om617 jeep swap started,questions
 

doing the swap on a 96 xj, and im looking for a simple vaccum diagram for the bear essentials for a manual trans set up, mainly just which line on the pump needs manifold boost and which one is the pump shut off. i planned on using an air switch which is basicaly lit a toggle switch with a valve in it for the shut down just want to know what to hook it to.

Going just from memory, the pump takes it's manifold reading from a dedicated line running from the intake manifold to the pump. About 1/4" diameter poly tubing. On the mercedes, it ran from the manifold, to a switch on the firewall, and then from that switch to the IP.

If you are not tapping into the vacuum pump for anything other than vacuum brake booster, (say for vacuum operated A/C-heat controls) then you don't need anything beyond the main line running from the VP to the booster (with a T somewhere for feeding your switched shut-off).

Again, just from memory.

vac pump .. to thottle pos valve(vac on when higher then idle ) , , to VTC valve on IP (lets vac excape the higher the speed) , then from there to tranny ..
pm me if you need more help .

mainly what im looking for is pictures of the actual components, im not familiar with these engines, everything looks pretty basic, i just dont know which thing on the pump is the shut off, and which line needs manifold boost for the fuel control.

The vac shutoff unit is closest to the firewall, on top of inj. pump. Next one towards front of pump is alda and gets manifold feed.

does any one have a specific recommened pitman arm and track bar set up for this swap on a 2wd, like brand and part number? looks like a 6 inch dropped pitman will work but none of them specify what he actual demensions are, just what amout of lift they work with.

The front sump on the MB is really a big PIA for us. After trying a few store bought pitman arms, I ended up offsetting, dropping, and rotating the whole steering box pretty easy with 2 pieces of 1/2" plate But I am also using a OEM manual steering box and pitman arm from a wrangler. The thing I noticed about the aftermarket pitman arms is they are a little longer, but also have an angle change, and you don't know what you are going to get until you are holding it in your hand. And a 6" drop does not mean that the pitman is 6" longer than stock.
For the trackbar. I also tried the aftermarket stuff. I ended up using a drop track bar bracket from "FatBobs garage. The bracket came with an adjustable trackbar as well. I ended up not using the trackbar. I ordered some DOM tubing and some heim joints and made a track bar from scratch. For my next one I may purchase just this TB bracket again, and then make all the rest of the stuff from scratch. The aftermarket TB bracket is ok because you can add a new mount position to it by just drilling 2 new holes for the Heim joint
If you have to use store bought aftermarket parts. The next pitman arm I was going to try was the Skyjacker JA500, but they are over $100.
For me it ended up being a lot easier to just make the parts needed from scratch.

Good luck

ok got the engine in place, now whats getting me is the oil pressure guage tube, what are people doing to adapt a normal american guage to the weird metric fitting? tapping it with pipe thread?

Go hardware or
Kragen and get the standard to metric brass fittings and a oil pressure gage and hook it up. Run line up to your dash and put your gauge in and done.

x2 on what turbo89 said, or I drilled and tapped to regular pipe thread. Also Nathan Koch sells adapters for the newer MB style fitting at mercedesdiesel4x4.com.
What did you end up doing for steering, and oil pan clearance? Do you have any pictures? I would like to see your engine mounts