Pete M

any of the old stuff. but many have gone before you on this one, so who knows what's left.

our time will come. only so much NOS stuff lying around.

I believe the Pub is here for just such a thing but you can't blame us for wanting more of a readable story to go with the trucks.

today's lesson is write down all the steps so my half-awake brain can't forget to open the flue first. there were some coals left from yesterday and the fire flared into life a bit sooner than I actually wanted and the flue escaped my brain for a couple minutes while I tried to figure out why it was smoking so bad.

nice! do you have a build thread started?

I have a corded version. a very handy item in the 'ol toolbox. have you added it to the giant tool thread in the Pub?

while we're on the subject, a full gauge cluster is an easy swap. (but chances are slim finding one with the built-in gear indicator so check the link in my sig for a writeup on modding one in)

don't pull the cluster out very far until you get the speedo clip unhooked

4.10s on stock tires is a blast! the factory ratio for a 2.5L/auto was 4.56. I'm sure that particular truck will cruise the freeway just fine.

neat! on a completely unrelated note, someone give me $511.87... for some, um, toilet paper. that I want to donate... to the... orphanage. nah, that set is way too nice for anything I own.

yes, yes you do

love that patina!

the usual: popped up on ebay. I've had the silver for like a decade now. just got the gold.

this one came with the original box and the box was quite generic. still no idea if this was at all attached to Jeep or if it was a generic item on the shelf at K-mart. also the guts inside are different from each other. same with the backs. not sure if that bodes well for finding an exact match.

anything that's not an MJ axle will require welding. how much of a project it is depends on what you want in the end. An MJ 35 goes right in. An XJ dana 35 will be the next easiest swap. anything better (44, 8.25, 8.8) will have a snout 1" longer than the 35, might have disk brakes to integrate in, etc.

none of my watch fixing skills has been able to overcome the corrosion inside the circuit boards. I guess now I start buying up random old watches 'til I can find a match for a board swap? dang...

such a clean Jeep

I realize there's a spectrum of different impact guns, but I can't imagine needing more power than my particular impact. I mean, I know it's possible (the guys that work on big rigs have way bigger guns), but I already have to tone it down for fear of snapping what I'm working on.

we just trade 4 months of staying inside because it's cold for 4 months of staying inside because it's hot. can't argue about the rustfree junkyards though. that's pretty sweet. I do NOT miss the michigan 'yards.

If I didn't live in Georgia I'd be all about that. but I don't expect the cold weather to last for much longer. one of the benefits of being in the south. February is springtime! (but then again summer arrives in May so there's that. )

have you read through this thread yet?

today's experiment went good! after sifting out the ash I ended up with a small amount of coals upon which I built a quick fire of crumpled paper and 2x4 splinters. cracked the ash tray and let that burn bright for a bit, then added more splinters. got a bright and blazing little fire going and that was enough to heat up the flue so I could then add bigger things without smoke escaping.

what's your skill set? 30 year old trucks need more "lovin" than modern cars. check for rust! everywhere!