JeffK Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 I'm an old mechanic, and I've been turning wrenches in some capacity since the late 70's. Though I haven't done it professionally in awhile, I still love to wrench on something. I've wanted an MJ for a long time, and finally I was able to find a decent one in my price range. I've got big plans for her. The day I brought her home... ...and it begins: Since he's already gave me some pretty sound info, I decided to follow Pete M's advise, and... Pull up your carpet and check for rust before it's too late!! 137,000 miles and 21 years of grunge, and carpet that smells like old booty. After the seat was removed. Left side... Right side. Serious nastiness. I tried to take the the carpet out in one piece, but between the smell and the ant colony I just cut it into pieces and tossed it. One of my new friends... With the carpet out. More rust than I hoped for, but less than I expected. Left side. Right side. Pete M's advise is sound. The carpet padding was real damp, especially on the passenger side, don't know if the previous owner is to blame or if there's a leak. Anyway, with the carpet out I can address the rust issue and if there is a leak it'll be easier to find. Plus it already smells better. A positive note for the day, I believe I might have found why my dash lights weren't working... The bench sits pretty good out of the truck, I might leave it in driveway for a couple of days and make the neighbors nervous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zjrog Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Might make the neighbors nervous!!! I LOVE THAT!!! I think most of my neighbors are resigned to the idea I will always have some project in my driveway... Though someday, I might privacy fence the RV pad in... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 So far so good. :thumbsup: After seeing that fuse, you should probably check and double check that the fuse box doesn't have any evidence of brake fluid contamination from the clutch master cylinder. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffK Posted June 3, 2009 Author Share Posted June 3, 2009 I moved the bench out of the driveway... ...the neighbors trying to ignore it and the noise. My wife said she didn't care, but she thinks it is attracting flies, not sure if she was kidding or not. Anyway, Late yesterday afternoon I decide I'd take care of my little ant 'friends'... ...and after a little research, I decided on my course of action for the floor pans. 1. Grind, sand or whatever the rust down to bare metal. 2. Two coats of fairly thick primer. 3. Re-undercoat the affected areas. 4. Lay down a nice solid thick coat of bed liner on the inside, First the rust... Digging in. nearly ready for paint... the worst side... before any paint goes on the grungy and shedding head liner needs to go... Murphy is not digging the smell... 1/2 the first coat... First coat is done... Before the second coat I wanted to address the 3-4 small holes I ended up with in the drivers side floor plan, so I put a piece of tape over each hole... I then prepped the floor pan underneath and laid on a 2 coats of undercoating. After that dried, I removed the pieces of tape and laid down a fairly thick second coat of primer. More of the second coat... So the next step will be rolling on the bed liner, but I have to back to work Wednesday morning and since the primer is kind of thick I decided to give it a little curing time. The bed liner Is Rust-oleum's version, $17 bucks a quart at my friendly local AutoZone. Next to it is my Lowe's $2.60 hi-tech application system. End of a fairly long and dirty day... A little side note-from the start I never really was a fan of the tan interior, and now that it's 2 door panels and the dash away form being a different color I am tempted to change it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffK Posted June 3, 2009 Author Share Posted June 3, 2009 So far so good. :thumbsup: After seeing that fuse, you should probably check and double check that the fuse box doesn't have any evidence of brake fluid contamination from the clutch master cylinder. :( Well Pete, following your advise I checked out the clutch master cylinder, and from the looks of the rust trail, it appears the main source of the fluid I had coming in was from between the fire wall and the main wiring harness connection, or right below the clutch master cylinder (note the the scary jumper thingy somebody has added to the fuse box)... Further investigation showed a fairly recent clutch master cylinder, fortunately with no leaks, and an old trail leading down toward the wiring harness...huge surprise :eek: ... I then removed the plastic inner fender, and that revealed some and gooey paint and undercoating directly beneath the Clutch master cylinder. Here's the beginning of the prep... After removing the rust and gooey mess that used to be paint and undercoating, I applied a couple of layers of new undercoating... ...and on the inside, two coats of primer like the rest or the floor pan. Good advice, It seems the majority of my rust issues are from a previously long neglected clutch master cylinder. Makes you wonder how long the previous owners added fluid before they finally broke down and fixed the problem... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drahcir495 Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 Nice looking MJ. I look forward to watching your progress :cheers: . Glad to have you on board here - Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffK Posted June 7, 2009 Author Share Posted June 7, 2009 Nice looking MJ. I look forward to watching your progress :cheers: . Glad to have you on board here - Rich Thanks Rich. I finally got a day off and I'm going back to work on her Sunday afternoon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCMJ87 Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Good looking MJ you got there anotherjeff Anytime you can't see through the floorpans, you got one of the better ones! Welcome to the Club.. keep posting those pix BK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWLONGSHOT Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Nice job!! I agree, keep the pics coming!!! CW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffK Posted June 9, 2009 Author Share Posted June 9, 2009 I appreciate the encouragement. I took very few pics of the work I did on my XJ, so I plan to make up for it on my MJ. Had a few delays with the rain and the drying time between coats, but I finally got the bed liner down. 100% PITA. This stuff absolutely reeks and is nearly impossible to get off your hands. I laid down two coats on everything and 3 coats on the footwell area. Trans hump: Area behind/underneath seat: 3 coats on the drivers side footwells: closer on the drivers side: 3 coats on the passengers side: closer on the passenger side: Glad it's done...:mad: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffK Posted June 9, 2009 Author Share Posted June 9, 2009 This afternoon I made a trip to our brand new Pull-A-Part. http://www.pullapart.com/ To have a look around and ended up with a few goodies. 89 XJ full instrument cluster $22.26, with senders $27.38: Like new rear view mirror from a late model Chrysler car, $4.38. Close but not exactly the same as the Jeep. Different shape. I don't know if I like it yet: I couldn't wait, so I decided to install the instrument cluster this afternoon. This is what I started out with: I took the Plexiglas cover off to clean and get the dust off the gauges. The new cluster has a gray surround for the gauges: I swapped it with the black surround from the old custer. I like it better: Installed and working: There's just over 2k difference in mileages between the two clusters, I'm thinking I'll leave it as is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffK Posted June 9, 2009 Author Share Posted June 9, 2009 I did some parts swapping today and came out with a Chrysler 8.25 29 spline with 3.55's. It doesn't look this grungy in person: The previous owner had recently added a new Sony CD player and replaced the door speakers with Infinity's, but had left stock rear speakers: I picked up some Sony 4X6's at Walmart for $38. Not cutting edge stuff, but sound a lot better than the old stockers: Bench seat sage part 3. In case you folks didn't know, butterscotch 2 door XJ or factory MJ buckets are fairly scarce. My poor old bench had sat out in a couple of rainstorms and had finally dried out enough for me to haul it by the reupholsters shop today. The guy I took it to had done a bench for me a few years ago and I thought I'd give him a shot at this bench. He pointed out the obvious sad condition of the seat... and gave me an estimate of $350... :eek: Seems likely the search for the butterscotch buckets will continue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfpdm Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Nice work so far. :thumbsup: And pretty quick too. I'm sure you know but just in case, don't throw away the headliner backer board or leave it out to get wet. Putting new material on them is not too hard but finding another backer board is. If you think your going to want buckets, don't waste the cash on the bench. Get a $10 seat cover and wait till you find what you really want. Especially if your thinking of swapping colors. I've learned a lot of patience working on mine looking for the good deals and parts that I needed. It has paid off quite a few times for me. Keep the pics coming. :popcorn: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffK Posted June 9, 2009 Author Share Posted June 9, 2009 Nice work so far. :thumbsup: And pretty quick too. I'm sure you know but just in case, don't throw away the headliner backer board or leave it out to get wet. Putting new material on them is not too hard but finding another backer board is. If you think your going to want buckets, don't waste the cash on the bench. Get a $10 seat cover and wait till you find what you really want. Especially if your thinking of swapping colors. I've learned a lot of patience working on mine looking for the good deals and parts that I needed. It has paid off quite a few times for me. Keep the pics coming. :popcorn: Unfortunately, the headliner backer board is to the point where it is crumbling apart. Maybe I'll luck up on a decent one. You're right on the bench as well, I'm going to hold off and see what turns up. Check out the mfpdm's 'Stuff for Sale' Top notch service. :clapping: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DodgeFan01 Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Nice find on the gauge cluster, only being 2000 miles off. I am thinking about doing that same thing. was it an easy swap? Does the tach/everything else work correctly? :hmm: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffK Posted June 10, 2009 Author Share Posted June 10, 2009 Nice find on the gauge cluster, only being 2000 miles off. I am thinking about doing that same thing. was it an easy swap? Does the tach/everything else work correctly? :hmm: You change out the oil and the temp sending units (less than 10 minutes) and install the cluster. That's it, and amazingly everything works. IMO, best $27 I ever spent. Thanks for stopping in. :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DodgeFan01 Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 Wow, that does seem pretty easy. Did you just pull the sending units off the truck you pulled the cluster from or by new ones? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffK Posted June 10, 2009 Author Share Posted June 10, 2009 Wow, that does seem pretty easy. Did you just pull the sending units off the truck you pulled the cluster from or by new ones? It was easy. The cluster is from an '89 model. I pulled the senders off the same old XJ, and the junk yard charged like $2 a piece for them. Here's a pretty decent write up that covers the swap. :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DodgeFan01 Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 Sweet thanks. I might hit the jy this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakjeep93 Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 looking good :cheers: man and I'm gunna try swappin my gauges but will it work with the 2.5?? :hmm: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffK Posted June 11, 2009 Author Share Posted June 11, 2009 looking good :cheers: man and I'm gunna try swappin my gauges but will it work with the 2.5?? :hmm: Thanks. If you use a 6 cylinder cluster on a 4 cylinder everything will work except the tach, which will not register properly. According to these guys here the tachs are calibrated for either the 4 or 6 cylinder. You'll have to find a full cluster from a 4 cylinder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffK Posted June 11, 2009 Author Share Posted June 11, 2009 This morning I decided to take a closer look at the fuse box. I was having some electrical issues like no dash lights, no dome light, turn signals etc, and I wanted to check for damage from the old clutch master cylinder leak. I had pulled the fuse for the instrument light and replaced it. It still didn't work, so I tweaked the fuse box connectors with the end of my test probe and Voila dash lights. Further inspection showed a few more issues. Like missing and and crumbling fuses: My inspection also included the solution for the mystery jumper. One side of the terminal for the HAZ/BRAKE fuse was gone :eek: and the previous owner had put a fused jumper between the remaining side of the HAZ/BRAKE slot and the power side of the unused HTD/WDN slot. I decided to replace all of the fuses, several crumbled when I removed them: The new fuses and a little tweaking got my lights up and running. I'm going to do a little research and may look into replacing the entire fuse box, but I'll leave that for another day. The left front turn signal wasn't working and the indicator in the cluster didn't blink, so I pulled the front lamp and found some suspect wiring and and a smoked up bulb: The socket ended up being cracked and the terminals were corroded, so a $1.43 at the bone yard and 3 heat shrink terminals later-success: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffK Posted June 11, 2009 Author Share Posted June 11, 2009 Speaking of the Bone Yard, I could probably spend an entire day there. We had a fairly new one open up a few miles from me and I spent a good chunk of this afternoon there. Lots of interesting stuff, on the left an 89 or 90 Wagoner, and on the right an '89 XJ that was the donor for my recent cluster upgrade: A very tired '90 or '91 XJ that spent a lot of time in the woods somewhere, with plenty of mice for company: A '92 that these guys pulled the front diff out from under while we were there: A '92 Briarwood with Burgundy interior except for: the front seats. No not butterscotch, but they'll do for now: $44 later and they have a new home: They're grungy, and the drivers side seat has a small hole in the bottom, but for $44 who can complain?: Please ignore my junked out basement, I got lots going on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtdesigns Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 Hi neighbor.. You can get you some fiberglass resin and start painting it on the head liner to fix it up.. The resin soaks right in and bonds all the fibers together making it a SUPER FIBER BOARD... dom-dom--dommmm... Another thing... If you go back to that bone yard anytime soon could you pull the front passenger side door window/power switch for me?? And if the XJ had the woodgrain interior snag both front door panels if gray and woodgrain????????????? please,please,please..... Oh yeah on the red XJ,, it looks to me like a 95-96 one, but you said it was a 92..... :doh: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: edit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffK Posted June 12, 2009 Author Share Posted June 12, 2009 Hi neighbor.. You can get you some fiberglass resin and start painting it on the head liner to fix it up.. The resin soaks right in and bonds all the fibers together making it a SUPER FIBER BOARD... dom-dom--dommmm... Another thing... If you go back to that bone yard anytime soon could you pull the front passenger side door window/power switch for me?? And if the XJ had the woodgrain interior snag both front door panels if gray and woodgrain????????????? please,please,please..... Oh yeah on the red mj,, it looks to me like a 95-96 one.... :thumbsup: :thumbsup: The door panels are history. Some Einstein had gone threw and torn the lower corner off the panels to get the stock speakers out. It was that way on 2-3 of them. :doh: I'll pick up a switch the next time I go, but I'm working next 8 days so it will be at least a week from Monday before I'll go back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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