TheJeepNut

Don't suppose there's any chance the inner fender flare liners are good? If so and they're not already brittle I need at least one on the rear but if they're good I need all 4.

oh no! The link is dead and I'm in need of a headliner for #24. Searched manually and he's on vaca.... hoping we can still get these.

Posting deleted by author.... man I was really thinking hard on that one. Parkersburg is inbetween me and some relatives. Would have been an easy drive.

I read with great interest the link about changing the fuel capacity in the tank. Knowing my right foot and knowing that stroker's are built for performance not mileage, and thinking in terms of 3.73ish rears, it seems that additional fuel capacity would be a great idea. If possible. But the trick used is essentially to put a 90degree "adapter" that extends the vent tube higher up toward the top of the tank. In the example tank they measure the vent tube approx 4" below the top of the tank. So raising the vent tube allows additional fuel to be added, but compromises fuel expansion. Depending on temperature extremes where you live and other factors, for some that's easily dealt with and irrelevant. But I just got a new tank from RockAuto and the game has changed. At least for this one: SPECTRA PREMIUM JP5B {#83503398} Lock Ring Kit Included 72.0" Bed; 113.0" wheelbase. Advertised as an 18gal tank, I got it and immediately had to look at the vent. But wow. As you can see, this vent tube is only about 30cm (~1 1/8" down from the top!) So not much room there to gain anything in volume. BUT...there is this "tray" in the bottom of the tank. It's about 1/3 of the tank depth DEEP but not all the way the length and width of the tank. I'm GUESSING that it might be intended as a basin for the sock/float to sit in so that the float doesn't "bounce around" much? Or maybe to keep the sock from sucking up just all manner of garbage that gets to the bottom of the tank? In any case I'm thinking that the volume of gas that sits around that pan and CANNOT BE PICKED UP by the fuel sock/pickup tube... is the fuel I want access to for extending my range. Looks for all the world to be about 4 gallons if you ask me. Anyone see anything wrong with me drilling a couple of 1/2" holes in the side of that thing, near the bottom so it can suck in more of the fuel from the tank?

Hey hey hey got that new Webasto Hollandia 321L.... Looks to be a really easy install and the trim stuff is gonna make it look awesome! A little over $500 delivered. Its a spoiler type like what was on there. But no more hand cranking like the old roof! This 'un here's E Lectrik... That rubber trim piece has a slot so the headliner material will tuck right in and it should be sweet.

yes.... but the original is not tilt. Base Comanche.

You mean like this? These are crummy but that's why I took them apart. MY idea was to try and sort out how to put vertical rows of LED's in the top 2 sections so I could make #24 have sequential taillights that run across and then wrap around the corner with 2 or 3 bars of LED's. These I've noted have the bosses broken out where the screws mount. (blue arrows) And the lens on 1 of them is really "'crazed" if you look at it in the light just right there are thousands of microcracks as the plastic is breaking down from age and exposure. (green circled) The other lens looks like it got too close to some heat source. My other idea was to somehow produce a "blank bucket", maybe 3D printed, that fits perfectly into the spot but leave the interior of it blank so to put customized LED lighting in there and then make new translucent red lens' to cover Of course it would all be totally illegal. But then....what of that? The DOT has OK'd all KINDs of crap headlights that blind us stupid at night. All so we can have swoopy design that flows nicely in a wind tunnel. I dunno about you but after 45 years driving I've never ever had to drive in a wind tunnel. So it kinda doesn't matter too much to me about the DOT. Some of us live in places tightly controlled, others... not so much. It would truly cost more to ship these to SoCal than they are worth. But if you would like them, let me know.

Man I love that hood. I may have to see about one of those "cowl induction" shapes for #24. I covet the steel ones that used to be made in Memphis but I guess we'll never see those again. $399.00 for the polished stainless Q50 vs. $50ish on Amazon.... Is there really a huge difference in quality? I don't want cheap plastic, cheesy chrome or unfinished rough edges. I want a quality product but I'm having a realy hard time understanding $400 for these things. Are they significantly more stout than the knockoffs?

ah shoot. That was careless. It's for a manual, Indianapolis area...

Thought I'd ask here to see if someone has a nice Black one for my #24. The column in it is not tilt and it sure does make it nice when on longer drives to be able to adjust that once in a while. I plan to spend a lot of time driving it once done... The wheel doesn't matter, I've got a newish one that looks really good. Stupid mice ate mine up...

Wow what a nicely themed truck! Great job with that. Very rowdy.

I pulled the rear bumper support off the other day and wanted to post the images. If this isn't the most pathetic excuse of a bumper mounting bracket since duct tape then I'll wash your dog. This is what Archer put together to mount the C channel to, under the skin. 1 1/2" light duty angle iron! REALLY? The thing weighs nothing. And the right side appears to have 2 bends in it that I presume were caused by a bump in the rear I'd taken in it once. It wan't really enough of a tap to hurt the plastic cover and I never really looked for "damage" as there wasn't anything visible. The welds in the corners don't look like there was much effort to make a good weld to me. It's welded only on one side and doesn't look that well bonded. But that kinda chaps my hide. Wasn't much of an attempt at doing a nice mounting for the bumper boys... I guess I'll shut up and see if I can do better. It's damned sure the Archer brothers don't care at this point. Maybe not enough room for larger material or something. I'll have to see about it. But that is some crappy work.

I'm going the route of Limeyjeeper. Got my form filled out for http://tristarrradiator.com and boxing it up tomorrow I think. Their restores look fantastic. They didn't say I had to clean it any... would that be jerk-like? or do they really care? I'll try to do something to clean it and put it in a sealed bag but.... if it reeks I would think the USPS would have a hissy fit. The metal where the poti clips on it is rusted away so cleaning the rust would really kinda be pointless though that EvapoRust looks interesting for some things too.. I like the idea of the original being restored vs. the knockoffs. Though I hope MTS get's theirs right afterall too! We need all the aftermarket support we can get.

Nice Score!

.... and SO we fast forward 2 years from the last update to my old site... As some of you know, my wife passed from cancer May 2019 so progress has been slow for many years then stopped for a while. Now this April 2020 I began working actively once again on #24. As we left off, the cab was pretty much stripped, but still had the motor and a lot of incidental stuff attached, and I thought I'd just prep the cab and make it ready for the bodyshop. As it turned out it didn't work out that way. BUT that doesn't mean progress hasn't been made.... the garage is EMPTY for the first time in many many years and #24 is out to the body shop! Jeff and crew picked her up on Memorial Day weekend. As noted in this separate post: Rusty Floor in #24 I found some holes in the floor pan and bought a new piece from Rock Auto and did a lot of thinking and staring at seams, and body parts involved in that specific issue. In the end I opted to let Jeff do the pan replacement. Its not the best call for me to do it, not cost effective and not time efficient. And he's replaced a few floorpans over the years and is ready to get to work on it. When the man is ready, one had best light a fire... Now I have an hour's drive to his place to work on it when I can get out there and I seem to be forgetting to take a camera with me in all the tools and stuff I'm hauling back and forth. But I'll get some pictures later this week. I should be over there on Friday. He's got other projects and life to deal with like all of us so it's not an every day, all day thing working on #24. I should get a pic of his 4x4 Nova. It's stunning. But having yanked the motor and other kibbles 'n bits, I do have dozens of random images of things connected to the motor, connectors that are going to need to be dealt with, brake lines, fuel tank, lines front to back etc. but it's nothing very revealing. Just visual notes in case I need them. Most will probably never be looked at again. But I can't trust memory. If someone wants to see a picture of somethingI probably have an image of it. I've pulled off the gasket around the back glass successfully, and then CUT the butyl all around with some soapy water and a box knife on a 45 from the inside and got the glass out of it INTACT. My friends, that was some tough cutting. We tried a guitar string and broke a couple of those before just going for the knife. But it worked. The windsheild was no problem it was broken anyway. Used my multivibrator tool to cut the butyl right out on that one. It's much easier if the glass is already junk. Now I've got to get to work with polishing this rear glass and trying to get out some of the scratches on the exterior. I'll do some before and after shots when I get started on that. Had to order a new sunroof. The old Webasto XO3 Spoiler sunroof is no longer supported of course and the new ones don't have the same shape in the corners. Tigher radius. or is it radii? So I ordered a new Webasto Hollandia 300. Major upgrade to the old one. Old one hand cranked, but this one is motorized and has a roller sunshade to pull if you need to cut the sunshine. Just got it today and will take the template to Jeff on Friday so we can see what needs to be "adjusted". He's not thrilled about the idea of the sunroof, I think he's concerned that we many have to weld in some material due to the shape difference and on that flat roof, he's real concerned about it staying smooth, no warping. I've known him since we were kids in school, and folks that's been a while, but he does superb work and is SUPER picky it being smooth, flat, etc. so I love that. But... it's already got a hole in the roof, we gotta mitigate that some how. So I've been over to Jeff's and all the brake lines, fuel lines, all wiring, all glass, literally everything is stripped except the suspension at this point and I've broken loose all the nuts so that'll be easy to come apart. Get this... I used NO air tools to disassemble the suspension nuts/bolts. How does that happen on a 35+ vehicle with 175k on the clock? For sure again the No Salt factor has been key. Truly I am in love with this truck. Jeff's had nearly finished welding the drivers side floor pan as of a few days ago and was getting ready to pull the bed off so we can powerwash the underneath and prep that for coatings. So I guess this is what you call a frame off restoration. ?? I dunno how you take the frame off a unibody so this is about the best I can do. We've already discussed and he'll be shooting Eastwood Heavy Duty Anti Rust 32oz (Amber) into all the frame rails front to back. Inside them now it looks really good. This will ensure they stay that way for.... long after I'm dead. Here's the marketing blurb on it... Heavy-Duty Anti Rust's spray-on brown wax film sticks to bare metal or painted surfaces. Won't crack, flake or peel. Will self-heal if scratched. Use inside doors and rockers, where painting will not be required. Forms an air and water tight barrier which prevents and slows rust. Product can also be used to protect fresh machined surfaces and bare metal parts during storage, and works great to seal body seams that are inaccessible. So that will be great BUT.... there is this problem.... I found out that the fuel sender is trashed. The fuel turned to turpentine long ago and all the rubber has turned into a stiff goo... I had to slosh a little leftover fuel around and wiggle and loosen this quite a bit before it would even come loose at all. And good gawd does that stuff stink! So I'm abandoning the tank. I don't trust it now and new ones are cheap and already ordered. But as I'm discovering.... these are another one of those parts we get dissed on. I can buy one of these for a Scambler. A Commando. Various J trucks... but not for the 87 MJ with an 18gal tank. dang... really? Anyone come up with a solution? I looked on ebay today and didn't see anything that sounded right. 23 gallon tanks and Wranglers rule the day. But I sent an email to a storefront that had some close and got this reply... maybe we have hope? New message from: trexautoparts111014 (9,546) Our part # is TREXJPSU-6P4.0 but that setup is on Back Order with our manufacturer. This pandemic has wrecked havoc on the supply chain and my manufacturer is waiting on the rheostat to finish their production. I spoke with them late last week and they have an estimated date of 7/15/2020 when the unit will be available.