1992/1999 Mj Project

[reson46]

Bowed out to the Knuckle:

 

Driver Bumpstop is tweaked... almost rubbing the coil:

 

It's hard to tell for sure from the picture, but your bumpstop tower appears to be fine. It looks like your track bar is screwed up as the entire axle has shifted to the driver's side.

 

Willy

[87Warrior]

Willy, good eye from the pictures I did post. The truck raised up 2-3" when the drivetrain was removed thus pulling the axle to the driver side. However, the trackbar is fine and shaped identical to both XJs (family '93 and '99 donor). The drive side coil spring does go straight down (relative, since it is not at ride height) to the axle mount. The bumpstop tower, or something up there, is bent towards the frame rail.

 

Every front suspension component will be replaced along with the axle after paint.

 

Beautiful truck. Really looking forward to watching this build/restore progress!

Thank you! Just don't hold your breath, I am extraordinarily slow :rotf:

[Dirteatr717]

Beautiful truck. Really looking forward to watching this build/restore progress!

Thank you! Just don't hold your breath, I am extraordinarily slow :rotf:

Slow is smooth and smooth is fast :thumbsup:

[SubSonic]

Hey, that looks like my bump stop... except mine does actually touch... so it makes some noise when I hit bumps. Been doing it for over a year (since I bought it), never really bothered to inspect further...

[87Warrior]

Finished blasting the frame/chassis today. Took much longer than I anticipated, but the HF blaster held through it all and is ready for more :wrench:

 

Overall Shots:

 

Engine Bay:

 

Passenger Inner Fender:

 

Driver Inner Fender:

 

Under Carriage:

 

A few spots need cleaned up, but I will use a flapper wheel on an angle grinder. Now I need to blow out the frame, wash, treat with Marine Clean, treat with Metal Ready and brush on POR15. If the weather is decent tomorrow on my day off (Presidents Day) I will get a head start on it :yes: I also need to haul it to the body shop so he can get an idea of what he is getting into.

[Rymanrph]

Not sure if you've said or not, but what color are you painting it?

[87Warrior]

Not sure if you've said or not, but what color are you painting it?

Body: Red, the bed is already done a few pages back. Going with a light gray interior.

 

Frame: Black. I know the frames were all body color from the factory, but I really like a dark under carriage.

[bajajunkie]

Hey i worked on my comanche today too! haha I'm really liking your style on rebuilding the comanche. From the Ground up. If i wasnt stuck payin college tuition id be following in your foot steps

 

Keep up the good work! :popcorn:

[87Warrior]

Hey i worked on my comanche today too! haha I'm really liking your style on rebuilding the comanche. From the Ground up. If i wasnt stuck payin college tuition id be following in your foot steps

Thank you! I actually purchased this truck in the spring semester of my last year at K-State :yes: It was HARD to focus on school. Heck at that time I never could have imagined that I would be this far into a build. Actually, I guess I am about as far from a complete truck that you can get with a uni-body MJ :rotf:

 

Today I decided to drag the truck to a garage with CONCRETE FLOORS :thumbsup: Here she is getting ready to go into the "POR15 Booth"

 

Here is an image of some stamping I found on the MJ frame (passenger inner fender well and inner frame and driver inner fender well and inner frame)

The deeper number changes from location to location (26155, 12134, 13571 and *unknown*)

 

9-13-91 build? Not sure about that, maybe when the frame was built. The build sheet indicates a 9-26-91 build date with an In Service date of 10-26-91.

[87Warrior]

FORWARD PROGRESS

This weekend I made the first permanent forward steps on the truck. I coated the media blasted frame, floor that won't be replaced, and inner fender wells with POR15.

 

Rear frame rail:

 

Cross member:

 

Floors and under the cab:

 

Inner fender well:

 

Front end:

 

I used less than a quart of POR15 and brushed it on with some of those cheap foam brushes. Seemed to work very well. Once new floors are installed they will be PORed. Then I will apply their Tie-Coat primer followed by undercoating.

[Rymanrph]

Looks great man. I didn't get that detailed with mine. Sometimes I wish I had; maybe when I get around to painting it I will.

[87Warrior]

Looks great man. I didn't get that detailed with mine. Sometimes I wish I had; maybe when I get around to painting it I will.

Thank you 8) I keep waiting for your truck to be on the road! Since I am not under any major time constraint with this truck, I just figured 'why not' since it was already going to be torn down for rust removal.

 

I am still somewhat undecided what I want to do with the motor. At 150K miles on it, I certainly want to put gaskets and seals in it. But if I am that far I should rebuild it. Then I question if it should be stroked. Do I really want to run premium fuel in a Jeep? So I am looking for a little help in creating a build sheet/list for a modified 4.0L. The motor will be based upon a 99 XJ block, which will be a daily driver turning 4.10's and a 30/31" tire. I want to pull more power out of the motor yet maintain fantastic drive-ability and reliability without the need for premium fuel. (I believe this eliminates a stroker) The motor will be getting a thorough going through and rebuilt by the same shop who simply rebuilt my rubi's 4.0 in '03.

 

I am thinking work along the lines of bearings and seals/gaskets, cam, pistons, porting, etc. Possibly a header as well.

[jpnjim]

I don't know that anyone has had luck doing this yet,

but you *should* be able to avoid premium gas with a stroker if you have the right compression ration, AND good quench.

 

The original AMC 4.6L stokers were built in Mexico (by VAM), in the 70's & 80's specifically to produce more power from the 6 with low octane & high altitudes,

so it can be done.

 

I hate to quote Wiki :doh:

 

but: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehiculos_ ... _Mexicanos

All VAM engines were of AMC design, but built in Mexico. Moreover, VAM added unique engineering features to deal with low octane fuel and high altitudes. This included a 282 cu in (4.6 L) I6 engine (essentially a 258 block cast with a 0.16" larger bore) not available from AMC. The larger six helped counter high altitude/low octane fuel power loss and with the lack of a V8 engine option in VAM produced vehicles.

 

These were the original AMC strokers, 20 years before anyone ever put a 258 crank in a 4.0L block

(even 16 years before AMC built a true 4.0L block)

 

The biggest difference is off the shelf available pistons have horrible quench, with just slightly too much compression ratio. (VAM used 8-8.5:1 compression to deal with poor quality Mexican fuel).

 

 

I haven't searched for a proper stroker piston in a long time,

but the problem with off the shelf aftermarket pistons was they typically cut the compression distance down from the original spec,

ten using it in a 'poor mans stroker' (with shorter 258 rods) ended up with the piston so far down in the hole that poor quench would kill combustion mixture quality, and give detonation, even with moderate compression ratio's.

Using premium gas is a bandaid for the real problem of poor quench.

 

I know some new stroker pistons have been developed over the last few years, might be worth looking into.

[87Warrior]

For further engine discussion, see my topic in the Tech Forum: Help me build a "Four O+"

 

Not much exciting has happened to the truck this week. Got all of the busted bolts out of the frame and cleaned up the threads with a tap. Finished applying POR15 to all of the spring mounts and control arm mounts. Also coated the inside frame rail with the POR15. In studying the construction of these trucks, it is easy to understand why the frame liked to rot away. Next step will be blasting the front frame rails and rear frame rails with hot high pressure soap/water, soaking with Marine Clean, treating with Metal Ready then using a 3M Rust Fighter-I Application Wand to shoot POR15 in the inaccessible frame.

 

Visited with the body shop guy who strongly suggested I NOT use undercoating on the outside of the truck. He says with the POR15, Tie-Coat primer, and Chassis coat there will be absolutely no chance of chipping the paint. I asked about sound deadening and he said it would be OK to spray it over the inside sheet metal after it was treated with POR. Upon his direction I also placed an order for new outer rocks and floor pans for the truck.

He wants the truck in his shop at the first of April to start body work :banana:

[87Warrior]

No real exiting updates. For the last couple of weeks I have been preparing the inner frame for POR15, cutting out the floors and sanding the POR on the frame for Tie-Coat and Top-Coat.

 

Ordered the outer rockers and floor pans from Classic to Current:

 

Cut out the floors:

 

I used the spray gun that came with the U-Pol raptor liner kit and attached the3M Rust Fighter-I Application Wand,a flexible wand for the 3M Rust kit, to spray the POR. *note: the wand does not thread securely to the U-Pol gun, so I wrapped the threads several times with Teflon tape* It came out very fine and sparse, so it took awhile to coat the inside of the frame rails but had nearly no waste. Also figured out that plain turpentine does a great job cleaning up POR15.

Getting close!!!

[Rymanrph]

Can't wait to see the rest of it painted. You're going to have a very nice truck when you're done.

[buxmj]

Wow, this truck is going to be awesome! I know it will never rust, but are you going to make it a dd? Your paint shop must appreciate the prep you have done. Still trying to figure out what to do with my engine, will keep an eye on what you decide for ideas. Great work!

[87Warrior]

Thanks for the comments guys. :typing:

 

Yes, I am building this truck to be driven everyday. If it was to be a weekend warrior or trailer queen I would not be putting this much work into it since it wouldn't be exposed to the harsh life on the road. Whenever the paint shop gets a space opened up, it will be on its way. He will weld in the floors and paint the truck and I will start the engine work.

 

I will drive this truck everyday and will take it camping/wheeling as often as possible. It will be turning 4.10 hears with a 30/31" tire, so I am seriously considering the 3" Hellcreek lift. If not that, maybe some Chevy drop shackles and V8 ZJ springs with an extra isolater pad.

[Mudtruck87]

Awesome truck! You are doing some real nice work. There is no question that the truck will look outstanding once it's back from paint.

[87Warrior]

Was a cold lazy weekend and did not get much done to the truck. Removed some of the seam sealer around the inner firewall of the truck. I found RUST forming at the TOP of the firewall/cowl/a-pillar seam. I almost left this area alone since it appeared rust free. If you blame the clutch master for allowing water in, you should remove the seam sealer in that corner as well.

 

Coated the back 1/2 of the frame with POR's Tie-Coat primer. This stuff surprised me. First off, IT IS BLUE! Secondly, it has the consistency of house latex paint :nuts:

It requires a minimum of 24 hours to cure, above 65 degrees.

 

Went back to the donor to pull some more panels, this time for rust free steel for the body shop to use.

 

If you wanted to know what gives the A pillar its strength:

[dave92cherokee]

Any updates over the last couple of weeks? Enjoy watching the progress especially the sandblasting and por.

[87Warrior]

Any updates over the last couple of weeks? Enjoy watching the progress especially the sandblasting and por.

Sorry, not much has happened. I did manage to get that tie-coat primer sanded down and apply TWO coats of the Chassis Black Top-Coat to the frame. It is a satin black color now. I know ever square inch of that danged uni-frame and am tired of looking at it :nuts:

 

The body shop guy called and said we should be able to drop it off within a week or two; he has to get a horse drawn carriage painted and out of his shop :rotfl2:

 

I have been working on a Hidden Hitch Design Proposal. Trying to keep it looking stock with some added safety and utilitarian functions included.

[87Warrior]

Figured I should post some pre-paint pictures.

 

When I hung the doors I simply installed the 97+ striker using one bolt through the factory MJ location. It held the doors shut, but was spaced to far out and was only 1/2 installed. I looked into the B-Pillar and wiggled my Dremel tool in there with a cut off wheel to remove the factory nut plate. If you are familiar with the B-Pillar there is not much room back there. I gave up on trying to cut the nut plate out. Instead I drilled out the 4 spot weld that hold the nut plate AND backing plate in there. I will let the body shop guy position the striker pin after the hinges are repaired so it fits and closes perfectly.

 

While searching for a Dakota bench seat to use in the truck, I accidentally came across an ad for a 22 gallon (87-95?) OBDI Dakota fuel tank.

 

Did lots and lots of sanding and scuffing on the uni-frame's POR15 and Tie-Coat so I could apply Chassis Black. Got two coats of Chassis Black on the uni-frame.

 

If you have been following my build, you know I sprayed the inside of my frame with POR15. Here is a picture inside the driver rear frame rail... :brows:

 

And a shot of the cab's frame rails with the cap and floor removed: (its dusty...)

 

Located MORE rust!!!! This is the upper portion of the driver side A-pillar/kick panel and bottom of the Cowl. For those of you who solely blame the clutch MC or fuse panel, you better peel back the seam sealer and double check.

 

I have confirmation that I can drop the truck off at the body shop this weekend :clapping: He was ready for me last week, but then had an emergency paint project to do..... a horse carriage. :rotf: He will start with the rockers, cab corners and floors. Then only to be followed by paint! Whoo hoo!

[tazer15]

Nice brett you have a great eye sense of detail that i wish i had more of I'm so picky but never get it perfect the way i want it.And it seems you do it every time.I'm gunna have to read your whole build sometime soon but for now howd you paint inside of your frame?Stick the gun in the rear end of frame and squeeze the trigger? :D

[87Warrior]

Nice brett you have a great eye sense of detail that i wish i had more of I'm so picky but never get it perfect the way i want it.And it seems you do it every time.I'm gunna have to read your whole build sometime soon but for now howd you paint inside of your frame?Stick the gun in the rear end of frame and squeeze the trigger? :D

Thanks Trevor! It is far from show quality, but its turning out far better than I ever imagined. If you start at the beginning of my build you will notice I initially did not plan on doing this much work to the truck.... It got a little out of hand :rotfl2:

 

You've got it. I stuck the spray wand into every opening along the frame, at least 3 times, to try and coat everything inside the rails. Before I sprayed the POR, I sprayed Marine Clean and Metal Ready in there with the gun since it was not sand blasted.