MrFreeze5 Posted April 29, 2010 Share Posted April 29, 2010 Hey all! I picked this MJ up about 2 weeks ago for $600 in running condition. Its an 88 SB 4.0, 2wd Pioneer. The interior was ROUGH when I got it, and the carpet was FUNKY! the bench seat was busted, and the windshield leaked onto the seat and the driver floorboard. It needed a lot of work, but it runs and drives just fine. It didnt have a boot on the shifter, and theres an exhaust leak in the front pipe that would suck into the cab. That wasnt fun driving it home the first day. Image Not Found Image Not Found Image Not Found Image Not Found The original interior was funky. Most of the dash was in the bed when I bought it. Wires hanging everywhere along with a flubbed attempt at wiring in a stereo. The fuel gauge doesnt work, I need to check the circuit and sender. Ill be doing that next week. The original cluster was broken and the needle was missing from the fuel gauge, but otherwise it had oil pressure, volts, and coolant temp already. Image Not Found Image Not Found Image Not Found So far, I have replaced the gauge cluster with an XJ setup, replaced all the dash panels, and added a set of 2dr XJ seats and full console.The seats, console, and gauges ran me about $60 total. These are the rocker style seats and I love them. They sit quite a bit higher than the bench, which I was really hoping for since it seemed WAY too low, plus the seat was broken, so it leaned quite a bit. Now i just need to free the lower torx bolt for the seatbelt on the driver side. Its rusted badly due to a leak and funky carpet. Ive already broken 2 T50 bits trying to get it out, so Ive been hitting it with penetrant every few hours for the last 2 days. My old seatbelts were crap, so I found some nice 2 door XJ ones from a 98, but of course, one of the bolts was stuck, and I couldnt free the driver side. So I grabbed another one from a butterscotch interior for the driver side to serve temporarily until I can get a grey one. Image Not Found Image Not Found Image Not Found The truck has a horrible blowby issue, but luckily I am pulling the 4.0 engine out of my 96 ZJ this weekend in favor of a V8, so I'm going to rob the valve cover and swap that on. Then in a few months, Ill use the block to build a stroker engine. Ive also been spending a lot of time at the junkyards lately. Luckily Denver has quite a few good yards and I know of several nice MJs and tons of XJs in the yards. But yesterday I found a few WJs that had already been picked over, but they left the good parts. I got a WJ brake master cylinder and booster. Found it already unbolted. Just had to pull the 2 lines off. I also grabbed the WJ knuckles and brakes. I plan on doing a HP30 axle swap on the front end, and Ill use the WJ outers on it. Ive also got a 8.8 axle sitting in my backyard that will be perfect for this truck. I plan on adding a AX15 and 231 soon, but after I replace the engine in my ZJ. can't have both vehicles down at the same time. The door hinges are all starting to tear off, and one has been welded, but the door is all wonky. I'm not all that concerned about it and plan on removing the doors anyway and putting on tube doors in the near future. Thats as far as Ive got for now. Ill be replacing the exhaust bits and O2 sensor, along with the HO valve cover within the next week or so. I also plan on pulling the seats and console back out and giving them a thorough cleaning. I don't plan on putting much of the interior back in. I have some steel to repair the floorboard, so I'm going to work on that soon too, then bedline the interior. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DodgeFan01 Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 Welcome to the club neighbor! Where at in Denver are you? Seems like a pretty ambitious project, but it looks like a good solid base of a truck. Can't wait to see more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red 1989 MJ Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 Welcome to the madness :cheers: Love red MJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrFreeze5 Posted April 30, 2010 Author Share Posted April 30, 2010 Welcome to the club neighbor! Where at in Denver are you? Seems like a pretty ambitious project, but it looks like a good solid base of a truck. Can't wait to see more. I'm kinda near downtown. All of my projects are ambitious ones unfortunately, but Ive been looking for a while for a truck that was nice and simple to begin with and was cheap, but reliable. I was originally building my ZJ as the toy but got a bit too ambitious for a DD, now Ive got to fix it, then build the crap out of the MJ. Luckily it runs strong, and the problems it did have are motivating me to mod it. It will be a little while before I manage the AX15/231/HP30 w/WJ outers, but hopefully not long since my ZJ isnt too far from being done. Surprisingly enough, I plan on keeping this build fairly simple, at least this year. It will be limited to stuff that pretty much bolts in from other jeeps. Then once the ZJ is happy and the MJ has the right guts, then I can start working on the 231/300 doubler. I also have a HP D44 and a custom built FF 8 lug 9" with Spider 9 housing, but I'm not quite to a point where I am ready to install them in this rig as it would require quite a lot of other mods to make them work right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrFreeze5 Posted May 1, 2010 Author Share Posted May 1, 2010 I made some indirect progress today. I am completely redoing my ZJ Laredo by adding a V8, limited climate control, heated power leather seats, ltd dash harness, etc, among other drivetrain and suspension mods. Today, I pulled the stock dash harness and interior from the ZJ, and tomorrow, the 4.0 engine is coming out, along with all the engine bay wiring. Sounds like a good head start on an OBD2 HO 4.0 swap for the MJ don't ya think? The transmission is junk, but I want to keep the MJ manual anyway. Once I get the engine pulled, I will be pulling the valve cover off for the MJ ASAP. The previous previous owner just used RTV on the VC and it leaks badly, plus the blowby is really bad, so it needs to happen soon. The ZJ 4.0 has 150k on it but runs great still. I rebuilt the top end 3 years ago, and just replaced the entire cooling system a few weeks ago. I may use it as is, I may stroke it. Depends on what becomes available and when. Its nice having spare jeeps parts to use on the spare jeeps :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike87mj Posted May 2, 2010 Share Posted May 2, 2010 lookin good. good to see more people in co too. what yard did you go to for the seats? iv been wanting to do that swap on mine too and have been worried about price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrFreeze5 Posted May 2, 2010 Author Share Posted May 2, 2010 lookin good. good to see more people in co too. what yard did you go to for the seats? iv been wanting to do that swap on mine too and have been worried about price. Ive been back and forth to pull-n-save in Aurora, and U-Pull and Pay at 66th and Broadway. I got the seats and console at Pull-N-Save for about $50 total. the best part is, the seats were already unbolted and sitting in the back of the jeep. Both those yards have a few comanches, and there are a few 2dr XJs, but the seats i got were the best ones I have seen for at least the least few weeks. There is a yard called Metal Movers right by U-Pull and Pay. they have a lot of cash for clunkers cars and have a pretty nice selection of newer vehicles. I was picking over a 99 2 dr XJ there last week, among some WJs and other late model trucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrFreeze5 Posted May 2, 2010 Author Share Posted May 2, 2010 Just double checked and the seats were 17.99 ea and the console was 9.99. There werent many 2drs, but LOTS of nice 4dr bucket seats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike87mj Posted May 4, 2010 Share Posted May 4, 2010 nice looks like ill be heading up there this week sent the kids to grandmas house so now i got time for my truck :banana: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrFreeze5 Posted May 5, 2010 Author Share Posted May 5, 2010 I pulled the powertrain from my ZJ on monday. The transmission is trash and the 242 is going back in the ZJ with my new V8, but the 4.0 is in great shape. It only has 150k on it with a brand new water pump on it. And I rebuilt the top end a few years ago, and the cylinders looked perfect inside, still had the crosshatch honing on the walls. This engine will end up being the basis for my stroker for the MJ. I am also swapping out the entire exhaust on my ZJ, so Ive got a good flowmaster muffler and nearly new catco cat that I can throw under the pickup. That will be nice considering it has a leaky cherry bomb under there now. More ZJ overhaul pics I also plan on stripping off the accessory brackets and moving it over to my Renix. This way, I can get rid of the goofy clutch fan and install dual efans, and move the alternator up higher. I suppose I could add AC if I wanted, but I don't feel like messing with it right now. UPS just dropped off a package for me today! I got my new Fel-Pro valve cover gasket, so I can swap the HO valve cover over to the 'manche until I can swap engines. My MJ has terrible blowby, so hopefully this will help. I also received a new O2 sensor and front exhaust pipe and doughnut gasket. Ive also decided that instead of trying to swap the disc brakes over from my ZJ axle to the MJ axle once I pull it, I am going to just weld some perches on it, run a new rear brake line, and swap axles. My ZJ axle is 3.73 and disc brake already. It should only cost me for a few brackets. This should serve me fine until I can afford to install the 8.8 later down the road when I do the 4wd swap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrFreeze5 Posted June 20, 2010 Author Share Posted June 20, 2010 I havent done a whole lot to my MJ lately. But it is definitely being disagreeable. I realize a $600 190k mile pickup is going to have issues, but I was hoping to make it another month or so. I have a leak in my clutch somewhere, it won't hold pressure if you are hold the pedal down, and would empty the reservoir at a single light. But if I throw it in N at stops and only push the clutch to start and shift, I only have to refill every week or so. Ive got a decent rear main leak, it looks like, and the stock valve cover was aweful. It was RTV'd on, leaked everywhere, and I had bad blowby from the poor CCV, as well as $#!&ty vacuum. So I swapped the valve cover from 96 HO engine that I pulled out of my ZJ recently. The valve cover swap was nice and easy, but showed me a bunch of things I didnt want to see. When I pulled 2 of the valve cover bolts on the driver side, coolant started oozing out of the holes, so the head is obviously cracked, no big surprise at 195K miles though. It still leaks oil, even with the new valve cover and gasket, but not as much as before, at least I don't think so. Ive only driven it a few miles, and added oil, so I'm not sure if I am stil burning off oil that already leaked, because it was smoking a bit. Not nearly as much when I got home though, so its a sure improvement. With the exception of the gasket, I did the swap with parts from either the MJ or the HO 4.0, and parts I had on hand already. I need to pick up some different hose to change up the airbox side of the CCV hoses, but otherwise I am happy. NOTE TO ALL WHO ARE DOING THIS SWAP: If you are swapping on a HO 4.0 valve cover, with the grommets, make sure you get the old grommets with the valve cover. The grommets have a little steel umbrella that go in them, and although the grommets come with new gaskets, the umbrellas are near impossible to find. I wasnt paying attention and threw my old grommets and umbrellas out together and had to go hunting for them. None of the parts stores in town even had a part number for it, nor online vendors. And mind you, I didnt realize I lost them until I was partway through the install and couldnt put the thing back together and drive it. So I had to call the dealership and there were only 4 in the entire state! I needed 15! So they had to special order them from Chrysler and it took over a week to get them in. I got a friend to pick them up for me, and I finished the install. They were only $.85 ea, so it wasnt an expensive lesson, but it really got me good. The swap was definitely worth it. The idle is stable now, and it doesnt rev really high for a few moments when i first start up. Ive also noticed my oil pressure is higher, which is good since I thought it low before. I cleaned up the whole vacuum mess, and it made a big difference. The truck also seems peppier, but its really just smoother through its rpm range now. My rear main is leaking pretty good, and it seems more now thanks to the higher oil pressures, but it is driveable. Ive only taken it for a brief short trip, Ill be testing it more this weekend, but so far so god. Image Not Found Has anyone else had issues with the ccv elbow hitting the hood pad? Mine seems like it gets stuffed into the pad pretty good and it sticks up quite a ways. I'm hoping the engine will last just a little while longer, since I am hoping to pull everything and do a 4wd conversion and rebuild the engine. I thought about putting my HO in, but I want to stroke it, and converting it to Renix seems like a waste. But I got hooked up on some parts recently! I got a great 4wd BA10/5 from a low miles YJ. I got it from an ex factory Jeep mechanic/XJ enthusiast. He got it 7 or 8 years ago as a spare, rebuilt it, oiled it, wrapped it in 2 garbage bags, duct taped it shut, and sat it on a shelf. And there it sat, until he gave it to me for FREE, along with a YJ shifter, an XJ shifter, some better 4.0 injectors, a near new 4wd adapter housing for the tranny, and a BRAND NEW transmission mount. All free!! I found a guy who's got a good renix head, and a 21 spline 231 for $100 for me, so I think I am going to take him up on that deal. Eventually I want to swap to a AX15, but free parts are great! My front wheel bearing is way loose, and the front wheel wants to bind sometimes if its been sitting for a while and a don't drive off right when I first leave. I have a set of XJ 4wd knuckles with good unit bearings, just needs rotors and pads. Theyve been sitting on my patio for the last 6 months since I installed the HP 30 in my ZJ and couldnt use them. Now I guess I have a use for them. I have, sitting in front of me, a new front exhaust pipe and o2 sensor that I need to install, I'm sure that will help the truck run better too since the current pipe has several holes, and the 02 sensor looks original! I also just pulled the 2.5" flowmaster from my ZJ, so i think Ill use it too. I just ordered a whole bunch of new parts for my ZJ, so Ill be working on it for a while, but if the MJ can hold out until I am done with it, it will get the royal treatment and get stripped and rebuild. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrFreeze5 Posted June 24, 2010 Author Share Posted June 24, 2010 I love cheap parts!!! Just picked up my $10 topper!! Image Not Found Image Not Found On the down side, my fuel pump is groaning loudly, and the truck is spluttery after driving for a while when its hot out. Its always something with a $500 truck :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrFreeze5 Posted June 27, 2010 Author Share Posted June 27, 2010 Today I pulled out my HP 30 from my ZJ so I can install a waggy 44, and it needs a new home! It has new balljoints, bushings, seals, brakes, etc, ZJ up country springs and 2" spacers, ZJ swaybar with new poly bushings, RE trackbar with new bushings and rod end. The whole steering linkage is new, with lifetime warranty, plus I have 3 complete sets for spares. The shocks are shot and have to be replaced. Everything has about 10 miles on it(the tranny went out and facilitated the total rebuild of the ZJ). So this is gonna end up on my MJ in the next few days hopefully. I also have a matching 4.10 Ford 8.8 a few feet out of this shot thats ready to go in as well. As soon as I can source some cheap control arms, Ill throw it in SOA, but that will be a few weeks/months, but hopefully this summer. The MJ will also be getting the ZJs rims and 31" tires. If I can figure out a cheap method to lift the rear, Ill have the truck lifted 3-4" in a few weeks. But since I'm going to go SOA whenever I can manage the right suspension for the front to match, but the ZJ gets the major attention for now. I don't want to spend much money on it until I can really jump in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrFreeze5 Posted July 21, 2010 Author Share Posted July 21, 2010 Its been a good week for parts and its only Tuesday. Yesterday I picked up a HP Dana 44 for my ZJ and have just about made my money back selling off what I don't need. My shock mount tabs and Mopar perches for my SOA came in from Jegs. Anyone want a Jegs hat or 6? They keep sending them to me. Also picked up a set of JKS front upper shock conversion doohickey thingies. I also just picked up a great looking AX-15 today. Image Not Found Its from a 93 YJ with 70k miles. Its super clean. And as a bonus, it came with the whole hydraulic system, a 4.0 starter, power steering pump, 4wd shifter, motor mounts, and some other misc bits. Tomorrow I am picking up a set of RE superflex upper arms. Just as soon as I can get my hands on a set of adj LCAs I am going to install my new front end. My front wheel sounds like it is about to fall off. Plus I want to rob my 2wd beam axle for brackets for my ZJ D44 swap :D. I'm just going to throw the axle in there on just ZJ UC springs, and Ill add the spacers when I get around to the SOA in the rear. I upgraded the master cylinder on my ZJ, so that is moving over to the MJ at the same time. Ive got to do something soon, I am afraid each pothole is going to be my last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrFreeze5 Posted July 23, 2010 Author Share Posted July 23, 2010 I have been doing some thinking on my AX-15 and decided that if I use the 242 from my ZJ that is just sitting there on the floor, then I will have just about everything I need and can do the trans/tcase swap with the SOA and do the driveshaft thing only once. Plus if I use my ZJs 242, then that means I have to get it a dana 300, darn. My AX-15 I picked up is from a YJ and I have seen the discussions and pics on the differences in the clocking between the wrangler transmissions and the others. It looks like using a 231 clears OK, but my 242 looks huge. I don't have a 231 on hand for comparison, but I think its bigger, so I am a little concerned about fitment. But I have also heard that the 242 is clocked differently than the 231, so I don't know, might fit like a dream. I will find out soon. I was looking at the back side of the transmission and I can see where the holes could be drilled for a lower clocking, so if the tcase doesnt quite fit, I should be able to make it. I havent seen an XJ AX-15 for comparison, but I can imagine the differences if there were 2 side by side. Image Not Found Brake lines are on the way and just as soon as I can track down some LCAs, its on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now