The MJ, "Overhaulin" style!

[xjtrailrider]

I thought i would start a build thread of our MJ;

My son Josh and I pulled the motor today. It will get new gaskets, rear main seal, front seal, water pump, T-stat, hoses and a good pressure washing then paint. The engine bay will get pressure washed tomorrow and painted on Tuesday. I hope to be driving it by next Sunday.

A few pics of todays fun.

 

[KsMJ]

I'm jealous of your "facilities" to do the work. I've got to get over my MJ addiction, mine has become a Fix Or Repair Daily (FORD) and it's making me weary. Mine is currently in my garage with electrical woes. Good luck with project. Front end is off-good time for a 97 up conversion. Another of my wishes.

 

[Ghost]

How do you get the star bolts off the top of the transmission without droping it?

 

[offroader461]

you can access them from the top...i used a box wrench the first 2 times...then i used several long extensions with a wobble joint for the other 5 or 6 times i have had to pull a transmission out of them

 

[Ghost]

you can access them from the top...i used a box wrench the first 2 times...then i used several long extensions with a wobble joint for the other 5 or 6 times i have had to pull a transmission out of them

Often wondered that. I only did one engine swap and it had a severely frozen motor so we ended up literally tearing it down to get the torque converter bolts off.

 

[xjtrailrider]

I remove the motor mounts and brackets then drop the engine all the way to the axle and remove them from the top. Then I lift the engine up, support the tranny with a jack and remove the last 2 side bolts. Then just pull it out!

We did a little more work this evening

Dirty engine bay;

Clean engine bay;

Tomorrow it will be a painted engine bay.

 

[xjtrailrider]

Front end is off-good time for a 97 up conversion. Another of my wishes.

This is my 17 year olds MJ and he hates the 97+ front ends so we are staying old school on this one!

 

[xjtrailrider]

Painted engine bay;

Clean engine;

We found a ton of build up inside this engine. It almost looks like a gritty paste. My plan is to clean out as much as I can by scraping/scrubing and washing it down with some MMO.

 

[FlexdXJ]

Damn you work fast! Wanna come up here and do that to my MJ.....while you're at it stuff an LM7 truck motor in it!

 

[kmanxj5050]

i cant wait till my son grows up so i can spend that much time on vehicles lol. Ive been trying to find time to change my rear main seal for the last two weeks lol.

looks nice!!!

 

[xjtrailrider]

Damn you work fast! Wanna come up here and do that to my MJ.....while you're at it stuff an LM7 truck motor in it!

No thanks! I have way too many projects right now. No big motor for this one, my son is driving it.

i cant wait till my son grows up so i can spend that much time on vehicles lol. Ive been trying to find time to change my rear main seal for the last two weeks lol.

looks nice!!!

Thanks! I have 3 boys, 24, 18, 10. I enjoy everything we can do together and I wish I could spend one more minuet with my dad.

 

[kmanxj5050]

I hear ya. I wish my dad was into jeeps! Mines 3 months and I'm gonna try and make sure jeep is his blood type!

 

[xjtrailrider]

The engine is ready to drop in tomorrow. We will swap out the brake booster for a 96 dual diaphragm unit while the engine bay is empty. Here are some pics of the engine.

I swapped the AC over to a 96 model R134 unit so I have to find a belt that will work with the change of pulley configuration.

I have a set of FORD 19# injectors on the way to replace the stock units.

 

[ChuckstrPT]

Looking good! Any kid time is good kid time. And if it's also Jeep time.... Score! Wish I had the skills/time to tear it up like that:cheers:

 

[Ghost]

Nice! I need to find the cash to get a donor for the MJ Little Glenn wants that has been sitting around back for a couple years now.

 

[xjtrailrider]

The engine is in! It slid right into place.

We will fire it up just as soon as the injectors come in the mail.

 

[xjtrailrider]

As soon as I get the injectors from Precision(its been over a week since I ordered them) then we will fire it up.

We ripped out the interior and found only one rusted through spot that I can easily repair and I bought some POR15 to coat the surface rust with. The pass side floor is like new!

I am combining the down pipe from the RENIX with the exhaust hanger from a H.O. to eliminate the square flange. I'm also adding a "high flow" cat that I had on Big Red and then a cheap turbo muffler and turn down just in front of the rear axle.

I hope to have it all done by Saturday so we can start on the lift and axle swap.

 

[Ghost]

You need to take a break this weekend and come over to Harlan. It's not that far!

 

[xjtrailrider]

You need to take a break this weekend and come over to Harlan. It's not that far!

I really do but I doubt I will even get to wheel this summer. Right now I'm juggling 2 repair projects, the MJ and my moms wrecked XJ.

Then football starts Aug 1st, I will be tied up until Oct coaching,

This has been a bad summer for me so far.

 

[xjtrailrider]

The home made exhaust is in. We took the 89 down pipe, mated it with the 96 cat (to eliminate the troublesome and leaky flange at the hanger) and then welded on a el-cheapo muffler and turn down from Oreillys.

The floor boards have been coated with POR15 and we start fitting the bucket seats and console today. The engine is ready to start.