Airborne Janitor Posted March 2, 2020 Author Posted March 2, 2020 Figued while the headliner was out I'd put some soundproofing material on the roof. I think Dynamat Xtreme is still supposed to be king. I've used it in my XJ with great results, but didnt really want to spend the money for it in the MJ (already far over budget). Did a little bit of homework and decided to use Kilmat this go around, seems to be extremely similar to Dynamat for a fraction of the price. Got it off amazon and it's made in Russia so be careful, application may cause foreign spying and election tampering 🙄🙄🙄🙄😀 Finished up the OHC install along with a reupholstered headliner. Also replaced all the bulbs with LEDs. Another step closer to wrapping up the interior mods. Still working on finding a good color match for the interior panels tho....
jdog Posted March 2, 2020 Posted March 2, 2020 good looking truck.thank you for supplying part numbers it really helps. may have to try out the ohc, looks like it would give more light in the cab
Airborne Janitor Posted March 2, 2020 Author Posted March 2, 2020 5 minutes ago, jdog said: good looking truck.thank you for supplying part numbers it really helps. may have to try out the ohc, looks like it would give more light in the cab Thanks. I'm always trying to make it easier for anyone who wants to follow my path, or at least parts of it, on this build. I sourced the LEDs from onewaylight.com they also have MJ B-pillar lights (which I purchased) so that's one way to get some additional light in the cab without extensive mods.
Airborne Janitor Posted September 12, 2020 Author Posted September 12, 2020 I made it a goal to repaint the frame and put the bed back on by summer's end. Just as I was prepping the frame for a POR15 treatment I found this "tear" that I had forgotten about. Looks like someone attached a tow hook to the hole in the frame and sardine canned a piece out. Now I could've been lazy and just left it be, but then my OCD would kick in and drive me crazy, so I jumped into the world of amateur frame repair. Its not perfect, but I'm pretty happy with the results for my first attempt at this type of repair. Just don't put a square on it!
Pete M Posted September 12, 2020 Posted September 12, 2020 way better than a lot of guys would have done. kudos to you!
Airborne Janitor Posted September 12, 2020 Author Posted September 12, 2020 I degreased the frame and took a chipping hammer to the thousands of weld BBs and whiskers that were left from AMC/Chryco. I was really surprised at how poor the quality of welds were all over this frame. As a welder myself I never would've let this truck drive off the line like this but thats me. Masked off the truck with old bed sheets and went to spraying. Then with the help of the neighbors I put the bed back on. I recently put new tires and wheels on my XJ, so I swapped them over for fun. I wasn't planning to go past 31s on this truck, but damn the look of those 33s is growing on me! So now if I decide to run with 33s I'll have to rethink my game plan in regards to suspension setup and gearing....
jeff351 Posted September 30, 2020 Posted September 30, 2020 cool project! I recognize your unit crest...I was in 3/75. Assuming you were 2nd batt?
Airborne Janitor Posted October 3, 2020 Author Posted October 3, 2020 On 9/30/2020 at 7:20 AM, jeff351 said: cool project! I recognize your unit crest...I was in 3/75. Assuming you were 2nd batt? Thanks man. Yup I was in 2/75, I actually wanted to stay on the east coast because I'm from VA. RIP had different plans for me and now I've set my roots down here in WA. When were you in 3/75?
jeff351 Posted October 3, 2020 Posted October 3, 2020 12 hours ago, Airborne Janitor said: Thanks man. Yup I was in 2/75, I actually wanted to stay on the east coast because I'm from VA. RIP had different plans for me and now I've set my roots down here in WA. When were you in 3/75? Early 1996 through 1998 B co
Airborne Janitor Posted October 4, 2020 Author Posted October 4, 2020 On 10/3/2020 at 8:36 AM, jeff351 said: Early 1996 through 1998 B co Cool, I'm 10 years behind you. I got to 2/75 B Co Oct 2008 and deployed 3 months later. Nice to know of a fellow Ranger on this board. Small world sometimes.
jeff351 Posted October 5, 2020 Posted October 5, 2020 20 hours ago, Airborne Janitor said: Cool, I'm 10 years behind you. I got to 2/75 B Co Oct 2008 and deployed 3 months later. Nice to know of a fellow Ranger on this board. Small world sometimes. funny timing. I ran into a guy at Lowes this weekend wearing a 2/75 sweatshirt. He just got out after 8 yrs. I didnt get his name. The only guys I knew in 2/75 were some brothers with last name of Baylor.
Airborne Janitor Posted October 8, 2020 Author Posted October 8, 2020 On 10/5/2020 at 11:06 AM, jeff351 said: funny timing. I ran into a guy at Lowes this weekend wearing a 2/75 sweatshirt. He just got out after 8 yrs. I didnt get his name. The only guys I knew in 2/75 were some brothers with last name of Baylor. Its a small world sometimes! I bet if I ran into anyone you would've known they would've been well above my pay grade!
Airborne Janitor Posted December 9, 2021 Author Posted December 9, 2021 Well another year's gone by and my MJ is still not driveable. I was hoping to get it road worthy by year's end but I'm having to push that back a month or two. In the MJ's downtime I was able to put the interior back together and start ordering parts.
Airborne Janitor Posted December 9, 2021 Author Posted December 9, 2021 I had mentioned before that this truck was in a front end collision, and after spending a few years with this truck I believe someone smashed the front end and got it stuck in a giant mudhole, same night I wonder? There was so much mud and dirt packed into the frame rails when I got it. The previously repaired tear in the rear of the frame was probably from idiots putting a hook in there and trying to yank the MJ free. The front end around the bumper mounts show the same type of damage. Now I'm not planning on wheeling the piss out of this truck, I want it mainly for a work rig and sometimes DD. But I do want to put a winch bumper on it, and there's no way these compromised mounts are gonna fly. So I ordered the front unibody stiffener from Hooligan Offroad and the side stiffeners from Dirtbound and prepped them with weld-thru primer. Pulled the front end out as well as all of the crappy old piece together suspension. Pulled the header panel too to have more room for welding. I had to use oxyfuel and a hammer & prybar to get the passenger unibody somewhat straight. It still looks like $#!&, but its straight enough to weld the stiffener plate onto.
Airborne Janitor Posted December 9, 2021 Author Posted December 9, 2021 Had a little help from my friends...
Airborne Janitor Posted December 9, 2021 Author Posted December 9, 2021 Prep and welding in the front unibody stiffener.
Jeremy Posted December 9, 2021 Posted December 9, 2021 Impressive transformation. Looking forward to following your progress.
Airborne Janitor Posted December 12, 2021 Author Posted December 12, 2021 On 12/9/2021 at 9:30 AM, Jeremy said: Impressive transformation. Looking forward to following your progress. Thanks! Yours looks pretty sweet as well! Today was brake booster day. I scored a 96 XJ booster/MC a few years back, waiting for this special day. Decided to remove the rear load sensing valve LSV and the MJ "proportioning valve". I referenced these threads: https://comancheclub.com/topic/54855-load-sensing-valve-delete-yj-prop-valve-recipe/ https://comancheclub.com/topic/53274-mj-load-sensing-valve-delete-procedure/page/4/#comments Installed the 96 XJ booster along with an 87 XJ proportioning valve instead which has all the same ports sizes as the MJ valve minus the front port which is plugged and no longer used anyways with the LSV delete. I noticed the proportioning valve on the 96 XJ had the rear port plugged, same as the 97 and 98 XJs I checked, so I used the 87 which seemed the most plug n play. I was able to salvage some of the MC lines I had lying around from various XJs and some WJs I believe. I did have to rebend them and I need to cut and reflare the line to the front of the prop valve. I enlarged the hole in the booster rod to 5/8" using a step-bit and a drill. I decided to leave off the brake switch and remove the stock TCC switch and replace it with NAPA #SL186 so I didn't have to bother grinding down the "flat" on the end of the booster rod. Referenced this thread: https://comancheclub.com/topic/67719-brake-booster-upgrade/?tab=comments#comment-707848
Airborne Janitor Posted December 12, 2021 Author Posted December 12, 2021 The Dana 30 from the wrecked 97 XJ I bought a few years back had been sitting in my driveway for years. Waiting for some TLC and to be put to good use. It had a good bit of surface rust on it sat out in the elements for awhile, but I kept the cover on and it protected the R&P gears thankfully. Used a wire cup brush on an angle grinder to start cleaning her up. Also welded in an UCA brace and some LCA skids from Barnes4WD. Sprayed it with POR15 topcoat. Once this is under the MJ I will be rid of the Renix era 4WD vacuum system completely and basically have the drivetrain of a 97 XJ (minus the rear axle).
Airborne Janitor Posted December 14, 2021 Author Posted December 14, 2021 Dirtbound stiffeners fully welded in. Front end should be plenty strong now. Paint tomorrow.
scguy Posted December 14, 2021 Posted December 14, 2021 Looking good! I like where you're going. That interior looks great too.
Airborne Janitor Posted December 16, 2021 Author Posted December 16, 2021 On 12/14/2021 at 7:49 AM, scguy said: Looking good! I like where you're going. That interior looks great too. Thanks! Paint is on and drying. This weekend I hope to wrap up the brake lines and get the axle & suspension installed. Paint is curing until then.
Airborne Janitor Posted December 20, 2021 Author Posted December 20, 2021 Since I decided to stick with the 33s I installed a new 6" suspension lift. I went with the RE1345 5.5" coil springs and with the CORE4x4 Tier 1 kit with control arms and trackbar. I also decided to run the Rough Country drop brackets instead of going with a long arm kit. My plan with this MJ is not to wheel the piss out of it but to keep it more as a work truck, I'm not worried about maximum suspension articulation and all the headaches that go along with it. Popped in new inner seals (Timken 710068) and some of those aftermarket aluminum greaseable outer seals (Amazon MG21103) into the 97 XJ Dana30. Also installed the RE1383 3" coil spring pad bump stops and Crown 52004749 upper bump stops since mine were missing. Stuck the axle under the rig and started bolting everything up. I need to replace the ball joints and axleshaft u-joints but I'm sort of pressed on time and lacking a proper ball joint press, so they'll be replaced after Christmas. Went ahead and installed the axle shafts and bolted them up to new hubs (Timken 513084). Also got my master cylinder lines from the 96XJ master cylinder to the 87 XJ proportioning valve squared away,
scguy Posted December 20, 2021 Posted December 20, 2021 You do excellent work. Looking at those Core 4x4 arms for myself.
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