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Hey Everyone, I'm new to this forum. I Just wanted to start a build thread for the build i'm doing. A little background on why I have this bone stock Renix. My wife and I recently got married and to help pay for the wedding, my old XJ had to go for the money.
My Old Cherokee:
Paying for the wedding took about a year or so and the entire time I had seller's remorse. So after the wedding as a wedding gift for me, she found a 1987 Cherokee for $1000.00. The seller said it had an overheating issue and other minor problems. Typical but nothing that couldn't be fixed. The Jeep has 245K miles and appears to have been decently taken care of.
One thing I was very happy about is she was able to track one down with an original Dana 44. I've already started doing little things to fix it up to my liking.
The instrument cluster that was in it was modified to have an aftermarket oil pressure gauge in it. Which didn't even work.
I went to the junk yard and was able to find a full instrument cluster for the Renix years. I snag two others in case some of the gauges didn't work in the one I was going to swap.
Some people are going to think its stupid and simple minded to have the full instrument cluster but I like it. After tearing the dash apart and replacing the the upper speedo cable, I got it in and it worked great.
While I had the instrument cluster out, I went to OneWayLight.com and ordered the full interior and cluster LED kits.
Before: (I forgot to take pictures of the original lights so I snagged one from google for comparison)
After:
I think they turned out great. After swapping the interior lights and fixing some wiring gremlins. I was able to get all the interior lights working again. I'll say, it is night and day difference between incandescent bulbs to LED's.
LED Swap: (Sorry, I don't have before pictures but if you have the stock interior lights i'm sure you know what it's like inside.
I started doing the fun part of fixing the overheating issue and decided to change the head gasket and basically clean and refresh the whole upper end.
I'm also going to be doing a closed loop to open loop cooling system.
Once I got everything out of the engine bay, I checked my motor mounts and of course they were shot so I picked up some new rubber Brown Dog Mounts to replace them.
Old Mounts:
New Mounts:
I have lots of other parts i'm going to be replacing in the process once I start putting the reconditioned cylinder head back on. The machine shop found 4 cracks in the head I gave them so they found another Renix era head that was crack free and reconditioned that one for me. I'll be installing the new head and everything else next weekend so check back later.
Reconditioned Cylinder Head and new MLS gasket and intake/exhaust manifold gasket:
Well, today was a very productive day. I got quite a bit of the engine back together. There are still some issue that need to be addressed though. Here are a few pictures of today accomplishments.
New Brown Dog mounts installed:
Old worn out motor mounts:
Installed and torqued cylinder head, push rods, and rockers:
Installed and torqued exhaust and intake manifolds. Installed new oxygen sensor, fuel pressure regulator, as well as upgraded to 703 injectors:
Last task of the day was getting the oil filter adapter reinstalled with new o-rings for it:
I the fuel line reinstalled with new o-ring for the quick disconnects. While installing the intake manifold I check the EGR valve and of course the diaphragm is shot. So there is another source of a vacuum leak. I got a new one in order as well as a new coolant temperature sender. I got a new map sensor which I'll be installing but I have to do cruiser54 throttle body to map sensor vacuum mod since my vacuum line has bit the dust. Check back later for more updates.
Yesterday I got quite a bit accomplished on the jeep.
Installed new Brown Dog motor mounts:
Some pictures of the old, worn out mounts. I'm surprised the PO didn't notice these or even their mechanic that did the work on the cooling system.
Installed new o-rings on the oil filter adapter and reinstalled. The old o-ring broke in my hand so they were probably the originals from '87.
So I don't know how you all are able to get to a torque wrench on head bolt 14 in the back but the pinch seam on the firewall needed a little persuasion to fit mine.
Pictures on the head, push rods, and rockers installed and torqued.
Pictures of the intake and exhaust manifolds installed and torqued. Also upgraded to 703 injectors and replaced the fuel pressure regulator. EGR valve is removed and a new one is on order due to a bad diaphragm.
My MAP sensor vacuum hose is toast and couldn't fine a good used one at the JY so i'm doing cruiser54 tip 31. Waiting for fittings to come in from NAPA.
That's about it for now. I should have her running this weekend hopefully then I can replace all my fluids and start doing my two piece to one piece Dana 30 CAD Delete.
If you would like to follow this build, check out my website, RenixAaron. I've tried to submit updates but I'm having problems getting my updates posted. I'm not sure if its a moderator/admin problem or a website problem. I try to give updates same day on the website. Thanks for checking out the build.
Last edited by CherokeeAaron; 09-05-2017 at 06:30 PM.
Hey everyone, I just posted an update on my website. Check it out to see the first start after completing the head job. (Short Video) I also upgraded the cooling and did a few of cruiser54 mods.
08-26-2017, 05:37 PM
Project: Wedding Present
