Son of Stink

[fiatslug87]

I just noticed in your earlier picture there are two painted hoods. Is one with vents and the other without?

[89 MJ]

Any updates @Gjeep?

[Gjeep]

Sorry for the missed question @fiatslug87 ... I painted two hoods -- Will run the solid hood assuming the Stroker stays cool (which it seems to) and the hood with holes was painted in case I end up needing to run the Mustang vents. Matching silver metallic isn't easy, so I decided to do it while I had all the same batch of paint.

 

Update -- Finally getting back to the MJ after a couple months – I needed to finish up some home projects at the start of the new year so I could focus on the MJ for a good long while.

 

Even though I masked like crazy, I still managed to get a few spots of overspray underside rocker/ floorboard area and a couple other small spots. While I had the satin black out, I like to black-out the recessed area of the taillight and tailgate handle. I know it’s something never seen, but it makes those areas look finished and matches the underbelly of the bed/ rest of the chassis.

 

 

Interior sound-deadening is next and then on to exterior re-assembly.

 

[Gjeep]

After an eight month hiatus working on the daughters XJ, I'm finally getting back to the MJ. First step -- washing all the dust off. (Fuel tank still out from when I painted it, hence the car wash in the garage.)

 

 

Giving myself a target goal of New Year's 2023 (January) to get the Colorado Red MJ done as well. I work at a snails pace, so hopefully that's realistic. Giddy up...

 

[fiatslug87]

YES!! 

[Minuit]

[Gjeep]

Been a while... First step in getting back to the MJ build is clean up from paint. No overspray, but masking tape sticky and plenty of 'dust' in the engine bay from sanding/ painting. Drives me nuts. Step one was a full vehicle wash, next area of focus is the engine bay. Griot's has some great stuff for cars -- and clean up. This dressing does an amazing job and isn't left wet so it'll attract dirt/ dust in the future. Happy almost 2022. Aiming to have this truck done end of summer. Will see...

 

[Minuit]

Love me some Griot's stuff. Looking forward to seeing it complete!

[Gjeep]

Finally, back to work on the MJ… Started cleaning up the dust and splatter from polishing. The suspension detailing was easy with the help of Groit’s Engine Bay Dressing. The engine compartment was a bit more challenging even when using the same great product. The corrugated wire loom was impossible. I spent an 45mins successfully cleaning a 2.5ft stretch using a small paint and toothbrush, but it still didn’t look good 100% clean. So, I decided to take a small step back to step forward…Removing all the engine bay wire loom and will consolidate the couple extra wire runs I have beside the main engine bay wiring from added-on accessories.

 

 

Also, I’ll be replacing my fuel injectors. I’m disappointed with the Mopar Bosch ZJ V8 injectors I’m running – I’ve got what I’d consider a good amount of surface rust on all of them. I had read before installing the stroker that these rust-out but I wrongly assumed that only applied to salt states. Out here in sunny CA with I think maybe 100 miles on this motor it isn’t looking promising for these injectors…Plus it looks horrible. So, while fuel tank is out/ no pressure at the line I’ll be ordering Mopar replacement plastic equivalent injectors to swap out. It’s a shame because they looked good going in with contrasting silver and black.

 

 

And while readying up the wiring, I figured I’d get the stroker-tuned PCM cleaned up and ready for install. You can see bottom right of the open case PCM where the mods were made. The tuner said he has to heat/ remove the entire siliconed board, make the programming mods and reinsert it all back into plastic shell. The cover plate wasn’t perfect so swapped it out with a spare minty one I had and fastened it back up with stainless screws. I won’t be able to get things fired up for a week or so as I’ll be prettying up wiring and then need to install fuel tank.

 

[Tsalagi]

Now that is impressive attention to detail. 

[Gjeep]

I think the chances of someone walking off with my MJ's tailgate is slim, so that said, this was more of a because I want to have a power actuator that locks my tailgate same as my doors project.

 

Nothing as stressful as drilling on NOS -- Measure and mark a hundred times, drill once.

 

The first hole through the zinc bracket serves as the actuator posts stability/ reinforcement. When the MJ’s power door locks are unlocked, the actuator post stays in the area between the zinc tailgate mounting bracket and the black tailgate handle itself.

 

 

When doors are locked the actuator post slides into the tailgate handle hole that I also drilled.

 

 

The bracket itself I carefully roughed-out/ tested so it’s not seen when installed. Then I had a machinist cut something proper. The lower notch in the area where the actuator is mounted keeps the rubber cushion end back-side of the handle bracket right where it should be.

 

 

The actuator needs to be tipped downward slightly to get the assembly into the opening of the tailgate. Tomorrow I run the wires from a connector I have terminated at the end of the passenger frame rail from there, I’ll run the wires into the tailgate and up.

 

[eaglescout526]

Damn. That’s bringing the MJ into the 21st century right there. 

[watchamakalit]

Love it. Is that a stock xj actuator? 

[Gjeep]

I tried to get a factory Jeep actuator in there, but they are huge. I had to go aftermarket, something like the below. I did have to do some searching to find an aftermarket actuator with a black actuator rod versus the white as shown below. Up to you, I'm crazy. You can also see I needed to do some minor modifying on the actuator to make it fit the application. I removed the rubber boot and cut the rod to the exact length I needed -- which when extended is exactly 1". 

 

Aftermarket actuator --

 

Factory style actuator --

[Gjeep]

The 1.75” high temp wire loom was finally delivered – so now, instead of two separate looms running across the top of the firewall I have one that houses the factory harness and all the other wires from my add-on’s sourced power from the PDC. Looks cleaner. Still need to fasten it to the firewall after I reinstall the winch tray and solenoid on the upper passenger side but getting there.

 

 

Also replaced the red Denso distributor wires with my now favorite “Live Wires” I'm running in the other Jeeps. I went with black and cleaned off the logos on all ends of the wires. Just prefer thing to be without logo’s. 

 

 

My new Bosch (plastic = won't rust) injectors arrived today for the Stroker. I just got the standard ZJ V8 OBD1 flow rate injectors recommended for this motor. I'll either swap those out tomorrow and install the fuel tank or finish up with the winch/ engine compartment looming and install the tailgate handle actuator setup. Will see...

[Gjeep]

Got the winch solenoid, wiring and bracket into place, passenger side of the engine compartment.

 

 

 

Also installed/ fastened the taillight wiring, tailgate power actuator wiring, and weatherproof 12V power port. A few CC members were asking how I ran the wiring for the tailgate actuator… From the cab – out the same factory grommet the taillight wiring/ fuel pump exits under the cab; then down the passenger side inside frame rail up high; into the passenger taillight area as there is an existing hole beside the tailgate swivel; finally, along the bottom of the tailgate and up through its center drain hole and up. Photo's below begin where the wiring harness ends at the end of the inside passenger frame.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Red Mistress]

Just AMAZING detail as always !

 

 

[Pete M]

On 2/18/2022 at 10:28 PM, Gjeep said:

 

 

 

 

epic    can you do a DIY thread?  I'd love to be able to link to it.

[eaglescout526]

I agree. It would be pretty cool to do the same thing

[watchamakalit]

[Gjeep]

Will do on the DIY tailgate actuator write-up. Here's a shot of the actuator wiring with the tailgate down. Nice and neat.

 

 

Short day of working on the MJ as heading out with the family -- Installed new 97+ windshield washer tank with dual front wiper motors so if one goes out, I can simply unplug the electrical and connect to the alternate motor. The fluid line has a "Y" splitter for the same reason. 

 

 

Also, swapped out tailgate linkage/ latch/ hardware for NOS. While doing so, I swapped out the ragged cloth anti-rattle rod sleeves for cut to length fuel injector heat sleeve. I still need to put the rubber bushings on the tailgate and body to keep things quiet and scratch-free.

 

 

[Gjeep]

Power actuated tailgate lock write-up

 

[Limeyjeeper]

Absolutely brilliant!!

[Gjeep]

Getting a few things done between family time… Removed the maybe 75 miles on them new Mopar injectors from the stroker. Ridiculous how they look like they came of a 250K+ engine.

 

 

Replacing them with new Bosch injectors having the same flow and psi as the other OBD1’s that came off – ZJ V8’s – but no ability to rust. A good thing.

 

 

Also added masticated rubber that I cut to fit the under bed ‘X’. Drives me nuts, when lowering the spare tire and there are chunks of undercoat stuck to the tire and pulled from the from the frame. I used larger push-pin's in existing crossmember holes to secure the rubber piece.

 

 

No photos, but cleaned up the inner door power window, mirror and lock wiring then wrapped them in OE-style Maxwell cloth tape. There are many brands of cloth tape I’ve tried, and Maxwell has proven the best, having the most ‘stick’.

 

Onward with the little to do’s before I start taking whacks at larger tasks.

[Gjeep]

Re-assembly is the most terrifying part of the whole resto process – taking my sweet time as always to prevent damage.

 

With the new tailgate linkage in-place it was time to finalize all at the rear by installing the rubber linkage bushings on the tailgate itself and body side. Way back in 1999 when I bought my ’89 MJ as daily driver I knew I’d rebuilt it and without a doubt end up buying another MJ as well. With that I doubled up on new/NOS purchases for each of the MJ’s, so these rubbers are the real Mopar deal. I decided against riveting the rubber busing into place, instead used a large head stainless screw. Should I need to remove these at any point there won’t be any damage or challenges getting them off.

 

 

 

Inner door assembly is next up…84-96 XJ’s (and MJ’s) saw 2 styles of inner door rods connecting the latch to the inner and outer door handle. The first style was straight (for the most part) rod linkage supported by a plastic 2-slot support riveted into place near the inner door handle assembly. The later style rod linkage had a couple of hard zigs in it where a 2.25” diameter foam spacer was centered in each of the rod zigs. The goal of each was obviously to reduce rattle – which I never experienced with either rod/ support set up in the various MJs/ first gen XJ’s I’ve had. I prefer the first rod set up as that foam round eventually tears/ rots or moves significantly out of place. New cloth sleeves were installed on all just the same as the tailgate rods that recently installed. The plastic rod support was installed with a stainless self-tapping bolt (instead of a rivet as the factory did). Finally, new arm rest door screw inserts and hockey-style upper support plastic sleeve and metal clips installed.

 

 

 

 

The rest of the inner door goodies will go in as I chug along...