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92 Autocross/Lowered MJ


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This project can finally begin!  I sold my 2 door XJ and picked up this 92 MJ yesterday.  It's got 4.0l, AX15, and 2wd.  The truck has 177k miles on it and runs great.  PO recently replaced the clutch and master cylinder, new tires, alignment, brakes, tune up, lower ball joints, exhaust, and blower motor. 

 

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It's got rust through the rockers, the drivers cab corner, and the passenger side of the bed.  The previous owner replaced all the floors and they are in perfect shape still, which is great.  Funny thing about the PO, he owned my other MJ at one point as well, he sold it to the guy I had bought it from.  

 

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Plans for this truck so far: 

- perfect driving a standard as I'm not the best

- replace windshield

- replace blower switch and resistor

- replace drivers window regulator

- replace door locks

- headlight switch wiring and upgrade

- repair rust

- lower it by cutting the front springs and making a bastard pack for the rear

- change to bucket seats

- find or make an airdam

- build a cage/harness bar

- work on thinning out unnecessary things in the engine bay

- turbo!! 

 

This will be a very slow build and likely won't make a ton of progress until next year.  For the rest of this year I will just be fixing anything wrong with it and driving to work since it gets better mpg.  

 

It looks so tiny next to the lifted MJ. 

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These last few pictures I pulled from the ad. 

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Check with your local series sponsor as to what their safety requirements are. I find that different sponsors interpret the SCCA 'box' a little different from each other. Hate to see you build it, then have to run in a different class or not be able to run at all.

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16 hours ago, whowey said:

Check with your local series sponsor as to what their safety requirements are. I find that different sponsors interpret the SCCA 'box' a little different from each other. Hate to see you build it, then have to run in a different class or not be able to run at all.

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Thanks for the tip.  I have looked previously and what I could find seemed to just require simple stuff like a helmet.  I should probably just get ahold of them and see exactly what the requirements are, especially since eventually I won't be naturally aspirated. 

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Thanks for the tip.  I have looked previously and what I could find seemed to just require simple stuff like a helmet.  I should probably just get ahold of them and see exactly what the requirements are, especially since eventually I won't be naturally aspirated. 
I have a SCCA club and a MSCC club local to me. The SCCA affiliated club adheres to the 'box' and classes strictly. No Comanche would be allowed to run on any class stock. But the MSCC club would let a stock 2wd run in the H class if you had a current DOT approved helmet and seat belts.

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3 hours ago, whowey said:

I have a SCCA club and a MSCC club local to me. The SCCA affiliated club adheres to the 'box' and classes strictly. No Comanche would be allowed to run on any class stock. But the MSCC club would let a stock 2wd run in the H class if you had a current DOT approved helmet and seat belts.

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Yeah from the research I've done it seems that trucks and SUVs fall into a gray area in autocross classes because they really don't want top heavy vehicles out there.  Being lowered may change what classes I'd be allowed to run in but like you said, some places could be super strict.  

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Did the first repair on it today.  Removed the heater hose valve because it was leaking really bad.  Turns out that one of the connections on it was completely desintegrated.   Put some straight connectors on the hoses and plugged the vacuum line.  

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From what I remember the SCCA has a width/height ratio they abide by to determine whether or not something can run. I know my 4x4 MJ was too tall, likely a 2wd at only an inch lower would be as well. But there was a bit of a kerfuffle a couple years ago when it was discovered the Fiesta actually didn't meet the criteria, disqualifying some very competitive racers. I don't know if they've changed anything because of it though.

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From what I remember the SCCA has a width/height ratio they abide by to determine whether or not something can run. I know my 4x4 MJ was too tall, likely a 2wd at only an inch lower would be as well. But there was a bit of a kerfuffle a couple years ago when it was discovered the Fiesta actually didn't meet the criteria, disqualifying some very competitive racers. I don't know if they've changed anything because of it though.
That's the box, I was referring to. Basics of it, is that track width must be equal or larger than height. No XJ/MJ meets it by stock specifications. The lowest classes of racing don't allow suspension modifications enough to lower them into compliance either.

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18 hours ago, whowey said:

That's the box, I was referring to. Basics of it, is that track width must be equal or larger than height. No XJ/MJ meets it by stock specifications. The lowest classes of racing don't allow suspension modifications enough to lower them into compliance either.

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Hmmm interesting.  So if I run like stupid wide wheel spacers I'm good?  Lol.  What limitations are their on suspension modification? 

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The SCCA has a large .pdf on their website under the Auto X section about the classes and what is allowed. I was concentrating on the lowest classes as I wanted something fun to play with a few weekends a year, while being able to drive it the rest of the summer. The lowest class 'H' allows only factory available configurations. This includes engine and transmission changes also. Brake modifications are a little more generous in the lower classes. My local SCCA club safety officer helped me determine that a 2wd MJ/XJ would never meet the lowest two classes because drop spindles and/or coil changes aren't allowed.

 

The other side of that coin for you, is that drivetrain changes are limited at the lowest classes. Because you want a turbo, you would automatically have to move to a different class for forced induction. You can really build stuff out in some of those classes.

 

In my case, because I wanted to stay down in H or HS, it was a better decision to get something that wouldn't take a ton of work to get me racing. I ended up buying a Focus and adding the ZX4 suspension to it. Then my oldest shanghai'ed it to drive to college because it got better fuel mileage than her nice safe GM sedan.

 

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8 hours ago, whowey said:

The SCCA has a large .pdf on their website under the Auto X section about the classes and what is allowed. I was concentrating on the lowest classes as I wanted something fun to play with a few weekends a year, while being able to drive it the rest of the summer. The lowest class 'H' allows only factory available configurations. This includes engine and transmission changes also. Brake modifications are a little more generous in the lower classes. My local SCCA club safety officer helped me determine that a 2wd MJ/XJ would never meet the lowest two classes because drop spindles and/or coil changes aren't allowed.

The other side of that coin for you, is that drivers changes are limited at the lowest classes. Because you want a turbo, you would automatically have to move to a different class for forced induction. You can really build stuff out in some of those classes.

In my case, because I wanted to stay down in H or HS, it was a better decision to get something that wouldn't take a ton of work to get me racing. I ended up buying a Focus and adding the ZX4 suspension to it. Then my oldest shanghai'ed it to drive to college because it got better fuel mileage than her nice safe GM sedan.

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So I just looked at the rulebook and from my understanding, it doesn't look like adding forced induction is allowed in any of the "street" classes.  First mention of it being allowed I see is in section 17 for "Prepared."  Even suspension and seat modifications don't seem to be allowed at all in street.  For instance, there is a rule that carries through the street classes that you cannot reduce the amount of seats in the vehicle (I'm assuming to negate weight reduction) but since my truck has a bench seat, does that mean I can't put buckets in it because it reduces the number of seats?   

 

I even noticed some rules stating you have to use oem replacement parts when available and can only use aftermarket parts if you can prove that oem parts aren't available anymore, not that they would ever know something isn't oem.   I didn't realize the rules were so strict on stuff. 

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Contacting your local club and it's safety officer is really your best bet. The one I spoke to was really helpful for me understanding the differences in classes. And for a general understanding why the XJ/MJ I saw in Auto X were built the way they were and the classes they competed in.

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6 hours ago, whowey said:

Contacting your local club and it's safety officer is really your best bet. The one I spoke to was really helpful for me understanding the differences in classes. And for a general understanding why the XJ/MJ I saw in Auto X were built the way they were and the classes they competed in.

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I've been talking with the rules guy of the local group and he said that most trucks he sees just run smaller wheels/tires to fit in the street classes.  He saw no reason a Comanche couldn't be run stock with smaller wheels.  I measured my truck at 68" track width and 71.5" tall so I'd have to get different offset wheels and shorter tires to run stock since like you said, the rules require equal or greater track width compared to height. 

 

There is an event Sunday at the Iowa Events Center I am going to try to make to get to see what it's all about and ask some questions.   

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Arguably going from a bench to buckets is an increase in the number of seats, just not the max number of legal belted occupants. :grinyes:

It makes sense that suspension and power mods would automatically bump you into higher classes, because those are the two biggest ways to make your ride a ton faster, and it would get tough to draw a line between things that won't help much and things that will help a ton, because a lot of it is stuff that, depending on what you do with it, could do both. 

 

Going with 4-cyl springs would lower you a touch without violating the non-factory parts rule. The wider wheels can make a huge difference too. I just picked up a 2.5L MJ that has I believe Core racing (per the PO) wheels on it, that look like they add almost two inches to my width.

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Got some work done on the truck today.  Idk if the previous owner had He-Man  tighten everything down or what but every bolt and plug were super freakin tight.  I was really worried about snapping the oil drain plug off. 

 

Started out by installing a headlight harness.  This is the first one I've installed that I actually screwed the relays to the fender.  I usually just zip tie them to something. 

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I also changed the oil, which smelled really bad, I'm guessing it hadn't been changed in a while, and replaced oil pressure sensor because the gauge was going haywire.  When the heater hose valve was leaking, it covered the sensor and I was pretty sure that's what was causing my problems.  The new sensor however, only reads between 70-75psi no matter what the engine is doing.  I'm hoping the sensor is bad out of the box.  I really don't like how the oil filter is vertical on the older Jeeps, how is there not just a giant air pocket in it? 

 

I went through and cleaned some of the electrical connectors and grounds under the hood.  Before doing the ground on the block, my battery gauge only read 12ish volts while the engine was running.  Now it's reading 14.  

 

The truck came with a new fuel filter so I went ahead and threw that on.  I had to put a zip tie between the bracket and the fuel filter to make it tight in the bracket. 

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The last thing I did was change the fluid in the trans.  The trans was grinding while at half throttle in fifth gear.  When I pulled the fill plug out, fluid came pouring out the fill hole.  It must have been filled through the top of the trans because it had at least 4 quarts in it.   There was some metal flakes in the fluid and it was pretty dark and stank as well.  I filled it back up with Redline MT-90 and now it shifts like a dream, doesn't grind in fifth, and feels much more responsive.  

 

While doing the trans fluid change, I noticed that there was what looks like some kind of sealant around the clutch fluid line where the plastic line meets the metal fitting.  Is this normal?  I can't imagine a pressurized fluid line would depend on a connection like this.  

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Just did the first round of mileage testing and got 19mpg on this last tank!  I know I can do better but it's making my wallet happy already since I go through about a quarter tank every day going to work.  Also found out my gas light comes on with about 4.5 gallons of fuel left and doesn't quite touch the F when completely full. 

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Started replacing the rusty sheet metal today.  I immediately realized I hate working with sheet metal.   I am really struggling to have the patience to stitch all this metal together. 

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I'm cutting along the body lines to create rectangles that I can then weld together and keep the body lines intact.  I'm pretty pleased with how well it's coming out.  I need to get more flap disks to clean up the welds but the body lines are looking pretty good.  It will look much better after applying body filler. 

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It's amazing how far rust spreads behind the panels.  Those of you who live outside the rust belt are lucky. 

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Went to my first autocross event today as a spectator.  It was a blast to see all the different cars and see how everything operates.  There were a few spinouts and a few times there were close calls between cars due to confusion of the course, which was later corrected by using more cones.   There was mostly Miatas, Subarus, and Mustangs but there were a few jems there like this Chevy pickup, Camaro, and Corvette.   I got quite a few comments on my blue MJ while I was there, which was cool. 

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Unfortunately I had some other stuff to get done today so I was only there for an hour of actual racing.  I didn't get a chance to really talk with anyone or do a ride along so I'll have to come back when I've got more time.   

 

After autocross I went to Comanchejager's house to pickup a driver's side window regulator for the red truck.  He isn't very active here at all but he is a good guy and has a nice collection of XJs and MJs.  Gave me a real good price on the regulator and about a half hour of Jeep talk.  Turns out he has done some parts deals with 90PioSport99, who I bought my blue truck from, as well as done deals with JeepDriver on some gun forums a while back.  Had a good time at his place and look forward to meeting him again. 

 

Hopefully tomorrow I've got enough time before work to get the regulator installed and finish the repair panel I started yesterday. 

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I finished up welding some gaps on the panels and threw some paint on it so I can drive it without worrying about rust.  I still have a ton to do on it but I don't have time until Thursday to really work on it. 

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The new coolant temp sender came today and I got that installed.  It would be way easier to install with a crows foot but I managed with a standard wrench.  I haven't tested it fully yet but it was moving the gauge. 

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I left the truck sit in the shop for about an hour for the paint to dry and when I walked back in I could smell gas really bad.  I was worried about the tank because it's rusty and its obvious now that it's leaking.  I could smell gas ever since I bought the truck but it never actually leaked until now.  It seems to be at the top of the tank and doesnt spray fuel when the truck is running so I'm gonna continue to use it until I can get a new tank here, plus it's full so I need to run some out before I drop it.  I like the price of the Spectra kit from RockAuto that comes with the tank, pump, strainer, and straps for $164.  

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When you get ready to race, let me know.   I'm about 4 hours away.  I'd love to come see it, shoot the bull and get some pointers on going through tech, etc.  I need to bring a cap out to a guy in Iowa anyway.

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2 hours ago, whowey said:

When you get ready to race, let me know.   I'm about 4 hours away.  I'd love to come see it, shoot the bull and get some pointers on going through tech, etc.  I need to bring a cap out to a guy in Iowa anyway.

Will do!  It prolly won't be until next year though.  Only two races left this year, one in September and one in October.  I know I won't make September and am 95% sure I won't make October.  I will be at the Iowa Jeep show with the blue MJ this year tho.  It's in Cambridge, IA at the end of September. 

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On 8/15/2018 at 5:11 PM, Dzimm said:

While doing the trans fluid change, I noticed that there was what looks like some kind of sealant around the clutch fluid line where the plastic line meets the metal fitting.  Is this normal?  I can't imagine a pressurized fluid line would depend on a connection like this.  

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I am trying to understand what someone did here..? And also, why the clutch line is plastic there? Its typically metal line, with a little "flexy" section in the middle somewhere. That looks really strange to me, and I wonder if it was leaking and someone just spread a bunch of JB Weld on it or something.. weird.

 

Awesome build though man! Looking forward to seeing the progression :L:

 

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9 minutes ago, BareThrylls said:

I am trying to understand what someone did here..? And also, why the clutch line is plastic there? Its typically metal line, with a little "flexy" section in the middle somewhere. That looks really strange to me, and I wonder if it was leaking and someone just spread a bunch of JB Weld on it or something.. weird.

 

Awesome build though man! Looking forward to seeing the progression :L:

 

Yeah it looks like plastic all the way up to the master cylinder.  Very strange but it works for now. 

 

Thanks! 

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Went ahead and installed the new (from an 86 MJ) window regulator today.  Pulled the old one out, which was a pita with those big rivets.  After looking at it I realized that the new one was missing one of the mounting brackets so I grabbed the one from my old one and attached it to the new one with adhesive and zip ties to keep it steady until it cures. 

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In place of rivets or nut and bolts, I used rivnuts to reattach the regulator.  Rivnuts are my favorite thing to use for something like this because it doesn't require a wrench on the back side. 

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And attached with nice shiny bolts. 

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I then went to reattach the window to the regulator, which resulted in a bunch of glass all over the ground... It had one of those newer style bolt things for the window and the only thing I could think of was that it bound up and tweaked the glass.  I got ahold of ComancheJager again and was able to pick up a new window for a good price.   He also threw in the fixed vent with the window because it was in much better shape than mine.  The only downside to the window I got is that the top is all chipped but it's better than no window at all.  And now it rolls all the way down. IMAG1388.jpg.4f9bf2847185ac3a2decaf3247274848.jpg

And with that, a simple project wound up taking all freakin day so I got nothing else done.. 

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  • Dzimm changed the title to 92 Autocross/Lowered MJ

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