Operation 'Basket Case MJ'

From April 10th:

Group 34 battery does fit after all. Today she got cab harness, a battery, new hood release cable, door checks, stereo and speakers installed, wiring for the cargo light repaired. Last interior electric item is to finish up the feeds for the Euramtec lights. Then carpet, panels, and a seat!! w00t!

Also... this afternoon at lunch break I got 5 gallons of 89 and fed it in. I've confirmed tonight there are no fuel leaks. Fuel pressure at KOEO/ prime is 38psi according to the mechanical gauge on the regulator.

It spun strong and even... and barked off almost immediately. Before I remembered I'd pulled the IAC off and hadn't yet swapped in the Renix TPS. So I shut it down promptly lol. Tomorrow, hopefully a video of it running while I top off/ burp the cooling system.
 
Wednesday the 16th:

Battling electrical gremlins right now. So far:

1) Blower doesn't work. Back burner... (FIXED)
2) No power to turn signal flasher. Fixed. Involved pulling C100 apart and extra cleaning of contacts on the fuse box side. (FIXED)
3) LF turn signal gray w/tr wire is only seeing constant .3V w/ LF blinker on. (FIXED)
4) Reverse lights not working. Reverse lights switch definitely bad, found one locally. Back burner... (FIXED)
5) Horns not working, no click from relay. Back burner... (FIXED)

Hazards/ parking lights work on all 4 corners, rear turn signals work, brake lights work.

#3: confirmed continuity from C100 pin A1 to C102 pin 3. All other Front Lighting harness pins have good voltage/ ground. RF turn signal works after replacing socket with broken ground pin. Pulled C100 (engine compartment side) again, in the process of cleaning & tweaking contacts on both sides. Next check is continuity from C156 pin H to C100 pin A1 (instrument panel side). Lunch break over, back to day job...

Had to jumper 2 wires for the reverse lights. C115 under the dash looks like they changed the shape of the connector after 1988. My engine control harness passed through the ECU connectors and this one connector. Reverse lights = check!
 
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Friday - just for giggles...

Tall boy shifter stick from a TJ. I kinda like it. In first it sits at 3:00 from the wheel about 4" away. The tall AX15 shift tower IS from a TJ so it's a shorter throw already.

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XJ/ MJ shifter on the TJ shift tower:

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Carpet is in. I started the trimming at the front, just a little at a time until it lined up with the molded areas left and right. Then the sills, and rear last. I added a layer of 1/2" jute to all the areas the carpet didn't come with. Still have to install the rear corner trim/ seat belts and rear panel/ upper trim. And work the headliner in there while I'm at it. Really need to vacuum before I go any further lol.

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Header panel stripped, cleaned and reassembled. O'Reilly-mixed Colorado Red in a rattle can worked pretty well to put some color back on it. It was pretty beat up. There's a deep enough crack above the Jeep logo that's going to have me looking for another header panel at some point but it's fine for now. The 10-slot grille is long gone but I don't mind the look of the 8.

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Header panel is on, all lights work (yay). Bumper needs to be adjusted up and tightened, lower valance needs a clean before going back on. Interior is complete except for headliner, bench seat and visors, which hopefully I can knock out tomorrow. Doors will be their own thing, side-project. The regulators need some maintenance and cleaning. Door cards are in great shape. In the next week, I'll be onward to rear suspension. Also need to get those 33s mounted on the steelies ASAP.

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I cant wait till this is done so I can have my son park next to yours and see the twins.
 
And... She's sitting on her 33s now. Rear still isn't lifted but tackling that soon. Trying to completely finish the interior before moving on. Throttle body from Leigh Performance Machine is on, having issues getting the adapted TPS up to range. Right now it's adjusted maxed out at 10% idle / 85% WOT. Haven't run it yet, but will today. I don't know if the bored throttle body's idle set screw is moved during machining or not, might have to ping Jeff for more info on that. I don't want to pull the TB and mess with it if I can avoid creating another issue. Trying to get 3 variables to line up- determine set screw ideal position, TPS happy, and IAC counts NOT maxed or bottomed out to compensate.

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It’s going into closed loop, O2 is working. Runs fine with TPS at 10% base. But… I’d like to see idle RPMs a tad higher. I read somewhere for a Renix manual anywhere from 650-800 is fine. I think I will adjust the base idle screw a hair. That’ll get me closer to 750 and probably raise the IAC counts a bit. I can only guess what that is, surprised the REM doesn’t pull and display that. I’m used to tuning GM stuff and IAC counts are a core indicator of a number of things, especially getting bigger cams to idle/ low speed off-idle without surge.

EDIT: I take that back, REM does have an IAC indicator. However, Renix ECU only tells if it's moving one way or the other. ("<128 / >128"). I'll have to look at that again, but I'd expect it to be still and not moving up or down (stable at whatever counts it has at idle).

 
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Passenger side regulator had dropped its receiver tube and there was no way I was going to get it back on the barbed end without pulling it. A little heat to soften it and I got it back on there. Followed instantly with ice to shrink and bond it as best as possible. I pulled the other one and greased both with synthetic grease. I don't know if that's a no-no, but the difference is amazing. Before they were both loud and very stiff. The ideal fastener to reinstall them would be stainless or yellow zinc M7-1.0 x 10mm ~or~ 9/32" x 1/2" but good luck finding those without having to wait a day or two at Fastenal or Amazon. Next best is 1/4"-20 x 1/2." With either nylon locking nut or prevailing torque nut on the back. The original rivets spin when you drill them, so you have to hold the back side of them with pliers while you drill. The nut to release the glass is 18mm. There's a wave washer under it.

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Passenger side regulator and both new door locks in. Missing half the regulator fastener hardware for the driver's door, but I'll pick that up from job #2 at 5:00. Taking the driver's door lock out, I noticed the short rod attached to it was disconnected from the latch assembly and there was electrical tape around it. And... the one at the lock cylinder was also taped and partially destroyed. Fortunately, I had a couple compatible rod clips left over from door work on my C1500 a couple years ago. All back together and works like it should. Passenger door, ready for panel:

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This is the lock cylinder kit I used:

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Front brakes installed. This is a PowerStop kit for 1999.5 XJ with cast rotors. Had to make a run to the boneyard for banjo bolts. Snagged a pair from a 97 V8 ZJ and another from an 06 Grand Cherokee. Exactly the same bolts all the way back to 91 apparently. Hoses are from Autozone - 777848 and 777849, 22" OAL. Pulling apart the rear brakes today on lunch break from job #1.

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D35 (non c-clip) is out. It needs carrier bearings and axle bearing kit. Pinion bearings and seal have been replaced not too long before I got the truck. Preload is good, bearings are smooth and seal is in good shape with no leaks. Axle splines are straight, axles look good for what they are. Running what I got until something else presents itself.

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Rear brakes aren't awful, but I have all new hardware and shoes anyway. And an opportunity to clean and re-paint the backing plates.

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Only update from the weekend- D35 housing is cleaned up. Base coat of Por-15 topcoat, followed by undercoating. Inner tube seals are on the way, carrier is at my machinist in Raleigh getting new bearings. Axle bearing kits may take another week to show up. I plan to have the housing back in SOA with the new leafs (leaves?) this week, with just the axles to go.Then I can take measurements for the rear driveshaft.

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In a holding pattern for the most part. Got the rear brakes blown apart so I can clean and paint the backing plates. Doing a little cleanup, I noticed this on one of the carrier bearing races. :eek:

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The carrier didn't have any discernible side-side play when I pulled it but there was obviously no preload, hence the decision to replace the bearings. Glad I didn't roll the dice and just run it. It'd have burned up good in no time...
 
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