Son of Stink

[Gjeep]

Long time no update!

 

Don’t get me wrong, I was mostly excited to apply ‘Chief’ graphics to my stroker build – but something kept nagging in the back of my mind that it just wasn’t right for the build. I went all out on the interior. Something familiar but different and I needed to do the same on the exterior. Plus, my ’91 MJ will be a Chief and will look right especially with those vector wheels echoing the Chief stripes. Gotta be.  

 

Settling into 5.5 overgrown Oregon acres takes a bit. Ton of work. But, every week I faithfully start the little beast looking forward to getting back to it some day. (Once my ’91 MJ runner gets done that is – also sitting in the garage waiting on me.) This week was the week though to figure out the graphics – forced my inspiration by reaching out to several online vendors, but deciding that a local guy would be best. Just easier to work person to person. It pushed me to finally put sharpie to paper and doodle, over and over and over again. A good pile of not good enough paper was scattered on the kitchen floor. I kept narrowing down the graphic design ideas until I got here – 98% sure this the final design. The sketch is rough but you get the idea…

 

 

Lots of knocked out lettering that’s era appropriate. ‘4.6L STROKER’ will be on the last stripe closest to windshield towards the outer lower edge of the hood. ‘COMANCHE’ will be in knocked out letters on the doors. Neither letterset will be ginormous, opting instead for subtle yet visible. Both the nose and tailgate ‘Jeep’ lettering will be knocked out, with the center area of the gate blacked out. Onward...

[Gjeep]

This is how my graphics lay-out started a little over a month ago, using my ’91 MJ as the guinea pig. Had to see how it would look in person. Seeing things on-screen just isn’t the same. So, I bought I don’t know how many rolls of electric tape and 1/4” pinstripe tape to represent the cut-out where body color would be shown. Many, many, many, many visions and revisions got me to here:

 

 

 

 

 

 

These graphics are 99.9% final. Aiming to have files off to the graphics guy for mid-Nov tweaking/production. This is a photo of my MJ with graphics laid on via Adobe Illustrator but during the day while working I dabble using MS Word, updating master file later. You can see the sloppy blocks. The graphic will start/stop 1/2” from the flare following the contour. Hood will have a Comanche Chief-ish stripe but simpler. The tailgate center-most area will be blacked out with ‘Jeep’ letters cut out (like the ‘Comanche’ on the side) so the silver paint is exposed. The header panel Jeep logo will be a cut-out as well with solid black ‘4x4’ decal on the cab in the usual spot. I cut the wheels/tires off so I can see in my mind a couple different wheel options.

 

 

[fiatslug87]

What finish are you thinking for the graphics?

[Gjeep]

Satin black to match bumpers/ flares. These are 'scab' flares used for placement and are plenty faded.

[Gjeep]

First pass of the graphic is spot-on. Trimmed a small portion of this pre-production vinyl and applied to the only clean side of my ’91 MJ test-case truck. I’m using my ’91 as the proving ground before the ’92 MJ gets its final stripes. Next week I’ll have a portion of the hood stripe to lay.

 

 

[Gjeep]

The Warn emblem on my solenoid box hazed over few months after I installed it and it drove me nuts. I removed it soon after but always nagged at me that there was no emblem. I had been looking on/off for a vendor replacement without luck. Recently I stumbled across an Etsy site that would make a Warn emblem whatever size you want in a variety of colors. I was hopeful the quality would be good—and was surprised once I received it that is was. This is the vendor, great transaction: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1770588575/warn-winch-front-logo-plate

 

[Gjeep]

Decided that the XJ/MJ factory steelies widened as they are and even possibly painted matte black (versus the current argent color) wouldn’t work with the graphics of the truck. Tooooo many slots and too much visually going on in those factory rims that detract from the direction I’m taking this project. Will save those for another build. Bought and returned a number of wheel possibilities, but the only one that felt right from the get-go were these 15x8 Mopar steelies (4.5” BS) I just took delivery of. Love ‘em. Once I decided on the wheels, I then went through a plethora of center caps, settling on something clean and simple. Had a silver color matched Jeep logo insert made to finish things out. Chrome lug nuts and the same NOS 15x8 Corvette Stingray era trim rings will be used for pop on these rims. The trim ring in the current pics are cheapie Amazon sourced 15x7’s just for visual.

 

 

 

This Stroker MJ will still be running 31” BFG’s and the stance this wheel/ tire combo provides gets two thumbs up. The pics show it mounted on my ’91 MJ guinea pig as it’s the one with the work in progress graphics in place also. The Stroker MJ has another 1.5” of lift on the nose end of it and at least 2+” more in the rear.

 

 

 

[Gjeep]

I revised the graphics slightly for this build and submitted them to the local graphics shop for production. Sounds like I’ll get them back Tuesday and will be able to lay them out on the test truck (my ‘91) by end of next week. It will be the side, hood, and tailgate blackout. Looking forward to seeing them right and ready for final installation on this ‘92.

 

In the meantime, the ACC floor mats have been haunting my sleep for close to 2 years. Ever since I first dropped them in. They’re too wide. At least by 1.5” all around and curl up at the tunnel. Not the best look. I asked they redo them and unfortunately a miss again… so I traced out a proper template on cardboard, taking into consideration the border that will surround the carpet. Then I got to tracing/ cutting the rubber underside and carpet itself. The final glue-together in a week or so.

 

 

 

 

 

After that I’m going to replace the Hurst shifter – just the stick itself. The angle of this is perfect for the ‘97+ XJ’s but not quite right for the first gen dash in my eyes that is more vertical. Got to get it right.

[Gjeep]

I went through the Hurst website couple years back looking for the proper angle shifter for this MJ. It took some time going through the options and I ended up ordering 6 of them that seemed close to what I was looking for. Once received, there were only two that I kept to decide between once I got to it… and I finally got to it.

 

The stick in place is what came with the short shifter kit. I always felt to be at too hard an angle towards the driver. Photos really don’t depict how odd it looks, especially when the outer visible interior boot is removed. When the boot is in place it crumples up tight console side even in neutral. Looks bad. First gear sits about where I think neutral should be. These pics are first gear shots.

 

The options:

 

 

 The Original:

 

 

P/N 5388009:

 

 

P/N 538 7236

 

 

The 009 is the winner. It has a bend in it like the factory stick and feels right where the throws should be. It shouldn’t be too difficult swapping this out as I have a cut factory floorboard boot over the top of the Hurst boot. No need to remove the factory one, just slide the Hurst one out and unbolt the stick from the assembly.

 

[watchamakalit]

When you get it changed could you shoot a pic of it from the drivers seat?  Ive always shared the thought that the shifter that came with the short shifter wasnt quite right. 

[Gjeep]

Will do. 

[watchamakalit]

Thank you

[Gjeep]

Now this is right. Bolted the new shifter in this morning and it not only looks but feels/ falls right. No bunched-up boot in second gear any more. Some pics:

 

Comparison: 

 

 

First:

 

 

Neutral:

 

 

Second:

 

 

Sitting in driver seat, neutral:

 

 

Glad I swapped it.

[Limeyjeeper]

This is a great find thank you. I have the same issue with mine too. I think this will help a lot.

[watchamakalit]

Looks like you just became a top tier hurst salesman. Lol

 

I'm suspecting there's gonna be a short run on the inventory of a carts in shifter....