in progress 1988 Comanche (Barn Find Project for a new Jeeper!)

[CapitalCityPioneer]

Next update!

When I bought the truck it had a 3" lift on the front. After lifting the rear via the spring-over conversion, that 3" was nowhere near okay lol! So this update is about the 4.5" lift on the front I installed, amongst other stuff like new wheels/tires and seating the bed.

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So the first picture is of the lift from the side with the new tires, springs, everything installed.

To achieve this 4.5" lift I had to buy adjustable control arms, and sway bar links that were adjustable to that length. I also had to buy all adjustable steering components, which will be in the next post.

For the control arms, I can't afford a long arm kit at the moment, so I went with the Core4x4 arm kit rated for 0-6" of lift (pictured next). For the sway bar links I went with the JKS adjustable quicker disconnect links, rated for 4-6" of lift on the MJ I think. The springs I traded some gear to Vakarian for a spare set he had in his garage, brand new.

Pictured next is the end picture with everything (lift) except shocks  mounted.

 

 

Adjusting those control arms to get them to the required length for the lift was..... An adventure to say the least lol. First bit of advice! DO NOT TAKE BOTH LOWER CONTROL ARMS OFF WITH SPRINGS IN PLACE! Otherwise, this happens. I was very lucky I had the frame of the truck on jack stands....

After a lot of cursing and wiggling, finally got them sort of right. Had to come back the next day to finish the alignment forward-back, but I took a pic to show how goofy it was. This is also a comparison of the new 32" wheels to the old 28"s the truck came on. Next picture is after the wheels were aligned and new wheels put on, along with the bed seated correctly!

After emptying the bed to get it seated right, I through the rollbar in to see what it looked like! It's awesome (Vakarian photobombing in the neon yellow shirt).

I found a great deal on 5 16" steel wheels, and 32x10.5x16 Super Swamper tires on them. For a whopping $200. They don't have the most tread in the world, but for that price I am far from complaining! Sets me up nicely for the future tires I want to buy. Thanks so much to Vakarian helping me pick these up in his Silverado!

These tires look super mean and amazing on the truck, although I'm prepared for the super loud ride to come from them... Haha!

 

 

Thanks for reading, hope some of this was useful to someone. My next posts will include steering and various other updates!

 

 

 

[CapitalCityPioneer]

Start it off with a glorious picture.

Moved my MJ to my house this weekend, from Vakarian's garage. The major mechanical work was completed, and he is getting married and will be all but gone for the next few weeks (congratulations ), so decided it was time. On the drive up to my house, one dude in a 4dr Wrangler Rubicon pulled up next to us at a stop line, exclamatory about how awesome the sight was!

Putting the truck on the dolly was interesting, because it doesn't have its own power yet. So Vakarian's quick thinking with the snatch block and his old winch rope made quick work of it.

 

 

Getting it into my backyard I thought would be quite the hassle, but Vakarian had no doubts about his MJ's, Trailbreaker's, ability to winch it through a snatch block and 2 shackles! I have a video I need to edit and put on YouTube, to show that process. I was in awe, and no understand the need for straps and shackles while offroading because that was simply amazing .

But, because I can't get that video now, enjoy the end result. Aint she just a beauty!

Next to the wheel is the original metal front grill. I would LOVE to reuse it, instead of a newer plastic one. However, I believe I am missing a proprietary portion of the grill and piece that surround the headlights. Does anyone know where I could source out this stuff? I don't even know correct terms to google it myself, all I pull up are plain newer XJ front grills!

[CapitalCityPioneer]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

^ Me, hoping you don't judge too hard ^

 

Jokes aside, the last few weeks I have been going CRAZY trying to figure out how to mount the transmission to the crossmember. The truck was originally a 2wd, automatic, 4.0l. Now its been converted to a 4wd, AX15 manual, 4.0l. Everything I read everywhere says that its a direct swap in, no problems, yada yada. This has been wrong. Very wrong. I bought a transmission mount, the bolts were centered. Doesn't line up to the transmission when on the crossmember. So, I go and buy the trans mount with offset bolts, lines up to the trans like a charm. Then I buy the Novak adapter. Turns out the Novak adapter holes don't like up with the holes on the transmission mount. So I drilled new holes in the trans mount that matched the spacing. Mount it to the crossmember yada yada, and the transmission sits too far back for the Novak adapter to catch it's rear mounting holes! So, after thinking and thinking, I decided to drill holes further back on the transmission mount and move the Novak adapter back.
Here are the photos...:

1) Correct bolts offset. 2) Drilled holes to match Novak Adapter. 3) Once mounted in the first set of drilled holes. It didn't work out how I wanted it to, you can see the rear trans mounting hole just barely showing in the slot on the adapter.

So I drilled those new holes and.......

1) You can see the Novak sits far back on the trans mount. 2) A mock fitting before bolting everything up tight. 3) I cut up my old fuel line to make rubber "bushings" for the mount, and used a sheet of delrin on top of the transmission mount in between it and the Novak adapter in order to minimize the metal on metal rub, as the Novak dips down in the way I have it set up.

 

If you were considering the Novak adapter, but are afraid of the $100 cost (once including taxes/shipping etc), I really do think it is a good quality product. Could probably make it yourself, if you're a metal worker, but for us who aren't this is the only choice! Buy in confidence.

 

Edited September 18, 2019 by CapitalCityPioneer
moving photos

[Vakarian]

So my red Comanche was running a bit warm the entire trip but never got to the point of over heating. We stop because we were hearing a loud grinding noise coming from somewhere. Upon stopping the temp gauge started to creep up so I popped the hood to make sure nothing was wrong and I had fluid.

 

Turns out a gasket around either the thermostat or water pump decided to start leaking again.  But from there on out I just make sure there was extra fluid in the tank and only reached 230 when we entered the city and we'er stuck with standard city slow driving. Under normal driving condition it was warm a bit but started at 215.

 

All and all it was a fun little trip.

[CapitalCityPioneer]

I have a couple current projects. The first is pulling all the vacuum lines. I have lines that run to nothing right now, and no idea where they go or what they lead to/from. So my plan is to pull the entire vacuum harness and figure out what it is all running to and make sure everything I need is there. The second project is the interior. The PO wanted to convert it all the 97+ Cherokee, but I want to keep the old dash. It looks a lot nicer in my opinion.

 

I guess to mount the Cherokee dash, you have to weld in the new mounting brackets by the corner of the windshield? I haven't looked into it, but encountered that yesterday, and now I am quite the predicament.

 

On a side bar, the rear light wiring harness currently in the truck is different from the stock MJ. I have to figure out where all that wiring leads, so I can figure that out and wire up the rear tail lights.

[CapitalCityPioneer]

I found this photo just now, this is a photo showing the holes I drilled in the transmission mount, along with the spacers I made for my cross member, to drop it down.

 

I also forgot to mention that. The transmission mount sits too high for the transmission to mount on, with my ORIGINAL cross member. The crossmember here is taken from Vakarian's scrap pile, and has a cut out in the middle where the trans mount goes, dropping it about an inch or so. This still wasn't enough drop, so I cut steel plate to drop the cross member a little bit more. This is the standard steel weld plate you get from Lowes, I used 2 layers and it did the trick for me. I drilled holes through the plate so the bolts went through it, securing it.

[CapitalCityPioneer]

Here is the link to the video, unedited, of Vakarian, my brother, and I winching the truck into my backyard. You will see the incline it had to climb into the backyard and all. The creakign you hear is the garage door post on the left side of the video about half way through, lol! Its all good . Enjoy, skip through as you please to see the action and not the standing around making sure everything is straight....

 

 

[Vakarian]

Worked like a charm! Nice video footage. Now for work to progress quicker for you.

[Pete M]

that puts the win in winch  

[CapitalCityPioneer]

FINALLY AN UPDATE!

 

So in the last couple weeks I have made a LOT of progress towards getting the truck running. Maybe not FINISHED. But running, none-the-less.

So, where to start...

Well, let me start by saying I found an incredible video this morning on YouTube. I wish I had this video when I first started the project, I would probably be done by now.

So, now on to my personal truck!

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So lets start this off by saying I made a pretty huge discovery that explains a lot of weird things. The swap is either a 00 or 01. There's a lot of funky stuff about it, such as the evap/charcoal canister mounting back by the rear tire. But that information is super useful.

 

Fuel tank problems!

So I've been trying to figure out my fuel tank setup ever since I got the truck. It has perplexed me from the very beginning, and seems like foreign voodoo magic. I have an original gas tank that I was told that "it has a Cherokee sending unit in it so it will read on the gauge backwards". Now I still don't know what that means, something in the tank like a pan is backwards compared to the Cherokee yada yada. Fancy stuff. But now I have a Cherokee swap, so, I'm curious if it will read correctly.... irrelevant! The sending units in these tanks, up until I believe '96 have a sending line and return line to the fuel rail. This is dandy. Except for starting in '96, the fuel rail and tanks only had one line running back and forth. My truck as a 00-01 swap, so, there's a problem there.

Fuel tank solution!

Upon watching all 45 minutes of that video, I learned a lot! I learned that the 91-95 XJ fuel rails will mount to the "newer" 00-01 intake manifold, which my truck has. This is great, because the 91-95 fuel rails have 2 line input/outputs for a sending/return line! Huzzah! Problem solved! I will be replacing my 00-01 fuel rail with a 92 fuel rail I found for sale. I will update with photos once received!

 

Transmission mount problems!

As seen in previous posts, I had to jerry rig my transmission mount extremely poorly, and much to my dismay, is still not quite good enough for me. So, while taking down Vakarian's transmission on his Manche Trailbreaker, I took a picture of the correct trans mount, and found it online used on a Facebook forum for XJ owners.

Transmission mount solution?

I am waiting for a fellow to send me shipping info so I can pay him for the mount. Wonderful! Another problem solved. I will update with pictures once I have the mount bracket!

 

Brake Line problems!

Ugh.... Where do I begin. Oh, wait, I know where, I am never running/flaring steel brake lines myself again. The rear lines are good. They don't leak, and there was much rejoicing. However, the front lines leak like mad. My first mistake I learned: I used the brake distribution block from a Grand Cherokee ZJ. The block is the exact same, but different ports are used. Specifically, the 2 on the ends. The one closest to the brake cylinder is capped off instead of having the adapter, which turns the hole from 1/2-20 threads to 3/8-24 threads, like the other lines. How useful, if you have that. Fun fact, you can not put a normal adapter with a flared fitting into that hole. It will not seal the tube inside against anything, causing it to leak around the line. My passenger front line just doesn't seal because the hole is funky and requires the adapter in order for a flared line to seal against. And I guess I flared the fitting to the driver wheel incorrectly, as it leaks as well. Upon trying to remove it, the fitting promptly stripped itself, furthering my dislike for running brake lines . So, time to take emergency measures on it!

Brake Line solutions!

So, here is a convenient photo of my shopping list for all of the steel braid parts I am converting my front brakes to! Took a lot of searching to find all of those parts, the website is www.speedwaymotors.com, in case you are looking to do the same on your truck! Hopefully, teflon taped threads will negate any possible chances of leaks through flaring mishaps and so on with normal steel brake lines . I will be updating this once I get the lines in the mail, and install, and attempt to bleed.

 

Driveshaft/Rear Differential problems!

So the Dana44 has some large yoke for the driveshaft. Its way larger. The driveshaft ujoints are 1.061" wide, and the yoke is just way wider. I thought I could use spacers to take up that space, but its not working how I'd like it to! So I have to figure out what kind of yoke I need to buy in order to replace this one that is too big. Is it possible to use the one off my old Dana35, which I removed? I still have it laying around.

Driveshaft/Rear Differential solutions?

I don't have any yet. I have to figure out the yoke I need. I don't know the splines and whatnot to look for, so I think I need to take it off in order to figure out exactly what I need! Will update once I figure that out.

 

Interior..... Stuff, not really problems!

So when I first got the truck I had decided that I was going to bedline the interior. This is to protect it from rust, and provide a surface that looks decent and I don't have to carpet (because offroading with carpet... That idea grosses me out ). At Home Depot the other day, I decided I would look in their spray paint isle for bed liner, and was very pleasantly surprised to see that they do have a bed liner in the spray paint isle! This is no rhino lining or whatever, but will do my job fine. The first picture is of the first section I did. And wow, it looked awesome! Makes the truck feel 100% different inside! I forgot to get pictures of the entire bedlined interior, but there's a quick sneakpeak for the future I suppose.

I also reconnected to steering, and am going to put the dashboard back together after learning that I can not remove it like I want, due to the driver corner being welded in.

Along with this, I ran the wires through to the doors and into the interior. That is a true test of patience, and will make you want to quit really fast. But happy I finished that. Now I just need to get the little clips and some screws that hold the door panel on for both sides. I also need to get the door latch for the driver side, as it is gone for some reason!

 

Exterior...... Stuff, not really problems!

I decided to through the mirrors on, along with the windshield wiper unit and wipers. I figured the mirrors would help plumb up possible holes that water will use to sneak into the cab when raining. The windshield has a couple chips in it, but I think that glass pothole filler stuff should cover them up real nice . I need to figure out the size and buy a bunch of the little screws to old the windshield wiper cover on. But, all in all, I dare say, it looks really nice!

 

I also learned something quite entertaining about my lift status. As stated in the first listing, I bought the truck with a 3" lift installed. I did not realize the rear end was lifted with an Add-A-Leaf, I just assumed it hadn't been touched and only the front had been lifted via springs! Well, upon really looking at it, I realized that there in an A.A.L. in the rear pack. To add on this, the rear axle is converted to a spring-over-axle setup. This nets somewhere between 5-5.5" of lift based off my reading. So total, if I am adding correctly(I am not spring genius), I should have around 8 inches of lift in the rear. This was an accident . Meanwhile, the front is currently on 4.5" springs. I bought some 2" lift pucks (thanks 89MJ!) to help balance this out a bit, but eventually I will have to just buy bigger springs for the front to balance it all out. I have not installed these pucks yet, and I already have to climb into the passenger seat that I mounted inside (XJ seat). I am 6'0", then adding another 2" onto that, plus in the future running hopefully 33"tires instead of these 32"s..... Fun times! I have not installed the pucks yet because I'm still doing major work in the engine bay, and it just makes life a lot easier as I can still reach in easily.

 

So, to send off this post right. I had my battery that came with the truck sitting on my trickle charger for about a week (I forgot about it). After plugging everything up to the steering wheel and running wires and so on, I decided why not plug up the terminals and see what happens right? Well, lets just say, I am SUPER happy right now. Because once I have the brakes and trans bracket and fuel rail/lines all installed then it should be ready to start up for the first time!!!! I was excited, excuse the language.

[CapitalCityPioneer]

More Fuel Related Problems!

The MJ fuel tank as a 3 prong circular connector. The XJ 4.0l HO swap harness in my MJ has a 4 prong square connector. My proposed solution is to cut off the 3 prong connector, and cut off the 4 prong connector from my donor XJ tank, and splice the wires together in the right order. I think I have the order figured out as well. The first photo is the forum post here on ComancheClub that I had screenshotted a while back(I don't have a link to share it, sadly. Sorry!). The second photo is my diagram. I will be splicing and soldering here pretty soon, and will update on my success or not!

[CapitalCityPioneer]

On 10/17/2019 at 1:07 PM, Pete M said:

that puts the win in winch  

It definitely did. Makes me want one real bad! But gotta get running first....

[89 MJ]

Getting closer!

[Drahcir495]

Oh boy is that video cool. Don’t know how you guys figured out how to make that work. I look forward to seeing what you will do next!

[CapitalCityPioneer]

On 11/29/2019 at 4:37 PM, Drahcir495 said:

Oh boy is that video cool. Don’t know how you guys figured out how to make that work. I look forward to seeing what you will do next!

Thanks! I can't wait either . Hopefully installing and bleeding brakes will be next!

 

So my rear conversion to dial brakes was with 97 Ford stuff. Gotta figure out how to set up the parking brake now....

[CapitalCityPioneer]

Got home super late tonight, as usual, but a glorious package was waiting for me when I walked in the house.... BRAKE LINES ! In the dark I ran them makeshift to test lengths and fittings screwing into each other. All but one coupling works! I need to get my trusty dremel out to fix that pesky problem.

 

Pictures will come hopefully tomorrow if I can find the time!

 

On an off topic note, I found a local guy who is interested in trading his 95 YJ (l4, ax15 trans) for my 06 Mustang (v6, t5 trans). Hopefully checking that out tomorrow. Got a 10 inch lift, sitting on 37s, etc. etc. etc. Super excited.

[CapitalCityPioneer]

So here's the brake line update.... Along with a bit more!

Brake Stuff!

So I got my stainless steel braided brake lines and assorted adapter pieces in the mail. That was pretty exciting. Here is a picture to show them off

But I had an issue. I went to start screwing fittings into one another, and it turns out that the "brake adapter fitting" ends are actually too pointy to thread into the proportioning valve! This was an issue, and like all things, required a solution. The picture below shows the pointy interior of the 1/2-20 to 3/8-24..... Not being able to fit. Being a modern problem, this required a modern solution! I had to do this on both of the 90degree adapters. Was a necessary evil, I suppose. Super easy fix.

But then I had another issue. I could not get one of my brake fittings out for the life of me, so I had to removed the hole master cylinder and table vice it and clamp some vice grips so hard it printed on the metal. Here is a photo of my drilling into it and sticking a bolt in so as to get more torque, and then the bolt snapping!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fuel Tank....ish Things!

So I read somewhere that XJ fuel fill lines were pretty easy to modify/cut to fit the MJ gas tank, so I went ahead and ordered those lines. They came in, haven't had a chance to test the tank up and actually cutting them yet. A long while back, when I got my MJ gas tank, it came with the straps and the skid plates for the straps. When I went to loosen the nuts on the J-bolts..... well one twisted and snapped in half. So I had to figure out something else! On a Jeep forum somewhere someone suggested buying an eye-bolt, and cutting off the very tip of the curve in order to create a hook that was fully threaded.

So, hopefully in the next couple of days, I will be able to mount up the gas tank and run my breather lines to the charcoal canister, hook up the fuel fill lines, and get the fuel sending/receiving lines fully run. Currently, the guy I was supposed to buy my fuel rail and transmission mount bracket decided he was going to stop responding and not sell/ship me those 2 items. The last 2 items I need to truly get the truck started for the first time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, to send you off with viewing pleasure.....!

I have photos of installed stainless steel braided brake lines! They were quite easy and simple with some teflon tape. Couldn't have been better . Hopefully in the next couple days I will be able to bleed the brakes. I have one of those pneumatic bleeder pump kits, but it was too late by the time I finished with the brake line install, so I couldn't run the air compressor.

[CapitalCityPioneer]

Quick Little Update:

I found another source for my fuel rail. Had 1 person ghost me on the fuel rail, and had 2 others ghost me on the transmission mount bracket. Was supposed to be attempting to start for the first time by this past Friday, but that was delayed sadly. Waiting on another response for the transmission mount bracket. Its actually seeming kind of difficult to find, which I did not expect. Tempted to try and craft my own out of steel plate, matched up to Vakarian's Trailbreaker, at this point.

[CapitalCityPioneer]

Finally, an update!:

I've steadily been doing work and learning more and more about my truck and the swap that the PO had started. As I go things make sense, things don't make sense, then later clarify. All in all, its been a pretty rough but super informative journey. Learning a lot as I go, like, a LOT.

So. Without further rambling, the good stuff!
Along with mounting the gas tank, I also mounted my charcoal canister! On all the comanches/cherokees I've seen, the charcoal canister is ALWAYS in the engine bay right. I had this big square thing, that was obviously for that, but could not figure out why it was big and square, with a weird bracket, etc etc. WELL, on 00-01 XJ's, the charcoal canister was moved to somewhere in the back, above a tire or something idk exactly. So I finally figured out what the lines running to the back of my truck were for, so I mounted my charcoal canister under the driver seat. It sits above the gas tank/frame/cross member line, so it should not have any ground clearance problems. I mounted it by catching a number of bolts, including the bolt that holds down the driver seat and drilling my own hole through the floor. Eventually, I will get rubber boots for these in order to seal up the holes around the bolts. The seat bracket bolt is tightened down with its own nut, then the charcoal canister was placed on the bolt and tightened down with another nut, hopefully not hindering the seat bracket at all!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, to the next part! I also got my door latch catches from eBay (from jeepgraveyard). Exactly what I needed. I drilled a new hole through the side wall, and used 2 bolts with big washers and nuts to secure it, praying I didn't drop my wrench into the wall of the cab! It worked like a charm, and I can adjust if necessary. Again, I will eventually get a rubber boot to put on this in order to seal it against water. I forgot to grab pictures of it finished and mounted, will grab some ASAP and post up. But for now, enjoy this one (right side). Look at that glorious surface rust starting to go through the primer!

 

 

 

To electrical!
I found a suspect wiring harness in my box of random bits and pieces that came with the truck, And I noticed a connector I thought looked familiar! This turned out to be the headlight connector, and I realized that there were sockets for bulbs on this harness as well! Very lucky find, as I thought I was going to have to pull one at the junkyard! Plugged it up along with the battery (basically dead at this point), and had just enough juice left to power up the lights just barely! Very exciting moment. Everything finally coming together!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then, to send this post off with a GLORIOUS ending!
I finally installed the lift pucks I bought of 89MJ, and oh boy oh boy it looks nice! I adjusted my control arms a wee bit too far forward, so I need to readjust and ran out of time. But for the sake of the photo (I duct taped the fender flare on for S&G's), the truck is beginning to look amazing! It is the perfect height for me to climb in comfortably, and sitting behind the steering wheel feels fantastic. My next projects will include: 1)Converting the wiring on the fuel pump, 2)pumping the gear oil into the transfer case, 3)making sure this seller shipped my fuel rail, 4)installing my new axle yoke when it arrives in the mail!, and 5)running the wiring for the rear lights. This wiring will be a little tricky for me, as I am keeping the original Comanche taillights instead of the Cherokee taillights, and I will have to figure out what wires go to which. As always, thanks for checking in!

[CapitalCityPioneer]

Today was a super productive day, I was very happy overall. I also got that picture of the door latch catch.

 

So, without further "adoo".....

I cut up connectors and spliced wires today! And boy was it productive! My wiring diagram, listed in a previous post, was spot on. I also added the return signal to the ground splice. I ended up splicing orange to orange, purple to red w/line, and black to black, with the extra black line on the XJ connector also spliced into the ground wire from the MJ fuel unit. I have to admit, I was SUPER skeptical about it. Extremely skeptical. However, I am happy to say, that after doing this wiring, upon plugging up the battery and turning the key you can hear a quick humming from the rear of the truck, which has to the sending unit(there's no other electrical there yet)!! Bingo. Also shows my splicing was good. I need to figure out how to protect the ground wire splicing, because I messed up just a bit and left the shrink wrap too close to the splice as I was soldering..... and it shrank on the line .

 

But, I digress. That was super awesome and inspiring. One more task completed!

 

On to the next bit.

I had ordered the wrong end yoke apparently for my driveshaft. For reference, my driveshaft is a 1310 ujoint size, and the yoke was a 1330 size. I ordered a 26spline 1310, and upon finally finding a 34mm socket to borrow, found out I needed a 29spline. So I returned the 26spline 1310 today to the UPS Store, and ordered the 29spline 1310 at a SCREAMING deal. Amazon had a "Used- like new" one in stock...... for $8.49. So $9 later it will be arriving tomorrow (love you prime), and I am receiving a big refund eventually . I am listing the part numbers with amazon links for anyone reading who also runs into this same situation. I'm 95% sure my axle is a dana44 out of a TJ.
29spline 1310 part number: Spicer 2-4-3801-1X
26spline 1310 part number: Spicer 2-4-8091X

Ubolt kit for Spicer end yokes: Spicer 2-94-28X U-Bolt Kit

 

So, like I promised in the previous update, I have a picture here for the mounted door latch catch. Not very exciting, but, you know! Progress!

 

I also filled my transfer case with oil. I read in a lot of places to use 5w30 in the NP231, so I figured I would try it and see how it works out. I used Royal Purple.

 

And an overall picture of tasks to complete: 1)Run wiring for rear lights, 2)Find a 91-95 fuel rail because I had the 6th person back out on selling me one, 3)Go through the engine bay and ensure that all bolts are bolted down and tightened properly, 4)Properly jerry rig my trans mount that popped loose, 5)Find door locks, 6)Snag a hood release bar from a junk hood(Vakarian).

 

As always, thanks . Tune back in next time for more updates! Question: What color should I paint her?

[CapitalCityPioneer]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THIS LOOKS LIKE SUCCESS!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, a couple months back, Vakarian and I made a hugely successful trip to one of the local junkyards. We managed to pull all the parts needed to fix his Junkyard Gem, my Integra's hood, and most importantly, my fuel rail and impossible-to-find AX15 transmission mount. I also grabbed the stock transfer case skid plate, which is kind of cool, along with many other odds and ends!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Installed my new esteemed mount and fuel rail, and instantly felt 100% confident and on top of the world. Progress was made!

[CapitalCityPioneer]

So with the new fuel rail on, I had to finish up my lines finally. PSA: For those who are swapping in a 97+ engine+harness+whatever, and want to retain your original gas tank, you will need a fuel rail off a 91-95 I6. It will mount to the newer HO intake manifolds, but still has the receive/return lines versus just one singular line.

 

As it turned out, I had cut my hoses just a hair short. So I had to buy barb fittings to get them to reach the rail. I also needed an angled fuel rail clip adapter thing (not sure its technical name, but it adapts the rubber line to the rail), as the power steering pump on the HO sits right in front of the return line outlet.

 

Enjoy a finished photo of the lines Was a long time coming! That felt amazing.

 

Lastly, I had to figure out my vacuum connection for the fuel pressure regulator on the rail. At the top center of the finished photo, you can see a rubber hose sticking off the manifold. This is purely a skeptical guess, but in the older HO system that port is used for the fuel pressure regulator vacuum hose. Apparently in the 2000 swap mine is it goes to something else. My initial thought was to modify my tubing into that rubber piece with some finesse, but then I remembered that I had capped off the vacuum line that runs to the cruise control. So, I ran it to that instead, albeit across the engine bay.

 

In that last picture, you can see the dreaded Jeep OEM coil rail. That's a hint to the next project!

 

[CapitalCityPioneer]

In my usual fashion of scrolling Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist all day, I found a great deal on a new header and gasket. Funny story came out of that, apparently he was looking at this Comanche on Marketplace also! Small world . Luckily, I got to it first (sorry man if you come across this thread! Loved your XJ, hope that exoskeleton got installed and all that, it looked dope!).

What's kind of neat, he showed me a little dent on the 6th exhaust port tube. I said I think its on purpose from whomever he had bought it from. In my favorite YouTube video I tagged further up in this thread, apparently you need to do that to have it fit with the newer intake manifolds. Correct me if I am wrong!

 

But, on to the goodies. Pictures! (one screenshot from that video)

 

I can not wait to get this installed, and think it is going to look great. It makes my exhaust building 100% easier, as I can now buy a bolt on downpipe and such versus welding and bending up myself! My old one was just plain cut. I imagine that the connection was rusted and someone before me didn't feel like dealing with it...

[CapitalCityPioneer]

I finally put the entire front end back together. Including radiator, hoses, etc.

 

The moment we've all been waiting for.

I tried starting it for the first time I was super hyped, I Facebook lived it. No luck. Turned out the battery was super dead. Trying to jump it, starter just mad man clicking.

 

So I swapped the battery. I replaced my terminals which were destroyed, and had to extend the wires because the new battery was backwards for the truck (I got it for free, bear with me!). I was hyped to try again! Facebook lived again, and now the starter was turning, but the engine was not firing (correct terminology?).

 

So I narrowed it down to electrical of some sort. Fuel pump was good, sending fuel. I tested the ASD relay, it was not blown. I tested the Crank Position Sensor, it functioned correctly. With no easy way for me to check for spark with the OEM Jeep coil rail, I did the esteemed Viper Coil Pack mod. I made my own bracketry for it. I plugged it up. I was super excited to test start AGAIN . So I did. AND IT FIRED. EXHAUST FUMES WERE THE SMELL OF VICTORY! But it dies instantly.

 

All my friends watching the live stream pinpointed fuel as the problem. They think I'm not getting enough fuel. So I pulled the rail off and cleaned it out real good with carb cleaner, and need to figure out how to clean my injectors out. Once that is over, I will be testing it AGAIN. Hopefully tomorrow. The website will not let me add photos, for some reason, on this post. So I will be throwing them in the next post most likely.

[CapitalCityPioneer]

New battery and wiring.

 

New Dodge Viper coil pack, and my mount I made for it from angle aluminum. Fits perfectly, looks great, and weighs nothing! Its also a great platform to be able to build off of should I ever need to. I used the stock bolts that held the OEM Jeep coil rail on.

 

I am incredible happy with how it turned out. It looks amazing. It also makes troubleshooting/maintenance/possible upgrades in the future 100% easier than the OEM Jeep coil rail. If you haven't gathered, I highly suggest doing this. The wires and Viper coil pack ran me less than $50, versus a replacement OEM Jeep coil rail at ~$100.

You may have noticed my Neutral Safety Switch just casually bolted to the AC compressor. That is going to be transferred to on of the Coil Pack bolts