Backdraft

Got the power steering pump replaced. No pictures as I was frustrated and wanted it done. The old one was groaning and whining.

Finally tore into the Phoenix and made some forward progress. From this... To this...

Hoarded some more parts this past weekend. And a spare tailgate from the previous JY MJ

Ryan, your truck looks fantastic with the roll bar installed. And that LED backup/cargo light is very impressive! Good job.

So Sam, are you coming down to Texas to paint my next one later this year or what? :yes:

Whoops....well there ya go! Thanks for the correction. Yes Ryan, hit me up back channel about it. Thanks a metric ton!

A can of 3M adhesive.

I run the Warn 9.5 CTI and love it.

OK, I'll play. It was in 1992 when I was 15. My dad took me around to all the dealerships to look at trucks. We stopped at the GMC dealer and I was dead set on a Sonoma. A friend of mine had one and I thought it was sharp. Told pops that I was done looking. He said wait a minute, we have one more place to go first. Reluctant as I was, we ended up at the Jeep dealer where a barely used blue 1986 4 cylinder auto 4x4 was sitting. I walked around it a few times checking it out. It wasn't blowing my skirt up because I was still thinking about the Sonoma. Anyway, it was cheaper so naturally dad picked it. Brought it home the next day and I played with it a little until my 16th birthday, slowly and quietly favoring it over the GMC. Drove it for 6 weeks from my birthday until on Christmas Eve I emptied it of oil and drove it 11 miles back home. Needless to say I threw a rod and killed it. Dad was none too happy about it. He yelled at me for 3 hours solid. I spent 3 years of high school and 4 years of college begging him to let me fix it. Let me buy a new engine. Anything to get it running again. I had fallen fast in love with my go anywhere/do anything Jeep. He refused each time telling me that everytime I look at it, it will be a constant reminder to check all my fluids. Well that lesson stuck! Anyway, I lost my dad in a work related accident in January of 2006 and inherited the truck. By then the paint was peeling, the wiring was chewed to oblivian by mice, etc, etc. The state of the truck put me on the hunt for one in better condition. In 2009 I found the black Eliminator and that got me back in the game with Comanches. I built it to honor my dad for all the tough lessons I learned from him that did nothing but better me. Now I think he's up there laughing since I started another one with my son.

Crap.....beat me to it! :D

Well, we had a lucky run the the junkyard Friday. South Dallas had a '92 4.0/AW4/2WD/D35 sitting in it that was fairly untouched. I was surprised it didnt have fuzzy dice and curb feelers on it! Either way, it donated the MJ specific gray interior, cab vents, and a set of near perfect tail lights. I was originally looking for the emergency brake pedal assembly but sadly, it was already gone. I am seriously considering going back after the tailgate which aside from the horrific paint job, is in perfect shape as well as the bed. It has what appears to be a brand new, perfect chrome FEY rear bumper if anyone is interested. I would have grabbed it myself but theres no plans for chrome bumpers on the Phoenix. Also, it has a headliner in it that looks to have been recovered recently. Stopped at a few other yards as well and grabbed a couple goodies to complete the day. I gotta say, pickings were pretty slim as far as 97+ XJs in the DFW area. Folks need to blow more engines and get rid of them! We may start stripping the interior today depending on weather and time.

And testing the sender out with the truck, these are the fuel levels at full, half, and empty.

Well guys, I finally got my hands on a 22 gallon Dakota tank and pump. Everywhere I looked either didn't have one or the ones they had were full of intentional holes. Anyway, the pump is from a 99 and the tank is from a 92. These will be going under the truck soon.

Neato :popcorn:

I went to Fry's Electronics the other day to kill some time and had an impulse buy. I had been wanting to put a DC to AC power inverter in the Jeep for a while, but it wasnt really that high on my priority list. My youngest son has asthma, and when were out and about he carries his inhaler. I had been nervous about when we go camping and he has a severe attack. Usually a nebulizer and a shot of Xopenex and we can avoid the emergency room. However the nebulizer is 110VAC powered. It's a very rare occurence, but I don't like to leave too much to chance. So I threw this together. Its plenty to run the nebulizer, as well as a multitude of other things. To push it, I tested it out with my corded grinder and didnt have a problem with it keeping up. It should be nice to be able to charge/run some gadgets with this thing. I still need to go get a cutoff wheel for the dremel to trim those machine screws back some and neaten it up.

Awesome bro! I'm jealous. Looking forward to seeing this completed. :popcorn:

You say your truck is no classic? Maybe I'm misinformed, but isn't the definition/requirement of a "classic vehicle" to be at least 20 years old? Following that guideline, I would be compelled to say that just because your truck is no popular model among "classic car enthusiasts", doesn't necessarily mean its no classic.

Drove mine to work today......

Cool, another Texan. Nice truck and welcome to the insanity!

Best I remember is if you use the 97+ XJ seats, the rear mounts don't come in contact with the frame rail stiffener. I personally drilled new holes in the floor where the rear mounts were, then welded 3/16 plate under the floor to reinforce the mounting point. After that I ran 1/2 inch bolts, washers, and lock nuts through the seat mount/floor/stiffening plate and called it a day. Its worked well for almost a year since I put my truck on the road. Hope that clears it up some for you or at least gives you a better idea of it.

I'm not sure I understand you fully. What do you mean by the MJ floor has a step in it?

Seeeeck-si roll bar Ryan. Let me know how bright that led light is, that thing is neat.

Nice Jeep, and digging the diesel idea. Subscribing! :cheers:

Glad I wasn't the only one who thought that...

I used 3M on the XJs headliner. Worked very well and didn't show the first sign of trying to sag in the 4 years I drove it before getting rid of it. I believe it was the 3M Super 77 adhesive.