Shamrock96

While back I swapped my 231 for a 242 out Of a 97 zj. I haven't had time put the finishing touches in it what with an engine swap in progress and the floors but now I'm trying to button it all up. Long story short (too late), the shifter is off so the gate gets in the way of shifting to 4lo and in 2hi there is space in front of the shifter. My research says I shouldn't have to adjust the linkage. Did I make a mistake?

TheNerd

I've never done the swap, but I thought you needed to keep the linkage with the x-fer case (i.e. swap the case, swap the linkage). Regardless, step 1 is to adjust the linkage to the point where you can get it into 4lo. Once you have that, make sure you can get it all the way back to 2wd. Then, you'll know for sure.

gilbertxj466

I've done a number of different swaps, unfortunately, and each time I had to lengthen or shorten the linkage bar. No big deal, just talk it to the local machine shop and they should be able to do it on the spot.

TheJerm

^x2 plus I believe the 242 shift gates are different so you might have to swap the tcase handle out for the 242 handle

Shamrock96

I solved the issue. The Cherokee rod is 1/2" too short the linkage rod needs to be 1' so I took the spare zj rod and cut and welded it and now no problem. Also zj and Xj handles are not interchangeable unless you adjust it's curve so re using the old handle works fine. I'm using the zj shift gate but it's not a perfect fit a trip the the junk yard might be in order to find an Xj 242 gate.













It's not pretty but it works. Now if I could get that indicator to work.......