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So lately ive been taking care of little things like new speakers, installing a disappointing bluetooth head unit ($30 from amazon so it is what it is).I pulled the carpet in favor of an actual MJ carpet replacement which for some reason led to figuring out the interior lights but settled on figuring out the placement of a newer style full length center console instead.
This is a $25 replacement steel mount for the console. Ebay and Amazon both have these for roughly the same price, i took a shot at this one only because it would show up in 2 days Sold! The 2 mounting holes on top were not tapped for anything, so i defaulted for 1/4-20 and made some custom hardware to fit it inside the console.
1/4-20 bolts that i shaved the heads while chucked in my drill and then hit with the cut-off wheel for some HD flat head hardware
Just some trim work sacrificing the ash tray and its set!
Adding some more mounting tabs but otherwise, this is home
This has been the highlight of my progress lately... Its slow going, what can i say.
Getting out to the garage later than I expected it was a bit dark for my priority work so I defaulted to getting this interior back together.
New to me MJ carpet got some trim work and then sunk into place. Re isntalled all the trims and seats, even dug up all the little pieces like covers for the seat belt hardware and the caps for the small phillips hardware on the b-pillar trims.
i need to dig up another tcase shifter to wither replace or modify this one with. The gated piece of metal that guides the shifter was removed by a previous owner. This doesn't really hinder the shifting but the shifter itself is rather sloppy in side to side play. Would also like to fit the tcase shifter bezel and potentially a simple trim piece to make up the gaps around the winters shifter for the tcase. BTW how about them cup holders 😉
Spring is finally here and it's time for some project cleanup/project changes!
There are 3 things in this picture that im finally going to address and change. The rear window has long been on my list to be swapped out with a 3 piece slider. This fuel cell needs to go in favor of more bed space and also the ability to refuel with ease when I have a topper on the truck. Lastly while I'm at it for open bed space I want to relocate/change the trans cooler setup to be at the front of the truck in front of the radiator.
Starting with the glass - I finally got motivated enough to start sourcing the replacement and not too surprising they are not cheap! No car-part yards will remove and ship them ($75-$150 for the glass) and because of that the affordable availability is not a thing. Now there is ebay at roughly $400 shipped/+shipping which is an option but there has to be something and little easier to swallow. Fortunately but unfortunately I found this longbed local to me for $400 as is. No drivetrain but my clear intention is just to source the 3 piece glass and this settles that need.
Now the unfortunate side is the fact that I had previously submitted an offer on an ebay listing which got accepted ($350 shipped) after I had struck the deal for the whole truck. I'm not one to abandon a deal for a "parts truck" soo I guess I'm going to have a spare glass.
The fuel cell is gonna get removed in favor of a jeep TJ tank and im going to one way or another figure out a tasteful mounting setup where the factory spare tire was. This ultimately is why I stepped away from the swap because I wasn't able to decide on a mounting setup I liked at the time I originally sourced the TJ tank.
Trans cooler can't be too complicated? Simple universal cooler sitting in front of the radiator and some cooler lines running along the unibody.
This MJ hasn't snuck its way into my garage space just yet but I feel confident in saying its soon coming!
Well it's finally time! Cleaned the garage space up a bit and then backed it in!
TJ tank time! Bare plastic tank - no skid plate for fitment reference.
time to chop this skid plate. Cutting the rear mounting surface off roughly 1" above the overall side height.
Chop #2 is roughly 1" above the cutouts for the tank strap retainers.
after these were cut-off the whole assy got a test fit and i took some measurements to then add material on the rear most side of the skid plate. Where I spotted the tank had some offset from where I planned to mount it to the bed. So I made a couple notches and then gave it some bends.
With a few stitch welds and some nuts welded to the backside we are ready for another test fit
bolts to the rear of the bed via (x5) 5/16s bolts
Currently sitting a little angled down which isn't ideal. I'm going to adjust the 2 bends I put it the rear plate which should flatten it back out a but then I can address the front mounts for this gas tank skid/gas tank mount
this was the end for my night - see you next weekend OJ
Started off with some adjusting on the rear plate I welded to the skid plate. Essentially tally hammering it back to straight. Then leveled the tank to then start on the front mounts
Faint but the 2 yellow X's are where the new mounts will.bolt through the 1" lip of the unibody X brace.
Bends in some 1/8" flat stock. Ill nab the end result of these brackets i welded to the skid plate later as i forgot to pictjre them when they were finished.
Onto the fuel filler setup, old jerry can and wouldnt you know it, the tan MJ just keeps on giving! Fuel filler with the old style gas cap to boot!
Again i can picture the finer details on this but essentially plasma cut out the threaded section of the jerry can and then bolted the fuel filler from the inside.
Making the transition between bed fuel filler and tank will be tight! So im going with a home made metal elbow from some leftover 1.5" hrew.
All the flux core welds
And after. This aint pretty work, but itll do what it needs to
Cut the excess
Fitted through the bed
Some clearance in the unibody frame which avoids the leaf spring mount, bed mount above and also the frame plates for the rear bumper
Some re-used rad hose will suffice until new fuel filler hose shows up.
This is where we sit until next weekend, still need to play with fuel sending unit and pump setup then also the wiring.
Though I'm at a fork in the road for fuel setup, can either find and purchase an 05-06 TJ fuel pump/sending unit assy with wire harness and drop it in OR continue with this general idea of adapting an aftermarket pump to my existing 04 and older sending unit...
THE 05-06 assy means more $$ to spend, the aftermarket pump assy means more custom work to figure out...
so i gutted the factory TJ fuel sending unit setup and replaced the pressure regulator with a Gforce V2 bypass, then drilled out the center to allow this bypass to fit in place. Also pictured is the aeromotive 340 fuel pump
Next to get the aeromotive fuel pump affixed to this TJ housing
Drilled and cut out some clearance for the aeromotive pickup sock to moujt flush with the bottom of the tank/sending unit. unit.ut a few access windows and secured the pump.
A couple sections of factory stainless MJ fuel line help get the fuel from the tank to the frame rail, then it's rubber line for the time being up to the front.
Jerry filler can mounted and the soon to be Gone fuel cell...
sourced some bed repair panels to fix the big hole
swapped out the barnes4wd universal battery mount for their XJ/MJ specific one
Scored this ranger fiberglass topper forva mere $40
It will end up on the OJ but for the time being the bed trailer can rock it
Picked up a pair of donor clusters to modify for aftermarket gauges. While I'm aware of the autometer pre formed bezel for aftermarket gauges, im also very much aware of the ~$110 price tag... I will gladly explore the modified route for a little bit before I drop $$$ for it.
Broken down
Rough placement
Black trim bezel will need some clearance for the arrangement which is OK by me
cool build! sort of a stupid question but do any MJ enthusiasts here know someone who can give me a rough estimate on how many comanches are in NC?
thank you.
It'd be a hard number to get nailed down. Thinking about it even going to the DMV and maneuvering essentially the question how many registered MJs are in the state, then you have to ask how many unregistered trucks are in the state?
