Just Another 97+ Swap

[Dzimm]

It's been very cold here lately halting almost all progress on my truck.  This has gotten me anxious to do something related to the truck so I figured I would start a build thread to document my progress and share the restoration of this truck with you guys.  I'm going to jump into this build thread with some of the main work already done and not much as far as progress pictures to show because I didn't initially intend to do a build thread and I SUCK at taking pictures.    So bare with me for this first bit as the few pictures I do have are not the greatest and progress will be slow until it warms up.  Without further ado, here it is as I first saw it on Craigslist in early September of 2016.

 

 

 

I had been searching Craigslist a lot looking for an MJ, to do a 97+ swap, that wasn't an absolute rust bucket, this is VERY hard to do in central Iowa. I had wanted an MJ to do this swap since I first started driving my dads and formerly grandpas XJ when I was 14, which I eventually bought from my dad (its in the background of some of the pictures).

For the last year or two I had been actively looking for an MJ as I was finally able to afford it. Luckily one morning, while on Craigslist before work, I saw the ad for this 90 Eliminator pop up. I immediately texted the guy and was on my way to see the truck not 12 hours after he posted it. This was the first MJ I had ever seen up close and to my surprise it was in pretty decent shape with VERY minimal rust for Iowa. He had swapped the 97+ doors, fenders, and front clip on the truck and drove it for awhile before deciding to do the full 97+ swap. He told me that after getting the truck torn apart he didn't really have the time to finish it and it sat in his parents garage for over a year before deciding to sell it. After looking it over we agreed on $1000 and he would include most of the parts necessary to get it running and would deliver to my house. A couple days later it showed up and here is where I started.

 

 

For awhile I was doing all my work outside and was storing the parts inside the cab and in the bed under a tarp. This became a pain quickly but I had to do it as storage space was limited for a time. Of course the floors had rust, mostly due to the accident it suffered at some point, but the body was actually fairly rust free. A little bit around the drivers cab corner and the rear wheel wells were really the only spots. You will see in the pictures that I have gone through and ground out all the rust and sloppily patched these spots on the body to get through the winter without the rust getting worse (I will be fixing this later). The rocker panels are absolutely solid with no rust at all and they are the originals as I can tell the factory welds on them are untouched. I was blown away by that as even my well maintained XJ even has some rust holes in the rockers.

 

You can see in this picture the floor is buckled in front of the hole from the accident.

The dash and steering column are just set in place here.

 

The 4.0L was already installed in the truck when I got it with roughly over 120K miles and it ran great when he pulled it from the donor XJ is what I was told. The AW4 and transfer case was delivered a couple weeks later with a still good, or at least not seized, engine block attached (I will probably be selling this).

 

 

I was pretty excited when I saw the vehicle being used to deliver it was a retired military Humvee. His friend had bought it from Govplanet and got it registered to drive it legally. The thing was super sweet. It was also the perfect height to slide the engine, trans, and t-case directly into the back of the MJ. Sorry no pics as it was dark and I didn't want to be “that guy” taking pictures of his Humvee.

 

 

In early November I got super lucky and one of my friends had his 98 XJ finally kick the bucket. It had many problems and really just wasn't worth the time and money to fix so he said for $100 I could take anything I wanted. I took pretty much everything I could get off of it. The most notable would be the front end parts because they were in better shape than what came with the truck, the front part of the headliner to go in the truck, and some miscellaneous engine and interior bits for both the truck and for my XJ. The only things I wish I would have been able to get but couldn't were the factory skids, tow points, front driveshaft, and trans dipstick tube (the one in the truck now is bent very bad), and the axles. I tried for quite some time to get these off (minus the axles) but it was cold, windy, and in the middle of a Best Buy parking lot so I ended up having to leave them to be hauled to the scrap yard.

 

After about 2 months of owning the truck I finally had the interior almost completely done. The dash finally went in for the last time, only put that in and out a thousand times, and the carpet and plastics finally went back on and the seats were bolted in.  The interior is very dirty and needs a good cleaning still.

 

 

 

As for the rust on the floors it was mostly surface rust with the exception of the hole on the drivers side, but like I mentioned before, the hole was mostly due to the accident the truck suffered, which from what I can tell bent the inner fender a bit and shoved the wheel into the floor pan and it broke a lot of the old metal away, so in turn it was really not as bad as it looked because it sat in a garage for a while after that. I was able to salvage most of the floor around the hole and used a desktop computer side panel as the floor patch, which is actually thicker than the factory floor pans. As for the interior now the only parts left to install are the B-pillar lights, speakers, and mount the cable properly for the hand brake.

 

In mid November I was able to get some space cleared out in the shed to pull the MJ in so it wasn't outside and I would have room to lay parts out. Since then it got very cold and I have only been able to get my new Brown Dog rubber engine mounts in and the bell-housing bolted to the engine so I could put the cross-member in and support the drive-train. I have recently been doing what I can inside. I have made a wire harness for the rear taillights by cutting the 98 XJ taillight harness in half and soldering in lengths of wire to reach to the back. I had to trim the XJ plugs down a bit to fit in the sockets in the MJ taillights but everything worked out perfectly and all the lights work.

 

(When I pull the taillights out to replace the bulbs I will add pictures of the modifications I did)

 

I have also been working on my fuel tank setup. I am using a 99 Dakota tank with a 99 Dakota pump assembly and adapting the wires to fit the XJ fuel pump plug. I used a torch, a 2x4, and hammer to push in the corner section of the tank to fit around the frame brace in the truck. It isn't pretty but its got another 1/4 - 3/8 inch of room now.  I will also be tilting the tank just slightly to give more clearance for the filler tube on the frame rail.  This shouldn't affect the fuel pickup that much and I fill up at 1/2 a tank anyway so the fuel won't ever be low enough to be a problem.

 

 

 

Here is some other pictures of the truck as it is sitting right now.  I do have a set of 5 Eliminator wheels to go on it but they are currently on my XJ (also pictured).

 

 

If you notice in the window of the last picture there is a ComancheClub sticker.  It was on the truck when I bought it.  Anyone recognize this truck?  it was black originally but spray painted white.  Its been in the Des Moines, Iowa area it's whole life from what I can tell.

 

What is left to do on the truck that I can think of, in roughly the order I plan on

• Finish the fuel tank and mount it.

• Replace fuel lines and install fuel rail.

• Install the EVAP system

• Finish bolting in the transmission and tighten engine mounts

• Install alternator and starter

• Start the truck

• Do full service on it once I know the engine runs

• Replace brakes and brake lines

• Install Hell Creek 4.5” lift

• Install driveshafts

• Install DIY Dirtbound Prerunner bumper (currently being welded up)

• Drive the truck for the first time

• Paint the truck Orange

• Finish buttoning up some smaller things

 

I am sure this list will change and probably get longer but as of now I think it is a good summary. I will also be hopefully installing a Lund Moonvisor I just bought off of Ebay. It is however for an XJ but as most of you have probably seen, there have been many people say the XJ one does or doesn't fit on the MJ so I will be putting that to rest when the visor arrives.

 

 

If it doesn't fit the MJ, I will either put it on my XJ or sell it. I am also waiting on some waterproof wiring plugs and an early 90s XJ fuse box to arrive to use for the extra relays and fuses so I can keep the truck rat nest free.

 

 

Sorry for such a long post but I had to catch everyone up on where I am at with the truck.  It is starting to get a little warmer out (usually only when I am at work, then gets cold and windy when I get off) so hopefully progress will start to pick up again.  I will try to take more pictures and go into more detail as I make progress now that I am committed to this build thread.

[buxmj]

That is a lot of work, thanks for sharing.  Good luck with the progress and keep us posted. Great job and I am sure it will continue.  

 

Buck.

[Dzimm]

That is a lot of work, thanks for sharing.  Good luck with the progress and keep us posted. Great job and I am sure it will continue.  

 

Buck.

Thanks.  It definitely is a ton of work but will be well worth it in the end.

[Dzimm]

A few things came in today.  Felt a little like Christmas again.  I got the early 90s XJ fuse box with the mount for my extra relays and fuses, 2 LED 6" aluminum lights I will use for fog lights on my bumper, a factory style fog light rocker switch, 300 ft of split loom in sizes 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" IIRC, and of course the XJ LUND Moonvisor!

 

Cutting right to the chase, the XJ LUND visor kind of sorta fits the MJ.  Below are some pictures of it on the MJ.  Sorry for the darkness and the crap on the roof but its cold and I didn't feel like moving it all.  Keep in mind, the back of the MJ is raised about 6 inches on jackstands and the front drivers tire is completely flat so it is sitting at an angle forward.  I tried to compensate by tilting my phone to be level with the truck.

 

As you can see it doesn't sit properly on the gutter but does sit flush against the roof on the upper part. (Passenger side sits flat if I push it down, my tape was coming up a little)

 

It does sit nicely across the middle section as well.

 

This is from the interior.  The lighter colored line across the top is the edge of the windshield and the black line is the visor.  For someone like me, 6'4", its a little obstructive.

 

Now for how it sits on the XJ (don't mind the sectional endcap in the yard, haven't gotten it to the burn pile yet).

It obviously sits much nicer on the XJ.  I really like the black on white, I don't think I would like it to match the body color.

However the middle doesn't sit flush.  The front and center mounting holes contact the roof and cause it to sit off the center.  I couldn't seem to get this to sit flush without pushing the sides forward to the point they didn't sit right.  I didn't try for too long because I started getting cold.

 

And from the interior.  Gray line is the top of the windshield and black the bottom of the visor.  Less view obstructive in the XJ.  Overall I like it better on the XJ but I think it is okay on the MJ and can work.  I will try it again when I get the MJ pulled out of the shed and can see it better, which may change my mind.

 

 I would mount it to the XJ for now but the transmission started to slip so I am holding off on doing anything to it.  I think I have decided to buy a 4 door XJ to be my new DD.  I really don't have the time to mess with the trans right now nor do I want to do it in the cold.  I already put a trans in the MJ in the cold and I don't want to do it again.  After it warms up I'll probably finish the MJ then work on my XJ or may just sell it.  Haven't really decided on that yet.  I don't want to sell it just because it has has some sentimental value being in the family so long and has been such a dependable vehicle and has mostly new parts all around but in hopes of starting a family soon I need 4 doors and don't think I'll have use for 3 vehicles, 2 of which being 2 door.  Decisions decisions.

 

EDIT: Sorry for the pictures being so large, imgur hasn't been behaving lately.

[90PioSport99]

Hey I recognize it! Only because I'm the one that sold it to you :D

 

Interior is looking great man! Can't wait for you to get it finished!

[Dzimm]

Well it has been warming up here so I've been able to get some work done on the Comanche.  Last Friday I went and picked up a 97+ C8.25 with 3.55 gears from 90PioSport99 to replace the craptastic DANA 35.  It is matching gears to the 97' DANA 30 currently in the truck.  I was planning on getting the 35 torn out last weekend but I ended up taking shots of Fireball that night so my Saturday wasn't very fun and then I've been sick all week.  Tonight however, I finally felt well enough to work on it.  

 

I started with some spacers to drop the fuel tank down so the top of the fuel pump won't hit the bed of the truck.  I used this dense insulation and just cut out a few squares to go on top of the tank.  

I am painting these black so I don't just have big pink blocks under the truck.  The surface of them separates a little with the primer so I don't know how well they will turn out.  I also am unsure of how to fasten them to the tank.  I am thinking that just the force from the tank straps will be fine to hold them in place.   Worst case scenario I can wrap a strip of Gorilla tape around the tank.

 

Sometime this week a buddy from work and I will be going to a farm about an hour away where he has access to a welder.  We will be welding on some new Mopar spring perches (Part# P4120074) to the C8.25 and fixing the prerunner bars on my bumper (I will get into the bumper in a later post).  I called the local dealership but he couldn't find any spring perches in the system, even with the part number I gave him.  He was only able to find axle housings.  I thought that was a little strange, I didn't realize full axle housings would be available for the XJ still.  I ended up ordering the perches from eBay.  I also ordered an AW4 computer from TimBuckThree out of Colorado.  I've dealt with them a few times now and they are very well priced, ship very quickly, and have great customer service.  They seem to have all the oddball parts that I can't ever find anywhere or at least anywhere for a decent price, so I'd recommend checking there if you need something and can't find it.  They also send you a sticker when you buy stuff!

 

Before 

 

After

 

I wasn't really planning on pulling the axle tonight but I did anyway.  Only took about 30 minutes, which was surprising to me.  I was hoping to take a look at the brakes just to see how bad they were but no matter what I did, the drum would not come off.  Even the BFH failed me.  I got tired of beating on it so I just gave up on that.  When I rolled it on the floor it left a thick line of brake dust so I can only imagine the last time they were replaced.

 

Do these bump stops look new?  I imagined they would be completely gone but these are in perfect shape.

 

Here is the axles side by side.  C8.25 on bottom, DANA 35 on top.

 

I will have to do all new brakes on the new axle but I can't decide if I want to do the KJ disk swap or just go with drums.  Drums will be cheaper, quicker, and easier but if I want to go disks, now is the time to do it since the whole brake system is getting redone.  Anyone have reasons for or against the disk swap?  

 

I'm secretly building a hover-truck.

 

[Dzimm]

Got quite a bit done this weekend. Fuel tank is in place and rear section of fuel lines are hooked up. I still need to find an evap canister and lines for that. I think I'll go with the 98 XJ setup I stead of the engine bay canister.

 

I got the spring perches and shock mounts cut off the C8.25.

Went through 5 cutoff wheels, 2 grinding disks, and 3 flap disks between the axle and fixing my bumper. When I first had the bumper welded up, I didn't think there would be interference between the bars on the ends and the front grille on the truck since they were pre-notched but the way they were notched put them too far back.

It's the DIY Mojave Prerunner from Dirtbound Offroad. It's a good quality bumper for the price.

You can see in this picture that it cuts the corner of the bend. I got these cut off and cleaned up.

 

I decided to also add some light tabs to the main bar and reused the spring perches I cut off the C8.25 to make them. It worked out well.

I used the shock mounts from the C8.25 so I could cut and shape them.

Here's what they looked like before and after cleaning up.

 

The last thing I did was mounting my auxiliary fuse box. It fits perfectly on the drivers side of the engine bay.

I just bent these two parts on the mounting bracket so I could bolt it in and it's very solid.

 

Tomorrow after work I will be going with a buddy from work and welding the new spring perches on the axle, fixing the bumper, and adding the light tabs. I haven't welded in 4 years so hopefully my skills aren't too rusty.

 

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

[Dzimm]

I finally got some time, since it got really cold again....., to post on the major progress I've made since the last update.  

 

The day after the last post a buddy of mine took me out to his brother-in-law's farm to weld up the spring perches on the new axle.  It took about 2 hours to measure and get the perches aligned and then I spent another hour triple checking everything to make sure it was in the right spot.   It would have been much quicker and easier to mount them on the truck to set the angles and position but I had no choice but to bring the Dana 35 and measure it on the table.  It actually turned out really good and my welds weren't too bad but I definitely am out of practice.  

 

The next few days I spent getting the rest of the axle cleaned up along with the front bumper.  I had also brought the bumper along with the axle to weld on my light tabs and to fix the bars on the ends.  After the bumper was cleaned up I drilled holes out to mount my fog lights.  

 

Here is the axle in primer and bolted to the new leaf springs.

 

Sorry not the best picture but here are the fog lights and off-road lights on the bumper.

 

The weekend following the axle and bumper welding I went with a buddy from work to pick up his dream vehicle.  Its a 1946 Willy's CJ2a.  The thing is super nice.  It has a Chevy small block in it and riding on 33x12.5x15r but it needs a lot of work, all I'm gonna say is that the throttle is attached with a section of all-thread and no spring to retract it...  that should give you an idea of how much work it needs.  I really want a Willy's now....

 

For some reason I only have one picture of it and its not a very good one.  And before anyone goes crazy, yes we know that isn't the original windshield frame.

 

I also met up with a guy I found selling a fasctory MJ gas tank skid plate on CL.  He rolled up in a moderately rusty 88.  $20 later I got a skid plate.  I planned on getting skids but realized I really needed one for the gas tank as it sits about a half inch lower than the frame rails.  I will have to modify it to fit the Dakota tank but only slightly.  The Dakota tank is about 6 inches longer but I plan on cutting one side of the MJ skid and laying flat to fill that last 6". 

 

 

It was around this time I decided it was time to order my lift.  I was really set on getting the 4.5" from Hell Creek but at the last minute I went with the 4.5" kit from Rusty's.  The reason I went this route was because for the same cost to my door I could also get axle shims, extended brake lines, and upgraded shocks. Last Friday it was dropped off at my workplace and I brought it home.  

 

 

I really am glad I went with this kit solely because those shocks are super sweet, plus the build quality of the other parts is really good, but mostly the shocks.  They are like a brushed stainless with burnt orange ends and the extended brake lines are braided stainless with a semi-transparent orange sleeving.  They will match the truck perfectly as I am painting it some form of orange when its done.  I'd prefer a burnt orange like the shocks but that's a super expensive color.  And no that isn't a bear under the table.. it's my husky investigating the empty boxes.

 

 

The day after I got the lift it was already on the truck and wow is it tall now.

 

 

I love it.  It sits very nicely and I think it will look even better when it gets 33s.

 

The lift really kicked me into high gear and that night I kept working until almost midnight on it.  The biggest accomplishment after the lift was finally putting the flexplate bolts in.  I had been dreading doing it because I had to re-loosen the bellhousing bolts and that's a pain in the A$$.  The next day (Sunday) I got a lot more done.  I had been fighting trying to get the trans dipstick tube back straight as it was bent very badly.  I failed and ended up kinking it worse and breaking a hole in it.  So i finally said screw it and pulled the trans pan off along with the dipstick tube.  I took the route that many people seem to take and cut the tube and used some fuel line to splice it back together.  In my case however I not only had to cut out the joint but also about 3 inches of the tube so my splice is a little bigger.  Someday I'll fix it properly but for now it will be fine.  While I had the pan off I changed the filter as well.  I had never had a trans pan off before so it was very interesting for me to see some of the internal workings of the trans.  

 

New filter installed.

 

The rest of that Saturday consisted of me getting pissed off at the tranny lines cause they just didn't want to cooperate.  I gave up on them when I realized I didn't have the correct fittings on the radiator and moved on to cleaning up the engine bay wiring.  I did have to make a slight modification to a sensor wire.  The harness turned out to be set up for the standard boxy shaped intake manifold but this truck has the horseshoe shaped one so the sensor was on the far side of the manifold, about 6 inches too short.  I busted out the soldering iron and made quick work of the problem.

 

Yes I know I should use matching wire colors but this is what I had at the time.

 And here it is run cleanly and split loomed.  

 

I took Monday of this week off to work on the truck since it was so nice out.  Got my fittings for the trans lines to mate with the rad and got the trans lines hooked up and finally all bolted into place.  

 

That bottom fitting is in a very horrible spot.  Had to use a little BFH and the smallest 90* fitting I could find. 

 

Throughout this week i installed the starter and alternator as well as changed the oil and started prepping the engine for its first start in over a year, maybe two.  I did find I had to jump the starter motor as turning the key I only get a click from the relay.  The motor turns over and it sounds great!  I very well could have gotten it running but I am not getting fuel up to the fuel rail.  I know the pump I put in is good and that my wiring is correct.  I can hear it prime but it won't push the fuel.  My guess is that it is due to the lines being completely dry.  I didn't spend much time playing with it as the battery of course dies quickly when turning a motor over and it gets tiring charging it with my XJ.  

 

Yesterday I met with 90piosport99 and got a front d/s and the evap canister and lines from a 98 XJ to put in the truck.  I was hoping to get these installed and maybe have it running this weekend but it got freaking cold again and it snowed, which means I really have no desire to be outside.  Hopefully next weekend it will finally come to life.  

[Dzimm]

It's time for another update.  This should have come earlier but I got delayed by a week, which I'll get into further down this post.  After the last post I continued troubleshooting the "no crank" using the key.  Thanks to some members on here I was led to testing the NSS, which turned out to be my problem.  My plan was to remove the NSS and clean it up and put it back on and hope that fixed it.  Well after 3 hours of prying back and forth and being patient, careful, and some liquid encouragement...

This happened.

Yes that is the NSS, in many pieces....  Idk how this would ever have come off in one piece.   I had to get a new one at this point so I decided to try out the $36 Ebay special.  I also ordered some parts from RockAuto since I had to wait for the NSS anyway.  This is where the delay happened.  Thanks to RockAuto not shpping my order and making me wait 5 days to make sure FedEx wasn't going to deliver it.  I ended up in that back and forth loop between FedEx and RockAuto pointing fingers at each other saying the other one had my package.  So a full week after my original order was supposed to arrive I got my replacement order.  The order contained the general tune up stuff as well as a cps and a cam sensor.  

 

During the delay I did what I could on the truck to keep the progress going.  I installed the NSS when it arrived along with my new taillight bulbs.  I did run into an issue with the NSS adjustment.  From what I read online, the easiest way to set the NSS is to set it based on the reverse lights and when they turn on and off.  My problem is that they stay on through the whole range of adjustment of the NSS.  They do turn off if I turn it a little ways passed the adjustment range so I am not sure whats going on there.  I just decided to set it roughly in the middle and cross my fingers but it didn't work, so for now I just jumped it so I can continue working on the engine.  

 

For the taillights I got some LED bulbs.  I do have to get resistors for the turn signals yet but the reverse lights and brake lights are much brighter.  You can also see in the pictures how I modified the XJ bulb socket to fit in the MJ light housing.  It took quite a bit of cutting to get them to fit but I would rather screw up the XJ sockets than the MJ housings. 

 

 

During this delay I also made some other progress.  The axle, bumper frame tie-ins, and power steering pump spacer got painted and they look great!  There is a drip on one of the tie-ins but oh well.

 

While these were drying, I ran to the autoparts store and picked up stuff to do the brakes.  While I had it all apart, I decided it was a good idea to paint the calipers as well.

 

I think it turned out really good, however I did run into a problem with the shocks..

Not only are the bar pins way too long, but the shock is also much wider at the bottom.  I know my best solution here is BPEs.  I would do this in a heartbeat but if you know how hard it is to remove barpins from the shock, you will understand my hesitation.  The solution I've been considering is drilling holes in the barpins and using steel sleeves to raise the shock up and align the holes properly.  I don't think it would be a problem to do this but I don't want it to look like crap.  I'll have to do more thinking on it.  

 

Finally my parts arrived from RockAuto.  I think under my hood my accent color is going to be blue.

I really like the blue valve cover so the blue distributor cap just seemed like a good idea to me.  

 

Probably the most important part of this update is that the engine runs!!!!  After the new sensors and tune-up parts, I was able to get the engine started.  It sounds good with no ticks or clunking but does run very rough, spews lots of smoke out the exhaust, and dies when I take my foot off the gas.  It makes sense since it hasn't run in a long time and does seem to be smoothing out a little.  Here is a link to a video of it running.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLCn6HtDVm4

First thing I'd like to say is that I have a mechanical oil pressure gauge hooked up and the pressure is good so ignore the gauge.  Also the ticking/vibraty noise is from the crap on the roof not the truck.  What has me confused though is that the tach bounces like crazy and goes up way higher than the rpms are actually running.  From what I've read, this can be due to a number of things so I took the throttle body off and cleaned the sensors and body itself but haven't started since so idk if that fixed it.  In total it has ran for about 5 minutes and it is super exciting.

 

One last thing I've been working on is the dual battery and electrical upgrade.  I plan on replacing all the high current cables from the battery as well as adding a second battery and fuse box.  The second fuse box location I have worked out but I am still having issue figuring out the second battery.  Most dual battery setups I see in XJs are at an angle similar to the factory battery but they also don't seem to have the rad cap, auto trans lines, or the ECU to deal with.  These are all in the way of setting the battery box at an angle.

Here is the space Ive got to work with.  The only orientation it seems it will work is how I have it in the second picture.  I'll have to cut down the battery tray and see if I can get it to sit low enough to clear the hood.  I will be running a cowl intake so the airbox won't need to be here anymore.  

 

I know this has been a lengthy update but there has been tons of progress made.  I'm hoping to have it running smooth soon and be able to drive it! Super excited!

[Dzimm]

I had some time over the weekend to get some work done on the truck. I was able to get the bumper painted and mounted. It sits just slightly off center but you can't tell unless you really look for it. Overall I really like how it turned out.

I'm currently working on the wiring for the lights to go on it and will be mounting them soon.

 

I have been emailing a couple driveshaft shops and got a quote of $100 to shorten, balance, and replace the u-joints on the rear shaft. That's cheaper than I planned on so more money to be spent elsewhere!

 

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

[Dzimm]

After getting the bumper mounted last weekend, I spent most of this last week on the wiring for my lights.  I made some wiring diagrams to keep track of everything and to make future troubleshooting easier.  The wiring diagrams I have so far are for my fog lights, the offroad light, and a diagram of the fuse box.

 

 

 

I still have 3 open places for relays for future upgrades.  I haven't made a diagram for the headlight circuit yet because I already had it mounted on the truck and really didn't want to take it back off to make the diagram. 

 

I got the lights all mounted to the bumper and the wiring run through the truck.  The fog lights work great, but I don't have a switch yet for the offroad light so that still isn't operational.

 

This lighting is horrible for taking pictures of the front of the truck.  

 

While installing the switch for the fog lights I decided to mount the E-brake cable so it actually could function.  I didn't do this before because I couldn't decide on how I wanted to do it.  I figured while I had the center console apart anyway, I should just use a bolt until I get a chance to weld it.  The bolt may be plenty good but I'd prefer it to be welded in place.

I had just enough material on the tab to put a decent size bolt through.

 

 I got all the wiring and E-brake mount done earlier in the week than expected so I decided to try out the XJ LUND visor again.  This time I made it sit straight forward to see what it would take to mount that way.  It works better than I had initially thought. 

From these pictures you can tell it looks 'fairly' normal on there.  Only a trained eye will notice it sits just above the gutter.

 

This is really the only problem area.  It sits just above the gutter but with a roughly 3/8" spacer between the A-pillar mounting tab, all the holes are in a spot you can mount it.  To me it looks pretty good considering how different the roof lines are, and from the inside it doesn't block your view like I had it before.  After the truck is painted I might change my mind but for now I think I will make some spacers and mount it until I come across an MJ specific moon visor.

 

Of course during all this other progress I was working on getting the truck running reliably and smoothly.  It runs much smoother than before but is still a little rough and doesn't like to start very often or stay running on its own.  I am doing a lot of battery charging and it is getting annoying.  

 

There was one thing that happened I wasn't prepared for and I really wish I was.  I had the injectors unplugged to clear the gas out of the cylinders (it was becoming flooded).  I reached into the window to turn the key over a few times to burn the fuel, it decided to start right up, idle perfectly smooth for about 3 seconds and then die.  I was so shocked that it started so easily and ran so smooth that I didn't get to the injectors in time to keep it running.    It is no longer smoking when it does run and its getting smoother so I know I am making progress, I just wish it was quicker.

 

[Dzimm]

I wasn't super motivated today so I only got around to putting the hood back on and getting it cleaned up. I've never seen the bed of this truck completely empty and it's finally looking complete!

 

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[Dzimm]

Well I made a little progress on the truck tonight. Decided to mount the rear shocks and wow did they stiffen up the rear end. It doesn't feel like a trampoline anymore. They look pretty sweet under there too. I also tightened the rear bumper bolts and put a theft deterrent hose clamp on the tailgate. I later realized that my taillights are staying on with the truck being off so I have to figure that out now. I'm hoping it's not my new led bulbs.

 

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[DirtyComanche]

You're getting closer.

 

Check your brake light switch isn't stuck...  Give it a cleaning with some contact cleaner and work the pedal a few times.

[Dzimm]

You're getting closer.

 

Check your brake light switch isn't stuck... Give it a cleaning with some contact cleaner and work the pedal a few times.

That's exactly what it was. Thanks!

[Dzimm]

Well I got some more work done on the truck this weekend. I was able to get the new trackbar installed. For some reason I didn't take a picture after it was installed so I'll take one next time I'm under there to do the steering stabilizer. I ended up having to get a new trackbar mount since the one I had was so rusted and seized up. I paid a visit to 90piosport99 to pick up a new bracket for it. That one was still pretty rusty but I was able to get the old bar off and get the bracket cleaned up pretty good.

 

My lower trackbar flag nut is long gone and what was on there was a standard nut. If you are familiar with how little access there is to the nut you'll understand why I didn't think I could get to it. I was gonna do it when I first installed the lift but couldn't figure out how to get to that nut but this weekend I did find a way. I'm sure many others have found this before but I thought I'd share. There is a slot on the side of the bracket that you can get your open end wrench in sideways and then turn it into position. It worked great. They aren't the best pictures but it shows how tight of a space it is.

 

The brake hardiness across the rear axle are now installed as well, again no picture yet.

 

I had to hose the dogs off today after their adventure to the creek so I decided to push the truck out to wash it off and I snapped a few pictures as well. The lighting is much better outside the shed.

 

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[Dzimm]

Well I wish I had a progress update but I don't.  I was hoping to get my XJ up on craigslist and to get some work done on the MJ this weekend but its been raining all weekend so I'm not gonna get anything done.  I have however updated my list of things to do.

 

What I have left to get it on the road:

- Fix rough idle/stalling issue

- Replace the front brake fittings and bleed brakes

- Have the rear driveshaft shortened

- Service the axles and t-case

- Mount evap box under the bed

- Install new steering stabilizer

- Adjust NSS properly

 

What I have left I need to do at some point:

- Upgrade battery cables and install aux fusebox

- Install b-pillar lights

- Get some front swaybar links

- Get new tires and swap them to the Eliminator wheels

- Paint the truck

- Probably install Moonvisor unless I can find an MJ one

[Dzimm]

I haven't been doing much with the truck recently. I've been pretty busy and looking into my issues with my XJ along with looking for another XJ.

 

Tonight however I did have some time to tinker on the truck. I got the driver side coil spring retainer clip installed and the brake line fitting and bleeder screw replaced along with a new section of rear brake line and fittings. This was pretty easy and straightforward. The front shock however was a pain. As you can see in the picture I had to make some spacers to bring the bar pin up slightly so the shock would clear the axle. It's solid but was pain to keep the shock from extending and get all the spacers and washers on while the shock slowly extended. It took me about an hour to install 1 shock. It was ridiculous. I'm really not looking forward to doing the passenger side. They do look very nice though.

 

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[DirtyComanche]

I don't know how well those spacers for the bar pins will hold up long term...

 

Trick to getting the bar pins out, wrap the shock in tape, put some grease in the bushing (just to absorb heat) and slice one side of the bar pin off with a zip cut.  Just don't cut the bushing or anything else you care about.

[Dzimm]

I don't know how well those spacers for the bar pins will hold up long term...

 

Trick to getting the bar pins out, wrap the shock in tape, put some grease in the bushing (just to absorb heat) and slice one side of the bar pin off with a zip cut. Just don't cut the bushing or anything else you care about.

Those spacers are actually hardened steel bushings we use in our drill guide blocks at work so those are the strongest part in there. I'm most concerned about the bar pin itself shearing. I'll be keeping an eye on it for sure and may swap it to a BPE. If I do swap it I'll definitely try out that method of removing the bar pin. Thanks!

[Dzimm]

Well the truck will be on hold for a couple weeks as I just got a killer deal on a new XJ. It's a 95 with 165k miles. Super clean interior, floors are long gone and have new pans riveted over the old ones, new radiator, and it runs great. The passenger side motor mount bolts sheared off in the block so I had to get that fixed and will soon be going to the Super Brown Dog mounts. $800 for the Jeep and $100 at Midas to remove and replace the sheared bolts and I got myself a nice new DD. My white 2dr will soon be up for sale since I no longer need it.

 

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[Dzimm]

Well after doing a few things that needed done on the new xj, surviving the literal 9 days straight of rain, and the long weekend... I finally had some time to work on the truck again. Tonight I was able to get the passenger side shock installed. It went on much easier than the drivers side.

 

I was also able to get the coil spring retainer clip installed and got the brake line fitting replaced on that side.

 

Last but not least, I got the steering stabilizer installed. I decided to put the rustys window decal on the shock because I originally thought it was a sticker for it, and I like it better there than on the window.

 

Next up is an oil change and swapping the throttle body from my white XJ to see if any of those sensors are affecting the no/rough idle.

 

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[Dzimm]

Well it's been a while since Ive done anything with the truck. I've been busy with things on the other two XJs, including hitting a deer with the black one. Don't worry it only dented my drivers side doors and somehow bent the metal behind the mirror and didn't break the mirror. Don't know how thats possible.

 

I have been thinking about the MJ and how bad I want the thing on the road. Ive come to the conclusion that my issues with it are due to the fact that it still has the renix flexplate in it. Stupid me didn't realize it. I now have to pull the tranny again and I'm not excited about it. I've also decided that I think I want to go a dark blue instead of orange for the paint. Orange is a little too loud I think. And last but not least, thanks to the latest Bleepin Jeep video for showing they exist again, I now have a gen 3 THOR cowl intake in the mail.

[Dzimm]

Here's some pictures of the deer damage. It's hard to get good pictures of. There is a crease behind the lock and the rear part of the rear door is formed to the inside framing of the door. As for the mirror it pulled the metal out instead of breaking the mirror like I said above. And of course the intake I'm waiting on for the truck. It says for 91+ but I'm gonna make it work in my 90.

 

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[Dzimm]

Well in the last few days I've decided I no longer want to do orange for the color. I really wanted to do a burnt orange like the Chrysler "Mango Tango" but that just isn't gonna happen in my budget I want to spend on paint. I liked the shades of orange I tested but I think they would be just too bright on the truck for my liking.

 

I have now chosen Rustoleum's "Deep Blue" as the new color. This is a picture of the tailgate just primed and painted right over the orange with no prep. I think it looks really good, and with the proper prep work, it will look even better. Sorry the lighting is funky with the angles and dents on the gate. It looks better in person.

 

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