picked up a 87 shortbed sport truck today Edit: sold @ 1300

[JeepcoMJ]

like the title says, 87 shortbed sport truck....payed $200. it's an aw4, 4x4. black with maroon bucket interior, and a TERRIBLE engine knock. but hey, can i beat 200 bucks for something with only 1 rust hole on the floor, and a bit of rust over the rear fender flairs? i think not.

 

what should i do with it? it's got BRAND NEW exhaust from the manifold on back, shifts well, has the power option on the tranny, a visor thing over the windshield, some visor things over the side windows, a 4 pane aftermarket split rear window, a decent bed, new front right fender, nice chrome front end, new front bumper, easily repaired floors, and nice maroon bucket interior. now power windows or locks. oh, and it's a column shift auto.

 

but that darn engine knock...it sounds like it's dying. should I part it out? put a junkyard motor in it?

 

you'll see pics of it tomorrow.

 

edit: pics

[Twisty]

I need an 87 now. Send it to me!! Put a junkyard motor in it. Or find a rusted out XJ and pull the motor, then sell the XJ for scrap.

 

Whats that, 4 MJ's for you now??

[feerocknok]

13B rotary. Turbo preferred with IFS.

My '78 Yota's going rotary, but only a 12A, and I'm working funds for fuel injection and turbo. It's the number 2 truck on the priority list, behind the Comanche. Even the 12A naturally aspirated'll push that truck around crazy. A Comanche though, I'd say go 13B.

[jared]

sell it to me for 400 and double your money

[JeepcoMJ]

I need an 87 now. Send it to me!! Put a junkyard motor in it. Or find a rusted out XJ and pull the motor, then sell the XJ for scrap.

 

Whats that, 4 MJ's for you now??

 

uh....well, i have my nice 86 with the 3.8 camaro motor, my beater 86 with the 2.8 motor, and this 87 with the 4.0. then my dad has his 86 with the renault diesel, and my bro has an 87 pioneer.

 

so 5 :D i can't wait till my mom hears...she will GO OFF THE WALL!!!!!!!!! haha but i couldn't pass it for $200.

 

 

I'm gonna fix it i think and then prolly sell it for like 1200 or something. maybe use it as my wheeling/DD vehicle so i can keep my other one nice...i needed a DD anyways.

 

what's better for gas mileage? the earlier 4.0s or the HO 4.0's? I'm wondering which would be better....cause gas mileage is key.

[Mitch]

lol,.... gas milage = key = already covered = don't buy jeeps. lol

[JeepcoMJ]

lol,.... gas milage = key = already covered = don't buy jeeps. lol

 

haha, true enough. i mean there's a huge difference between 19 and 13 mpg....which one will be more towards 19 or 20 when properly tuned?

[GirsMJ86]

lol,.... gas milage = key = already covered = don't buy jeeps. lol

 

haha, true enough. i mean there's a huge difference between 19 and 13 mpg....which one will be more towards 19 or 20 when properly tuned?

 

well in my 91 i can get about 400 miles a tank on premium gas. I'm not sure what tank i have or anything else. and yes it costs money but for fewer fill-ups i don't really care. once when i over filled it i got 425 miles.

 

Alex

[Mitch]

lol,.... gas milage = key = already covered = don't buy jeeps. lol

 

haha, true enough. i mean there's a huge difference between 19 and 13 mpg....which one will be more towards 19 or 20 when properly tuned?

 

well in my 91 i can get about 400 miles a tank on premium gas. I'm not sure what tank i have or anything else. and yes it costs money but for fewer fill-ups i don't really care. once when i over filled it i got 425 miles.

 

Alex

 

Oh yeah! I drank 15 beers tonight. AND I STILL SPELL RIGHT!

[GirsMJ86]

well let me see, on regular i get about 200 - 210. and the engine hates regular. so i tend to stay away from that. i go with premium and i get great mileage, think what you want. but i know it was close to 400. i also always use boost and cleaner at each fill.

 

Alex

[Mitch]

no seriously, I am drunk, I am not poking fun or saying anything negative and you have nothing to try and "correct" no matter what it is I quoted. I think you need to get drunk based on how you fill your truck up. Time to relax.

 

Good night.

[JeepcoMJ]

you guys are gonna HATE me more than you already do...I was lookin at it and listenin to it idle, throwin one back with the pops, and we decided it sounds like something's loose...too sporatic of a knock to be an engine knock. so we shut it off, checked all the pulleys...one bad idler pully bearing, but that's not the main problem. we put a breaker bar on the crankshaft and rotated it, and it seemed like it was comin from the back of the engine...so now we think the torque converter is simply loose :D or possibly a bad flex plate. but we're pretty darn sure that it's not a rod knock or anything...if it is it's a busted crank for sure, with how loud it is.

 

on a sad note, i tried to shift into 4wd...felt loose...went under it, wasn't connected. sorta connected it, and it doesn't seem to shift...

 

but on another up-side, i got ORIGINAL COMANCHE BUCKET SEATS AND CENTER CONSOLE TAKE THAT!!!!!!!!

 

ok i'll just post pics tomorrow.

[Rokhound]

but on another up-side, i got ORIGINAL COMANCHE BUCKET SEATS AND CENTER CONSOLE TAKE THAT!!!!!!!!

 

I got all that and a sun roof so there and a rear slider :D :popcorn:

 

:needpics:

[Eagle]

I vote for the junkyard motor. It sounds way too nice to part out.

[JeepcoMJ]

Pics up tomorrow Eagle.

 

i don't think it's a engine knock though...it seems like the noise is coming from the bellhousing area to me. sounds like a loose torque converter or bad flex plate (TC holes wobbled out or something...were it bad it wouldn't run cause of the sensor down there)

 

any input? ever had or heard a loose torque converter?

[87manche]

a cracked flexplate sounds likely.

renix will get good gas mileage with the downside of an egr system to maintain.

I pulled 22 MPG, 5spd, 1K lbs of cargo, doing 70 on the highway.

[JeepcoMJ]

my dad was down in the shop late tonight...later than me anyways. he removed the dust cover and sure enough, the torque converter is loose. so we'll take care of that 1st and then go from there. i don't even care if it's a cracked flex plate, i can just drop the tranny and put a new one in.

 

 

oh yeah, this thing has BRAND NEW EXHAUST all the way back. if i didn't say that before. pictures in the mornin!

[87manche]

I wish I could find a deal like that.

[GirsMJ86]

I wish I could find a deal like that.

 

don't we all....

 

Alex

[JeepcoMJ]

So I tightened the torque converter and it toned down the clanking...but it's still clanking from the bellhousing region. looked over the flex plate, it's good. it's not moving on the crankshaft so that's not it.

 

BUT the right side of the bellhousing is loose (bolts have walked out)...Sooooo I'm pretty certain that by tightening that up I should be good. then just gotta tighten up the down-pipe to exhaust manifold and she should be good to go.

 

my beater white truck is up for sale now. any takers? a couple hundred or less is all i need, it's a 2.8 with a good ax5 and a sring-over rear. it's got everything you'd need to convert that 4-banger or 2.8 to a 4WD pickup. rear brakes need TLC (non-operational) but it runs and drives.

[JeepcoMJ]

so i tightened down the tcase and no more clank. clank :D haha, now i need to replace an idler pulley, new tranny filter and seal, oil change, and put on the front right fender flair :D yay daily driver!

[JeepcoMJ]

more photos

before the fender flair, ZJ rims and better tires in the back, and a toolbox there too...

 

zj rims

 

with the ZJ rims on it

 

need to paint the toolbox. and fix the rust on the truck...which isn't too terrible. oh, ALEX, that's a stock rear bumper :P. I put the aluminum cap on the tailgate too...i like that.

 

passenger side

 

took the fender flair off the beater jeep, and had to drill out the mounts for it...thank god for the drill press! it's mounted now, just gotta finish mounting the lower valence thing.

 

10-slot chrome grille

 

happy it's a shortbed

 

brand new tailpipe, and it still has the prop. valve

 

new catalytic converter and glass pack too

 

new downpipe

 

look, a hole. lol, that's the only hole in the floor.

 

 

Keep in mind that I payed $200 for the truck, and have not installed anything but the front fender flair and lower valance. everything else was already there :D it has probably 600 bucks worth of new parts between the new grill, headlight doors, front bumper, front right fender, and exhaust.

 

Also it had a "engine knock" which is why i got it so cheap. there was NOTHING wrong with the engine, except that the spark plugs weren't long enough for the head, and they were all only finger tight. the torque converter was loose, that was most of the clanking. but the transmission was only being held onto the engine by 1 bolt! the top 2 walked out but were there, and the right side one was gone. the ones that hold the dust shield were lose, and the one that holds the tranny dipstick was missing. tightened that all up, and she runs GREAT!

 

drives real well too. needs a tune-up but no need for an oil change or tranny fluid change, they're both fresh. and i need front u-joints. the front right brake pads are worn, so I'll throw on new pads. rotors are good, and rear brakes are new too. also the gas tank looks to be brand new.

[Rokhound]

nice find man

[GirsMJ86]

you just had to through the factory rear bumper at me didn't ya....

 

well at least its not chrome like the factory rear one i'm getting, so i still got you beat there. :chillin:

 

Alex

[JeepcoMJ]

lol, alex it's not that great anyways...it's a lil bent, but I'm gonna bend it back and repaint it, then put a hidden winch on for added reinforcement