LTD MJ
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Columbus, IN
Alright.. I'm finally starting the build of my 1988 Jeep Comanche.
The truck may look familiar as it previously belonged to BMyohn. It originally had a 4 cyl, 5-speed and at the moment it may end up with another 4 cyl, 5-speed setup that will be a bit better than what he extracted before I bought the truck.
Now with the WJ unibody out of the way, I was able to get started by taking off the bed and getting a better look at things. Next steps will be getting the WJ axles stripped and welding on XJ spring perches on the front and some leaf springs perches on the rear. Then I'll have to move onto the floor which should be fun!... but anyway, first things first...
I have a few avenues I can go down with regards to driveline and wiring. Still haven't settled on which bits from the WJ and which bits from the XJ I'm going to use. Obviously running the XJ wiring and gauges would be the fastest, but I originally envisioned doing a complete wiring/driveline/gauge cluster and partial interior swap from the WJ into the truck. Then another engine came onto the scene and if I use it, I'll be running a manual and I would need to run more of the XJ harness.
Either way, I have a '97 POS donor XJ (The Blue Pearl... Necklace) that Gene helped me pickup a few months ago that I'll be parting out at some point during the build after I get what I want out of it.
So what's the current plan?
-Axles: WJ D44 and D30 (save it sh*t on the aluminum D44, these will work just fine for what I'm doing with the truck!
)
-Transfer Case: Either WJ NV242 or XJ 242 if I can find one. If I use my XJ wiring, I'll need to find one with the tail shaft setup for the speedo sensor
-Transmission: NVG 3550 (if I do 4.7: 545RFE)
-Engine: 4 cyl CRD (or 4.7 if this engine doesn't pan out)
-Interior: WJ heated overstuffed leather seats, '97 XJ dash, center console, some other bells and whistles from the limited WJ
-Body: Dark Olive Green with black Comanche Chief decals on the bottom of the doors, '97-01 XJ doors, grill, 2007 Commander 5-spoke wheels, black grill, bumpers TBD
-Tires/Lift: Rusty's 3" and 31" A/T's - want to keep it a very road friendly rig
I want the thing to end up looking like something that Jeep should have built.. a fully loaded, clean, capable rig that is highway friendly and has a unique sound coming from under the hood (reminiscent of my old CJ, but much more quiet!)
Here she is! photos
The truck may look familiar as it previously belonged to BMyohn. It originally had a 4 cyl, 5-speed and at the moment it may end up with another 4 cyl, 5-speed setup that will be a bit better than what he extracted before I bought the truck.
Now with the WJ unibody out of the way, I was able to get started by taking off the bed and getting a better look at things. Next steps will be getting the WJ axles stripped and welding on XJ spring perches on the front and some leaf springs perches on the rear. Then I'll have to move onto the floor which should be fun!... but anyway, first things first...
I have a few avenues I can go down with regards to driveline and wiring. Still haven't settled on which bits from the WJ and which bits from the XJ I'm going to use. Obviously running the XJ wiring and gauges would be the fastest, but I originally envisioned doing a complete wiring/driveline/gauge cluster and partial interior swap from the WJ into the truck. Then another engine came onto the scene and if I use it, I'll be running a manual and I would need to run more of the XJ harness.
Either way, I have a '97 POS donor XJ (The Blue Pearl... Necklace) that Gene helped me pickup a few months ago that I'll be parting out at some point during the build after I get what I want out of it.
So what's the current plan?
-Axles: WJ D44 and D30 (save it sh*t on the aluminum D44, these will work just fine for what I'm doing with the truck!
)-Transfer Case: Either WJ NV242 or XJ 242 if I can find one. If I use my XJ wiring, I'll need to find one with the tail shaft setup for the speedo sensor
-Transmission: NVG 3550 (if I do 4.7: 545RFE)
-Engine: 4 cyl CRD (or 4.7 if this engine doesn't pan out)
-Interior: WJ heated overstuffed leather seats, '97 XJ dash, center console, some other bells and whistles from the limited WJ
-Body: Dark Olive Green with black Comanche Chief decals on the bottom of the doors, '97-01 XJ doors, grill, 2007 Commander 5-spoke wheels, black grill, bumpers TBD
-Tires/Lift: Rusty's 3" and 31" A/T's - want to keep it a very road friendly rig
I want the thing to end up looking like something that Jeep should have built.. a fully loaded, clean, capable rig that is highway friendly and has a unique sound coming from under the hood (reminiscent of my old CJ, but much more quiet!)
Here she is! photos
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