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98ZJ+88MJ=?


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What is the biggest reason there aren't more WJ, ZJ, KJ, YJ etc drive train swaps into MJ'S? Main reason for asking is because I'm getting ready to do just that. I've got a rust free (as are ALL my Colorado MJ's ) with a bad engine and a clunky tranny, and a '98ZJ wrecked but with low mileage 42K, 5.2 engine and auto, perfect drive train that's just begging "Swap me! Swap me" Plan is to completely strip the MJ of every thing, engine, tranny, TC, axles, wiring and instrumentation and replace with parts from the ZJ. Know it's been done B4 but just don't remember hearing to much about them.

comanche.gifcomanche.gifcomanche.gif :wrench: comanche.gifcomanche.gifcomanche.gif

Why are Jeep parts the hardest parts to swap into a Jeep?

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I had planned on doing this swap to My 97+ conversion MJ but for insurance purposes I decided to stay with the 4.0L and Stroke it to a 4.7 and Supercharge it...

 

I will get to this swap again for a future Project especially since I have it all figured out and is a very simple, time consuming but simple swap...

 

 

Good luck with your swap...

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Well here is a link of someone who braved the 5.2 swap.

http://www.mallcrawlin.com/forum/showth ... J+comanche

It would be nice to see a few more v8 mopar powered xj/mj's out there. good luck :wrench:

 

Wonder who that fool was! :chillin:

 

If I were to do it again, which I will be. I would use a 96 + ZJ and do a 97+ XJ dash. To get the OBD-I wiring and dash talking was a real PIA. Terrawombat has started the 97+ conversion using a 98 5.9 ZJ drive train in his.

 

There is no source for motor mounts. You have to fab your own. You can use stock ZJ frame brackets but you have drop the engine down 2" for the hood to close. Cruise through Terra's and my build threads for more info.

 

There is also a guy on Naxja who did it as well.

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I pretty well memorized that thread. Was wondering if that was you or not. Very well written and very informative. Hope it will be OK to get back with you and compare ideas as I blunder through this. I'm starting to think it would be much simpler to just cut the back ends of the two and attach the MJ rear frame and bed to the front half of the ZJ. Well now, I do just happen to have another ZJ-MJ just sitting around. Wonder if I can handle two projects at the same time. El Jimbo

:wrench: :wrench: :wrench: comanche.gif :wrench: :wrench: :wrench:

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I've got the big 'ole 5.9L stuffed under the hood of my '88MJ, as shelby said earlier. Did the 97+ dash/wiring swap on the interior and got all of the gauges to talk to the ZJ computer so everything works nice. Haven't ran the fuel lines to the engine yet so I haven't had a chance to start her up (also need to get the cooling system done).

 

I would say that the biggest reason there aren't more Mopar V8 swaps into MJ/XJs is because there isn't anyone out there making motor mounts, plug-n-play wiring harnesses or a drop-in cooling system solution. When people need to get creative and think for themselves, they tend to go down the path of least resistance - like a Chevy 350 swap.

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I've got the big 'ole 5.9L stuffed under the hood of my '88MJ, as shelby said earlier. Did the 97+ dash/wiring swap on the interior and got all of the gauges to talk to the ZJ computer so everything works nice. Haven't ran the fuel lines to the engine yet so I haven't had a chance to start her up (also need to get the cooling system done).

 

I would say that the biggest reason there aren't more Mopar V8 swaps into MJ/XJs is because there isn't anyone out there making motor mounts, plug-n-play wiring harnesses or a drop-in cooling system solution. When people need to get creative and think for themselves, they tend to go down the path of least resistance - like a Chevy 350 swap.

 

Ya plus you gotta realize the 97+ dash conversion is a pretty big project in and of itself, throw in some things like custom motor mounts, transmission mounts, driveshafts, etc etc etc and its enough to scare 99% of people off.

 

Terra and I both know the intracacies of the wiring for each job, once we break it down and go through the wiring diagrams wire by wire its a little less daunting. Most people just go "screw electrical, I don't understand it" which means they are never going to undertake this sort of a project. I have files saved where I literally went through pin by pin on connectors to figure out what needs to go where, it took some figuring, but now I have it down to a couple of dozen wires that need to be connected from the XJ body wiring to the KJ diesel engine wiring.

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Ah, yes, the wiring... Like you said, a daunting task at first, but it gets easier the more you dig into it. Like you, I have several Excel spreadsheets and wiring diagrams made up that show me the interconnection between the 97+ XJ dash harness (a 1999 XJ, to be more specific, since there were wiring changes throughout the years) and a 96+ ZJ body harness (A 1998 ZJ 4.0L body harness, to be exact). I'm currently modifying my drawings to an "as-built" state to accurately document the splice connections, but I am somewhat afraid to post it publicly - mostly because I am not aware of variations in the harness between model years, trim/engine packages, etc that could adversely affect the operation of the vehicle.

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I made the mistake on thinking OBD-I would be easier to wire. Not so much! There are a ton of wires on a ZJ that do not work on a MJ.

 

What's this? Electric speedo? My truck don't have one of those? Run new wires! It can get tiring real fast. It is easiest to chop away at the whole project in sections.

 

It is not hard to get the motor running. It is a PIA to make it look right.

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Ah, yes, the wiring... Like you said, a daunting task at first, but it gets easier the more you dig into it. Like you, I have several Excel spreadsheets and wiring diagrams made up that show me the interconnection between the 97+ XJ dash harness (a 1999 XJ, to be more specific, since there were wiring changes throughout the years) and a 96+ ZJ body harness (A 1998 ZJ 4.0L body harness, to be exact). I'm currently modifying my drawings to an "as-built" state to accurately document the splice connections, but I am somewhat afraid to post it publicly - mostly because I am not aware of variations in the harness between model years, trim/engine packages, etc that could adversely affect the operation of the vehicle.

 

I posted all of mine, partially just to show what the hell is going on with the wiring, but realistically anyone thinking to undertake this sort of project ought to have the wherewithall to use the same resources that we did to make their own wiring diagrams, if they get into it thinking that they can just look at yours then the project is doomed anyways.

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Back in the old days when I had to work for a living one of my sources for a paycheck was from LASL. Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, weapons research and development. Los Alamos, NM. My primary function was to follow engineers around and remind them to wipe up or down on the first swipe, and remind them their fly was open. Other times I sat at a very well equipted work bench and build things for myself. Ham equipment, auto electronic stuff etc. I think me and Al built the first electronic ignition systems and electronic tachs in NM and installed them on our Jeeps. Occasionaly a engineer would walk by, drop several sheets of scribbles on my bench and say, "build this." Or they would drop off a bread board full of components, and if I was lucky, a schematic or a wiring diagram, usually on a half a dozen scrawled pages of scribbles and say, "make this work". Not sure which I enjoyed the most. Giving the engineers a hard time or the challenge of the job. I got very adept at wiring from scratch, trouble shooting wiring, and drawing schematics. The whole point of this ramble being that I am not afraid of 'the unknown' and looking forward to getting this thing going, hopefully coming up with some usefull data making things easier for anyone who will be doing the same thing later. I just want to see more Jeep stuff used in Jeeps and less Cheby. And a more practical side out of several dozen vehicles in the yard their isn't one Chevy. Just Jeep, a couple Fords and a International or 2. :doh:

Gotta take that back. I forgot. Got 2 S10's out there.

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Well then, I would highly recommend you find yourself a 97+ XJ and do the dash swap on the MJ or just drop the V8 in the XJ, itself. The wiring is really not too difficult once you have the factory service manuals for the XJ and the ZJ sitting side-by-side. If I could do it again, I would purchase a bound copy of each rather than having the electronic version. It can get pretty confusing which one you're looking at when you have them on a single computer screen. In fact, to avoid confusion and simplify things, I grabbed an old laptop from storage and sat it next to my other laptop with a service manual on each:

 

 

Unfortunately, whatever engineer(s) worked on the XJ was not the same one(s) who worked on the ZJ as out of 4 dozen wires, only three mated together that were the same color :D

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