mjeff87

Hatchback LOL......stuffed it in the back. I loved that car, still miss it to this day.

:cheers: I made a 17 hour trip from VA to TN several years ago to pick up a free engine (in a Ford Escort no less....). Drove 8.5 hours on a Saturday, grabbed a motel room and picked up the engine the next morning. Beat feet 8.5 hrs back to VA, then went back to work the next morning.

Shoot, move, communicate. That's what you need to keep first and foremost in your mind. DI's have an occupation, just like everyone else....they do their job, then go home to the wife and kids most evenings. We had 3 guys who tried to commit suicide in boot camp.....one succeeded. Hell, I got the friggin chicken pox half way thru BRM....spent 8 days in an isolation room in the hospital. My DI sprung me on day 9 and drove me straight to the range so I could qualify so I didn't get recycled. Thanks to all brothers and sisters on here that wear/wore the uniform, whatever branch. Jeff

Not sure what your route is, but if you get into trouble around Richmond, VA give me a shout. PM me for my # if you want. Jeff

Welcome to the Club Pablo. There was another guy on here from Argentina years ago.....his name escapes me now for some reason. I sent him a couple of little hard to find Comanche-specific parts, and in exchange he sent me a VERY nice hand crafted leather wallet made in your country. It's so nice that I don't use it as a wallet, it sits on display in my bedroom :) :cheers: Jeff

VA really doesn't have a fender/tire clearance law. The only part of the Code that addresses it is that on any vehicle, if any part of the vehicle extends more than 4" from the edge of the fender it must have a clearance marker/light. That said, there are certain parts of the Commonwealth that I would NOT take a chance in, regardless of how the code is written. Local LEO's can and will ticket for "illegally" modified vehicles. Jeff

Not really sure Don....I bought the truck from an old timer, who did a few "mods" to it. You should have seen the homebrew "tonneau" cover on the bed, made from 1/2" plywood wrapped with a blue tarp. Bonus points for the hasp lock/padlock that secured the topper from opening.....drilled right into the tailgate :)

Crank up the way-back machine......this was my MJ circa 1999, when we first moved down to VA. Image Not Found Jeff

Bandit: New car. Gotta have a new car to block for the truck. [watches as Little Enos begins counting out money] Bandit: Speedy car. [watches as Little Enos counts out more money] Bandit: Speedier than that. Little Enos: [mumbling] I'd like to kick his @$$ just once.

:fs2:

2WD and 4WD yokes are the same diameter, but the spline count is different. 4WD is 27 spline, 2WD is coarse, like 13 spline. You can use an XJ/MJ/YJ/TJ 4WD yoke, they are all the same except the YJ yoke is wider between the ears (allows more driveshaft articulation).

A puller is best, but in a pinch you can use a hammer......unscrew the nut (take it completely off) and strike the end of the steering shaft rapidly with short blows. That will induce a vibration and the wheel will slowly pull up and off the splines on the shaft.

There are fusible links in that mess of wiring in front of the ignition coil. Check them.

I'd be down for something around WV, that's a skip for me......BUT, I am Comanche-less at the moment LOL. Would I be run out of camp if I showed up in a KJ? :rotf: Jeff

ehhh, looked at it some more and I think I'm gonna pass. I don't care about the condition of the vehicle so much as I do about the "title" the seller has. It's half-missing, and is still in the previous owners name......looks a bit too sketchy for my taste. I'll keep watching it to see how long it stays up, though. If it gets down to $100 I can always drag it up here for a parts truck (not that I have any room for it LOL). Don, I'm rocking a decked out '02 KJ now. I remember when they first came out, me and just about every other Jeep owner scoffed at them and I swore I'd never drive one, let alone own one. Boy, those words are coming back to haunt me now. It's actually a pretty cool vehicle. But I will still have another MJ sometime soon to tinker with. Jeff

There's an 89 MJ (Eliminator) on Norfolk craigslist......I'm seriously interested in it, just don't have any place to put it right now LOL. It would become my new project MJ, needs alot of work but the price is right ($300). Anyone local that could check it out? I don't expect it to be any better than the pics suggest, but don't want to drive the whole way down there with a trailer and find out it's a total pile o crap. Jeff http://norfolk.craigslist.org/cto/4671404062.html

Use some blue loctite on those strap bolts and a good 6-point 5/16" socket (do not use a 12 pt socket or wrench, the heads round off quite readily). Jeff

I'll post some pics either tonight or tomorrow of my old pan so y'all can see what you're dealing with inside the pan. If the nut inside the pan has broken away from the pan wall, there is no way you can drill and tap it. It will just spin, like it is doing with the OEM plug. Even if you managed to get the plug out, that nut would fall back into the sump, and the pan wall is too thin to tap threads into.

THe plug in my 01 TJ (2.5) stripped, I've got pics somewhere. Tried everything I could think of to get it to turn out but no luck. Ended up having to buy a new pan. Just so you know, the 2.5 pan is a dealership only item......don't try to find an aftermarket one. A bit over $200, and at my dealership at least, was a non-returnable part since it was a special order item. You can try a junkyard, but be careful. My local yards just drill a hole in the oil and tranny pans to drain them before they set them in the field to be picked. Ended up drilling a hole in the pan next to the plug to drain the oil, then dropped the old pan to put the new one on. Turns out, the nut on the inside of the pan is epoxyed on, not even tack welded. Not trying to bring you down, just letting you know what yer gonna need to do. Good luck. Jeff

Yes, get it to #1 TDC before removing anything. FYI, my timing cover did not have the little timing tab on it.....I had to verify TDC by valve position and where the rotor was pointing in the distributor. The timing notch was on the HB, though, so that helped verify I wasn't 180 out. For my HB, I just took a razor knife and sliced off the rubber that was sticking out (I later replaced the entire thing). That red/orange stuff on your cover looks like RTV to me. Probably smeared on the outside of the crank seal before it was installed in the timing cover. Not a bad idea, cheap insurance against leaks, but if you take your time and drive your new seal in square you really wouldn't need it. Just MHO. Oh, and I used a Cloyes kit. As far as I know, that engine is still putting around. We swapped it into another member's MJ (Pingpong) a few years ago, and he ended up selling it to a new owner. Last I knew it was still on the road. It's probably got north of 250K on it at this point LOL. The 2.5 in my 01 TJ just blew up, right around 200K......I traded it on a KJ. Go figure. Jeff

IMHO, you'd be foolish not to replace the timing set, since you've got it torn down that far right now. That tensioner is at the end of it's life.....see the little "block" thingy underneath it? It started it's life at the other end of the tensioner, and that spring was fully compressed. It's got little plastic teeth on the inside that act as a self-adjuster as it wears. And those ridges on the topside is where the chain has worn thru the face. Stick a rag or something into the front of the pan to prevent anything from falling into the pan while you are working (like the little circlip you popped off to get the tensionser off). Jeff

short version: no long version: yes, but it's not simple. You'd need to tear the trans down and swap in a 4WD output shaft, and bolt on a 4WD rear section to mate it to the transfer case. Much, much simpler to just swap in a 4WD trans from the get-go.

Problem with using the BJ press is that the mounts are not plumb, and you have to cobble together some adapters to get the tool at the correct angle to press them straight out/in. And, you are correct, there is not alot of room to work the tool. I replaced mine with a friend's help (using the press) and it was one of the most miserable things I've ever done on my MJ.......although some report having no problems at all. YMMV. Jeff

Take care and heal yourself Eagle :cheers: Jeff

I happen to have a TJ one if anyone is interested. Traded the TJ a couple weeks ago, forgot to give it to the dealer LOL. PM if interested. Jeff