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91 Eliminator Project


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Hi everyone, I have been lurking around here for a few weeks and have found this site to be invaluable. I have a 1991 Eliminator 4.0 HO Auto with 130,000 miles on it that I have been fixing up over the last few weeks for my son. I have rebuilt the brakes including lines, calipers, rear drum rebuild and master cylinder. Body wise I have patched the floor, replaced carpet, replaced the rockers and swapped out the bed for a very clean California bed. I have a new drivers door to swap in once painted. I will also be getting the bed painted in the next week or two once I figure out the paint color, it was originally Colorado red but it now another red which I have yet to identify. In addition I have replaced the radiator and water pump, exhaust manifold, shocks, door hinge pins, installed a rollbar, renovated the rear bumper and rear frame and swapped in a 23 spline 242 transfer case from a 1993 XJ. All surfaces have been treated with POR 15. Still to do wheels, tires, exhaust (need a better system for stroker), rear disk conversion, proportioning valve to replace height sensing POS, swaybar links and front CV joints. Both boots are split which is not good. I am also going to lock the front axle with a posi-lock kit.

The next big project will be a Stroker motor (hence the 242). That will be no 2 for me. I did a 4.7 stroker in a WJ a few years back, so I have a ton of experience, mostly learned the hard way, on how to do it. My last stroker did about 265hp

I have an album up of some pics of the work done. If you go to other albums you can see a ton of photos of my old WJ which I no longer have.

http://www.printroom.com/ViewAlbum.asp? ... _id=224209

The Comanche is strictly going to be a road vehicle, I think with a stroker it should get up and go pretty good. It is also destined to be a money pit!!

My daily driver is a 320hp 350lb/Tq Subaru Outback XT sleeper - fun car.

Enjoy

Robin

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  • 3 weeks later...

Got the 242 in. The donor was a 1993 Cherokee with 70k on it. Works great. Dropped the cross member which made it much easier. Wired up the part time and full time lights by splicing into the rear of the instrument panel directly to the transfer case switch. It is pretty easy. The switch simply grounds the respective pin on the connector. I also used a dis-connect eliminator from Posilock. Very high quality piece, albeit a little expensive, but it gives me peace of mind that the fork is properly locked in place.

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  • 4 months later...

Stroker project is now officially started. Got a 99 block casting no 3010449 so it has the bearing girdle and some ribbing to help NVH it will be machined with a +.030 overbore and .010 deck cut. Sourced a 94 7120 head. I am going to use the Silvolite UEM-2229030 pistons dished out to 22cc with Sealed power SLP-E-234K30 rings. I am going to do some mild porting, and I am using the Yella Terra 1.7 rockers. The crankshaft is 3727 with the 2" snout so it will take the balancer. Also adding a 99+ intake and 63mm throttle body.

Crower lifters 66031x3-12, new head bolts, Brass Freeze plugs, new Cloyes C3041 timing gear, Mopar Oil pump, Mopar pushrods

All this should give me a CR of around 9.10 and a quench of .078.

Getting the machining done once I get the pistons, they are on back order until early May. Total budget around $1,800. Should be fun.

Yea It is a money pit :roll:

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  • 4 months later...

The stroker motor is in, the body has been re-painted, the bedliner sprayed in and the seat's recovered. This has been quite a journey. The Stroker is a 4.6 with a 2001 intake, stock head and cam, Yella-Terra 1.7 rockers, airraid intake, cheope e-bay header and mandrel bent 2.25" system. I also rewired the tailights with a new harness with 3197 sockets from Summitt part no. PCO-5447PT. Very good quality and much more reliable than the push/twist 2057 sockets.

Everything went pretty well. I used a 2001 block which was 100% compatable with the 1991 block.

I got a new 96 AW4 for cheap. This was a direct swap, no modifications. The biggest problem was getting a replacement air drier/compressor. Everyone kept sending me the wrong ones. In the end Rockauto got it right first time.

The only thing left will be to re-build front and rear axles. Then she will be good for a longtime.

Pictures are up on my albums.

 

 

http://www.printroom.com/ViewAlbum.asp?userid=Lancia1&album_id=224209

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That truck looks so good man! jamminz.gif

 

What were the steps to refinishing those wheels like that? Mine look like crap, and yours look new!

 

Also, if you could somehow make the pics bigger, that'd be great. The truck looks so nice, but the pics are too small. :D

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  • 4 years later...

So here we are 4 1/2 years later, still have the Eliminator. Living in New York, became a US Citizen, so I am not a limey anymore, done a ton of work on the Comanche. Just got her a proper re-paint, another stroker, I puked the last one (badly), Dana 44 rear end, disk brakes, XJ booster and master cylinder, rebuilt front axle minus disconnect, tonneau cover, refinished steering wheel, Integrated TPMS into dash, cargo light install. It has been quite the journey. The project has given me many, many hours of pleasure and pain and there is still so much more to do. Learnt so much, much of it the hard way. This forum has been invaluable, I have nothing but respect for those who came before and after me, their knowledge is nothing but amazing. Here is the picture story of the MJ and my WJ before it. I will be adding more pictures in the coming weeks along with more detail on some of the projects. http://www.printroom.com/ViewAlbum.asp?userid=Lancia1&album_id=229466

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Looks really great. Love the bed cover, roll bar, and yellow Euro fogs. Just one thing - ditch the chrome tailgate guard, or paint it black. I love chrome but it looks very out of place on your pristine rig. :thumbsup:

 

We have similar strokers and I've been thinking seriously of going with the Yella-Terra 1.7 rockers too. What's your eval on these and did you have any clearance problems with the valve cover?

 

And you're still a Limey, but that's all good. :cheers:

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Yea I think the chrome needs to be black. I am also going to do the Eliminator striping, that should really make it look totally original. Just waiting for Spencer to print a set up for me (no rush Spencer). My first stroker had the 1.7's. I could never get the lifter preload right. I think it is what puked the motor, one of the exhaust valves got really badly carboned because it wasn't completely closing, eventually the valve snapped and the rest is history. Never really had any loss of power, so it wasn't until the valve pushed the rod out the side of the block that I knew what happened. I replaced it with an ATK motor which has proven to be great. Still have the rockers if you want them. also got a nearly new Alabama head. Probably going to use the 1.6 Yella Terra, they are basically stock lift. They really do quieten down the valve train. Very well made, both the 1.6 and 1.7 clear a stock valve cover. Just have a small overheating problem. Never gets in the red but gets too close for my liking, it also cooks the AT fluid, so whenever I run the trans in power mode and the engine is really hot it pukes trans fluid. AF is good so I think it is either that the ATK is still tight or I need to upgrade the rad. Only done about 4,000 on the new stroker. Driving in NY is basically going from one traffic jam to another, so the cooling system gets pretty stressed. Gotta play with the D44, I have a Detroit locker in there. started with a Powertrax but it was really unpredictable and was very noisy, just need to tweak the pinion preload and backlash a bit. It is a fun vehicle to drive and I get lots of conversations out of it. the best being a guy who flagged me down by Times Square to tell me that he used to build the Comanche. he knew everything about the vehicle, showed me his old union card, pretty cool.

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My crate Hesco stroker ran hot for the first 500 miles or so also, and I did a lot of cooling experimentation and upgrades. It finally settled in at about 1K miles, and it's got about 25K on it now with no problems. The best cooling system for me was a quality 2-row alloy radiator with dual electric fans and a Hesco hi-flow pump. The cowl hood really helped in high temp traffic too where I had most of the problems. I also continue to use a high zinc content motor oil (Chevron Delo 15-40 Diesel) which is still at 1250 ppm so no additive is needed. But as with any stroker with a non-stock cam, the valve train clatter is noiseier than stock, thus am considering the Yella-Terra rockers to quiet things down a bit. Probably going with the 1.6 kit.

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The final big project I would like to undertake would be to convert the Auto to a stick shift. I really do detest automatics. I know it is a pretty big job, pedals, clutch cylinder, trans, bellhousing, new driveshafts and probably a manual PCM that isn't looking for an auto, but it is very tempting. I would put in the 5 speed AX15. I think it would transform the drivability of the jeep. Anybody done this or knows if it is even possible ?

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