I Got Your "jeep Thing" And Now It Hits When I Pee...

[kolton]

Alright guys. Been lurking this site for a few weeks now and I figured it was about time that I posted something up.

 

I picked up an 86 long box MJ that was someone else's project. And they didn't really know what they were doing. Literally traded a cheap pistol for the truck...

 

Its white with the light blue interior. Auto trans and a 4.0 from an 89 cherokee in it when I picked it up and the 30/35 combo sitting on dry rotted 32x12.5x15 mall terrains. The front fenders were cut and a RE 3.5" cheapo lift with 1" spacers. Stock arms, steering, and trac bar. The rear of the truck hasn't been touched. The AAL's were sitting in the bed along with the spring clamps, all 4 new shocks, and brake line extensions... Oh. And the headliner board! (Thank god) the MJ looked like a beater sand truck. I felt like I was saving it lol.

It looked like a tornado had hit the inside of the cab. All the panels had been taken off, headliner removed, parts laying everywhere. But after taking inventory, all the pieces were there and in good shape. It had the rubber floor in it and I was really worried about rust but when I pulled the mat up I only found one quarter size hole in the driver side floor!

Here's what it looked like when I got it

 

Now it was at my house and it was time to get started! I already had a plan before I went and looked at it haha. First I installed the rear lift and shocks, and remove the sway bar completely. Then I removed the rear flares and folded in the fender lip. I found a small area of rust under one flare so I'll address that at a later date. Time to see what it would do with the lift at this point! Took it to the loading dock and flexed it out. I'm happy for what it is. But it definitely won't do for what I'm used to.

[kolton]

Now it was time to get to of the dry rotted 32's and find some rims that were more my style. Found some 34x10.5x15 TSL Super Swampers on CL for a really good price so I jumped on them. The back spacing isn't quite right but they are much better than what I had!

 

I drive it like this for a week and started feeling a loss in power. More than just a gearing issue. Put stock tires on it and couldn't even spin them... Motor had bad blow by and low oil pressure. So the search began for a new motor. I found a guy parting out a 99XJ with 130k on the motor and called him instantly. And I'm glad I did! Turns out that the XJ had been owned by the state and was run on LPG it's entire life! I met him the next morning with tools in hand. I paid 300 for the motor and entire LPG kit including the 22gal tank! When I got home I was even happier after I pulled the intake and valve cover. Clean as a whistle... then I got my IRO adjustable double shear trac bar installed because the death wobble was the worst I've ever experienced. It got better with the skinnier tires, but needs to be addressed.

 

And the jeep has sat waiting for me to find time to work on it since... My boy turns 1 on the 24th so a lot of the family will be in town so I plan to do the motor swap this weekend for sure. I've got the 4.0HO all prepped and ready to drop in. I've already modified the TPS sensor to fit the new TB. And I have the throttle cable and kick down cable coming in tomorrow through the local Napa. So wish me luck! Hope i didn't forget anything that will be involved in the motor swap.

 

Oh, and I picked this up yesterday (Tuesday)... Time to remove the front bumper and build a new cross member!

 

That's it for now. Hope I can keep y'all interested and get your input as I go along with making it into what I want. I've been in the BroncoII world for a good long while now, but sold my rig when my son was born. It was an 86 with the dana35TTB cut and turned and a ford 8.8 31spline disk rear, removable doors. Home bent snorkel, stinger, 6" suspension lift and 3" body lift on 35's. explorer 4.0 swap. my wife ready to go to the rocks! (6months pregnant)

[ComancheKid45]

Great start!  :thumbsup:

[kolton]

Thanks. I started looking for a really clean one back in 09, but the Corps kept me from wanting to throw money at another Rig. So it's been on my mind for awhile. Finally a deal came along that I couldn't pass up.

[mpace6a]

Looks good man! Wish my floorboards only had that much rust. Just out of curiousity...around the back of the head on the jeeps engine, does it look like the firewall was beat with a hammer or welded? Just curious how the PO got the I6 in there, or if its new enough that it had the mod'd firewall already.

[kolton]

That was actually one of the things they did correctly. The firewall section was spliced in from the 89 donor jeep. It's hard to tell that it has even been touched. I'm sure it will be more noticeable when I get the existing motor out, but from above you can't tell.