Sir Sam Posted October 4, 2011 Author Share Posted October 4, 2011 This is the 96- steering column hole: This the 97+ steering column hole, it needs to to cutout and moved obviously. Not exactly sure how I will go about that. Here you can see that the newer C101 plug hole, what I will probably do it cutout the donor shape and then use the bolt holes in the older plug to hold the plate in place. This is the older style steering column bracket, it will need to but cutout and the new one(below) welded in. Here you can see the older style heater core hole is a little different, but it'll work. Here you can see the upper dash bolt points are different, not sure what to do about those. This is the older side mount bracket studs/bolt holes, the newer style is below, as you can see there are a fair amount of differences. This is the older style door post latch, this is a little tricky but can be dealt with fairly easily. And this is where I think I will mount the filter head: I'm not sure why but I have a filter head with different banjo fittings on it, which won't work in my configuration, so the bent stockers are perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Sam Posted October 4, 2011 Author Share Posted October 4, 2011 Steering column/dash bracket cutoff: Lets do this: Passenger side bracket welded on(the thin stuff at the top was a b*@$£) I got the drivers side partially welded on then tossed the dash in place to make sure I had measured the right place to weld the brackets on. Looks good to me, dash sits in place like it should. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simmonsm Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Looking good, that diesel engine is gonna be sweet.... I am also doing the 97+ swap and on the top of the dash I just cut the xj's top dash mounts out and welded them to the mj, but that may be a real pain with an oxy/ace torch and the thin metal, looking forward to more updates Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Sam Posted October 5, 2011 Author Share Posted October 5, 2011 Todays update: Finished welding the brackets in place, patched a hole in the firewall I burned when tacking things in place, gonna wire wheel em then through some primer on tomorrow, then onto the lower pivot bolts, tranny tunnel bolts, patch a rust hole in the floor, weld in the 97+ seat bracket, do the firewall mods, door latch posts.......etc etc And so no one thinks I'm a slacker I did a timing belt on a diesel KJ this morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alleydog Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 I'm not picking on you here, but the weld might flow together nicer if you made sure all the paint was buffed off the weld area before welding.I know it's a pain welding the edge of that thin stuff, I've had the best luck just plug welding inside the holes. I really like what youre doing here, and looking forward to seeing it on the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Sam Posted October 5, 2011 Author Share Posted October 5, 2011 I'm not picking on you here, but the weld might flow together nicer if you made sure all the paint was buffed off the weld area before welding.I know it's a pain welding the edge of that thin stuff, I've had the best luck just plug welding inside the holes. I really like what youre doing here, and looking forward to seeing it on the road. It was all cleaned and prepped, its just metal thats 1.2mm thick.(and maybe operator skill) plug welds were much better though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfreeman616 Posted October 7, 2011 Share Posted October 7, 2011 nice build, but i have one thought on the oil filter...and no, it's not about the Fram. it looks like the stock set up includes a heat exchanger filled with coolant? will that cause any problems not having it? nice info on the CCD/PCI and SRS adaptation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Sam Posted January 6, 2012 Author Share Posted January 6, 2012 nice build, but i have one thought on the oil filter...and no, it's not about the Fram. it looks like the stock set up includes a heat exchanger filled with coolant? will that cause any problems not having it? nice info on the CCD/PCI and SRS adaptation. The heat exchanger is still there, I just removed the cartridge style oil filter, instead it now uses a spin on TJ filter. Which means in the future I may go with a remote filter setup that would work for a TJ, but for now that will work. Got the steering column bracket in place, modded it to accept one of the existing studs and then welded one from the donor vehicle in place on the side. Then I got the lower pivot hole welded in, cut off the factory nut from the donor then drilled a hole and welded the plate in. Still need to do the passenger side. As you can see here two of the upper dash bolt holes don't line up, I think I'm going to weld a tab to the existing smaller lip and then drill a hole and move the threaded clip in place, then just use a large washer on the small bolt, this needs to be done on both sides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Sam Posted January 7, 2012 Author Share Posted January 7, 2012 New tab added for 97+ dash: Welded: Now I need to drill some holes for the threaded tabs: It bolts in where it should now! Passenger side pivot bolt welded in: This is the tranny tunnel bracket, I will need to add threaded mount for it. I'm not sure if I will add a nut to the backside the time time I have the tranny out, or If I should do it via the topside right now. Leaning towards doing it topside now so I can move on from the dash to other things. Need to drill one new hole to accommodate the newer 97+ airbox, otherwise the 97+ airbox is done! Next up is the trans tunnel support and then the 97+ seat brackets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderbear Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Stoked you're back on this! :drool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Sam Posted March 2, 2012 Author Share Posted March 2, 2012 Got a shell for the MJ, its a brahma which means its kinda cheap, maybe in the future if I find a nice leer that I like I will upgrade, but for now this is fine by me. The holy grail of MJ 97+ door panels: Scored a set of seats from a 2 door......the seats themselves are pretty much junk, but they have the tilt mechanisms which can be installed into just about every other jeep seat(could install them in heated leather seats for example). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmillan599 Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 Sir Sam, I would really like to know how and what is all needed in order to upgrade my 1996 XJ dashboard out for a 97+ dash along with original cluster, climate controls, radio, steeringwheel & airbags, I will follow all instructions to the "T" to make it all work correctly, I already have the complete dash and wiering just need to be pointed in the right direction, thanks in advance!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeepcoMJ Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 Everything. Literally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92tanMJ Posted April 2, 2013 Share Posted April 2, 2013 Great build dude Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Sam Posted August 8, 2016 Author Share Posted August 8, 2016 With the help of freerider I picked up this camper top for the MJ. Looks like it was originally from an S10. Heavy SOB, picked it up friday night and got it set on this morning.Lets see what 2018 brings. :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted August 10, 2016 Share Posted August 10, 2016 Actually, 'Nests were made ridiculously universal between make/models. They went off of bed size and that's about it. They had the huge mounting flanges on the inside of them just for that reason. Looks good on there!... now get it done. :smart: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Sam Posted January 17, 2018 Author Share Posted January 17, 2018 Rolled the MJ into the garage and started prepping the KJ axle, got the KJ brackets - lower control arm, shock mount, and spring pad cutoff, and I am half done grinding the tube smooth. Brackets to cutoff: Spring pad cleaned up: Everything cutoff: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Sam Posted January 17, 2018 Author Share Posted January 17, 2018 In preparation for installing the axle I sprayed the leaf springs. They were basically bare steel, or one step above it. So I prepped them by cleaning with Acetone and a microfiber rag. I had a ton of high temp rustoleum black around so I used that, hit the leaves with a bunch of coats of. Might not be the best prep or cleanup or even paint for the long term, but its gotta be better than bare and I'll its under the jeep anyway. Oh and I found the bushing wasn't fully/correctly pressed into one of the springs. So one bushing sticks out too far to the right, and the other sticks out too far to the left. I'd say the combined tolerance stackup is approaching 3/4". Grrrrrrr. Guess I'll give the balljoint press a try to center them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Glad to see this at the top of the list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Sam Posted January 20, 2018 Author Share Posted January 20, 2018 So I made a video showing some things I ran into with the spring......https://youtu.be/4aUsUiwlxrk I think I'm going to try and push to have some more videos go along with what I'm doing, youtube recently changed their rules so I am now in a push to hit 100k subcribers, I have a little over 500 currently. Shameless plug: For any of you willing to subscribe please to help me out you can do so by clicking on:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtRd0ADTAvGGaPDYU6MrGIQ?sub_confirmation=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Sam Posted January 28, 2018 Author Share Posted January 28, 2018 Got the new perches, got it in last night. Took a video showing the installed state and a few things about it. Be forwarned its a little long if you are not planning to swap this axle into an MJ:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcPzZFVUUrs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Sam Posted January 31, 2018 Author Share Posted January 31, 2018 I started removing the seat brackets from the XJ donor metal. I made a how to video for removing the spot welds. This process applies to pretty much any spot weld cutting you are likely to ever do for automotive purposes.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLpjFQDPA4s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Sam Posted February 3, 2018 Author Share Posted February 3, 2018 Finished installing the Chevy drop shackles. I got about an inch of lift out of them, I have one higher hole on the shackles I could use, but it won't give me much more lift. This was the set I picked up, I am pleased with the quality for the price.https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0106NWAJY MJ shackle top(which is longer than an XJ shackle) The width is a little different. I used giant cresent wrench to bend open the frame side shackle box, put the shackle in, and then bolted it tight. If I were a more patient man I would have pulled the bushing out, shaved down the width of the metal sleeve, and then bushing to make it the correct size. Likewise the other end is a little large, I picked up a couple of fender washers to take up space and then bolted it tight, again the nut and bolt pulled it closed some. Installed in lower position: How it sits now: About 20" between flare bottom and wheel center. Height is OK. Might end up moving the shackle up once springs settle some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Sam Posted February 3, 2018 Author Share Posted February 3, 2018 Messed up the last part of that update. Here is where it sits now: Before, with old springs, stock shackles, and SUA d35, and a heavy wildernest on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Sam Posted February 3, 2018 Author Share Posted February 3, 2018 h Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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