landlubbers first MJ

[landlubber]

AX15 with popped reverse, and a nice NP231 out of a 97 TJ with 125k miles.

 

 

storage till i get a chance to look at it more.

 

[landlubber]

finally got around to the spitting the tranny/tcase, see what i got to work with.

 

 

 

[Pete M]

AX15 with popped reverse, and a nice NP231 out of a 97 TJ with 125k miles.

 

 

Nice combo. :D I'm rocking 99 TJ stuff.

[landlubber]

haven't updated this in a sweet long time. MJ is doing good, I've put about 14,000 miles on it since i've been driving it now. pretty good for not leaving the state.

 

recently got a lot of new parts:

 

Radiator

brakes

axle seal

manifold back exhaust (

)

subwoofer

different tires/wheels

fuel pump

 

she is holding up quite nicely, definitely going to need to do some serious bodywork in the future, but I just passed inspection this week.

 

the more I dig into the body, the worse it looks, I'm afraid to dig too deep. under the flair, faceplam, thats a lot of bondo, looks worse now, will cut out and patch properly eventually. might trim the fenders at the same time (not much actual metal to trim)

 

 

have not had a terrible amount of time to work on it, still waiting on the 4x4 swap, planning on a new clutch when i finally get around to doing that. going to patch the body, thinking on spacers for the front.

 

Looking for a dana 44, want to have larger tire friendly gears (4.10s) and doors maybe, armor is on the list also. want to line the bed also, the blue looks kinda out of place imo.

 

 

but overall its a very excellent vehicle, only left me hanging once. fuel pump gave out, but that was partially the PO's fault.

 

I do quite like it, keeping it for the foreseeable future.

[landlubber]

had a little incident last week involving a very slick muddy off-camber slope and a tree that was blown down in the rain/wind storm. resulting in the below picture, just shows the PO's excellent rust repair abilities. :doh:

 

check out my previous post to see what it looked like a few months ago.

 

 

 

so, drove around with that until saturday, cut out the rust, turns out the wheel well was a mess too, cleaned that all out.

 

 

fiberglassed that all up and then waited for it to dry. fiberglass does not like drying in sub-freezing temperatures, but it was solid when i got around to welding in some sheet metal.

 

 

after that, got out the "automotive body filler" got two coats on sunday night, and left it in the barn overnight to dry.

 

 

got anther coat on it monday after school, and sanded the crap out of it, primed it and then called it a night. Will get some paint on it eventually, but at least everything is solid now.

 

 

came out pretty good for my first attempt at any bodywork, i think i like the lack of fender flairs in the back too.

[88pioneer]

Nice job, looks a lot better than my attempts at body work.

:cheers:

[landlubber]

Pulled it into the barn and started tearing stuff off it, prepping for 4x4 swap.

 

 

going to have to do some floor repair too. I'll get some pictures of that later. PO botched the drivers side pretty good, the passenger side is not terrible, but drivers side definitely needs some attention.

[landlubber]

 

hopefully it'll be out tomorrow, gotta make a run for a load leveler in the morning.

[landlubber]

Slowly but steadily making progress:

 

 

 

debating whether to go ahead with all my other plans whist everything is out; ie: stroker. Got the money and can drive other things in the meantime. Will take the MJ off the road for at least a few months, debating: any opinions?

[landlubber]

got the engine/trans split tonight. and pulled the ax15/np231 out of the shed. painted up a few bits so they don't show through ugly blue.

 

 

 

 

the bed sure is handy for storing parts.

 

[landlubber]

Well, I have been neglecting this quite a bit lately. But the 4x4 conversion is all buttoned up and just working out a few bugs.

 

the day It got back on the road:

 

fixed floors while I was at it:

 

 

and piecing together a 3" lift.

 

 

 

Still have a few little parts i'm looking for. Next step is 4.10s with hp D30/29 spline 8.25 along with 3" lift, have 32" tires in the works.

 

Also looking around for another DD, This thing is going to have a hard time passing inspection in a year or two.

[landlubber]

little video of the first start up after.

 

zk2-n30mJlc

[landlubber]

some more pictures i pulled off my ipod.

 

 

AX15/NP231

 

 

 

 

 

media blasted flywheel, only two smaller hot spots.

 

 

 

 

 

slave i ended up using.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

new windshield. AWESOME, can actually see out of it now.

 

[landlubber]

Finally getting to taking care of the primer, only took me 6 months to get to it, getting better, haha.

 

some progress.

 

 

 

previous owner didn't do a good job when he painted it.

 

 

[landlubber]

Yep, that about does it. Got my rear window put in properly also, makes a big diference.

 

[lostissues]

Nice looking good. :clapping:

 

hopefully I can start my swap soon, my slave cylinder went out in it again so I can't even drive it around. I'm getting antsy to drive it around.

[landlubber]

yeah, gl man. let me know if you need some parts, I still have a few things kicking around.

 

I did the "poorman's swaybar disconnects" today. very impressed.

 

http://www.4x4xplor.com/homediscos.html

 

Cost me about $10 and I had to buy the torx bit.

 

one note: Home Depot did not have the 7/16th washers or clevis pin, Lowes did it for me.

 

 

Swaybar connected on the left and disconnected on the right

 

[landlubber]

Haven't had much time to do much on her lately. Need to find an engine, this one is on its way out. Looking to upgrade the front steering as that is giving me some trouble also. and a lift is still on the back burner and axles and such.

 

took the doors off saturday morning, pretty sweet, makes the cab feel even smaller. and it is pouring out today, so I must go see about putting them back on shortly.

 

[landlubber]

went to the junkyard yesterday, was a good 100F. saw some hood vents that looked alright, grabbed them. they are off a pontiac firebird gta. Cleaning them up today, might go on tomorrow or next week.

 

I am trying to line up some things to do next week as I will be out in the sticks watching someones animals while they are away.

 

thinking I will finally do my bedliner. was thinking about doing my lift, but I won't have wheels to make a parts run if things don't go right. Going to do a few electrical things probably.

 

Going to bring up the moped and see if I can get that together also.

 

Hood Vents:

 

 

 

 

Not sure about placement yet. They aren't square either. I'm thinking something like the following picture, any other suggestions?

 

[landlubber]

cleaned up nice, should be mounted up next week.

 

[landlubber]

have not gotten to the bedlining or hood vents, but I did get in some LED's for reverse lights.

 

torched out some holes in the bumper and tapped the wiring into the existing, works excellent.

 

 

 

 

 

lights were $36 bucks, Great mod imo.

[landlubber]

picked up this combo today.

 

 

engine swap will happen as soon as I can swing it, and the 2wd AX15 will be headed to storage for a future project idea.

[landlubber]

got them split the other day, everything looks good.

 

things I can think of that i'll need so far: intake/exhaust gasket, prob going to replace radiator hoses. we will see the damage when I start swapping stuff over.

 

 

[landlubber]

Well, I started last sunday night, got the driveline pulled monday morning around 2ish.

 

 

 

Got right to swapping everything from the 88 block to the 95 block, lots of no sleep.

 

 

 

Got it all back together and back in the comanche on wednesday.

 

had to call it early on tues and thursday, went up to lake winnipesaukee on friday, and didn't make any progress saturday.

 

This past sunday I got most everything else buttoned up, except for a few little things, which I polished off today.

 

It starts and runs and drives, not running just right though, still diagnosing why.

[landlubber]

forgot to load up a few pics, here is the engine in.

 

everything seems to be dandy as far as major problems.

 

Just need to weld up the exhaust and figure out why it is not running 100% right, i'm thinking maybe tps.