mjeff87

Yeah, I know......but at least this one was semi-interesting, and they only spent $250,000 :eek: Anyways, the crew built a Baja 1000 "top truck", and proceeded to sink it in the sand in the middle of the race. They had to get strapped out by nothing other than 'ol Paco in his stock XJ :D Then they got rearended and their junk broke. Funny stuff. Jeff

That's almost the exact same dimension of floor that was missing from mine, except it ran a little bit further back along the tranny tunnel. The cargo mat padding did mine in as well :oops: I cut a patch panel out of a junkyard MJ as well, of the tranny tunnel area from the firewall forward, above the TC shifter and back to where it bends around in the back. For the flat parts of the floor I used 22 gauge steel sheets from Lowe's. Didn't have access to a welder, so I used a bazillion 1/8" self-tapping sheet metal screws all around the perimeter and gobs of sealant (but it still leaks a bit so I have to rip it all apart again and find the hole :roll: ) Fun times...... Jeff

Well, here's some pics of the damage. First one is the head (aluminum) that took the worst of it. Notice the black gap around the intake valve from about 2 o'clock to about 11 o'clock.....that's the missing bits of the seat :roll: The other pic is of the piston head, and you can see the nicks in it. There's only one of them that's "bad" enough to worry me about (the big blob at 5 o'clock). I'm just gonna carefully file it down (I think it's a part of the seat that fuzed itself to the top) and call it good. Shop is running about a week behind, due to it being race season down here, so I might not get the new head back until next weekend :mad: Jeff p.s. thanks for the offer Pat :cheers: Once I get this thing fixed and back on the road, your bumper is going on the MJ permanently. I'm dying to bust out the sawzall! Image Not Found Image Not Found

neither can my wife...... Jeff

:eek: ...and I thought I had a bad night wrestling with the cylinder head on my car.... Did you fubar the splines on the TC output or on the slipyoke? If it's the yoke, I have a YJ yoke (somewhere in my mess o' parts) I can send ya (?) Or, maybe think about an SYE..... Jeff

Well, I was finally able to get time to work on it, and pulled the head off last night. Turns out that about 2/3 of the intake valve seat is AWOL. Looks like it broke off in a couple of pieces and got mangled/burned up inside the cylinder :eek: There's a bunch of pock marks on the top of the piston, as well as in the chamber in the head. (I'll take some pics and post them.....it ain't pretty). So....I'm dropping the junkyard head off at the shop this afternoon for some R&R. Hopefully I can get it back by the weekend and get it all buttoned up and running again Any ideas on what I can use to smooth out the top of the piston head? The nicks aren't that deep, but I don't want to ignore it. Jeff

Yeah, it's all clean. I've actually taken the whole top end of the head off (rocker cover, rockers, pushrods, lifters and cleaned them back to bare metal (and plastic)) as well as the vac circuit in the TB and the small vac line from the VC. My problem is worn valve seals, more than rings on the bottom end...not technically "blowby" but has the same result. I get oil in the filter, as well as oil pushing out from the oil fill cap on the VC :oops: I gots too much positive pressure inside the cover, and that little vac line in the back isn't pulling all of it out and into the TB.... Jeff

My wife and I are leaving tomorrow for the beautiful, sunny, city of Brothers-with-guns, Philadelphia, PA for a couple days. From there, we get on a boat (a BIG boat) and won't be back until next weekend Anybody close to Philly? We'll be there from tomorrow afternoon until Saturday morning (sadly I'm leaving the MJ at home :cry: ) if anyone wants to meet/greet (?) I doubt I'll have internet access while we're away, but if I can find it somewhere, I'll check in with y'all. JnJ-- I'll see if I can't pick something little up for you while we're "in-country" :D :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: Jeff

X2 for me, on everything said right there! Jeff

Hey Richard, welcome to the club! :cheers: Jeff (Jeff in VA, over on NAXJA)

I'm diggin' it. The stack turned out well, too! (still need a flapper on top of it, tho :D ) Jeff

Just put a tape on mine.....I came up with 15' 6" (186"), give or take. HTH, Jeff

Yup, the BA10 (2WD) won't work without major surgery....probably even more difficult than a 2WD AX15 to boot, considering the "clamshell" design of the case. I don't even know if it's sectioned like the AX's, where you can remove the rear section. I'd guess it's two cast pieces- maybe you can't convert it at all (?)

Couple little things not to overlook. You'll need a longer speedometer cable, and the '92 is an electric speedo. Also, depending on what tranny you end up using, you may need a different sized transfer case linkage rod (there's 3 different sizes, one for an AX5, AX15, and AW4). Or you can fab your own stand-alone linkage. You'll also need to either cut down the MJ 2WD rear driveshaft or source one that's specific to the driveline you end up using....the XJ one will be too short. Front shaft may or may not be the correct length. And if you reuse the Pukegoat or go with an AX15, it'd be a good idea to do a clutch job while you have it all torn apart. Maybe swap out the CPS as well if yours is questionable too, since you'll have easy access to it. It's the little things in doing a conversion that make you slap your head sometimes :D Have fun! Jeff

Discovered another cause for my oil soaked air filter aside from blowby. While changing the oil and PMCS-ing the MJ this weekend, I noticed the little vaccuum actuated flapper valve at the bottom of the airbox that lets air in looked like it hadn't moved in ages :roll: No vac signal = no fresh air to the intake. I'm gonna fully diagnose it when I have time, but for now I temporarily blocked the flap WFO. Viola! It's not starving for air now, and not sucking oil laden crankcase vapors back thru the fresh air line that runs to the airbox :D Just something y'all might want to check out if you still run the OEM airbox/filter combo.... Jeff

Found you a nice sticker to add to the back of your MJ..... :brows: Image Not Found

On the way home from work last night, drove thru a road construction zone where the workers were laying a fresh topcoat of blacktop down. No big deal, right? Well, about 1/4 mile later there develops the most gawd-awful grinding/scraping sound under the front end. Scary enough to make me pull over and inspect to see if I was dragging something underneath (wasn't). Limped it into the driveway, waited out a horrendous rainstorm, and pulled the left front wheel hoping the unit bearing hadn't crapped the bed :roll: Turns out a fresh hot piece of blacktop got itself wedged behind the rotor and the backing plate. It had actually fused itself to the backing plate :headpop: and of course I couldn't get it out. Had to pull the @$#^% rotor off and chisel the damn thing off the backing plate with a screwdriver and a hammer. It left a very faint score on the rotor, not enough for me to worry about. When I swap the new D30 in, it ain't gonna have dustsheilds! Jeff

Mine doesn't (although it's a 2.5...it's still Renix :D ). Just 2 studs on the end of the manifold that fit thru a flange collar on the pipe, held by 2 9/16" nuts. The end of the intermediate pipe is flared a bit. Simple but cheezy design IMHO, but it works! Jeff

Actually, mine's a 5 speed, not an auto. I've stepped up to 235's from the stock 205's (but I've changed my speedo gear). But I've discovered that leaving it in 4th more often as opposed to shifting into OD is helping economy-wise. I only use 5th now on the interstate, everything else I stay in 4th (unless coasting on a downgrade). I'm moving up to 31's when I regear to 4.56's...I'm hoping it'll basically be a wash and things won't really change that much mileagewise. Normally my MJ isn't my DD, but it has been for the last couple of weeks :oops: I used to drive it about 1X a week. But one thing I've noticed now that I'm driving it daily as a commuter vehicle (LOL) is that the more I drive it, the better the gas mileage is getting :nuts: I dunno, I guess things are "loosening up" some the more I drive it, and it's going down the road more smoothly. Trust me, I ain't complaining!! Jeff

Wha??? 30-35?? I gotta go get me some of that Ohio gas-o-lean :D I get an average of 18-20 in mixed driving (that's with the CAD shimmed over and pass side axleshaft locked full-time). Back when it was a 2WD (and had a few thousand less miles on it), 23-25 mpg wasn't uncommon :cry: YMMV, Jeff

I'm straight-up DIGGIN' the "legal" rear lights :cheers: Nice build, man. Flat black to boot...... Jeff

My only negative comment on the 2.5 (TBI) is no low-end grunt in 4HI, like if I get bogged down on a hill, or in really sticky mud. Restarts are difficult, unless I drop to 4LO, but once you get the wheelspeed/rpm's up and keep them up :D she goes good. I've got a doulble remedy planned to address that, tho. 4.56's, and an inertia ring are going in this summer My experience is with a 5 spd, don't know if it's so much of an issue with an auto and a TC (?) And as far as bulletproof.....I'll be turning 170K on the odo come this weekend sometime, and the only thing I've ever done "inside" the engine is pull the rockers/lifters/pushrods and clean them. Never had the bottom end opened up to date :D , although it does suffer from a self-diagnosed worn/loose timing chain (to be replaced along with the gears, etc. very soon) Jeff

Picy no workie :roll: I'm anxious to see your creation.....you've been teasing us way too long! Jeff

A 715 is what got me into this whole Jeep thing in the first place. We had one at the volunteer fire department I grew up in up in PA, that we used as a brush truck/personnel carrier. We affectionately nicknamed it the "puking buzzard" :D I spent many young formative years with it, up in the woods either fighting brush fires, or on search/rescue missions (our township was mostly rural western PA terrain). Damn thing would go anywhere, anytime......just not too fast. Then I joined the Army at 16, and discovered the pure joy of 1/4 tons, then 2.5 tons, then the 5T wrecker (I was the only one willing to take custody of it in my unit). It's been all downhill since.... :D

Not those little angels........ :D