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I have yet again let my ambition distract me from other projects and taken on Another.
This project is in the attempt to fulfill 2 desires:
1. Document the differences in unibody setup when converting the 86 and older body to accept 87+ 4.0 drivetrain. Specifically using an 87+ unibody for pieces/parts.
2. Merge the cheaper registration cost of an older XJ with the reliability of the later obd1/early obd2 drivetrain and wiring. (95-96 XJ)
I began combing marketplace in the hopes of something 86/older with a relatively solid and usable unibody. Stock and unmolested was Key in my search and unsurprisingly most these 86 and older jeeps are skipped over by the Bro jeepers out there. There were only a few available and while i was shooting for an 84 being the first year- i only found 1- 85 and 2- 86 XJ's. The 85 had an aftermarket sunroof which was a big deterrent thanks to their common crude installs and one of the 2 85's was well out of my price range (dreamer pricing if you ask me).
So i settled a deal on this 86 XJ.
The details were a 2.8L V6 auto 4wd with roughly 85K miles. This has been sitting in this spot for 6 years intended to be the old mans project but the swiss cheese floor boards stopped him dead in his tracks and he never got any farther than removing the seats/carpet.
We made the deal at $450 and i happily dragged it onto the trailer and brought it home!
The thing that drew me in for this particular Jeep was the factory black interior. The floors didn't scare me soo much and after clawing around the rust a bit -i was glad to see that overall the unibody is just fine! Despite looking like a pile of trash everything to complete the interior is still there too. I pulled the seats out for the picture and to also get them into safe storage for the time being.
For having sat for soo long i was Very surprised to see the seats were fully intact! no mouse nests or destruction
Now for the overview plan!
Ditch the entire drivetrain and both axles and wiring from front to back! Clean up the shell and repair the floors. Find a donor 95 or 96 Cherokee to salvage everything needed for a seamless 86-95/96 update.
It is complete and in a way a shame. especially considering the 85k miles. I did spend prolly 5-10 mins fiddling with the engine getting it turned over with a fresh battery and some fresh fuel but no joy. I had no attachments to this drivetrain anyway but i figured i'd give it a shot. Drained the fluids, express cut/removed everything wiring and tubing related and it was go time!
No big deal, cleared the header panel just fine thankfully.
absolutely needs a good degrease and power wash
The hunt is still on for a donor vehicle, in the meantime i plan to get started on clearing out the interior fairly soon getting this jeep closer to an empty shell.
Dug into the interior and started clearing out the goods from the bad stuff
Filthy to say the least. Mouse turds everywhere!
Shop Vac'd and its looking OK but the carpet has a certain feel to it...
Going to look into a carpet shampoo/cleaner. Something that kinda brings it back to life.
Also sucked up all the lose dirt and rust debris lingering around. I did a very similar floor/chassis repair to my 98 Cherokee "Rubicon" recently so this is not scary at all.
Close up shot of the worst section of the frame
Passenger side looks to just need a floor pan and no frame repair
Steering column, engine bay harness, interior under dash harness, PCM, TCM, gauge cluster from a 96 donor XJ. Just what i was hoping for and i also got the AW4 trans, flex plate, torque converter-Core and wiper trans assy.
There is more in store, just need to get this garage cleaned up a bit first - story of my life!
Opportunity presented itself to get a little out of order and pull some parts for this project over the weekend.
This 90 MJ I originally bought for just the interior/seats turns out to be far more beneficial for this 86 than I had invisioned.
The drivetrain (roughly 90k miles) as a whole not very useful for the year I'm converting to but the engine however after a few updated parts, cleaning and fresh paint will serve nicely. Trans/tcase sold which prompted the teardown sooner than I planned too.
I also plan to salvage the front A member of the unibody, a section of the firewall and the radiator core supports as well.
Fortunately for me this MJ as has a factory D44 rear axle so i will gladly knock the leaf spring perches off and equip the axle for its new life under this 86.
04-16-2023, 09:10 AM
Project Decade. The 86 to 96 update
