Incommando Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 NOTE: Go to post #23 for the lift & mods began on 3/3/14. This project stalled for 3 years and posts 1-22 are from the original plans made in 2011 As part of my habit of buying basket cases where previous owners partially disassemble jeeps for no apparent reason and then I get a jeep with boxes and bags of parts to sort through and piece back together, I picked up this '91 Pioneer 4x2. 4.0/AW4/Turdy-5. Headliner is MIA and it was missing many of the parts shown in the pics above as they were taken off before I got it. But it does have delay wipers and cruise as well as a functioning factory sliding window. The remaining interior is actually pretty decent.Unfortunately, this thing was hit in a bizarre manner and then apparently left to fester for years uncounted. :doh: The metal in this area is all pretty weak. Repair would be intense and it may just get painted over to stop the rot and left as-is because it is intended to be a trail bomber anyway. Door still works though.I pays my monies for a pig in a poke as it was undrivable and had no exhaust past the head pipe. The engine coulda been knocking pretty good and you could not have heard it. Put it on the dolly and drag it home.Get the parts boxes & bolt bags out and put the front end body pieces and grill back together. Put the dash back and discover that, instead of just unplugging the am/fm/cassette w/bass & treble control, some PO cut the wires to pull the radio :hmm: The also pulled the speakers and the color-coded wires to them are gone. :rant:SPent a little less then $50 on piecing together a cat-delete exhaust system featuring a cherry bomb glass pack. Rear brakes are shot with both wheel cyl.'s leaking. Not going to fix them as the rear is going bye-bye (see below). Fire that puppy up and guess what? No knocking so far! Odo shows 217K but it looks like the engine has been out so it probably has fewer miles than that. OH; Some PO couldn't ( or wouldn't) get the rust-welded on rims off and spray bombed the rims in white while they were on the truck..overspray city and looks nasty. WTH goes through peoples' minds? The tires are dry rotted relics from the pre-p-metric measurement days and you think painting the nasty factory rims is important???Squeeze some 265/70/16 street tires that I have laying around onto the rig (pics later) once the torch and BFH persuade the junk tires/rims to part ways with the truck. These are about equal to a 31x10.5x15 but just squeek by for street duty as the tread is very tame.Moment of truth: Tag & insure that puppy and it is time to cruise! Guess what? In a very limited 10-mile shake down run the truck ran well, shifted fine, and braked OK as I don't think most MJ rear brakes do much on an empty truck anyway. Yes an axle swap is coming.I have a set of '98 XJ axles for it: HP D30 3.55 front and matching 8.25 open rear. I also have a 3.55 8.25 rear with welded spiders in case I go the "almost all trail runner" route. Picked up some used RE 4.5" front coils, adjustable lower CA's, an adjustable track bar, and made plans to SOA the rear when I slip the 8.25 in. I need to find a cheap tranny/t-case with shifter and front DS to get the ball rolling. Well, I get paid once a month so I need to find these things AFTER 6/1/11...lol.More to come unless a sudden bout of sanity sets in and I abandon this project.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incommando Posted May 17, 2011 Author Share Posted May 17, 2011 Street tires on & earning its keep: about 5 loads of mulch today... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incommando Posted June 2, 2011 Author Share Posted June 2, 2011 Continue to gather parts. I picked up a '93 4wd Aw4 today. It came with a front driveshaft and the shifter for the 231J. Unfortunately the t-case was not available so i am still in search of that. A plus is that there appears to be a new or nearly new CPS attached to the tranny :cheers: The truck continues to be very driveable. It will cruise at 75 just fine and seems dependable. I have put maybe 500 miles on it and I am happy with the truck so far. I sprayed flat black paint over the massive body damage and it makes it a little less noticable. Well, it is less noticable as long as your eyesight isn't real good and I am passing you at about 55 mph, anyway... :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Although I love the MJ and would like to see them all preserved for years to come, I also feel that everyone needs at least one that they can beat the crap out of. You, sir, have found that very MJ...the passenger side of the cab looks NASTY! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incommando Posted June 2, 2011 Author Share Posted June 2, 2011 My feelings eggzachary. The price to save this MJ would far exceed its value, IMHO. I am not at all good at body work and to pay someone to fix this truck....well, it ain't happening. Find an MJ cab, cut the whole corner off, graft onto exisitng cab, smooth in, replace rockers, try to patch or replace bed, paint..It is monumental. When you add in how far I would probably have to ship such a cab corner/bed to get parts worth using due to the road salt in Ohio... The pictures can't show how "soft" all of that metal is from just sitting exposed for years, either. I am removing the factory flares and saving them/selling them. I have 4 rear TJ flares to graft on after I hack the rust above the rear wheelwells. This will also give me additional clearance while keeping the lift fairly low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incommando Posted June 17, 2011 Author Share Posted June 17, 2011 Spent an hour or two removing the factory flares today. They are pretty decent except the one across the front (splash guard?) is torn on one side right where it rivets to the fender portion. Looks like it hit a parking block or rock or something. Rust is way up past where the inner and outer panels are joined on the bed. :fs1: . It will all be covered with the 4 rear TJ flares that are going on but I am not sure if I am going to try to rejoin the two panels some way or not. The headliner was gone from this truck, cardboard and all. Neither dome light worked and the actuators in the door frames are gone. So, I found an open spot in the circuit block and ran a wire up along the a-pillar and over above the mirror. I installed a large interior light that has its own on/off switch directly over the mirror- got the idea from lights that are mounted there in police cruisers. Sure, it won't work without the key being on or on acc, but it works. About $7 into that project. Pics to come- MJ is at one house and my camera was back at the house I am staying in. Anyone want some body-colored MJ flares near Dayton? Not going to try to ship them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comanche County Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Nice, good job saving it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incommando Posted June 20, 2011 Author Share Posted June 20, 2011 Here are some crappy cell phone pics of the interiror light. One shows the cheapo auto parts store light from the position of the driver Image Not Found the other shows the lil' tiny switch that I mounted toward the windshield ( just my preference): Image Not Found Here is a pic of the GOOD side of the bed before I cut the rust out. The second shows the to-be-installed TJ flare just stuck to the rust on the bed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incommando Posted July 3, 2011 Author Share Posted July 3, 2011 Well, I screwed up the TJ flare install. I mixed up the right and left rear flares when cutting them. I decided to mount them up and just replace them later when I get another pair of TJ rear flares. If I hadn't done the fronts first I could have just used these but...oh well.Those are 31x 10.5 tires on a 2wd with no lift to show how much clearance the wheel well trim/flare install netted.Also did a quick cut & fold along the lower bed behind the wheel wells.I picked up the final big piece of the 4wd/SOA conversion: the 231! Now I need to get a donor drive shaft to have shortened to 4x4 SWB length so that I have it ready for the swap without the down time of having the current shaft shortened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incommando Posted July 3, 2011 Author Share Posted July 3, 2011 Also picked up a set of 15" XJ Ecco rims to mount my 32x9.5x15 TSL's in place of the 16" street tires that are on the truck now. Rims: Two of the new-ish ( never been on the road and few trail miles) tires: Image Not Found I am hoping by going with a narrower tire on a lighter alloy wheel I will not be pushing the limits of the axles as far as I would if I went with a taller/wider tire. These TSL's are almost as tall as some brand's 33's anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW86 Posted July 3, 2011 Share Posted July 3, 2011 have the same swampers on a sammi at work. those things rip the $#!& out of everything! gnarly @$$ lugs diggin down hard! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incommando Posted July 6, 2011 Author Share Posted July 6, 2011 I think there is a reason that TSL's have been selling well with no changes for decades. In the element they were design for the are excellent. Got a few minutes today so I re-drilled the mounting holes to flip the messed up flares side to side. They still look like poop but I think they will look a little better until I get some new ones on there: BTW: I saw a trick somewhere where the guy mounted his flares using large zip ties. That way the flare just tears away, possibly unharmed, if you rub a tree or something where solid mounting them would probably tear the flare or the body. It worked very well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
banshee Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Just my thoughts Looks don't make it run... Like the flares, love the tires, as far as axle, as long as your sane, you'll never have issues, the rule is D30 no larger than 30-31's, D35 no larger than 33-35's remember 'if your sane'... B... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camjeep3 Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 Just my thoughtsLooks don't make it run... Like the flares, love the tires, as far as axle, as long as your sane, you'll never have issues, the rule is D30 no larger than 30-31's, D35 no larger than 33-35's remember 'if your sane'... B... :dunno: my dana 35 couldnt handle street duties with my 33s, i blew it up. My dana 30 has been fine, even on 35s no issues Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incommando Posted July 7, 2011 Author Share Posted July 7, 2011 I have 2 29 spline 8.25's in my garage and my new spring perches came in the mail today.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btm24 Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 Looks great! Brandon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incommando Posted July 9, 2011 Author Share Posted July 9, 2011 Thanks!Getting closer to having everything for the front 4.5" and rear SOA lifts:Still need dakota rear and YJ front brake lines, fluids, and some welding... :wrench: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incommando Posted July 19, 2011 Author Share Posted July 19, 2011 Image Not Found Picked up a set of 15x7 TJ Grizzly rims. I will probably run a set of street-ish or A/T tires on one set of the new rims and the TSL's on the other. Now to decide whether the Grizzies or the Eccos get the TSL's...hmmm.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incommando Posted August 12, 2011 Author Share Posted August 12, 2011 Got some new rear flares mountedup and I think that they look better: Also did a cut and fold behind the rear wheels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incommando Posted September 28, 2011 Author Share Posted September 28, 2011 Well, so much for this project. Sold most everything to move on to another project:viewtopic.php?f=24&t=32277&p=320197#p320197 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rymanrph Posted September 28, 2011 Share Posted September 28, 2011 What's the reason? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incommando Posted September 29, 2011 Author Share Posted September 29, 2011 I wanted a drive-able but very capable 'wheeler. It is going to be far cheaper to make the CJ7 in my sig into what I want than the MJ. The CJ7 chassis is already heavily modified: reinforced frame, competition cut rear corners with steel "crush panels" installed and a set of the reinforced rocker panels with it, already set up for 1-ton axles with a shackle reversal and out-boarded springs, extended wheelbase. It has 53" Rancho springs on all four corners. It is a proven chassis: the previous owner 'wheeled it in this form but took the swapped-in SBC drive train and axles when he moved to a tube chassie'd/air shocked buggy. Financially I am saving a ton by doing the CJ. I don't really need or have space for 3 vehicles so I am keeping the KJ & the CJ. I will rob the MJ's 4.0 to add to an AW4 and D300 that was originally destined for the MJ & then probably start parting the truck. The body damage on the MJ is pretty severe and pics do not do it justice and it was just more than I wanted to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incommando Posted February 6, 2014 Author Share Posted February 6, 2014 And...it is back. The CJ project went way crazy ( D60 front locked/ rear shaved 14 bolt locked/360/t18/D20/38.5" tires) got almost done, and then got sold. So...back to the MJ! I have put another 10K miles on it and it runs like a top. I have the 4x4 AW4 and a later fixed-yoke 231 for it. I also have an XJ 8.25 & matching D30. The plan is a mild wheeler on a mild lift with just the addition of a drop-in rear locker. The tires came today: Buckshot XMT Mudders in 265/75/r16 (32x10.5 or so). Mounted on KJ rims they will fit nicely. The tires: They look great in person. I got them for $609 including shipping from NTWOnline and they arrived within 2 days of my ordering them. I will post pics of the actual tires soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incommando Posted February 7, 2014 Author Share Posted February 7, 2014 Tires: Full tread-20/32nds and nicely siped The old quarter shothard to tell from the pic but the sidewall lugs are pretty deepImage Not Found Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incommando Posted March 4, 2014 Author Share Posted March 4, 2014 Mild lift? Forget it. I want the lift to be able to tuck the tires so I am going SOA & 5.5" in the front. My lift uses Alexia's great parts list as a starting point: http://comancheclub.com/topic/35519-55-600-mj-lift-cheap-high-quality-100-complete-lift/ My options are below in its own frame for easy reference http://comancheclub.com/topic/42254-700-off-road-capable-55-soa-lift/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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