Automan2164

Where to start...Well, let me say I am sorry for not keeping this updated while it's been in the shop, but I just really have been quite upset with it. Really upset with it. I don't regret vehicle purchases often... But this thing is testing my mettle. I dropped it off early last week to get the injection pump looked at, as we had a sneaky suspicion that something went awry. The wrench pulled it for me, and sent it off to his guy. We were thinking $500-600 to get it rebuilt, assuming that all the internals were in good shape. I'd stop by in the afternoon every couple days to ask if there was any news, but he was slow to hear back. Then on Thursday, I got the call. I could tell it was bad news as soon as I heard the receptionist say hello. She confirmed by bad feeling by telling me they were legit. The throttle shaft on the pump has stripped all of it's splines, so that's why I was only getting my partial throttle. The vane pump on the inside was worn, and they could only get the parts in a package, not individually. In addition, the injectors were gummed up with bad fuel, and needed to be rebuilt. All total, labor, parts, and hardware, the estimate for a healthy Renault would be $2791.95. I had options though. Option 1: Cut losses, have the injection place ship the injection pump back in a box of parts, come with a tow truck. Only pay for the injection pump testing, the injector flow tests, and the labor to take it out. $600. Option 2: Take it back as is. Have the injection company put back together a broken pump as is, have the wrench put it back in and time it. $1200. Option 3: Bend over and take it in the @$$. $2800. Have a good running truck with a warranty, and ride off into the sunset to lady of the night myself on the corner and give rides to old women for spare change. OPTION 1!!!! After a discussion with the only other Diesel MJ owner (opsled) Phil, Pat's dad, he offered up to try out his injection pump they've had sitting on the shelf for a long time. His is still in the bracket, and wears all the factory timing marks on it from when it was new. I saw it today, it's friggen b-e-a-utiful. (Look for his last post on the thread) He offered to put his pump and injectors on to see if that would cure what ails me, and get another diesel MJ back on the road. Pat offered up his tow dolly, and I picked up the truck from the shop today. The wrench was very understanding, and told me he'd have done the same thing. We had no way of knowing that the pump would be that bad, and that's a lot of doh-ray-me. I squared up with him, loaded it onto the trailer, and set off for Phil's. Made it up there without a hitch, and dropped it off. Phil said he's going to toss the pump and injectors on, as well as see what a compression test may find since the injectors are out. He was thinking $500 for the parts, and a couple hundred for the labor. Lifesaver. I don't know if I could have pulled the trigger on the near $3000 bill. All hail Phil! :bowdown: Rob

Did he say if it was an all or nothing type of deal? Not specifically, but I am thinking so. Rob

I had a chance to talk to Sterling Robinson today, who was the last one to professionally race the truck: Sterling bought it in the late '80's from the Archer brothers themselves. He couldn't recall the number, but he did say that it was the "Extra" truck that they would lend out to their buddies. You may ask what an SCCA race truck runs back in the day? A cool $23,000. He had a blast. He said that it was tough to keep up with the Archer brothers, and the Saleen Fords. Saleen's because they just had so much money poured into them, and the Archers because they always were bending the rules and finding loopholes. Part of that was that he was also a private racer, competing with all these big guys. He said the truck came to him with an alright motor, but he had sent it out, and it came back faster than stink. It's been all over the country at all the big races, although he talked about missing out on Laguna Seca because of a wreck in Detroit. He laughed and mentioned that it was tough to keep up unless you got into a pack on the straightway, and slammed into each other. (Just like the article!). I told him I had read that, and he confirmed it with saying that it was no joke when you were third in a line of 4, and they were all slamming together to get the speed up. 'Metal on metal'. After a couple years, the money was just to expensive to stay competitive. He retired the truck. When his son needed a driver, he told him that it was either buy a new car, or he could drive the truck if they pulled the race motor. Tough choice. His son ended up changing the race motor, took out the fuel cell, and part of the interior roll cage. Left the racing seats, the suspension, and all the other goodies in it. That was in '97. I didn't get as far as asking what happened afterwards, as I had to get back to work, but I plan on sending him an email. He did say that he has the race motor they took out, bumpers, fiberglass leafs for the back, a front axle set up for the ovals, radiator, and a bunch of other parts that they have been sitting on that he would sell for $1500. Rob

Big thanks to Bhfear on this one. Awesome to add to the collection. NOS TURBO DIESELS BABY! Rob :D

Oh yeah... Details to come... I have a few things to catch up on here, and I'll write a lil' somethin' up. Rob

Welcome to the club... We'll get you trained yet. Nice truck, good base to start with... But check that clutch master cylinder for current leaks with the paint melted away like that... The brake fluid eats the paint - more importantly, melts/destroys fuse boxes, leading to a huge headache. Rob :cheers:

Infared. Rob

Only reason I ask is that my roommate is seriously considering dropping a bid. Rob

http://articles.latimes.com/1988-05-12/ ... _stock-car So is anyone else genuinely interested in this truck? Rob

After the last week with the diesel.. that may not be completely out of his mind. At this point... I wouldn't be surprised to be getting a phone call about my trailer in the next few days. I am balls deep in that diesel now, so it's not going anywhere. As much as I would love to have this truck, It's just not in the cards right now. My room mate is sort of thinking about it. He likes racing, and my MJ disease is hard to not catch where you are under the same roof. I called the seller on his behalf today to ask some questions. The current owner is a heritage racing enthusiast. He found this truck about 7 years ago in a Junkyard by him. He remembered seeing this truck in the late '80's and early '90's racing, and couldn't let it go out like that. He picked it up, and it has pretty much sat as-is ever since. The radiator was out, the timing cover was off, and that's all he knows. Supposedly it still wears the stock suspension, most of the rollbar/cage is still there, and the original seats went back in in place of the racing seats. It still wears battle scars from racing, most notably he said there is a dent in the roof from when they were racing it up Pike's Peak and there was a wreck in front of the truck, and a big chunk of the wreck came flying into the cab. He estimated the truck had to be doing well over 100 MPH at the time. He said it wouldn't be out of the realm to have started life as an Archer brothers truck, they've asked about buying it from him before - as I understand it. It was raced last by Sterling Volkswagen in Abilene, TX, and that's where he knows the most from. The son of the dealer would drive it on the street when they were not racing, so that could explain the lights being in place and the plates on it. He's been in contact with them, and they still have a bunch of parts from the truck, including a spare race engine still in the crate. It has a clean TX title, which he thinks is still in the Volks dealers name. The current owner said that he wouldn't have a problem with holding it if he had payment in full if someone needed time to arrange pick up. I have left a message with the Volks dealer, and will call again tomorrow when they are open. Rob

The same reason it has headlights and turn signals... Someone turned it into a driver. Rob

I think you can see the bars in the overhead 3/4 shot... Look closely at the front of the bed. Do you think that this could have been bought from the Archer brothers, raced in another form, and then sold off to these people who made it a streeter? Rob

My roommate is seriously considering this... Will, is your trailer still available? Rob

Oh my. Someone has to buy this thing... Who's in Texas and has some extra cash? Rob

Wow Don... That thing must be a gem. I wish I could see it... Especially that CD player! I would love to find one of those. As for the years, I want to say that part of me agrees with you, but part of me wants to say '87-'90. I could have swore that I've seen a '90. Rob

Check the Thunderchief thread for my reply... I'm going to link him to it in a few days, so thank him and ask him there, and we'll see what happens. Rob

Eh, don't thank me. Consider me the Andy Dufresne of Comanche Club. I just kept sending emails every now and then bothering him until he finally gave in. Brandt does stop by, and I'll shoot him another link here in a few days to check out everyone's comments, so if you want to thank him, do so in the thread. I'll make sure he sees it. Rob

It's my belief, that this truck, like the land speed record truck, started life as a test mule. Notice all the weird, and out of place underhood items... The lack of the detail on the airbox, the weird neck of the throttle body, emissions tag in a weird spot, blue underhood (Right? Or just me?)... I bet this started life as either an Emissions test vehicle, or a mule for the new 4.0L... Once it's purpose was served, they were left with an unsellable vehicle. Rather than just crush it, it ended up as a canvas for a wet dream. Rob

I also rush shipped Brandt a couple goodies... And this happened. How about a parting shot? Rob

OMSC stands for Overseas Military Car Sales. It's headquartered in Switzerland. What do you think the chances are that it was overseas? Rob

Chrysler recycles body codes... What it is now is the "Liberty Jet Group" which is a current trim package for the latest gen libby... What it used to be is something completely different. Rob

If the check engine light has been triggered, even if it's a minor intermittent problem causing the light to go off again, the error code should still be stored in the computer for the next 50 key off/key on cycles. Take it in whether the light is on or not. It depends on the type of code. Some don't set history codes... Some take more faults to set, some take less, some get cleared by such and such conditions. I think, depending on the year of Mopar, you should be able to flash the codes through the odo whenever you want. I would imagine that if its enough to kill the truck though, something would be stored... Rob

Driving habits. I drive like an old man and can get my 5300 lb ZJ with the 4.0L into the low 20's consistently. I never drive above 60, the cruise is always on, and I coast well before I know I have a stop coming. Drive like you don't have a brake, because when you brake, you are basically throwing out the mileage/fuel used to get up to that speed. Easy up, easy down... I like the idea of driving with a vacuum gauge and keeping it on the high end... Never thought about that I guess. Rob

Bump for pics and videos! Believe it or not, after some picking of lines and a couple different tries, it made it up and over! IGoK4J4EBx8 CaAPrtzeRFk This one would have been a keeper, had I not got into the shot... Damnit. xS4BXrKD-WM Rob

That's a rhetorical question. The answer is always yes. Rob