1990 Rebirth ('97 Conversion)

[Rymanrph]

I"m really liking the truck, I like the clear turn signals and markers. The lift sits it at a good height. Are you planning on offroading it? Or was the lift just for the "cool factor" :brows:

 

I have a lifted TJ as well that is my off-roader, so I hadn't planned on doing much more than some dirt trails here and there. Besides, I've got plenty of tire rubbing in the front that has to addressed just for daily driving so off roading I know wouldn't go so well right now.

 

I've got new B-pillar lights on order and I'm getting my seats reupholstered; they should be done tomorrow (fingers crossed). I'll definitely post up some pictures when I get them back in the truck.

[dick.breakey]

I had the front one rebuilt ($148 and that was just for the center bearing and assembly; I had already purchased the U-joints). He had another shaft he said that he would cut down and re-weld for $135, but he wasn't going to balance it. My other option was to have a drive shaft shop a couple towns over do it, but then it would be $135+ the cost of the used drive shaft. For $189, I got a brand new drive shaft from Tom Woods with U-joints, quote]

 

 

this all seems VERY expensive. a local driveshaft shop quoted me $40 for shortening and balancing per DS. though on the rebuildin one i guess i don't know, cause i didnt ask, but still seems high.

[Rymanrph]

Yeah, I'm not happy with this company at all. They are a very very popular company in this area that does some very expensive work on all kinds of vehicles, but honestly, I don't know how they stay in business. They take forever, don't return phone calls, do work without authorization and on top of all that, they're really expensive. A while back I asked them how much they would charge to re-gear my Wrangler and he didn't want to give me a number. It was as if he would do the job and then count how many hours it took and then charge me. I've only had little jobs done there and I've run into several issues. I can't imagine giving them my brand new JK and having them put in a custom long arm kit, wheels tires, etc. (which is what they were doing last time I was there).

 

For the good news, my seats are done. I picked them up at lunch today and they look awesome. I'll post some pictures tonight after I get home.

[dick.breakey]

wow. yeah thats no way to stay in business. ive got a guy who does gears for 250 an axle. Returns phone calls and quotes jobs before haha. i wouldnt deal with that company again if you can help it.

[Rymanrph]

Got the re-covered seats today. Its a solid charcoal color on the back and sides and a lighter perforated gray on the front. Here is a shot of it outside of the truck. Its not quite this dark in person:

Here's a picture without the flash:

And here's one with the flash:

The color isn't quite right in the flash picture, but it looks lighter than the nonflash picture in person. I was really impressed with the guy who did this. The first place I went quoted me $445 for just a solid vinyl and would take about 3 weeks. This guy did it in 2 days after the fabric came in (one week total), with the two-tone for $300. Still a good chunk of change, but after redoing the whole interior, I'm glad I spent the extra to have seats to match.

[robfg67]

Your interior looks great! You should swap-out your steering wheel for the optional gray leather-wrapped one-it would match the seats better.

[dakal]

looks great

[Rymanrph]

My steel wheels were sticking out to far (not enough backspacing) and I didn't want to trim the fenders, so I bought some TJ Ravine wheels. They weigh 10 lbs less a piece and I think they look pretty good. Its a completely different look, but I'm happy so far.

Here's a comparison shot to show how far its come since Christmas (just for fun):

 

Still got a long way to go. Future plans include:

 

'97+ doors with power windows

New windshield with '97+ rubber molding

Shortening the height and width of the roll bar (for better fitment)

Spot lights and maybe a reverse light for the roll bar

New rear bumper

Tilt steering column with intermittent wipers

Window tint

Lots of body work

Paint

Bed liner

Subwoofer?

[aabmike]

I dig it man! That's one sweet looking MJ! I noticed your future plans include 97+ doors, are you going to do the front face lift as well? I've got a 97+ front clip and love the looks of it, but to each their own. Your is awesome the way it is! I just read your build all the way through, when I did my SOA I replaced the rear axle with a 8.25 from a 97 ZJ, just to have rear disc brakes. Makes a world of difference, but I guess stopping 35's is a little harder than 31's huh? Keep up the good work and keep us posted Love it!!

[92comanche4x4]

thats a nice lookin mj kee[ up the good work

[Rymanrph]

I noticed your future plans include 97+ doors, are you going to do the front face lift as well?

 

I keep going back and forth on that one. I like the look, but I don't like how the front fender flares don't match the factory rear flares on Comanche. Also, I'm not sure how hard its going to be to find all of the pieces. My pull-a-part has only had 2 '97+ XJs all year and neither had a full front clip. We'll see.

[Rymanrph]

I've got a chance to pick up a '97 XJ auto 2wd for $1,300. I'm thinking about doing the full interior and drivetrain swap. I'd have to pick up a 4wd aw4 and probably lop off an inch or so off of my brand new rear drive shaft. I'm not worried about the time investment, but do you think $1,300 is worth it? The XJ is a running daily driver right now and I figure I could probably part out what I don't use and sell my current 4.0 and AX-15s (2wd and 4wd) and make a good chunk of that money back. Thoughts or opinions?

[Rymanrph]

Well, I talked the guy down a bit and brought home the '97 XJ today. I feel like I just got this truck together and now I'm going to tear it all back apart, but that's the fun of owning a Jeep right? It was wrecked (hence the new red grill). I've got a matching red bumper in the back to go along with it. I'm excited; it feels like such an upgrade with luxury features like power windows, locks, mirrors, cruise control, keyless entry, etc. Now I just need to make some space in the garage so I can get started.

[Rymanrph]

Saturday afternoon, this is what my interior looked like:

And this is how it looks right now:

The swap is underway. I've got the interior pretty much stripped and got the dash brackets cut off. The spot weld drill bit helped but I went all the way through on several (a lot really) and then I tore the metal in two spots. Not really happy about that, but I'm not going to worry. Its just one more thing I'll have to fix. I still have a lot of the engine bay to address. Here it is with the wiring, cooling and a few other things missing:

Anyone want a great running 4.0l and 5 speed? Radiator, other lol? I'll put up a for sale thread soon.

[btm24]

looks great man. what did you ever do with them old wheels? and that floor looks great after you fixed it :bowdown: great truck

 

Brandon

[Rymanrph]

looks great man. what did you ever do with them old wheels? and that floor looks great after you fixed it :bowdown: great truck

 

Brandon

 

The black wheels I sold and the XJ wheels I sold. The Cherokee is sitting on the old comanche wheels and tires right now. Thanks for the compliments. I got the dash out of the Cherokee last night and I'm going to try and start the process of getting it into the Comanche tonight.

[shark]

where did you get the rear slider window? is it a new unit?

[Rymanrph]

where did you get the rear slider window? is it a new unit?

 

Its new. I got it here:

 

http://www.glasswarepro.com/

[Rymanrph]

Disclaimer: I'm probably going to post a lot of really intricate stuff that most people won't care about, but if it helps someone else down the road have an easier time with the conversion, then its worth it.

 

I crossed the first bridge in getting the '97 dash in today. I got the mounting holes for the A pillars drilled. Here is the mounting hole on the '97:

and here is where that same hole should be on the Comanche (the stock hole is the one at the top of the picture):

You can see that the hood release is mounted much lower as well. Here is a shot of it from under the loosely bolted dash:

So with just those two bolts and the brace in front of the shifter, this is what you get:

 

Everything went pretty smoothly except for the lock washer I dropped in the body (I hope it doesn't rattle). The top of the dash doesn't line up at all. I haven't decided what I'm doing yet, but the current idea I'm tossing around is to cut some brackets that I'll connect to the dash and use to line up with the old holes. We'll see.

[dakal]

looks good. keep it up. :yes:

[Rymanrph]

Here are the first two brackets I made the other night:

I was trying to reuse the existing bolt holes. They work just fine, but they look ugly; I may redo them.

 

Here are the others (well two of them):

The squares in the corners kinda show where the dash tab fits between the two bolts and you can see the elongated hole where the mounting hole is. When I mount them permanently, I'll grind down the edges and corners up top so it doesn't rub on the windshield molding. I'll paint them of course too.

[Rymanrph]

I got the steering column dash sub-frame mocked into place. I only have two holes drilled at the moment, but I've got the rest marked. After I mounted it, it looked really low, but tonight I connected the brake pedal and it bolted up fine to the assembly on the firewall. After remeasuring, I might be 1/16th inch off, so not as bad as I thought. The holes are slotted and it doesn't affect the fitment of the dash, so I'm happy. Here are a couple shots:

I started to take the heater box out tonight, but realized I don't have the special tool to get the AC lines off. Hopefully I can get that mocked up tomorrow. After that, I'll move on to the wiring harness through the firewall and the steering column hole.

[Rymanrph]

I finally got the heater box out of the Cherokee and I'll be putting that back in this weekend, but the good news is that I have a NOS rear step bumper on the way!

 

Thanks Don!

[buxmj]

Wow! I am very impressed with this undertaking. Some of the projects like this just blow me away. Keep up the great work.

[Rymanrph]

I made some decent progress over the last couple days. Most of it was disassembly in the XJ. I got the heater box from the Cherokee into the MJ. From the inside, the far right mounting stud had to be relocated up and to the right. Everything else was the same.

 

I got this computer box mounted to the firewall today:

I'm not 100% its in the right place. There are some significant differences between the firewalls that just looking at, it would be hard to spot. I'll know when I put the heater box back in.

 

I started working on the fuse panel and nothing lines up. There are 3 studs on the XJ that hold the fuse panel. On the comanche, the fuse panel would cover up the stock location for the radio antenna, so I'm planning on cutting that whole panel out of the XJ and using it as a patch on the MJ. I started doing the same on the driver side fire wall. I have several holes to fill. You can see where the clutch master was (it will be an auto when I'm done) and where the wiring harness came through.

 

Here, I have cut the firewall out of the XJ and use the booster bolts to locate it.

The hole on the top left is the hood release. Its the same size as the comanche, but its in a different place. The hole that's there just had a plug in it. I pushed on it from the inside and it went flying, so I'll have to look for it later. I'll just plug that hole back up and use the existing hood release hole. I still have to move the steering column hole and there is another small one up top that needs to be patched as well.