gaucho919 Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Hello, my friend convinced to start a thread on my MJ. I've been working on it for a few weeks now, collecting parts. My goal is to build a Jeep Comanche similar to Steve Irwin's Toyota Ute. He was my childhood hero, and an exemplar human being, I am doing this in memory of him. It is gonna be slow, but gotta start somewhere. The truck: '92 MJ 4.0, 2wd, manual ax-15 The plan is: White or Tan paint '96 4.0 engine from an XJ with 70k miles NV3550(from '04 TJ with 90k) Ford 8.8 Dana 30 HP 4.10:1 gears 3 or 4" lift 31's or 33x10.50s(undecided) ARB snorkel Ute bed Metric Tonne springs Day of purchase Initial teardown '96 4.0 Final goal Thanks for looking gents Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Automan2164 Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Nice truck, whats the build date on the drivers door? Rob L. :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaucho919 Posted March 31, 2011 Author Share Posted March 31, 2011 thanks, build date is 4-92 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pioneer Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 I'm begging you not to tear the bed off, you have one of the last MJ's built. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 I'm begging you not to tear the bed off, you have one of the last MJ's built. But if you do, I may know another '92MJ that would love to have it :D Oh, and welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Automan2164 Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Being that the build is that late, do you have the VIN handy? Even the last 6 digits will tell us where you fall. Rob L. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaucho919 Posted March 31, 2011 Author Share Posted March 31, 2011 Thanks gents, I'm 99% certain the bed is coming off, its a decent bed, has 2 main rust spots, one near the gas filler and the other on the passenger side fender flare. The VIN is 1J7FT26S2NL225254, I knew that it was the last year built but not that it was one of the last built. The PO wasn't very nice to it, the engine had 2 quarts of oil in it and no air filter. leaked oil everywhere, completely neglected but still ran like a top. Jeep had 186k miles so I pulled a nice leak free 70k mile '96 XJ motor from the local Junkyard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Automan2164 Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 Serial number shows that you are the latest build MJ among those registered here. Congratulations. There is a 5-3-92 I've ran, and he's a member, but its not in our system. Its a keeper... Might want to keep it whole. You are 2nd to last known. Rob L. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaucho919 Posted April 1, 2011 Author Share Posted April 1, 2011 That's awesome! I would've never known, Thanks Rob! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Automan2164 Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 Please keep me in mind if you ever decide to sell. I'll call the dealer with your VIN tomorrow and check the day. Please enter your truck into our registry for us to keep track of the last few survivors. Rob L. :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaucho919 Posted April 1, 2011 Author Share Posted April 1, 2011 Thanks Rob, Today I cleaned up the engine. Going to pick up some paint tomorrow, the coolant passages look nasty. My buddy is driving the NV3550 up from Florida this weekend and hopefully I can start making some progress on the drivetrain. Looking for a 23 spline long input shaft np231, the local Junkyard just crushed like half the yard so only 2 cherokees left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaucho919 Posted April 5, 2011 Author Share Posted April 5, 2011 UPDATE The truck is coming slow and steady, so much to do! got the engine bay pressure washed The engine cleaned and painted Tranny cleaned New intake manifold/clean water pump and oil pan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bruchal Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 Did a great job cleaning and painting, looks bran new :cheers: I really need to do the same thing with mine. :oops: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Automan2164 Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 How/what did you use to degrease and paint the engine? Rob :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaucho919 Posted April 5, 2011 Author Share Posted April 5, 2011 The engine was mostly clean, I use purple power to degrease. The tranny definitely was greasy from a bad rear main in the donor. Purple power works great! Used barbecue paint for the oil pan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bruchal Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 :agree: PurplePower is the greatest thing ever invented... well besides the MJ.... I have like 10 bottles on my tool box!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaucho919 Posted April 12, 2011 Author Share Posted April 12, 2011 hello gents I've made enough progress to deserve an update -primed/painted the engine bay -Got the engine/tranny hooked up and in the truck(still need a t-case from the junkyard) -got the 8.8 mocked up in the rear -Still undecided on whether I should get a slip yoke eliminator or not(so I can't weld the spring perches on yet) I think the spring over looks pretty good, both my main leafs are sagging, rest of the leafs looks ok. Might order some metric tonne springs from hellcreek along with some XJ shackles to bring it down a bit. for the front I'm thinking old man emu 4" springs with some 3/4" spring spacers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knever3 Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 Looks great so far! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaucho919 Posted April 14, 2011 Author Share Posted April 14, 2011 Thanks! it got dark on me so I couldn't take pictures but the motor RUNS!!! I am still undecided on the front suspension, looking for ~4.5 of lift, thinking about OME934 coils and 1.75" spacers, and either clayton long arms or RC control arm drop brackets. price is a big thing bc I have so many parts to buy still, shocks are pretty expensive too. what are y'alls experiences with drop brackets? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnkyboy Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 Drop brackets work great, the only issue with the RC brackets is that they are for an XJ so they won't fit without modification to your truck. I ran OME 934s with 2" spacers,it worked ok. I ended up going to 6.5" coils so the truck sat level and the 934s now live in my XJ as a 3" lift. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryno56 Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 Drop brackets work great, the only issue with the RC brackets is that they are for an XJ so they won't fit without modification to your truck. I ran OME 934s with 2" spacers,it worked ok. I ended up going to 6.5" coils so the truck sat level and the 934s now live in my XJ as a 3" lift. The RC brackets fit fine but the braces they use don't, I just put a set on mine. I'm not a hardcore wheeler so I might just leave the braces off. RE sells their brackets and braces separately (or did before their recent troubles) so they may not be entirely necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaucho919 Posted April 18, 2011 Author Share Posted April 18, 2011 Update... -Pulled an np231 off a 2000 XJ from the junkyard on Saturday, not bad for $60. It is no contacting the body with the TJ nv3550, it is just about 1/4" away from it in one spot (might need to fix that with a hammer). -Also pulled a clutch master and slave cylinder with the hydraulic line attached from a 94 XJ, $10 for all of it, not bad -Got my ARB bullbar yesterday -Ordered my Clayton long arms about 10 minutes ago -Ran out of money haha I'll post some pictures tonight when I get off work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnkyboy Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 Drop brackets work great, the only issue with the RC brackets is that they are for an XJ so they won't fit without modification to your truck. I ran OME 934s with 2" spacers,it worked ok. I ended up going to 6.5" coils so the truck sat level and the 934s now live in my XJ as a 3" lift. The RC brackets fit fine but the braces they use don't, I just put a set on mine. I'm not a hardcore wheeler so I might just leave the braces off. RE sells their brackets and braces separately (or did before their recent troubles) so they may not be entirely necessary. They may be less necessary on an MJ with the extra factory bracing but without the braces they are gonna get hung up on stuff. I have seen drop Brackets with no braces get ripped off of XJs,I just looked at one that ripped the entire drivers side factory arm mount off leaving a huge hole in the frame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaucho919 Posted April 19, 2011 Author Share Posted April 19, 2011 as promised some progress The T-case/body clearance with the TJ NV3550 Some Aussie accents decided to go for the Clayton long arms, figured I'd just go with a quality product and be done with it, gotta wait for the snorkel bc funds are running low, next are the OME934s and OME shocks, does anyone have a part # for some OME shocks for the rear spring over 6" lift? Thanks gents hope You like it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaucho919 Posted April 22, 2011 Author Share Posted April 22, 2011 My long arms came in today, these things are BEEFY!! Clayton makes a great product. Now I'm just waiting on my OME934s and I'll be installing the front suspension soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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