Operation 'Basket Case MJ'

[Gojira94]

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.

 

[Gojira94]

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.

 

[Gojira94]

My rig will be getting cruise control! I was convinced 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 a user on another forum 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.

 

[Gojira94]

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.

 

[Gojira94]

This steering column rolled around in the trunk of my Accord for almost 2 weeks before 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:

 

[Gojira94]

...and black lock cylinder. Just need to paint it black, wrap the wheel and keep an eye out for a black horn pad with the faux cap screw design.

 

[Gojira94]

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.

 

[Gojira94]

One fender splash shield mocked up for fitment, fairly decent. Deciding where to draw the line on the frame for the supplemental undercoat. I think I know how I want that...

Engine mount brackets and track bar brace are in...

 

[Gojira94]

Undercoating done in the fender wells. I left the bottoms of the frame rails uncoated. I figure it's easier to deal with scuffs/ scratches/ scrapes in paint rather than a rubberized coating. If I change my mind about that, it's easily done.

Frame horns painted up to the front plate, inside and outside. All that remains of paint on the front third of the rig is DE1635 on the front crossmember. (And the lower cowl...)

 

[Gojira94]

And it's official... going 6 - 6.5" lift. OME 2934, ACOS, SOA with new leafs, 15x8 -19mm offset black wheels wearing 33s. RRO CA drop brackets are on the way. Everything else is in hand and ready except tires and wheels.

 

[Gojira94]

I bagged the idea of finding something else that would fit for the washer tank with the 96 XJ brake booster upgrade. One from a 2002 Crown Vic would have worked:

A used 97-01 XJ tank at my local yard is like $13 so I grabbed one. Poked 2 holes to mount it and made the filler neck hole free-hand with a Dremel.

 

[Gojira94]

Steering box install- it's always a victory when something I fixed or rebuilt vacates the spot in the house it's taken up for over a year lol. I decided to wrap the undercoat up to cover the area where these boxes tend to soil things. This one shouldn't leak for a long time.

I had to work the shape of the step in this piece to properly fit the seam it sits on top of in the front of the steering box. Then covered it in undercoat as well.

New Pitman arm boot (was not nearly as cheap as I'd have liked it to be).

Old brace/ new brace. The yellow zinc bolt is M14x2.00x90mm, with a lock nut. The shanks of the bolts that came with the IronMan brace were too long, not enough thread with the washer supplied. So I reused the pristine factory bolts and just added the extra.

 

[Gojira94]

Pulling apart the boneyard Dana 30. Came from a good looking 99 XJ. The U-joints were no good and no way I was going to trust the ball joints or hubs. Everything on the outside is fighting me. Hub bolts had red loc-tite on them. I had to savagely beat the hubs out of the knuckles lol. Ball joints were a PITA but came out without an impact.

Inside, everything is really really good. Ring gear backlash is between .007" - .008". Pinion bearing preload is right at 14 in. lbs. Carrier bearings are silky smooth and cherry. It's almost like this axle was never off-roaded, which is pretty much what I was looking to start with.

Inner axle seals were so good I could re-use them (but I won't).

 

[Gojira94]

The leftover nubs from the sway bar link studs were a b@$tard to get out. One pressed out, had to drill some of the other one to get it press out. Now at the point where I can clean up the housing and put it back together, at least.

 

[Gojira94]

A little progress over a weekend in May. Some time with a flap disc, Duplicolor DE1634, 1635 and POR-15 TopCoat DTM lol. I have one more knuckle to clean and re-finish and then onto the housing. Then reassembly. And then (holy crap) I can have a rolling chassis again.

As a first time Jeep owner, I was disappointed to learn this is non-serviceable. New Moog stuff, for now. Surprised that they don't come painted. Oh well. DE1635 to the rescue.

Factory diff cover on this 99 XJ axle is thicker and stronger than I'd have expected.

 

[Gojira94]

Dana 30 is 100% done. New ball joints, bushings, 760-X u-joints, new unitized bearings, inner axle seals, pinion seal. The dust plates were trashed after dragging it onto a wheelbarrow in the boneyard back when but they cleaned up and straightened out. NOS RE1383 3" lower bump stops, If they're too much with the ACOS on a 6" lift I'll back down to 2". Next task is the Rocky Road control arm drop kit and then front suspension assembly. I'll ask this in the tech forum, but if anyone is running OME 2934 springs, is one different/ shorter? I've seen mention that a 10mm spacer is needed " for the pasenger side." IDK...

And yes, those Dorman hub bolts have to be shortened about 4-5mm for acceptable clearance from the wheel studs. 40 grit flap disc made short work of that lol.

 

[Gojira94]

LCA pockets cleanup - 1st pass. Metal looks good.

Passenger side:

Driver's side:

 

[TheZenTree]

Man I really appreciate your attention to detail ...and all the pics. Both of those are time consuming by themselves.

 

[Gojira94]

Man I really appreciate your attention to detail ...and all the pics. Both of those are time consuming by themselves.

Thanks man, I'm 54 and this is my first 4WD/ first Jeep. I've done a bunch of street performance GM trucks and cars. Wish I had body panel painting skills lol. This one I'm just doing in my garage. I'd like to have it on the road before winter.

 

[Gojira94]

Front axle mock-up to get control arm lengths underway. The Rocky Road drop kit seems to want a stock lower arm length. Starting with passenger side wheelbase. I'm at 113.75-113.875." I'll need to lose .75" to get it right. The lower arms (Core 4x4) can lose about another .125" and the lower arm bracket is adjustable. I started with those perfectly centered so I could have adjustment either way I needed. That'll give me another .5" or so shorter.

Front ride height is set at 12.75" which should be exactly 6" over stock. No springs, shocks or drivetrain, so that was easy lol. That toe isn't off as it looks in 2 dimensions...

I haven't measured ACOS to lower bumpstop distance but it's closer than I expected. I may drop back to 2" on the lower. Please chime in if you have any thoughts/ experience.

 

[Gojira94]

Moved the ride height to 13.75" (based on the fact that 4WD MJs were 1" higher ride height than 2WD), got the wheelbase to 113.25" and set the track bar length with the axle centered. Debated whether or not to continue in the heat/ humidity. If the humidity in JoCo was any higher yesterday it'd been raining. Upper and lower bumpstop gap at this height is 5.75". Front shocks have 12.2" travel, so it'll be close to ideal and prevent bottoming them out with .45" to spare.

 

[Gojira94]

The temptation to get some more parts out of the den won out. Got the ACOS set, springs and shocks in. OME 2934 do have a height difference L/R. So to set the ACOS to fill out the desired 6" lift paired with 2934s, ACOS height is as follows:

Passenger side:
94.7mm (3.728346")
Driver's side:
82mm (3.22835")
(12.7mm / .499996" difference)

Measurement is from the top of the upper half to the lower edge of the lower cushion on the ACOS. I opted to use my new factory style upper spring cushions, so the measurement to compensate for removing them in a standard ACOS installation didn't need to be added 'back' to the ACOS height. I just didn't like the idea of slapping aluminum against steel at a heavy load point on the unibody.

Passenger side:

Driver side:

 

[Gojira94]

This is where I stopped for the day. As expected, without the weight of the engine with track bar length set, it's shifted to the passenger side. At least if I have to make adjustments with the engine in, it'll be already very close. It now stands on its own and I can pull the cribbing out from under it. Next is steering gear, and temporarily install the column, so I can roll it in/ out for more cleanup underneath the cab and prep for floor pan patches.

 

[Gojira94]

Steering gear in and pretty darn close on the alignment. I'll need to center the steering wheel when I get the column in but it's within about 20* as it is.

I bought a version of the RC 6610 drop Pitman arm for dirt cheap to answer some questions. It mocked up too low so I reinstalled the OE Pitman arm. This is the STOCK Pitman arm:

I threw the old steering stabilizer back on it to see how it the fitment is. It's cinched snug but not tightened and drawn all the way through (was a pain to get off the old drag link). I don't like the angle at all. I'd like suggestions on a replacement that might have a ball joint type attachment at the drag link.

 

[Gojira94]

Steering box brace installed, with relocation brackets. Ran out of time today before I could get the sway bar and disconnects in.