I literally just now bought a second check,96 to be exact. Couldn't pass it up for $350. It wrecked only slight front end damage but I was curious if any parts from it would fit on my 97?

 

Depending on how late in 96 it was made you could have the same underhood fuse box, distributor is the same, fuel pump is different

 

fix and sell

 

Fix and wheel

 

cant lose with either of these options; although having a parts jeep is nice, i borrow a part here and there from my 88 once in awhile.

****, that reminds me i still need to put a starter back into it....

anywho, it would be much easier to make a list of what you couldnt swap into your '97

 

anywho, it would be much easier to make a list of what you couldnt swap into your '97[/QUOTE]

That's what I was looking to hear! The 96 has almost 100,000 less miles than my 97. I was really thinking to swap the motor transfer and transfer case, after cleaning and servicing them real good of course.

 

96 is an oddball year- has a one-year only fuel pump assembly and fuel rail, the regulator is back in the pump assembly, not on the rail. (and is apparently very difficult to find a replacement)
The PDC does not match 95 or 97, it still has the separate temp sender for the gauge in the head while 97 does not, the ECU's are not directly interchangeable...
You can swap the engine into the 97, but I'd retain the 97 head and fuel rail to make it simpler.

 

So basically your saying just fix and do whatever with the 96 and let the Almighty 4.0 in the 97 stay where it is?

 

Nah, you can put the '96 engine into the '97 pretty easily. It would be simpler if you kept the '97 fuel rail setup though. The '96 in-tank regulator is hard to find when it fails.
The '96 head will work fine if you plug the hole for the rear temp sender and keep the '97 ECU.