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Project "Phoenix"


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More parts hoarding on the Phoenix. Big thanks to Pat (JeepcoMJ) for the fog lights and harness. Also scored a KJ Renegade roof light bar for this truck. I think with the MJ in the mango tango paint, the light bar and factory fogs will look great.

 

 

 

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  • 1 month later...
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I love y'alls work. You definitely raised that kid right. When I was 13 my dad had a Cherokee, by the time I was 16 I had fixed alot of stuff in that jeep. However, it was a rusty pile of junk... So I bought my first cherokee. Started working as a handyman and needed a truck, so I bought my MJ. Couldn't be happier. Anyway, I can't wait to see what you guys come up with after all this work. Its going to be really nice.

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This particular one I found on eBay. LKQ also lists some on eBay from time to time. However, the prices they want are pretty steep.

 

Here are a few that are currently listed:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lightbar-2002-2 ... 91&vxp=mtr

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2005-Jeep-Liber ... 3c&vxp=mtr

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2002-Jeep-Liber ... 04&vxp=mtr

 

If you have any good yards near you, you may get lucky. I'm currently on the hunt for a liberty in one of my local yards to pull the rear disc brakes.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Considering I stole his switch panel with the fog light switch, I had to replace his.

 

 

Some tow hooks I found on a ZJ. Need some XJ brackets now.

 

 

And a small change from this craptastic wheel

 

 

To this one, plus cruise control

 

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  • 4 months later...

We are gearing up to continue working on the truck. I have two weeks of vacation starting Saturday, so we should get a lot of work done on it. Stay tuned...

 

Knowing you, you'll finish it after a week and a half and spend the rest of your time off enjoying it with your son.

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Ryan, I wish I could get it finished. Its gonna need paint and I don't think I can convince the paint shop to get it shot in 2 or 3 days! My plans are to have all the suspension work and sheet metal work done. Have all the old holes covered and new holes made under the hood for the ECU, cruise, etc. Most likely primer the engine bay and inside of the firewall. And generally have it ready to drop off at the body shop. I want it to be in a position that we can just bolt stuff into place when it comes back from paint. It shouldn't take but a couple days before it cranks and runs at that point.

 

Dylan. You're more than welcome to drop them off and leave em with me for a small (read large) fee! There's a guy in Frisco that I'll be helping with a conversion in the coming months. But hey, if you really want to mash the two up and make one truck out of them, it wouldn't take us but a week or so to get the work done, minus paint of course. Unless you wanna go the spray bomb route. Naturally, that time prediction is beer contingent as always!

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Spent some time today getting the donors interior stripped down. Trying to get some decent access to the firewall and bracketry. Tomorrow we should have all the brackets and things removed and cleaned up for installation into the MJ.

 

 

 

 

More to come!

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Out of curiosity, how are you planning on mounting and lighting it up without drilling holes?

 

possibly fitting a peice a steel underneath with studs up to mount the lights and then extend it (Still fitted to the roof) over to the rails on the side and mount it like a roof rack, all still being flush? make sense? think it will work?

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Not much for updates as the going has been slow the last few days. My luck has seemed to disintegrate. Pulled the motor/tranny/tcase from the XJ donor. I have a feeling the XJ is possesed. It has put up a heck of a fight giving up all of its goodies. We spent around 3.5 hours before getting the driveline out. Everything that could possibly hold up removal happened. Then once we got it free, we pushed the XJ shell back out from under the suspended motor. Engine was roughly 6 feet in the air and once the XJ was clear, the front chain slipped off the chain hoist hook and the engine tumbled foward. the rear chain held it, but the front landed perfectly against the floor while the tcase was pointed straight up in the air. Fortunately all it did was break the power steering pump reservoir, the transmission dipstick tube, and stretch and break some wires. It shouldnt hurt too bad to replace those. After letting the engine down to the floor safely, we decided to give up for the day. Replaced a leaking water heater yesterday so no work on the MJ. This morning while unloading said leaking water heater from the back of my truck, I dropped it on my left foot and crushed two toes. Now my big toe is nice and swollen. Not too sure if I broke it. I blame the XJ. Today I rolled the MJ back into the shop to slide the driveline into it. I fought it for another 3 hours or so and finally got one motor mount lined up and the bolt through. The drivers side motor mount didnt want to line up for no one. After scratching my head for a while I pulled a tape measure out and measured the distance from each motor mount to the front crossmember. Yup, the motor mounts between a 4cyl and a 6cyl are completely different. I knew that. But as luck would have it, that little fact sipped my little mind. All I wanted to do really was set the drivetrain into place to measure the height of the truck before I changed front springs and swapped the D30 under it, so no big deal. Anyway, I pulled the drivetrain back out and set the XJ and MJ side by side and swapped the motor mounts before I forgot again. Tomorrow I should have the D30 swapped in and hopefully have the 8.25 pulled and new spring perches welded on and under the truck. Maybe. Hopefully. I'm holding my breath anyway.

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Well, we got the D30 out of the XJ and into the MJ and the 2wd beam from the MJ under the XJ so we could move it out to the scrap yard soon. Also got the 8.25 out of the XJ and have it sitting on stands ready to cut off the perches and shock mounts. Have new perches ready to be welded on. It should be done and under the truck tomorrow. After that, I may take the last couple days of vacation to relax before going back to work.

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