Ftpiercecracker's Labor Of Love

[ftpiercecracker1]

Before:

 

 

 

 

 

I picked this little gem (front clip) off of a fellow CC member here in TN.

 

After:

 

 

Am i one of the cool kids now?

 

I think yes. :yes:

[relyt120]

Dude it looks so good, I'm glad that everything ended up working for you.  :thumbsup:

[jbain]

Very nicely done......You've came a long way..... and aren't you glad you didn't scrap it......  LOL.....

[ftpiercecracker1]

Feels like its been years since my last post. Sadly thats because there hasn't been much to report, but i have saved up a few updates so hopefully this won't be totally boring. So far since my last post i have bought a nice lo-pro tool box, added a ZJ steering box (quicker ratio), put on some oreilly's drop shackles to aid my sagging leaf springs, had a new windshield installed to replace the junky/pitted/cracked factory one, done some hardcore electrical consolidation and shortened my steering column by about 2in. 

 

 

ONTO THE PICS!!

 

 

BetterBuilt low profile tool box i found on good ole craigslist. Picked it up for 85 smackers. Had to order some keys for it and buy a new gas shock, but other than that it is exactly what i wanted. Think its and older made in U.S.A version too.

 

 

 

No pics of the ZJ box, but i will say that if you are considering the swap, go for it. TBH i haven't really noticed a huge difference between boxes, but then again its been a while since i last drove an MJ with the stock box. Its a 100% direct swap, any year ZJ will work, don't know about differences between V8 and I6, i just stuck with one from an I6.

 

 

 

Oreilly's drop shackles, aka, very poor mans lift.

 

 

 

 

 

 

New windshield. *Pro tip, when you have your windshield replaced make sure you turn the little spacer blocks on their side so they look like a rectangle on their respective 'side' and not on the 'bottom' otherwise the lower trim will not snap back on as nicely, it still will, as i have found out, but it works better oriented the other way.  

 

 

 

 

Extreme wire consolidation included tracing and depinning things like the door chimes/buzzer, seat belt buzzer, shortening the ridiculously long radio adapter harness, and removing the entire plug on the left side of the gauge cluster. 

 

This plug to be precise.

 

With fingers crossed i was thankful to find that everything left still worked without a problem.  :thumbsup:

 

 

 

 

After driving one of our Tercels (toyota) around for nearly a month and enjoying all that leg room getting back into the MJ was torturous. I had to do something, i was sick of the steering wheel being way up in my face and the seat was killing me too, but thats another story. Shortening the steering column was not nearly as hard as i predicted. You just have to be very methodical and mark both shafts before you cut so you can reattach them right. Take your time and its no harder than building a bumper.

 

Picture for comparison. Ironically this is very similar to how i want my seats and E brake to look.

 

 

 

 

Please ignore the nonexistent dash and exposed wires.

 

 

 

Another view

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ftpiercecracker1]