Gojira94 Posted February 16, 2023 Author Share Posted February 16, 2023 Getting the case cleaned up so I can take it apart, all the markings I could spot on it: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gojira94 Posted February 16, 2023 Author Share Posted February 16, 2023 I use a rabbit cage bottom pan for disassembly work for stuff like this- available at Tractor Supply/ Agri Supply for $17-25. This is the larger size. Get everything apart, clean parts in a open-top catch pan, clean up the rabbit tray and start going back together (it's cleaner than it looks lol). Taping off in prep for one more external solvent/ brush cleaning and then paint: The ball bearings all looked the same, had to mic them to tell the difference, but once separated into 2 groups I could see the difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gojira94 Posted February 16, 2023 Author Share Posted February 16, 2023 And the finished product... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gojira94 Posted February 23, 2023 Author Share Posted February 23, 2023 It’s out- cleanup can now begin lol EDIT: clean up the frame, engine bay and wheel wells- not going to reuse this axle. Same guy who took the 2.5 engine is coming to get most of the 2WD equipment I'm pulling. The 2” bump stops aren’t horrible but I’m going to replace those with longer ones anyway. The shocks I wasted others’ time identifying are junk. The rears are probably the same way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gojira94 Posted March 31, 2023 Author Share Posted March 31, 2023 Finally had another XJ show up in the local yard last week. I scored a pair of bumper guards for $20- not perfect but very decent condition and cleaned up nicely. New ones are > $50/pair. I'm in a transient period of limited funding for this project so I'm picking off inexpensive odds and ends and doing mostly labor tasks for now. Also grabbed the underhood light. It's the 2-wire later version. I'll either ground it on the underside of the hood next to the light like early ones or ground it at the fender wall with the relocated blower motor ground. It has a mercury switch in it. I broke it all the way down to clean and test, and then reassembled it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gojira94 Posted March 31, 2023 Author Share Posted March 31, 2023 Since I'm not installing a winch (at least for now), I wanted some kind of plate to put on the front bumper. Front tags aren't issued/ required here in NC, so we can put whatever we want on the front. I looked for something with the AMC and/ or Comanche logo but kinda came up dry in that regard. Then I saw this plate and thought "why not?" Before anybody says 'cultural appropriation' let me say this- AMC, Daimler/Chrysler have borrowed the names of 2 Nations and never thought to pay a dime to either; it wasn't in the national consciousness then. I think it's entirely appropriate to give a nod to the people whose name was borrowed to give the MJ a name badge. It is what it is with these vehicles, we can't go back and pretend the SJ/XJ/KJ/KK/KL/MJ/ZJ/WJ/WK/WL are called something else, but sometimes a simple acknowledgement, at least, is called for. If when my rig becomes conversation-worthy, as these vehicles inevitably are, I wouldn't mind if someone thinks for a moment of the Comanche Nation and wonders how they're doing today. My mom's side has Cherokee (and African) in it, not uncommon in the southeast US. I'm not calling for any measures you see discussed in the news these days, but it might be nice for the Daimler automotive group to move on to other names for the remaining 2 platforms. I'm not choosing people vs. automobiles, I'm embracing both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onlyinajeep726 Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 Man! So much of this build reminds me of the early days on mine! I'll definitely have to come check it out sometime! On occasion, I will bring it to Cars and Coffee in the old Winn-Dixie parking lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gojira94 Posted June 27, 2023 Author Share Posted June 27, 2023 On 6/21/2023 at 5:50 PM, onlyinajeep726 said: Man! So much of this build reminds me of the early days on mine! I'll definitely have to come check it out sometime! On occasion, I will bring it to Cars and Coffee in the old Winn-Dixie parking lot. Y'all are welcome to stop by sometime, I'd love to see what a running MJ looks like up close lol! And I'd be extra thrilled if you took my old front axle with you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gojira94 Posted October 11, 2023 Author Share Posted October 11, 2023 I've gathered a few ancillary parts here and there but I haven't spent any hands-on time since I started job #2 in April. Not a fun stage to be at, interior is ready to reinstall, fuel system is 100% restored, brake system 100% new. Have control arms and full suspension clean and ready. '99 Dana 30 needs a cleaning but it's ready to go under. Main thing is cleaning down to paint/ metal from the front of the frame to the rear of the cab. Address any rust, prime, paint, re-undercoat. Then patch the floors, and everything can start going back together. So... in the corners at the firewall. I've always thought that's a horrible place to have water and dirt trapped, with all that seam sealer in there. Someone in another thread said maybe drilling a 1/16" hole or two might be good for drainage. Anyway, I wanted to get it all out and see what's what. My feeling is if there were a few small gaps to allow water to drain through, no seam sealer needed with a good coat of primer and top coat of enamel. Assembly plant guys plastered the bottom side, too. I pulled it all out both sides. Sure enough, the seam sealer on the bottom creates a reservoir for moisture once the top side loses adhesion after some years. I pulled the bottom edges out a hair and pushed a couple additional channels with a small punch between the layers for plenty of drainage. Circled in purple above, there is the drain channel that was designed into it, but assembly covered it both sides with seam sealer. This will all be stripped to metal, primed, painted and undercoated again, paying attention to maintain drainage afterward. It'll be behind new fender liners and easy to access, check and maintain as needed. But I think with good coating and easy drainage, rust won't be an issue afterward. I opened up the corner at the right of the channel as well after this pic. Passenger side below- the gaps aren't as large as they look, i backlit it with a really bright LED lamp for the pic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 13, 2023 Share Posted October 13, 2023 not a fun job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gojira94 Posted December 19, 2023 Author Share Posted December 19, 2023 Getting there on the driver's side fender well. All the light rust is gone, now seeing the remaining floor pan pin holes better as well. I'll need to trim out a little more. The spring tower has a really thick layer of the original undercoating I decided to leave in place, I wire wheeled the surface layer off of it and it's still very thick and somewhat pliable. In the area I got down to paint, everything looks really good and I don't see any benefit to removing the rest of it. I'll feather in the red paint where it's primered and go back with POR-something undercoating in the rest of the wells, with an additional spritz on the old coating left in place. Top rear side of the driver's wheelhouse at the firewall- this is coming along as well. Everything in this corner has been cleaned out, sanded, steel tooth-brushed, hit with acetone and primered. The whole engine bay will be repainted red once everything is cleaned and prepped. Can't wait to post that pic, lol... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted December 19, 2023 Share Posted December 19, 2023 So good to see an update on this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gojira94 Posted December 19, 2023 Author Share Posted December 19, 2023 34 minutes ago, neohic said: So good to see an update on this! Thanks! It is a sloooow project. I'm about at critical mass with parts that were missing for the whole drivetrain & 4X4 swap, multiple component upgrades, etc. As soon as I get the front frame and engine bay painted it'll pick up speed. Initial progress on the passenger side wheel well: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gojira94 Posted December 22, 2023 Author Share Posted December 22, 2023 Other front end bits done. And I found the front splash shields at Detroit Muscle Technologies. They also have the main splash shield for early XJ and MJ as well as later XJ. I’m holding on that piece until I can figure out if it’ll work with some alteration after the big steering box brace kit and IronMan track bar brace go in. Rustoleum Colonial Red is a very very close match to what the last cheap paint job put on this rig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gojira94 Posted January 24 Author Share Posted January 24 Exhaust mock-up: 55277 front pipe for post-Renix manifold, Magnaflow 94006 universal 2.5" cat, Flowmaster 70 series 2.5", Walker 46701 2.25" tailpipe. I may need to shorten the tailpipe at the head end 2-3" to make all the unions work. It'll still be a bit before I get to it though. I almost have a complete vehicle assembly staged with restored or new parts lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gojira94 Posted February 2 Author Share Posted February 2 A big thank you to @Airborne Janitor and @eaglescout526. My rig will be getting cruise control! This thread convinced me to add it to my shopping list when an 89 XJ showed up at my local LKQ. My current column is non-tilt, no intermittent wipers and no cruise. I told myself I could live without these things but over time I wasn't convinced. Pulling all the parts together for cruise control online seemed a daunting task, and I'd missed the fact that eaglescout526 was selling kits. My current wheel is very noticeably bent, and has other issues, though it would work. Duplicolor 1634 is almost perfect for the lower collar and bowl, and I'll probably live with a grey wheel for a while, and swap the horn pad and have the wheel wrapped in black at some point. Also grabbed the pitted 4x4 emblems off the rear quarters. I'll probably black those out to match the rest of the truck and do the recesses in (Rustoleum) Colonial Red. Open to suggestions for black 4x4 emblems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gojira94 Posted February 2 Author Share Posted February 2 Finally going to get the questions answered about the IAC wiring differences between the Renix and HO IAC. I've seen everything with diagrams and ECU pins but the question remains which pair moves the pintle in vs out, regardless of whether the wires are paired inside/ outside or left pair/ right pair etc. Just move my harness pins to get the desired behavior from the HO IAC motor, according to the Renix computer. I hope this boneyard Renix IAC (bottom) works... looks like a Duralast unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 Of course! It’s a worthwhile upgrade to have on these Jeeps. Even if you don’t use it often, it’s just another feature to have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gojira94 Posted February 12 Author Share Posted February 12 Section by section, bit by bit. Cleaning off a ton of welding boogers from the assembly line as I go. Passenger side lower wheel house: Upper side: Got all the cancer out of the battery tray mount for now, I'll want to revisit and replace both layers of metal. Top layer is pretty much gone altogether. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gojira94 Posted February 12 Author Share Posted February 12 This steering column has been rolling around in the trunk of my Accord for almost 2 weeks, getting a chance to play with it. First, I don't like chrome (blasphemy/ sacrilege, I know). Just like the one in my 94 Firebird Formula- I like a shorter tilt lever, in black: Same for the turn signal lever/ cruise switch: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gojira94 Posted March 5 Author Share Posted March 5 ...and black lock cylinder. Just need to paint it black, wrap the wheel and keep an eye out for a black horn pad (that'll take forever). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gojira94 Posted March 5 Author Share Posted March 5 OMFG I've gotten so sick of endless scraping and wire wheeling and acetone baths... I'm within a hair of being able to slip the D30 under it in the next week. Then I can work on my back scraping all the crud from under the floor pan, prep for welding and get the floor patches in. Heck, I might be ready to start it by the end of May... After I do the lower cowl, my new labels from BoxyJeep are going on. One more little thing, but it'll be awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 Looking great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gojira94 Posted March 6 Author Share Posted March 6 19 hours ago, neohic said: Looking great! Thanks! This project is about to get a lot more enjoyable! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandBoost98 Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 On 3/5/2024 at 9:02 AM, Gojira94 said: for a black horn pad (that'll take forever). https://www.ebay.com/itm/404474867485?itmmeta=01HRA9G3985T4D0M4WE0JC93QR&hash=item5e2c94af1d:g:VwYAAOSwJF5k9lRU&itmprp=enc%3AAQAIAAAA8Ox5V9DZzGc2qH8wpVJaRRaKcJSOGuov4STv%2B59YGkGGt1BaNh7KGxok%2F2oa%2F1X7dS3cC9ORoP5QQBJuqzkkI6dLC2eqZWrITJmyPjJ24wLJRmsPj0IF4SG4DizdqIsyMc2d1EGMRTAlKrAghW2TuAha%2BEazTlwLfkoqwJWxILtlQaDn4u8ldVcGuby0EfRRVbEQLbg6Ntc1o9y%2Fz2uWqpvBacX2WORMt%2BfDhtrlP4ftqosVoKcYIRM1op0AgoBDQnya6P4jFS8SyMCOnclz0b4QbfnOlcz1WJZAxTEFU9Ylm9LUx5IDuQAYBE04xitZbg%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR4y1wMnCYw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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