INjake89mj Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 After selling my 89 Pioneer last summer I have been on the hunt for another. I sold the 89 because i was in need of a DD with more room with a kid on the way. Ended up with a 2000 Jeep Cherokee Classic. It's nice and it serves its purpose but that's about all I can say about it. Their is just so much you can't do with out a truck bed, so i started my Craigslist search and found this jewel in need of some serious TLC. Here's the 89 that i sold It had been swapped to late model interior and driveline Went to Lima, Ohio to get this one 1992 Eliminator Mfg in March of 92 4.0 5sp 2wd dana 35 The PO bought this and intended to make it a snow plow truck. Luckily he never got that far, but did start the swap to 4x4. It sat for two years until we put it on the trailer. He did SOA lift in rear and unknown(brand or height) lift in front. The truck had no interior when i bought it. He had ripped it out to replace the floors which he did. It had a mismatch of interiors in the cab and bed. When we got home realized that their was not enough of one color to go with, but we had just parted out a 1988 pioneer that had a good interior so I was able to get it all back together. He had replaced the replacement cherokee floors, but used 2" self tapping screws...It was like a scene from a Saw movie under the truck! I took all the screws out, used stainless rivets and seam sealer and got it to my liking. Dash was the only thing left in it when i bought it, but it was cracked. Found a good replacement at junk yard along with the other items i was in need of. It had been wrecked at some point and the radiator was bent into the fan. I put a radiator out of a parts XJ out back in it. Replaced valve cover gasket, battery, cleaned throttle body, the usual things.... cutting brackets off old set to put on a set of 2dr XJ seats i got on a trade. the old seats had apparently came from an XJ, because somebody had already swapped brackets. Less grinding for me! Had some 265/75r16's mounted to TJ rubi wheels laying in the shed. They were waiting to go on my XJ, but i guess plans change. The truck came without carpet, but the carpet in the 88 parts truck wasn't too bad. It cleaned up pretty good but the insulation was pretty nasty. Had some headliner material left over from my XJ. It's darker than factory, but i kinda like it! I found this while looking for new Eliminator decals....I couldn't resist! :thumbsup: I had some Euromec lights that were supposed to go in my 89. These things are awesome! The tweeters were already in the B pillar plastic. I don't care for them, but they fill the holes i guess. seats in, they cleaned up pretty good! The drivers side wing is broke down pretty good, but it'll do. This has covered about 3 months worth of progress. Its hard to find time as you all know. I will continue to update as I can. It still is 2wd. I have an ax15 and NP231 waiting to go in. This thing has sat for 2 years so my plan is to drive it around the farm and get some good gas ran through it, get the bugs worked out and then proceed to the conversion. The dana 30 the PO put in the front is a CAD axle, but i have a HP30 out of a 98 xj and a D44 that will go in when i do the swap. They are both 3.55 geared, so that should help a bit with the bigger tires. The front will be properly lifted at that time as well. Right now I'm just going to run a spacer up front to help clear the tires. This truck is sadly not a pristine example of an MJ, it has its rust and dents, but it will serve its purpose. I'm a pretty good welder and do plan on teaching my self how to fix the bed rust. I still have the 88 truck i parted out that has plenty of rust to practice on! Hopefully tonight it will go on its maiden voyage! Sorry for crappy pictures. Ill try to be better at using a real camera in the future! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TooTall Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 Looks great,,, a 92 at that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acerocknroll Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 VERY nice Eliminator! Looking great already, gonna be awesome when you're done with it. Is that your red Eliminator that's visible in one of the pics? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
INjake89mj Posted February 17, 2016 Author Share Posted February 17, 2016 Looks great,,, a 92 at that! Thanks! VERY nice Eliminator! Looking great already, gonna be awesome when you're done with it. Is that your red Eliminator that's visible in one of the pics? No, My brothers FarmerBrown5. He has an 88 Eliminator as well. His 92 is about as rusty as mine, but his is straight, no dents. It has factory skid plates too...i hate him for it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
INjake89mj Posted February 17, 2016 Author Share Posted February 17, 2016 Maiden voyage went well! Had it running in the shop a few months ago, so i knew it would start. I let it idle outside for a while and it left a pretty nasty black spot in the snow under the exhaust. It finally started idling better, took it to unload the leftover parts into the barn and it drove fine. The shifter moves around a lot when you accelerate, must have bad motor/tranny mounts. The PO did the SOA swap but did not put a rear shock mount on axle, I knew about this, but after driving realized it is a problem! There is a roar coming from under your feet, might be wheel bearing, u joint, who knows. Exhaust leaks at every possible place it could. The engine runs good considering the old gas, and seams to be pretty strong! Parked it outside in case it decided to ignite itself and went to the house. Ill learn more tomorrow after work when i can get it on the lift. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragordie Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Hey INjake89mj nice score on the MJ Eliminator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
INjake89mj Posted March 7, 2016 Author Share Posted March 7, 2016 drug the 89 parts truck back inside this weekend. Still needed to cut the cab corners off of it for future projects. I pulled the bed to make it easier to cut them out. It will also be easier to drop rear axle, this will be the donor Dana 44 that will go in my truck. the bed is in bad shape, but I'm gonna keep it around to practice body work on, and if it turns out good enough might make a trailer out of it. here's link to parts truck http://comancheclub.com/topic/49337-parting-out-another/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
INjake89mj Posted April 25, 2016 Author Share Posted April 25, 2016 Been pretty busy lately. After the maiden voyage realized that the gas tank was rotted very badly! It was a constant drip. I used the tank I pulled from the parts truck that looked to be new. Painted it and installed new pump. My brother's 92 has the factory skid plate, so I took it to a local welding shop and had them duplicate it. We'll see how it turns out, haven't seen it yet. The old pump had been replaced before. new tank and straps. Cleaned old sending unit up, it still doesn't read on the gauge. :wall: But it starts way better than it did before. Before, it would start but it cranked for a few seconds. It would also cut out at high rpm's. Figured since i had to replace tank might as well replace everything else! This is how it sets now, need to level out front and do some brake work. Thought I would add some pictures of what has been keeping us so busy. Always something to be doing! I guess this is it until we get some free time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
13 Legion Posted April 25, 2016 Share Posted April 25, 2016 Your doing good work! I'm so envious of all that work space!!!!! I have a 2 1/2 car garage which equates to my Jeep currently in disarray 1 1/2.. Momma's space 1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
INjake89mj Posted April 25, 2016 Author Share Posted April 25, 2016 The shop you see in the pictures is 40x40. We just finished it last summer. It needs to be 120x120 but we make due! It is attached to our old shop which is 30x36, but its a lot more congested, it is mainly a wood shop/beer drinking shop now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
13 Legion Posted April 25, 2016 Share Posted April 25, 2016 What insulation did you use? Did you put on floors as well? Did you reuse jute padding or get new? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
INjake89mj Posted April 26, 2016 Author Share Posted April 26, 2016 What insulation did you use? Did you put on floors as well? Did you reuse jute padding or get new? New jute padding. The old padding was trashed, donor truck had no floors left. Used reflectix on the back of cab and roof. Used it over the exhaust on floor too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
INjake89mj Posted April 26, 2016 Author Share Posted April 26, 2016 Forgot to mention I installed all new speakers as well. Old ones may have worked, but I wasn't going to risk putting the whole interior back together to find out they didn't. Also installed an OEM jeep radio, might have came out of cherokee? From just driving it around a bit I have noticed some things that need to happen pretty quick. - Brakes need plumbed up in front. The rear lines are kinked and rusted, but I at least need to get the fronts working. Not concerned with the rear, will not see the road and I'm not going to waste time now when ill be back there swaping the 44 in with discs later. - 32" tires and the stock 3.07 gears are definitely a NO! Hopefully the 3.55's will be enough. Thoughts? It will happen with time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiz Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 Looks great. Where did you get that Decal? I want! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
INjake89mj Posted April 28, 2016 Author Share Posted April 28, 2016 www.jeepsticker.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiz Posted April 29, 2016 Share Posted April 29, 2016 Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
INjake89mj Posted October 10, 2016 Author Share Posted October 10, 2016 Finally getting around to getting the Dana 44 ready to go. Ordered all new brake parts. Still debating on rebuilding the trac lock or not. Ordered Rubicon Express 4.5" coils to get rid of whatever is on the front. Ordered a drop track bar from Supreme Suspensions, not to sure about that yet, but I guess we'll see. I think I'm going to go with control arm drop brackets and run OEM arms. Got a LUK heavy duty clutch ordered. After this axle is ready i'll go out back and pick a Dana 30 that I think would make a good candidate and order parts to get it ready. Then its all ready to be put on the truck. Need to order my hitch from Krusty! One of the lug nuts on the turbine were toast. Somebody tried using a chisel to remove it. Had to torch it out, the wheel didn't make it... until next time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EatSleepJeep Posted October 14, 2016 Share Posted October 14, 2016 Haha gotta love those turbines, nice build so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
INjake89mj Posted October 24, 2016 Author Share Posted October 24, 2016 Well I took the axle to work and used the Steam Genie pressure washer to get all the grease off. Worked great. Brought it home, sand blasted, primed, and painted! Turned out pretty good. Wish it wasn't so pitted. The inside of the backing plates will get painted as well, just don't want to take the brakes off until i'm ready to replace them. sorry for the small pictures... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
INjake89mj Posted October 24, 2016 Author Share Posted October 24, 2016 And then this happened..... Dana 44 front from TJ Rubicon....4.10 gears, factory locker, terreflex cover...$250 :banana: It is missing the knuckles, stub shafts, which i have on a 98 dana 30 need for axle: locker engagement sensor :50$ oem air pump for locker : 150$ Air fitting: 50$ the housing has 2 holes in it, 1 is threaded for the sensor, the other is a smaller hole i'm assuming for the air line, which is not there. I don't know where the axle vents from? Shouldn't it have an axle vent line and locker air supply line? I haven't dug into it to far, but I need to be getting it figured out. Now that I have this axle, I have to regear my rear 44, which I think I'll get along better with the 410's over 3.55's. But this has cut into my budget pretty good. I'll have to hold off on the WJ knuckle and steering upgrade for a while...but I think this axle is worth the wait. until next time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
INjake89mj Posted November 7, 2016 Author Share Posted November 7, 2016 minus welding on perches and running the hard lines, I'm calling it done. 4.10 gears, all new bearings and seals, and new brakes. Now to start gathering parts for the front axle! It's patiently waiting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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