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1992/1999 Mj Project


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What is your timeline on the paint? I'm going to start shopping around on some body shops here soon for mine.

Awhile :rotf:

 

I don't really know how long it will take to be complete. I do know the guy doing the work is pretty slow but does expectational work. I figure a few weeks to get the floors, rockers and cab corners done then a month or so to get the paint done.

 

But, a slow paint job won't slow me down. Now I need to work on pulling the motor out of the donor and rebuild, rebuild the axles, gather suspension components and get my hidden winch built.

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I just noticed that the rear frame rail on the passenger side appears to be bent. Was it hit in the right rear?

Yes. Twice according to the carfax. I bought the truck with no bumper, I suspect it was pretzel-ed. The rear frame is going to be repaired along with the front frame rail around the bumper as it is also deformed. One of the previous owners must have had no clue where the passenger side of the truck was. The body shop has the tools to fix it properly. He did say I might need to re-treat those areas with POR if a lot of heat is needed to get it pushed/pulled into shape.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Do you have any updates on your build?

It is at the body shop. The body shop guy was pretty disappointed in the fit and finish of the C2C floor pans, but he said he will massage them into place. Last Wednesday he had the driver side rear pan installed. He has a rust free '86 MJ in his paint booth that he is working on. I hope to get down there sometime to take some progress pictures.

 

I did get the Warn VR8000 delivered. I will start test fitting it on the donor to get started on the hidden winch plate.

Warn VR8000. Warn's first entry level winch...meaning reasonably priced, but backed by the Warn warranty. I will start fitting the Hidden Winch design on my donor XJ before pulling the motor. Have to verify clearances.

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  • 1 month later...

June update.

 

As you know, the truck has been at the body shop slowly being worked on. The body shop guy said he expects the truck to be out of his hands this fall, which is good because I have a lot of to do before I am ready for it. Here are some picture of the truck at the shop:

 

Driver side floor pan is 99% done

 

Don't forget the seat belt hole!

 

Passenger side cleaned up awaiting the floor pans

 

I have finally made a few decisions on the suspension. The build will include:

Rear:

- Hell Creek 3" lift packs

- JKS Shackles

 

Front:

- 3" Skyjacker coils purchased

- ACOS Pro (spacer for winch weight/leveling and bumpstop repair) purchased

- JKS control arms

- JKS Trackbar

- JKS discos purchased

 

If you think it seems like I am a fan of JKS, you would be correct. Of all the products I have run on my TJ, the JKS have required the least amount of maintenance and have had the longest service life.

 

Some eye candy arrived today:

 

I am pulling the XJ's motor this weekend. Hopefully I can have it at the machine shop around the first of July. :yes:

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  • 1 month later...

I pulled the donor 4.0L a few weeks ago and have been doing a lot of research getting a build sheet assembled for my 4.0L. Starting discussions with the machine shop.

 

Objective:This motor will be based upon a 99 XJ block and will be going into my Comanche, which will be a daily driver turning 4.10's and a 30/31" tire.

 

Goal:I want to pull more power out of the motor yet maintain fantastic drive-ability and reliability without the need for premium fuel.

 

The motor will be getting a thorough going through and rebuilt. I am thinking work along the lines of bearings and seals/gaskets, cam, pistons, porting, etc. I will build a higher power 4.0 and drive it for another 200K miles. The 4.0L I rebuilt in '03 (stock, 0.030 over) is nearing the 100K mile mark in my Rubi.

 

This is my current plan:

- Stock 4.0L Crank and Rods

- Comp Cam 68-321-4 Camshaft

- Sealed Power Pistons 0.030" over

- Block decked 0.00"

- 0.051" Compressed Head Gasket

 

 

Compression Ratio: 8.95:1

Dynamic Compression Ratio: 7.77:1

Quench: 0.051"

 

Head

Head Gasket: Fel-Pro 0.051"

Camshaft: COMP Cam 68-231-4

Lifters: 822-12

Valve Springs: Mopar High Performance P5249464

- Retainers: Mopar High Performance P4452032

- Locks: Mopar High Performance P4529218

 

Ford 19lb or SRT4 Injectors

Banks Header

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  • 1 month later...

Having not done much to the truck lately I decided to start working on a project I have been putting off, mostly due to the fact I didn't know what to do. A few year ago I picked up a set of 5 TJ Rubi Moab wheels, for CHEAP. These things were trashed. They looked like the previous owner sprayed acid on them and let it sit for 3 weeks.

 

I decided to try and see if I could save one of the wheels.

 

Sandblasted with used 40/60 Black Diamond

 

Even after blasting the wheel the finish was very irregular

 

I attacked the wheel with sand paper. 80, 120, 180, 400, 1500 then 2000 wet sanding. Quick polish with harbor freight white and red bars and some Mothers Mag polish

 

My plan is to polish the flat face of the spokes and bead then use a finer media to texture the inner edges and lips. Clean it up real good then shoot with clear. Comanche is going to get some *bling*

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can't wait to see this one finished up. Love those wheels!

Me too! I am having serious MJ driving withdrawals. Watching your rig tackle Moab doesn't help all that much :ack: Truth be told, seeing your truck with the shiny beadlocks sold me on trying out polished Moabs. I think it will be a nice, clean, addition to the truck.

 

I will be pulling apart the motor and transmission this weekend along with the motor accessories in preparation for my discussion with the machine shop / builder.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I have been sanding and polishing for what seems like ever. Still have 3 wheels to go :nuts:

 

In the meantime I have been gathering more parts for my disc brake swap.

 

- Longer OEM wheel studs

- OEM disc brake retainer plates

- OEM rear axle brake lines (for a TJ and will need some tweaking around the MJ spring plates)

 

I should now have everything needed to complete the ZJ rear disc swap on a MJ D44.

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  • 1 month later...

In the calculator it says the cam is a 68-231-4 and below it you have written

"Camshaft: COMP Cam 68-231-4" and at the top of the list it says "68-321-4"

Just wondering if thats a typo?

Seems like a good plan for a solid and strong motor but how much are you expected to gain over stock?

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Whoops, typo. 231 is correct. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

I am not hoping to get a whole lot of extra HP out of the motor. The stock HP peak occurs way up in the rpm range, near red line. I hope to create the most improvement in power between 1500-3500 RPM. How much? I don't really know and I will probably never sit the truck on a dyno.

 

I now have all of the parts to get my rear axle parts. It has taken a while to find what I wanted.

 

1987 MJ Dana 44

- ZJ disk brakes with TJ disk retainers

- TJ disk brake hard and soft brake lines

- TJ Rubicon LSD/Locker and pump

- 4.10 gears

- Stock shafts

- New bearings and seals

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Check out my post here on the Rubi retainer plates. I can't say for sure if this will affect your setup since you are using ZJ brakes. But Teraflex brakes are the same exact thing. At any rate, something to look out for. It caused a catastrophic failure on one setup and I had the same assembly issue on another, so I used a different piece.

 

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showpost.php ... stcount=19

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  • 1 month later...
any updates to this?

Seems I have failed to update!

 

About a week ago the body shop had the floors completely done along with the 97+ firewall modifications (holes plugged, holes fitted for plugs, and the AC box opening) and 97+ dash support brackets. No pictures :???: I will say it looks factory. He is starting on the rockers and cab corners.

 

I also picked up a used TJ Rubicon rear locker/lsd. It was cheaper than the Detroit I was looking at and only has around 30k miles on it. These will bolt right in a stock Jeep D44 with the exception of drilling a hole for the air supply and notching a bearing for the air line.

 

I also bought an 87 MJ to keep me busy!

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