Akula69

Had the same problem with the Christmas Jeep - solved it by purchasing a new turn signal cam from Auto Zone. It was about 8.00 and was in the 'Help' section. Took about 30-45 minutes to do the swap and works great!

Well - lets see here: Replaced the UCA and LCA and bushings Replaced the steering dampner Replaced the springs and checked the shocks Checked the ball joints Replaced the bearings and races Got wheels spin balanced and now, replaced the steering box. Had it up to 55 on the hwy tonight and had no DW :banana: , hit as many bumps as I could to try and make it happen. Getting a little stickyness in the turns, but I'm gonna take a wait-and-see attitude about that as it may be air in the system. Don - I thought about the ZJ box but in the end decided to hedge my bets and go back with an OEM. I was concerned if I changed anything (and the DW problem still occured) it might make things more difficult to diagnose. When I start on the '87 I'll take the new box outa this one and put a ZJ box in :brows: Thanks guys!

Trying to finish up the small nagging items on the Christmas Jeep and ran into a problem I have not seen before. I took it for a drive down the road near my house and got up to anout 40-45 MPH and then got off the gas. The truck started to slow and then began a violent side to side vibration that almost jerked the wheel out of my hands. I immediately thought of death-wobble, but it didn't seem to fit what those who have experienced it have described. The vibration was so bad all I could do was press on the brakes and hang on. it stopped as the speed bled down to about 20 MPH. I pulled over and checked the linkages under the front and all seemed OK. I took the truck yesterday to a local shop to get the front end aligned and the tires balanced. They balanced the tires but the tech called me into the shop to show me a slight (and I mean slight) left to right movement of the shaft where it exits the steering box, (but before the pitman arm). He said it was useless to align the truck as the steering box should have no play there and needed to be replaced. He said he knew what death-wobble was and this was not it - it was the tires rapidly moving from keft to right due to the paly in the steering box. He recommended checking the steering dampner as well, and upon removal it did have considerable play in it. I realize anything can wear out, but my question is: Does that small amount of lateral play matter? and - can the adjustment nut on the top (mine has never been moved) deal with that "play"? Thanks

.0 Nice find Rob - and yes, I am very thankful that us "southern boys" don't have to fight the rust!

Sorry about the lack of updates - its been...interesting around here... On the day we put the engine back in I was moving it across the garage and it tipped over in the stand...I have no idea how I caught it but I was able to hold it until my son and brother-in-law got to me...massive bruise on the leg and the fan tried to remove my 'nads....just another thing that I will add to the list of things I really don't want to do again :shake: We got the engine in and it would not start...stood around and scratched my head for awhile until I realized the crankshaft has to make TWO complete revolutions to put # 1 at TDC...I had the distributor in 180 degrees off... :rotf: once rotated SHE STARTS! Once started the RPMS settle at 2000 :ack: I shut her down and start looking for vacuum leaks. Could not find any but found a whopper of a brake line leak. Replaced the hard line from the front of the prop valve to the rear prop valve and bled the system. Went back to look for other problems but could not find any. Purchased a new IAC and took the time to read the instruction page that came with it and it stated that after a period of no power the vehicle has to be driven for a few miles at 40MPH or better for the ECM to "reset" the IAC. I never heard of it before but figured what the heck...I took her out and after travelling at the stated speed for a mile slowly brought her down and put her in park...The idle was rock-steady at 900 :nuts:. Will post pics soon.

The C101 connector in the engine compartment simply joins the top of engine harness and the rest of the engine compartment harnesses together, and then goes to the ECM. Some guys have actually deleted the connector altogether and spliced the two harnesses manually, The cab harness is the same from the dash standpoint, but differs from the seats back.

The truck was 700.00 to start, and we have put about 900.00 in is for painting the truck and repairing the engine (and other new parts). We still need to purchase the carpet but are waiting to see if all the leaks have been solved first. I can't even begin to value the man-hours...but its been a labor of love :D

Looks familiar... Awesome work on your truck! Thanks! I really like your header better then mine..... the flames on the oil pan are a really nice touch as well.

Got mine at Rock Auto - they were inexpensive.

Took a chip brush and scrubbed the block with kerosene, then re-treated the heay buildup areas, then pressurewassed it with simple green, I used a 500 dregree paint that was matched to an old Cryco color for the 318 engines. The exhaust manifold was welded by a friend of mine...I had started a poll to see if there was anyone who belived the cracking at the sixth cylinder pipe was due to the weight of the down pipe and collector on the manifold...but there was little intrerest in figuring out the problem. I simply posted the pic to show the welds.

Not a Ford color on the motor...a AMC/Chrysler color DE1631. Not a new front clip - the old style. It was just green on a red truck :clapping:

This weekend we will put the heart back in her: We replaced : Oil pump and pickup Timing chain Stator Alternator Water pump Crank bearings Rear main Fuel injectors Water pump Harmonic Balancer Trans filter and seals UCA and LCA and bushings Sway bar end links Heavy duty coil springs We repaired: Neutral Safety Switch Installed the entire interior (except for the new carpet - want to wait and see if the cab leaks!) Also - a picture of the welds on the sixth cylinder pipe: If everything goes and planned she'll be running tomorrow!

Took the manifold to a local exhaust shop here in town - I've known the owner for years and thought I'd take a chance and see if ours could be welded. Turns out I had a medium crack around the junction of the 6th cylinder pipe and a small one starting at the 5th cylinder pipe. He was very convinced that it could be welded and that the repairs would be long lasting (and the price was right - $10.00). He went on to state he had fixed or replaced many manifolds on the MJ and the XJ model jeeps, and that it was his opnion that the lack of a down-pipe support (somewhere after the collector) caused some of the problem as that support should have been factory installed because the cracking in the manifolds was due to: (1) the weight of the unsupported exhause down-pipe hanging on the manifold, and (2) the wear on the engine mounts allowing the torque of the engine to pull aginst the manifold/down-pipe joint. He noted the first support was a hanging bracket down along the bottom of the vehciel (most had simply rusted off) and the next closest support was at the rear of the transmission mount. Along with his recommendation for adding a hanging support near the engine (attached to the frame) He also went so far as to recommend against the rubber engine mounts and to go with the poly ones. I thought a little poll might prove or disprove this theory. If most of you have had cracking on the manifold at the 6th or 5th cylinder pipe it would seem to be true. Feel free to post up your comments!

Might have to do just that, but figured I'd try. Today was the day for broken bolts...I broke all 5 getting the water pump off. I was *&^$% beyond belief. I just hope God doesnt hold it against me for questioning this engines' mother and heritage.... :no:

I started the engine work on the Christmas Jeep today, found that one of the exhaust studs had been broken off by a PO and spent two hours drilling, using easy-out, and re tapping the hole. So, I need to purchase a exhaust manifold stud, (it is the one closest to the power steering pump) along with the dome washer and nut. I know there's got to be someone in here that has an engine thats shot that would part with one! I also am in the market for the wedge-shaped rubber pieces that are riveted to the tailgate and the inside of the bed (where the tailgate closes). Lastly, I'd like to pick up several of the door stops, as mine have broken. Thanks! :D

Refinished the window trim today. I was being blinded by the small bits of chrome showing through and had to deal with it ( insert a LOL for Don here) See the tech section on refinishing the window trim with Plastidip. Several pictures here:

In the build that my son and I are doing we will be going through most of the truck. In the process we struggled with how to recover the trim around the windows as the 20 year old plastic coating was peeling in places and looked rough. What I found as an alternative is a rubberized coating called Plastidip (made by Performix), which is an aerosol coating that appears as a fine grained rubber which sticks to virtually anything. At first I tried to peel the rest of the old AMC plastic coating off the trim, but as luck would have it it was stuck on pretty well. Kinda made me wonder how it had peeled in the first place. Then, I hit on heat, specifically a heat gun. The heat gun made short work of the rubber but left a film of adhesive behind, which was easily removed with the orbital sander and 220 grit paper. The sanding also roughed up the surface as the plasti dip recommended. Remember that the trim will get a little warm while doing this...don't try to hold it in your hands! A shot showing a finished trim piece and a freshly sanded one. Close up of painted trim. All-in-all the finished product was really good. The finish is slightly rough to the touch but looks smooth, and has a rubbery texture. The only drawback I can see that might possible happen with this finish is if you get car wax on it, I imagine with would be very difficult to remove.

AH I wish I had seen this earlier...I bought two of the disconnects for the gas lines and two for the trans lines from the dealer. It cost me almost 70.00 for the four. :nuts:

Horn

Will do. I actually purchased it at Home Depot...it was in the paint department right next to the regular plastidip. They only had six cans - the stock person said "they couldn't keep the stuff on the shelf..." Aout $5.50 a standard spray can. I used it on the suspension arms below the engine compartment (after I had primed them with Rustoleum Rust Reformer) and was quite pleased with the result. It leaves a rubbery film that lays out with a very fine small texture (think very light orange peel) and could even be described as baby undercoat without the lumps/bubbles.

Rob - its the same color that Mdpfm used on his MJ, it is a 2003 Ford truck color (was also used on some Cobras). I purchased the paint at NAPA under the Martin Senor brand name. They have two "quality" levels, I got the lower level for the base coat and epoxy sealer, and used the upper quality level for the clear coat. All together it was relatively inexpensive for the paint and supplies, approximately $450.00. Painting it in the open garage presented two problems: with that brand paint I was told the clear has a nasty habit of "falling back" on itself (where the atomized spray that remains in the air will settle on the applied clear and cause it to not shine), and dirt (bugs and crap just flying around) in the paint. I solved the "falling back" by borrowing several 24" fans and pulling more air out during the painting, but that aggravated the dirt problem...so we decided to wet sand it out before buffing. PM me if you want to know the exact item numbers and names for the base and clear. :cheers:

Wet sanded the clear down with 2500 grit today...it is slick as a baby's butt now...will buff it out tomorrow and then post pics. Found some spray-can "Plastidip" (usually just comes in a dipping can) today as well and plan on using it to refinish the window trim. Gotta drill out the two bolts that held the load leveling valve from the bed as they snapped off when I removed the bed...more fun.

16 going on 21 :roll:

One more item that we must remember to check when doing regular maintenance. Glad you're OK Don...could have been worse.

Painted! Next Project: