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RockMJ's 88' Resto-Mod Build Journal


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Great looking MJ.I found your truck on Ebay first then on here.I've been watching it.You have a lot of blood sweat and tears with rebuilding this truck.I hate to see you get rid of her with all the hard work you've put into it.I know what you mean when you say you need more room.My 10 year old daughter rides with us in the middle of the bench seat with the seatbelts criss crossed.A little snug and not too comfortable but works.Good luck with reaching your reserve.Well worth your buy it now price.

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If I had the $6,000 on me I would buy it and store it in my garage to love on. :D

 

Thanks for the compliments guys. I feel like I could sit on it longer and make what is really worth, but these things are a hit and miss market. A true enthusiast would pay top dollar for a rust free restored Comanche where most people think its cool, and an impulse buy type thing. I just do not have the space to keep it any longer as I am not driving it daily anymore so its just sitting. Its a shame and I am going to miss how damn smooth it drives down the road. My 01 XJ rides like a Suzuki Samurai compared to it lol.

 

Oh and btw, if you love on it...make sure you buff and wax it after. As of tonight, my eBay watchers are up to 63. Thats pretty insane actually

 

RockMJ

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Its all balloons and honey! Wow - 2319 views now. Get me the keys and I will store her for ya :brows:

 

Well its still sitting here, didnt sell on eBay. Bitter sweet thats for sure. I really want to make it 4x4 and wheel the bad boy. Would be so sweet :)

 

RockMJ

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Ty, I ended up putting them on my XJ. And yes, I NEEEED to get my arse going with making these custom overlays. Ive gotten a large amount of questions about them when the MJ was on eBay or JF for sale.

 

Today is a bittersweet day for me. The MJ has officially sold, but I am more than comfortable with the deal after speaking with the new owner for about four hours on the phone. Super cool Jeep guy from IL that has gone over in depth with me his future plans for her and I feel confident that he is going to take care of her like I have. I also told him its totally cool to keep this build thread updated with future modifications!

 

So ladies and gents, that is all she wrote with my portion of the MJ build. She will be taken care of in her new home, I have no worries ;)

 

RockMJ

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Hey Josh, sorry that you sold the mj, glad it has a great home and very happy I got to see it in person. Hopefully you will see mine one day and maybe you will have a new mj project to wrench. Congrats on the sell, you put a lot into that mj.

Buck.

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Hello fellow MJ owners and lovers. I am the very lucky and proud owner of Rocks MJ. I will do my best to keep his project on a similar track as Rock had planed.

 

After I Finnish up the interior. I will address the drive train. 4x4 I have axles already set up w/ 4.10 gears Dana 30/44 combo and Trutrac/Detroit NP231 w/ AA SYE and a big chain kit. all on hand just need to clean them up. i have a few BA 10's but i am going to be hunting a NSG 370 for this project.And hope i can drop the faulty clutch control system that has brought me nothing but headaches over the years

 

The main goal of this project is going to be a Tow rig/ trail head. So tools and spare parts on board. So no crazy lifts. or RTI scores. But never felt right towing my TJ to a trail using a Ford. lol

 

But just thought i would drop a line to all of you who have been following Rocks work. And i will do my best to update this as much as i can.

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Hello fellow MJ owners and lovers. I am the very lucky and proud owner of Rocks MJ. I will do my best to keep his project on a similar track as Rock had planed.

 

After I Finnish up the interior. I will address the drive train. 4x4 I have axles already set up w/ 4.10 gears Dana 30/44 combo and Trutrac/Detroit NP231 w/ AA SYE and a big chain kit. all on hand just need to clean them up. i have a few BA 10's but i am going to be hunting a NSG 370 for this project.And hope i can drop the faulty clutch control system that has brought me nothing but headaches over the years

 

The main goal of this project is going to be a Tow rig/ trail head. So tools and spare parts on board. So no crazy lifts. or RTI scores. But never felt right towing my TJ to a trail using a Ford. lol

 

But just thought i would drop a line to all of you who have been following Rocks work. And i will do my best to update this as much as i can.

Welcome to the CC! Glad you will be keeping us posted on the truck :cheers: .

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Far enough but the MJ is in the process of being shipped ATM.. But Rock has been a amazingly awesome seller and sent me a few farewell pics.

 

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I will not have hands on her until around the 29th.. The days will not move fast enough! ;)

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  • 1 month later...

Well all sorry for lack of update. But been working on The MJ. Rock was not lieing when he said the brakes was bad... The pedal would get stiff but no real stopping force. So i took a look at the system and the Rotors was DONE. So a quick order from (ironically named) www.rockauto.com :typing:

And....

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Lots of parts, A few parts in there came from Amazon as well but all the brake parts came from RockAuto. (don't ask the totel HAHA that hurt the old Bank acct)

 

And if you are wondering about the PowerTrax... A few weeks ago it was raining here, And i went to merge into some traffic. The weak rear springs and gripe tires made for some wheel hop. And to everyone's surprise i know, The Dana 35 did not take a liking to that. POP went the pass spiders. (and a limp home) Lucky it was only a few blocks from my house.

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But w/ that installed (sorry forgot to grab pic's) it was time to fix the brakes.

Can you see a problem? lol

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(Sorry forgot to grab a pic before i put the wheels back on)But nice and shinny!!!

 

Rotors was very cheap. less then 20 per rotor. saddly the bearings cost more lol Timkin Set2 & Set 6 + seals was over $50 and new brake pads ($20) just because i was already there. Set the preload and BRAKES marvelous BRAKES! ( and if you are confused it is a 2 wheel drive so the rotor is a rotor/hub assb.)

 

 

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Since i had the hood up RockAuto had a very cheap cap&rotor set ($20)and a less then $10 for Bosch Premium wire set. And i had a set of Bosch +4 laying around from the RedHead. Less then 30 min run time on them. There was nothing wrong w/ the ignition system. Just one of my pet peeves. and the old rotor&cap was aluminum, now its all copper.. Just better energy transfer and was a cheap upgrade. And since it was me. every plug under the hood got a coating of Dielectric grease. I am a stickler for that stuff. i even hit all the bulb sockets around the truck. I keep large amounts of Contact cleaner,spray&past Dielectric grease on hand.

 

The pic got kinda blow out, But the main front clip connector was in bad shape. Had to contact clean/pipe cleaner it before i could hit it w/ a good coating of dielectric.

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Also i replaced the idler pulley because i kept hearing a chirp from the belt every time the A/C was on and i taped the gas.. but it was not worn that bad. turns out it was a loose belt. the belt adjuster was pretty rusty. So some spray lube and a slow cycle of the adjuster cleaned that right up and went ahead and replaced the idler and put the old one into the box and throw back up on the shelf as a back up.

 

Next was the Blower motor. a few days before i was driving and noticed that even at high idle the Volt drop w/ the fan on high was a bit too much. So i also ordered a new blower motor.

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Hard to see but the motors brushes was very low and the winding's was caked in dirt. the motor had gotten so hot that it melted the vent tube to the casing lol. But now even on high at low idle and w/ the headlights on the volt drop is minimal.

 

Also since i was there I changed out the cheap Walmart NeverStart Battery for a Optima Yellow Top i had sitting around. Now the Jeep it starting faster and just very happy. :clapping:

 

As far as the brakes. Its working great. got the Semi-metallic pads bedded to the new rotors, And it takes SO much less pedal effort to slow down now. But The drivers side rear adjuster is locked so i am ordering new adjusters for both sides. And still have to fix a rounded Brake line fitting. :doh:

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I should of fingered when there was new brakes lines in the truck but not on.. LOL No biggy cut and re-flare time. the old lines are not good at all. need to replace them before I do a 95 96 booster&master upgrade.

 

And i also found that the Radiator is bad/leaking so next month. replace the radiator and upgread to a 3x 10 inch electric fan set up w/ multi stage turn on. And a open loop conversion. hate that little plastic active bottle that always fails..

 

IDK how long this truck will be 2 Wheel drive.. after i get the truck back up to stock/slightly better condition and save up for a new NSG370 and assorted parts then it will get the 4x4 upgrades.

 

The only thing i have left to replace is the Key lock cylinder. it is too worn to go into Accs. and is Crome! so 12 bucks from RockAuto got a nice new Black Ignition cylinder. And because i could not pass it up.. for like $13

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Yup and NOS Jeep Comanche Owners manual.. ya i was very very excited to find that. RockAuto again to the rescue!

 

So w/ the new parts table cleaned off time to refill it..

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the center counsel insert is a true MJ one. it has a blank out panel where the XJ E-brake goes.

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Its a dash Bazel i picked up a years ago. its plastic brushed Aluminum look. The on in the new MJ had been cut for a bad radio install. it has to go. made the headunit install way harder then it should of been. And the new one looks better anyway.

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and just as a teaser..

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Yup white face indaglow. can you guess what the interior lighting color seam will be?

 

I have one bolt holding me back on the passenger side downer seat. it is rusted pretty bad but a trip to sears and i think i got what its going to take to get it off. and then its off to the reupholsters to get a black/gray matching refinish. They are in great shape and short of a little cleaning and fix the rust on the lower bolt holes. They are way more comfy then the plactic that are in there and they fold! LMAO

 

And a quick pick of the downer...

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Yup thats the RedHead she is a Eliminator converted to 4x4 and a list of other upgrades. Had her for 8 years now. tThinking after i get this MJ fixed up I may try a full on 97+ treatment to her. may even bring it back to 2x4 and a 14 bold just for fun. lol. who knows

 

And 10 points for reading this Massively over done post.

 

Well i have lots of cleaning to do and still some parts to pull/order.. but thought i would bring you guys back up to speed on what i have been doing.

 

Like always feedback Good or bad welcome. :cheers:

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  • 3 weeks later...
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Yes you read that right. The Red Eliminator has towed 10k well over the years. Will be moving a built 44 over and a custom leaf pack. Vanco Big brakes and the list goes on. but the only thing i will add is a rear Anti-sway bar. but if you look at the stock specs it makes a 1/2 ton of the day look weak .

But ya most the local think the same..

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  • 6 months later...

I should also post an update of what I have been up to myself. Before I sold the MJ I searched high and low for my dream XJ. Finally found a late model 01 XJ in Miami in the ultra rare factory orange paint. Talk about a head turner and both the XJ and the MJ parked side by side it was oh-so-sexy! The Jeep was in great shape overall, minus a filthy interior, some broken plastic pieces, and a squeaking serpentine belt. After a long arm kit, and a ton of other upgrades I ended up with this

 

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Well, as fortune would have it, my "dream" was not meant to be. After owning the Jeep for about five months I ended up having to sell it due to work arrangements and a large increase in my daily commute. After striping most of the parts off the XJ I traded her in for an 08 GTI. As we all know, we can never leave well enough alone so money got thrown at the GTI as well. So as of today I have some tuning work done, dual intercoolers, performance brakes, wheels/tires, yada yada. And here is the current ride...

 

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Now you are probably wondering what, why, and who cares right? Well, this all brings me to my next point. I am in the market for another MJ! I miss driving my old MJ so badly that nothing since then has "filled the void" so to speak (I really sound like a junky). So, with the help of Drahcir495, I have been on the hunt for the next project with plans to one-up my last one big time. Stay tuned and keep an eye out for my username as I promise to not disappoint!

 

RockMJ

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When I scrolled down, I expected your GTI to be orange.  I've never owned a GTI, but I always kinda liked them.  I may have bought one if I wasn't so tired of FWD.  It sounds like you have big plans for the next MJ.  Care to elaborate?

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