Project ZJ "my first jeep and I'm a cheap azz build"

[arveetek]

I used to own a 93 ZJ with the 5.2L.... great rig!

Check out www.ironrockoffroad.com for ZJ specific lifts... these guys are all about the Cherokees and Grand Cherokees!!

Casey

 

[ElCaminoManT]

found pretty much everything i needed at the yards today! took a bit of hunting and patience but was able to gather the parts i needed, less the headlights. i ended up ordering all 6 front light parts online instead. hood, hood release cable/handle and white grill came from a 96 limited at 1 yard and the fender came from a 96 laredo at another yard. the color is a bit off on the fender but im honestly not concerned since the majority of the jeep is going to get sprayed in white plasti-dip seeing as the paint is shot anyway. going to pull the 'spiffy' gold emblem from the hood, im not down with that look! diggin on the white grill as the orig chrome grill was the only chrome part on the whole truck. i also adjusted the hood down a bit on the right side after these pics were taken. also gave the carpets a good vacuum tonight and tomorrow going to give the rest of the interior a good scrubbing and condition the seats. prolly give the outside a quick bath too just because

 

[xjman88]

Good to see the zj coming together. I'm def gonna follow your build up.

 

[ElCaminoManT]

just an update: i was able to source a governor pressure solenoid for the transmission from one of our suppliers so i dropped the pan and changed it out this evening. unfortunately, none of the distributers or any local parts stores have the needed governor pressure sensor so was screwed there. normally the 2 end up failing together but i was hoping id get lucky with just the solenoid replacement but that wasnt the case. still not working right tho was a pretty easy job, didnt get much fluid on me. someone has already updated the solenoid packs at some point in its life to the later model parts but they are still known to go out hence why im changing the known biggest problem parts before i condemn the transmission itself. i just ordered the sensor online, hopefully itll be here in a couple days and i can change it out and hope that solves the problem. once i shift the transmission manually into second gear, the "grande'" as ive named the jeep, drives just fine with no slipping or anything. seems to have pretty good power considering the gas in the tank is prolly 4 or 5 years old now...lol!

 

[ElCaminoManT]

pressure sensor showed up today so dropped the pan after work again. unfortunately the mopar transmission still does not want to cooperate with me. so that saga continues...

on another note, my lights showed up last week but i had to go to the j-yards to find the necessary adjuster/headlight mounting parts. put the front end together for the final time this evening. sure looks a helluva lot better now! not to mention the headlights actually put out a beam pattern, not just a general glow of light! i put the chrome grille back on as the white one just looks dirty even after i scrubbed the hell out of it. thinking i may paint it black and see how it looks, thankfully its 3 screws holding it in so super easy to swap out

 

[xjman88]

The zj is looking good man. Nice job.

 

[billyzj]

looks like your getting it together,its looking nice

 

[ElCaminoManT]

$40 for some eagle wheels with OK condition 31s! gonna give the wheels some polishing love since they are pretty dull looking. even got an extra 2 stock cherokee wheels with 31s for spares!

 

[88Xj]

$40 for some eagle wheels with OK condition 31s! gonna give the wheels some polishing love since they are pretty dull looking. even got an extra 2 stock cherokee wheels with 31s for spares!

If you end up wanting to sell the wheels I'll be your buyer for sure! Been looking for a set for cheap lol.

 

[ElCaminoManT]

lol, im pretty sure im going to run these simply from the price point that i got them for. if i do however decide to unload them, ill send you a message

 

[ElCaminoManT]

so i did some more investigating with the transmission issue tonight. pulled the tcm out and took it apart to see if anything was going on. everything looks fine, no corrosion or anything out of the ordinary in there and no burnt electrical smell either. i pulled the connector at the outside of the transmission to find it completely full of atf! the updated harness doesnt seem to have held its internal seal very well so its going to have to get replaced which means the valve body is coming down meaning the pan is coming down again at minimum. pretty annoying as this last time i had the pan off, i put some sealer on both sides of the gasket as it was leaking after the first time i dropped it. oh well, such is life. part of me wonders if that harness may not be allowing the signal to or from the tcm for the pressure sensor and/or governor solenoid? im debating whether i should just get another valve body complete with harness from the j-yards so i can try to eliminate the possibility of it maybe being the valve body as well. talked to my buddy tonight who works on transmissions for a living about what i found and what not. he seemed puzzled by what it was doing and mentioned it could be that the sprag assembly and band for 1st gear may have gotten burned up if the PO kept trying to drive it if the solenoids had indeed gone bad. i dunno, trying to decide what route to go; try a valve body next? just get a complete j-yard trans and hope it works or rebuild my existing trans? rebuilding it could potentially be pretty spendy.

the jeep acronym really is living up to its name, i dunno why i tried to deny that...... i really want to get this thing going and give it another chance at life as everything else seems to work and function great and has the potential to be a great vehicle to explore with

 

[88Xj]

so i did some more investigating with the transmission issue tonight. pulled the tcm out and took it apart to see if anything was going on. everything looks fine, no corrosion or anything out of the ordinary in there and no burnt electrical smell either. i pulled the connector at the outside of the transmission to find it completely full of atf! the updated harness doesnt seem to have held its internal seal very well so its going to have to get replaced which means the valve body is coming down meaning the pan is coming down again at minimum. pretty annoying as this last time i had the pan off, i put some sealer on both sides of the gasket as it was leaking after the first time i dropped it. oh well, such is life. part of me wonders if that harness may not be allowing the signal to or from the tcm for the pressure sensor and/or governor solenoid? im debating whether i should just get another valve body complete with harness from the j-yards so i can try to eliminate the possibility of it maybe being the valve body as well. talked to my buddy tonight who works on transmissions for a living about what i found and what not. he seemed puzzled by what it was doing and mentioned it could be that the sprag assembly and band for 1st gear may have gotten burned up if the PO kept trying to drive it if the solenoids had indeed gone bad. i dunno, trying to decide what route to go; try a valve body next? just get a complete j-yard trans and hope it works or rebuild my existing trans? rebuilding it could potentially be pretty spendy.

the jeep acronym really is living up to its name, i dunno why i tried to deny that...... i really want to get this thing going and give it another chance at life as everything else seems to work and function great and has the potential to be a great vehicle to explore with

Do a Aw4 swap brother. May cost a little now but if the trans ever goes out, you can get another for less than 200 bucks. Or rebuild/upgrade it. I would do the aw4 for sure. I wouldn't waste my time or money on the 42re.

 

[ElCaminoManT]

heres my dilemma;

ive wanted an XJ for some time now. my coworker recently picked up a 98 so ive had a chance to check it out and drive it n what not. aside from it being too small inside, my biggest gripe is the fact that you cannot select manual 1st gear. youre stuck with the 1-2 thing the AW4s come with, WHY? i understand the AW4 is a stronger box, thats a given but not being able to slide the shifter back into a dedicated 1st gear bothers me. so for more room and the actual 1st gear selection, i opted to get a ZJ instead of the XJ

im not ruling out the AW4 swap, but im going to see about making the 42RE work for now

 

[88Xj]

heres my dilemma;

ive wanted an XJ for some time now. my coworker recently picked up a 98 so ive had a chance to check it out and drive it n what not. aside from it being too small inside, my biggest gripe is the fact that you cannot select manual 1st gear. youre stuck with the 1-2 thing the AW4s come with, WHY? i understand the AW4 is a stronger box, thats a given but not being able to slide the shifter back into a dedicated 1st gear bothers me. so for more room and the actual 1st gear selection, i opted to get a ZJ instead of the XJ

im not ruling out the AW4 swap, but im going to see about making the 42RE work for now

Look into the shifters that the jeepspeeds are using. They run 1-4 gears manually or run D just like normal. I have a 5speed Xj so I'm not sure & didn't look into them much, just a few times when I looked in the cab of a rig out at the races!
Rad or baja design is the names I think.

 

[Will Riggs]

http://www.radesignsproducts.com/Baja.html