dash in the correct location? I am hoping to start mine in September, I need to replace the cracked windshield anyway, but I was concerned with placing the dash either too deep, too shallow, too high or low without having the glass to reference against. Worth being concerned? I figure it will be a lot easier to do this with the windshield out but... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted August 1, 2011 Author Share Posted August 1, 2011 Nah not really. The A pillars are the same shape on the XJ and MJ, just don't have the same mounting holes. I measured the location of th side mounting brackets in the XJ before I pulled the dash and made sure it went back in the same location when I put it in the MJ. The center support bracket can also be used as a good reference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted August 5, 2011 Author Share Posted August 5, 2011 Made a template off of the XJ firewall so that I could better locate the positioning of the steering column. Got a rough cut on the firewall - good enough to let the steering column shaft pass through without any interference. Needed to get the MJ out of my shop for a powerwashing. Decided to take some pictures of it as it currently sits so I can get some good before & after shots once I'm finished. Got the inside of the frame powerwashed pretty good. Going to hit it again tomorrow morning to hopefully dislodge some more stuff inside. Then I'm gonig to hit it with this: Outside of the frame rails will be hit with POR-15. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comanche County Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 My goal is to be the first person to make an offer for it when you finish! :wrench: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted August 6, 2011 Author Share Posted August 6, 2011 My goal is to be the first person to make an offer for it when you finish! :wrench: LoL. I know shelbyluv was talking about building OBD-II Magnum XJ/MJs for people as a way to generate some $$ when he retires. I don't recall what the $$ figure he threw out was (and if he was serious or not), but I think it was in the $12-15K range. He's not far off the mark for the amount of time that goes into a project like this. My new goal is to have it running and moving by mid-September as that it looking like it will be my moving date, if all goes according to plan. If I can get the big ticket items done, I can work on all of the other little things when I'm at my new garage-less place (boo). I got a lot of the rear frame coated in POR-15. I still need to hit some spots, but they need to be cleaned up before I can lay some paint down. The truck was outside for power washing and I wanted to take advantage of the nice day today to get as much done as possible. Unfortunately, the wire wheeling/cleaning was taking a lot longer than I expected so I decided to paint the frame in steps. Cleaned and painted the top and inner portions of the frame rails, waited for it to dry, and then pushed the truck back inside, where I dropped the rear axle, which will allow me to clean up the bottom and outer portions of the frame. I was going to try to lay some paint on them tonight, but I'm running out of time and once you start with POR-15, you really don't want to stop until you've used up all of the paint you transferred over into a smaller container. I've got to be up early for a viewing tomorrow morning about 3.5 hours away, so that will take up most of my Saturday. I'll be back on this Sunday afternoon hopefully with some pictures of a fully painted rear frame. In the meantime, I've been fitting more pieces of the interior and have begun to clean the interior sheet metal in preparation for paint. I have 90% of the holes I need in the firewall and once I remove the dash, I should be able to patch up the last few remaining ones and resize the driver side wiring harness hole to make it fit the newer style grommet. Here is how she sits right now: I'm also debating on what to do with the rear end since I have it all stripped down. New OEM-spec shocks from Motion? 3" lift? Decisions, decisions... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comanche County Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 Yeah, I think there is a market for "rebuilt" OBDII V8 (or otherwise) style Jeeps. Like Chip Foose' "New" 69' Camaros, Hemi JKs, etc. Considering there's a huge fan base for MJs, XJs, ZJs and all Jeeps there certainly would be a market. But would it be a huge money maker, probably not. We just need some fool venture capitalist to hire all us CC guys to start such a business to know for sure. I think most people do it for the fun of doing it....mixing pleasure and business kinda changes the fun of it. Kinda like the thought of being a professional fishing guide, it doesn't stress me out when I don't catch fish, but if my livelihood depended on it, it certainly would. Man, your MJ is looking great so far, excellent work! For a small lift, I think military wrap and sprung under is the way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted August 6, 2011 Author Share Posted August 6, 2011 If I did a lift, I would definitely stay spring under. I don't think I'd go much over 3", either. I only do a very small amount of off-roading where I live now and it will be even less to the place I'm moving to. I may be doing a lot more beach cruising, though. So maybe a small lift and some 31" tires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted August 6, 2011 Author Share Posted August 6, 2011 Quick little update - just used a can of the Eastwood Internal Frame coating and I have to say that I am thoroughly impressed with it. I was pretty skeptical at first, but bought it because of some very favorable reviews on another forum. I just did the left frame rail and the X-brace and used about one can, but I definitely was VERY liberal with my spraying - had puddles dripping out of the holes on the bottom of the frame. Oh well, better to have too much rust protection rather than not enough. For anyone worried about how well this stuff coats - it works very well. The machined brass nozzle on the end of the extension tube has such fine little holes that the paint blasts out in all directions with enough velocity that it whips the little extension piece around, which gets you excellent coverage. I definitely recommend this stuff. Was on sale for $15.99 a couple days ago... http://www.eastwood.com/internal-frame- ... ozzle.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted August 7, 2011 Author Share Posted August 7, 2011 If only the factory had done a more thorough job with the undercoating, we'd all have trucks in really nice shape... Back to wire-wheeling... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted August 7, 2011 Author Share Posted August 7, 2011 Exterior of rear frame rails are about 95% complete. Interior paint on the right frame rail to commence once the POR-15 dries - likely tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89comancheowner Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 would like to have that 3000 GT in the back of your pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 Yea - fun car. Upgraded turbos, injectors, fuel pump, E-manage, exhaust, intake, etc. Drove that from 2003-2008, but parts for that thing are $$$$$. I also could never stop tinkering with it and just wanted a vehicle I could drive, beat the crap out of and not worry about it breaking down. Or if it did, I could easily find parts for it...so I got my 2001 XJ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89comancheowner Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 ya I know what you are talking about I have a 1990 300zx twin turbo with a rod sticking out the side of the block but with that said i really like your project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comanchekid Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 have you made any progress on mounting the ebrake and console? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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