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Highs & Lows of JY picking


MJRemi
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I spent my morning at a junk yard hoping to find a shift knob locknut. I found 3 XJs and grabbed a few pieces but nothing special. My brother said he saw another one in the next isle and I was just about done but you know we can't help but look. He is not into Jeeps and didn't know what to really look for.

So I haul my cart down to the LAST XJ in the yard and it has an all black interior. I have never found all black before this day. The dash is flawless without nary a scratch. But wait! The lower dash has been bent to a 90 degree angle so some effing moron could remove "something" from underneath. Said moron also cut the door panels to get the mirrors and broke the center console to remove the auto shifter.

After ranting to my brother for several minutes about the situation, I tried to remove the upper dash which was in perfect condition. I hit a wall and couldn't figure out how to remove this friggen dash. I left with the front seats, steering wheel, visors, and seat belts.

I left angry at the moron and at myself. If anyone near San Diego wants the dash, it's at Ecology Auto in Oceanside and June 4th & 5th are 50% off.

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Ya I hate when someone trashes a door panel or other part to get at something like a stock speaker, or even just to check if it has a stock speaker. Sometimes they even bust out rear windows and $#!& to get to speakers.

 

I hate those @#$%ers.

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I've found some pretty valuable items that were already "picked" for me so I like to return the favor. Two of my most notable items were a Mopar trans cooler for a ZJ and a random stock sidemount intercooler - likely out of a DSM. It was $75 all-you-can carry day, so I threw both in my duffle bag and wound up getting $50 for the intercooler from a friend. Just about paid for my day!

 

When I need to "dig" for items, I'll always disassemble everything in a nice, neat fashion - unless it has already been destroyed, then it gets ripped out. I usually fill the trunk of the vehicle up with the removed parts to pay it forward for the lucky fellow who needs them.

 

The lower part of the dash in older XJs is a VERY common item to be destroyed. I've seen many bent in the 90 degree angle that the original poster mentioned.

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A friend of a friend works in a local JY that has been south of town here forever. A few days ago, he sent word that a MJ just came in with a D44, so I decided to drop by and take a look. He wasn't there today, but the guy behind the counter was expecting me and knew where to find the Comanche. It was pretty picked over -- someone must have had their way with it before it hit the yard. Front end fenders, grill, header and the radiator were gone as was most of the interior. Renix 4.0 and manual trans were still there and it had a decent camper shell and rear bumper with a hitch receiver.

 

The rear end didn't look like a D44 to me, but I'm hardly an expert. They ended up calling my friend's friend and he said it was indeed a D44, so after a little dickering, I bought it and the camper shell for $350 and will pick them up next Saturday. I should have bought the bumper also, but maybe I'll offer them $50 for it when I go back to pick up the other stuff.

 

Plans are to replace the stock D35 with the D44 converted to SOA using u-bolt eliminators and a set of new leaf springs from Hell Creek. Once I figure out how much lift that gives me in the back, I'll source an appropriate lift from the front. Saw a totaled Grand Cherokee in the yard with a RE lift, but that probably wouldn't work for me. It has some real beefy front control arms, however.

 

-meljr

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