Just Another 97+ Swap

[Dzimm]

I'm curious how well the clear coat will come out over the Rustoleum. Does it produce a harder finish that way?

Yeah it lasts longer and gives it more shine. I'm using an automotive grade clear coat from rustoleum so it should work out well. All the paint I'm using is their automotive grade with the added uv protection. I've never done a whole vehicle so well see how it comes out.

[Dzimm]

Well I've decided this will be a 5-10 foot paint job. I can't spend the amount of time it would take to get this perfect. There are so many imperfections and different layers of paint. Oh well, it'll look good to me and ya can't beat spending $200 to paint it. I couldn't imagine what a shop would charge to do all the body work this would need.

 

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[Dzimm]

Deleted duplicate.

[Dzimm]

Well its blue!! More to come.

 

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[Dzimm]

The truck is finally all one color!  I did all the prep Friday after work and spent all day Saturday painting.

 

For prep I ended up sanding everything with 100 grit, 120 grit, 180 grit, and 400 grit with a palm sander, then did 1000 grit and 1600 grit with a sanding block.  After that I wiped down the whole truck with a dry rag and followed with mineral spirits before painting.  I did not do any sanding between or after any coats of paint but I did use a dry rag and wiped off the over-spray dust from the automotive primer before spraying the blue.

 

 

For paint I did: 

- 1 medium-heavy coat of primer sealer (6 cans) Plus the many layers that were already on the truck from my previous repairs.

- 1 light coat of automotive primer (5.5 cans) This stuff did not spray or coat well and I didn't want the possibility of "tiger stripes" so I only did 1 coat.

- 2 coats of blue (10.5 cans) This sprayed and coated very well.  The first coat was light-medium and the second coat was a heavy coat.

- 2 coats of clear (9.5 cans) These cans sprayed a little sporadic, which led to a couple small runs but overall it coated well.  Both coats were medium coats.

 

These are some pictures I took today after putting the truck back together and giving it a quick rinse.  You can see the dents and areas where my prep work wasn't the best but the paint overall looks like a real paint job (cheap Maaco).   Since my taillights had some over-spray from the white spray job it previously had, I decided to clean them up, paint the borders black, and spray clear coat on them.   I also sprayed some bedliner on the tailgate handle and the top of the rear bumper.

 

 

 

Towards the end of the week I received my blue LEDs and my light bar rocker switch so I installed those as well.  This thing is really coming together and I love it.  

 

The inner bulb of the marker light on the drivers side only works as a turn signal... weird

 

The HVAC controls have blue LEDs too but you can't really tell in this lighting.  Also these LEDs don't dim all that much so if you are someone who likes your interior lights really dim, this isn't a swap for you.

 

Some of the last major things I need to do to it:

- Paint and install the factory flares (96- front flares and brackets currently in the mail)

- Put the decals on it

- Bedliner the lower part of the body, the bed, and maybe the hood

- Put the Moonvisor on it

- Get bigger tires

- Figure out a spare tire mount in the bed

- Modify the front yoke to accept my front driveshaft u-bolts

- Probably an auto locker in the rear

 

There is just a huge sense of accomplishment that comes when you near the finish of a major project like this.  September 10th will be 1 year since I got this truck and it is amazing to me that in just under a year I was able to take a pretty much stripped truck and build something like this out of it.  This club has been a huge help with this project and a huge motivational tool for me.  Thank you everyone for creating this great community and thank you Pete for leading the way.

 

 

 

[USAFAGumby]

Looks great! Really has come a long way in a year! I completely support the blue lights, paint, 97+ swap, and intake (all things I have been looking into)  . :MJ 1: .

[MOBBiN]

Looks slick. I like the blue. Thanks for posting that link to adapting wiring on the new header panel. I'll be using that!

[Dzimm]

Looks great! Really has come a long way in a year! I completely support the blue lights, paint, 97+ swap, and intake (all things I have been looking into)  . :MJ 1: .

Thanks!  If you decide to take on the challenge and have any questions just ask.

[Dzimm]

Looks slick. I like the blue. Thanks for posting that link to adapting wiring on the new header panel. I'll be using that!

Thanks!  No problem, good luck with it.  

[Dzimm]

Looking better with the decals on it!

 

Later this week my new front flares should be coming in. I have to get the rear flares cleaned up and painted black so I can get them all installed as well as cleanup and repaint the trim pieces. Now that the truck is all 1 color, you can see all the overspray and marks on the old trim pieces.

 

I also need to start saving some cash so I can get bigger tires for this and a new set for the girlfriend's Commander. I'm not excited to spend $2000 on tires all at once...

 

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[jeeppapa]

Looking better with the decals on it!

 

Later this week my new front flares should be coming in. I have to get the rear flares cleaned up and painted black so I can get them all installed as well as cleanup and repaint the trim pieces. Now that the truck is all 1 color, you can see all the overspray and marks on the old trim pieces.

 

I also need to start saving some cash so I can get bigger tires for this and a new set for the girlfriend's Commander. I'm not excited to spend $2000 on tires all at once...

 

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Decals make a huge difference. With the black trim it's going to be a nice contrast with the blue. I like stock accents so enjoy what your doing.

 

 

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[Dzimm]

Decals make a huge difference. With the black trim it's going to be a nice contrast with the blue. I like stock accents so enjoy what your doing.

 

 

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Thanks. Yeah I myself like the stock decals. I thought about doing the lower door Eliminator stripes but I wanted the "Comanche" name to be on the door like the 97+ XJs. Overall I think it's a good mix of newer and older stock decals.

[jeeppapa]

How long did the paint take you?

 

 

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[Dzimm]

How long did the paint take you?

 

 

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The prep (removing bumpers, trim, sanding, etc.) took about 5-6 hours.

 

The painting (taping windows, wiping the truck down, and painting all the layers) took about 10 hours

 

Removing the tape and putting the truck back together took about 4 hours.

 

Started Friday at 2pm and drove it again Sunday afternoon.

[jeeppapa]

Copy that. Thanks I'm thinking about doing it myself.

 

 

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[jeeppapa]

I've got two trucks I want paint on.

 

 

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[Dzimm]

Copy that. Thanks I'm thinking about doing it myself.

 

 

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Cool. Yeah if you spray it with spray cans, make sure you get the "automotive" branded ones as they have more UV protection and shouldn't fade. As for painting, take your time and it will come out good.

 

I also want to mention that paint from a spray can doesn't get quite as hard as professional paint so you have to be a little more careful with things banging into your paint.

[Dzimm]

Small update. I got some shackles for the truck. Matching blue of course. With the shackles I also received some amber LEDs for my Lund visor that is going on the truck. It took awhile but I finally got all the wiring repaired and bulb sockets cleaned.

 

I also swapped the 4-hole fuel injectors from my 95 XJ to the MJ.

 

Since I had the 95 apart, I decided to try and get it running again. It runs better than I've ever seen. All it took was a jump from the MJ and half a can of year old Seafoam I had laying around. (cylinder 3 exhaust valve was stuck, which is why I parked it).

 

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[Dzimm]

Well the flares are painted, modified, and installed. The front flares and front retaining bracket obviously had to be cut down.

 

I really like the older factory flare retainers since the bolts pass through the flare and hold it on. The 97+ retainers are awful since they are just clipped on. I've had those come off on the highway and I really don't see these coming off.

 

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[Dzimm]

I finally got some time to do some more work on the truck. I focused on getting the interior finished up. The solder joints on the drivers side switch panel were all redone. Now the passenger window can be operated from both sides of the truck.

 

The biggest change is that the headliner is no longer in the truck. It started to sag and was really annoying so I just took it out. I forgot that I had bedlined the roof and it looks better without the headliner. I plan to leave it without one.

 

Since the headliner is out, the dome light didnt have anything to attach to so I had to relocate it. I took advantage of it being apart and modified the factory wiring harness to tie in my b-pillar lights. It now has all the interior lights in place and functional. They were all also swapped to LEDs except for the floorboard lights.

 

I was able to reuse my bracket I had made up to attach it to the headliner. Now it is just clipped over the inner roof sheet metal and doesn't move. I can pull it off easily if I need to and just shove it back on with no tools. The wiring is visible in the cab but it's all split loomed and tied nicely across the back of the cab. Since the dome light and wiring is all run to the back, I can use the holes up front between the visors to mount a CB whenever I get around to it.

 

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[Dzimm]

Well as I may have mentioned before, I started to get some slight vibration in the driveline of the truck.  I knew my pinion angle was off (6* at the t-case and 13* at the yoke IIRC) but when I first started driving it, I had no vibration so I left it alone.  Its been about 2 weeks since I first noticed the vibration and I finally got around to fixing it tonight.  My lift came with 6* shims so I had them on hand, I just was waiting on new u-bolts to show up.  It took a couple hours but the shims are now in and the new angles are 6* at the t-case and 7* at the yoke.  This is pretty darn perfect and all the vibrations are gone! Luckily my u-joints aren't damaged.   The rear end even feels tighter now that it was apart and back together again.  

 

The biggest thing to note however is that it still does burnouts really really good and  I realized that for some reason with the open diff, both tires spin and leave marks.  The gears look to be in good shape with no binding and the wheels turn opposite one another when off the ground.  I must just have some magical ghost limited slip or something. 

 

Anyway, I didn't take any pictures yet but those will be coming.  

[Dzimm]

Well I just returned from a 400 mile trip to visit my parents in Eastern Iowa.  The truck ran great.  Went 70mph the whole way with no issues.  Had a great time there spending time with family and eating pizza cooked in my uncle's pizza oven he just built in his back yard, it was the best pizza ever.  

 

They all were very impressed with my truck and my uncle now wants me to redo the wiring in his 68 Camaro for him.  

 

I did some mileage testing on the way home and I averaged 18 mpg with mixed highway and city driving (rather spirited) so I'm going to say I get 17 mpg in city and 19 mpg highway.  Pretty good for the old 4.0L  

[Dzimm]

Well I finally got around to doing the dual battery setup. Unfortunately both my Optimas were dropped in shipping but Amazon refunded the whole purchase price and let me keep them. One is cracked and one has a small dent. I'm going to use the dented one and get a new one to replace the cracked one.

As for mounting in the truck.. It took some time and back and forth marking and cutting the tray until it fit. The battery has about 1/2" of room between the power steering fluid res, the rad cap, and the plugs on the PCM. It sits slightly higher than I want but it clears the hood so I'm fine with it. Making it sit lower would require some major modification of the inner fender or moving some components around but I don't want to do that. This weekend I will be getting the replacement battery, wiring it up, and making hold-down brackets to keep both batteries in place.

Thanks to DigitalBman and everyone else for the input on the dual battery setup over on the DIY dual battery thread. The info was instrumental in making my setup work how I wanted.

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[Dzimm]

More progress has been made.  I got a new battery to use instead of the cracked one.  Got everything wired up and installed.  It took all day but finally everything works how I want it to.  I also made some battery hold down straps out of some flat steel, these things don't budge with the exception of flex in the plastic trays.  

 

The third switch is held in solely with zip ties. There is no bracket behind the blank plate on these so after cutting it out, the only ways to attach a switch I could think of was glue or zip ties. I wanted to be able to remove the switch so zip ties is the best option. It doesn't move at all so it should never fall out.

 

I went ahead and changed the oil last night as it was coming up due for it.  While underneath pulling the drain plug I noticed the entire bottom side of the front pumpkin was covering in oil... The trail led right up to the pinion.  I knew it had a small leak but it apparently turned into a little more than that.  I pulled the plug to see how much oil was in it and couldn't feel any.  1.5 bottles of gear oil later it was filled.  I'm hoping I didn't do any damage driving with no gear oil for who knows how long.  It isn't making any weird sounds so I think it's okay.  

 

[Dzimm]

I spent the last few days sorting out my front diff issues. I pulled the cover and found it to be some kind of thicker "upgrade" cover held on with an entire thing of rtv.... It took forever to get it off.

 

I sprayed out the case and the gears all look good and there was no metal so I think it's all OK. I did however notice light shining through the back of the diff... Turns out I had no vent tube anymore. I went ahead and ordered the proper size socket for the pinion nut (1 1/8"), a 1/8th npt tap and fitting to replace the missing vent, some fuel line for the vent hose, and a small filter for the top of the hose (the filter had to match everything else). That all arrived today from Amazon.

 

After tapping the vent and replacing the pinion seal, I ran the vent hose and put everything back together. It was a very straight forward and easy repair. It's now all back together and doesn't seem to be leaking. The yoke had a groove worn in it where it contacts the seal so that will probably need replaced at some point.

 

Tomorrow I will confirm it doesn't leak at highway speeds, then put the front driveshaft back on and finish prep for the Iowa All Breads Jeep show this weekend!

 

Side note: I hate having to clean up the huge mess after such a simple job..

 

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