Dickinson County Comanche Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 Only getting around to posting about this truck after 3 months. I picked the old girl up back in April on the Facebook marketplace to save it from the scrapper (Plus, as a bonus, it was cheap) Its got the 4cyl with the automatic, 4x4, cruise, and A/C! That poor poor 2.5. However, it had no transmission. I did have a good transmission from my 86 with the 2.8, so I decided to swap that over. Not a whole lot of rust, although one of the cab corners was gone and the other is starting to bubble up. (Unfortunately, someone had came before I got there and bought the hitch off the guy so I didn’t get that ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickinson County Comanche Posted July 8, 2022 Author Share Posted July 8, 2022 It sat around for a while. I had to finish up some college classes and my senior year of HS so it became yard art for a while, but after it slowed down going into the beginning of summer, I got to work. Given that it’s not my first time doing a transmission swap + I had already done some little things to the truck (including pulling the motor out of the donor truck), I had it all put back together within a week, although I did have some issues adapting the transmission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickinson County Comanche Posted July 8, 2022 Author Share Posted July 8, 2022 Since the (86’) 2.5s and the 2.8s used the A904 automatic, they have to have some sort of a kickdown mechanism to allow the trans to… well, kick down. The 2.8 uses a pull cable to actuate the lever, whereas the 2.5 uses a linkage directly from the TB. The 2.8s cable has a ball connection and turns the opposite way that the 2.5s linkage does. Fortunately, the missing kickdown tab on the trans isn’t too complicated, and I just went and got a linkage from a early 2000s Durango and modified it to work. Another thing was a swap from metal cooler lines to rubber lines since the metal lines twisted into oblivion rather than coming loose. Everything else was practically a breeze. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickinson County Comanche Posted July 8, 2022 Author Share Posted July 8, 2022 The last (and worst) issue I eventually ran into was with the CPS. The 2.5s seem to have some sort of pressed insert that allows the CPS to be bolted on, however, mine didn’t have that, nor can you get them online, so I improvised with some long bolts, and installed the transmission. After everything was buttoned up, I finally got the engine to start and it ran, but not great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickinson County Comanche Posted July 8, 2022 Author Share Posted July 8, 2022 To make 2 whole months worth of guessing short, it turns out that when I put those bolts in for the CPS, I didn’t put them in enough, causing weak spark and one hell of a misfire. I gave the CPS a bit of persuasion with a hammer and a long extension to push the CPS further in, and it cleared up the misfire. So that brings us to the present. I’m about $1200 into it at the moment. I mainly did it because I had the know how and wanted the challenge, but also because I didn’t want to see it crushed, and I wanted to see just how cheap I could get it done in. I think $1200 for any running and driving vehicle nowadays is pretty good. It still has a few quirks, the oil cap on the valve cover pukes oil, my fuel gauge quit working the instant I put the tank in the truck, the trans leaks fluid out the front, and the transfer case has no low range. But I figure with some time and ~$150 I could get this rig practically sorted. (I’m kinda looking to sell it, so if anyone would be interested, pm me or something and we can work out a deal) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted July 14, 2022 Share Posted July 14, 2022 nice save! should have the 4.56 geared axles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickinson County Comanche Posted July 14, 2022 Author Share Posted July 14, 2022 2 hours ago, Pete M said: nice save! should have the 4.56 geared axles. It has 4.10s. 4.56s I feel would be too much, it’s already pretty peppy as is, and it’s not too terribly slow (22s 0-60) for what it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted July 14, 2022 Share Posted July 14, 2022 86 was a weird year. I guess 87+ 2.5L/autos got the 4.56 with the overdrive aw4? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickinson County Comanche Posted July 17, 2022 Author Share Posted July 17, 2022 On 7/14/2022 at 2:13 PM, Pete M said: 86 was a weird year. I guess 87+ 2.5L/autos got the 4.56 with the overdrive aw4? That would make sense if it has the overdrive. It already runs around 3k rpm at 60. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickinson County Comanche Posted November 26, 2022 Author Share Posted November 26, 2022 A lot has changed with CJ since I’ve last talked about it, for starters, the ignition system has, for all intensive purposes, died. I have a solution, but I can’t get all the parts I need to fix it until next week, and it won’t be at least another 2 weeks before I can get to it. I’ll probably do a more in-depth post once I get it all done. I also pulled the transmission back out to do that pesky front seal that seems to always leak on these TorqueFlites. It’s back in and like a charm, no more leaking. When the transmission was out I tore apart the NP207 to figure out why it lock up when in neutral and 4-low, I found lots of wear (low range planetary was locking in at the same time as the direct drive, causing it to bind up) I decided rather than repair the t-case (one in which I know nothing about) I decided to just replace it with a 231 unit. Fun fact: a “medium” input shaft length case from a mid 90s auto XJ doesn’t quite reach the rear seal in the transmission and will not seal. I have a long input shaft on order to fix said issue, but only after it left a murder scene on the garage slab. That’s where we sit currently. Should be just about sorted once those 2 things get done + a small coolant hose leak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickinson County Comanche Posted November 26, 2022 Author Share Posted November 26, 2022 3 minutes ago, Dickinson County Comanche said: Here you can see the CPS that is cause the ignition issue, due to how close the rear of the engine sits to the cps holes, I can’t get the cps close enough to make it build enough voltage due to the head of the bolts physically hitting the block. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted November 26, 2022 Share Posted November 26, 2022 I can’t help but feel to say that the whole CPS area looks rigged and not factory. I feel inclined to look in the catalog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickinson County Comanche Posted November 26, 2022 Author Share Posted November 26, 2022 36 minutes ago, eaglescout526 said: I can’t help but feel to say that the whole CPS area looks rigged and not factory. I feel inclined to look in the catalog. It is, this truck didn’t have a transmission in it when I got it. The transmission is originally out of an 86’ with a 2.8 and is missing the original cps press-in mounts. That’s what I cobbled up to make do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted November 26, 2022 Share Posted November 26, 2022 Really? There werent any threaded holes to screw in the CPS bolts? Thats odd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickinson County Comanche Posted November 26, 2022 Author Share Posted November 26, 2022 1 minute ago, eaglescout526 said: Really? There werent any threaded holes to screw in the CPS bolts? Thats odd. Nope. I’m guessing they didn’t put them in since the 2.8 didn’t need them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted November 26, 2022 Share Posted November 26, 2022 Huh, doesnt sound very AMC like...but thats unfortunate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickinson County Comanche Posted November 26, 2022 Author Share Posted November 26, 2022 Just now, eaglescout526 said: Huh, doesnt sound very AMC like...but thats unfortunate. Unfortunate but not the end of the world. Thankfully those 2.5s don’t have any important sensors in the distributor so swapping it to that Duraspark/HEI configuration should be pretty painless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted November 27, 2022 Share Posted November 27, 2022 I’ll be watching your adaptation. Should be interesting and has me curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickinson County Comanche Posted November 27, 2022 Author Share Posted November 27, 2022 14 minutes ago, eaglescout526 said: I’ll be watching your adaptation. Should be interesting and has me curious. I’ll make an in-depth post about it. Need to go to the yard this week and grab the distributor. I have an event this weekend at the college so I won’t be able to do it this weekend, so hopefully next weekend I can get it all buttoned up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickinson County Comanche Posted December 2, 2022 Author Share Posted December 2, 2022 On 11/26/2022 at 6:05 PM, eaglescout526 said: I’ll be watching your adaptation. Should be interesting and has me curious. Well, I got the distributor. The vacuum advance diaphragm seemed almost like it was blown out so I might have to see about getting a replacement. I’d imagine all Durasparks have the same one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted December 2, 2022 Share Posted December 2, 2022 Probably or even AMC engines in general should have such. If I was further along on my XJ I would just send you mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickinson County Comanche Posted December 2, 2022 Author Share Posted December 2, 2022 1 minute ago, eaglescout526 said: Probably or even AMC engines in general should have such. If I was further along on my XJ I would just send you mine. Ford ones would be easier to find around here. My local yards only have 2 AMCs, a Concord with a 258 that looks like it was on the receiving end of a .50 machine gun, and a Hornet hatchback that’s sitting on top of a panel van. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted December 2, 2022 Share Posted December 2, 2022 Probably, I just hope AMC used the same has ford, I can see them using the duraspark for just coil control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickinson County Comanche Posted December 2, 2022 Author Share Posted December 2, 2022 2 minutes ago, eaglescout526 said: Probably, I just hope AMC used the same has ford, I can see them using the duraspark for just coil control. Just taking a quick and dirty look at pictures of the ford d-spark advancements look almost the same. I might just go tear that dizzy I have apart real quick just to make for certain it’s good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted December 2, 2022 Share Posted December 2, 2022 Could use a good bath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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