Hey Everyone, new guy here. Recently bought an 89 2.5L manual trans YJ with 76k miles off an older guy in New Mexico for my daughter. She wanted a Jeep Wrangler and I wasn’t gonna pay for anything new / fancy. She’s learned up on how to drive a manual which i think is awesome for a youngster these days, especially a girl. It’s pretty much bone stock, virtually zero rust. Buts it’s an old YJ. Ive cleaned it up, pressure washed the carpets, clay bar and wax job, semi detailed the engine, swapped out dash bulbs fir LEDs, put new drums on the rear, and had the rear diff serviced. It needs freshened suspension, gonna prob put a RE lift on it this Fall/winter. It’s still riding on the stock 235 tires on 15” wheels. Bought a barely used set of five 33s (BFG MTs) and black wheels for it, still sitting in the garage. Oh, and a new stereo with overhead soundbar and speakers fir the kid. And just dropped the tranny to replace the old clutch and converted it to an external slave cylinder set up. Heard enough horror stories about the ISL to know I didn’t wanna keep with that. Next on the list is prob a new carb. She’s idling kinda rough, might’ve missed a vac line when messing w the trans this past weekend, not sure.
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- Thread starter Pip45
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Welcome aboard!
Sounds like a nice little ride for your youngin'.
Good on her learning a manual! So many people these days just can't drive one, crying shame really...
Be careful about the lift, they usually end up with installation of an SYE and CV driveshaft to correct angles.
Because of the slip-yoke style drive shaft, they are very sensitive to this.
Also, be aware the 33's are going to crush what little power the 2.5 has without doing a re-gear, especially if it's not FI.
I'm still trying to get the lid back on this can of worms myself and I only did a 2-1/2" with 32's.
The D35 rear end is garbage for any off-road use, which it doesn't sound like she'll be doing, but it also won't like 33's.
That is about Max tire size for the running gear.
I'm curious about your external clutch slave cylinder conversion.
I'll be using an external slave Chevy bell-housing for a SM420 trans swap in the future and it's the hydraulic line that interests me.
Sounds like a nice little ride for your youngin'.
Good on her learning a manual! So many people these days just can't drive one, crying shame really...
Be careful about the lift, they usually end up with installation of an SYE and CV driveshaft to correct angles.
Because of the slip-yoke style drive shaft, they are very sensitive to this.
Also, be aware the 33's are going to crush what little power the 2.5 has without doing a re-gear, especially if it's not FI.
I'm still trying to get the lid back on this can of worms myself and I only did a 2-1/2" with 32's.
The D35 rear end is garbage for any off-road use, which it doesn't sound like she'll be doing, but it also won't like 33's.
That is about Max tire size for the running gear.
I'm curious about your external clutch slave cylinder conversion.
I'll be using an external slave Chevy bell-housing for a SM420 trans swap in the future and it's the hydraulic line that interests me.
Yeah, that 2.5L can’t get out of its own way as it stands. So 33s are definitely gonna make it worse. I was looking for 31s to 33s, no bigger than 33s. And finally came across a really good deal for a set of five. Which is damn hard for the 5x4.5 wheels on our YJs. Most used wheels/tires these days are new factory take offs which don’t work on our Jeep’s without the adapters. I thought I could get away with a 2.5” lift, but RE says only 31s will fit it. And I’ll need a 4” lift for 33s. So I’m a little worried about the choice of tires. Was gonna start another post asking about lifts and tire sizes but imagine there’s several posts already on the subject. And I’m not excited about having to buy a SYE and new rear drive shaft for another $600 or so.
My external slave cylinder conversion I used a combo clutch mater/slave cylinder unit pre-bled with the line between the two included. the line was rubber with some kind of rigid material in it, not totally flimsy. It worked well except the clutch master bolt holes in the casting didn’t mate up w my studs on the firewall. Had to drill a new lower hole through my casting to get it to work out. Used several drill bits to step it up to the right size.