Megadan

Hitch plates(and complete hitches if you need one) coming very soon! I promise! Definitely interested in a hitch. Honestly, aside from a number of replacement parts already named, I would love to have a readily available truck topper that actually fit. The one company that makes a folding soft topper only makes them for the SWB trucks. I would love one of those, but I have a LWB...FTL.

A photobucket (or similar) account will allow you to upload to their site and then IMG link the pictures here. That is the easiest way to do so.

:agree: The fact that it cools and stays at a steady temp in motion tells me that you either have a circulation problem at low engine speed (pump) or your electric fan, the switch/sender in the rad, or wiring between the two is not functioning.

Yeah, I had to re-learn to clutch when I did my AX-15 swap. The clutch in front of the BA10 in my truck was the factory original unit and was a bit worn. It took me a few days to be smooth again (good ol' herky jerky starts)

Lol and what is your preferred method impulse Well, on the last two engines I built, I did an initial break in start, changed the oil, and drove them to the dyno. Both of those engines to my knowledge are still running strong, one for over 7 years now, and is semi daily driven. Many people think dyno break ins are stupid and prefer the old fashioned method of driving nice for a couple thousand miles. Hence my comment about debating on the best method lol.

Softer feel but not spongy is most likely just the pressure plate design. As long as the clutch fully engages/disengages, then I wouldn't worry. The low clutch engagement is a good thing too, that means there's lots of clutch (it's new). It's when the release point is really high that tends to be a good sign of a worn clutch that will need replacing soon. P.S. Take care not to floor it, or rev to high, for a couple hundred miles. Avoid interstate driving as well, and avoid sustaining the same RPM for extended periods. You want to make sure that clutch breaks in properly.

Woohoo! Good job!

ATF is awfully thin stuff. I would just stick with a good synthetic 10w-40. Synthetic motor oils tend to have a high detergent level as well, and it would be more appropriate for this given application. If you have ever seen the inside of a high mile engine that ran synthetic oil most of it's life with regular changes, you would be amazed at how clean the inside of that engine will be.

AMSOIL also has a really good break in oil that I have used in the past on other vehicles. Like said ^above^ the ZDDP additives (zinc and phosphorus) are the key ingredient for initial break in. Once everybody has debated the best break in oil, you can then start a new debate on the best break in methods lol.

POR-15 can be applied to non rusted bare metal and work perfectly. The right prep work needs to be done to the metal, most notably the prep spray they sell, which is a mild acid used to etch the surface of the metal to allow the POR to properly adhere to the surface.

What he is doing is somewhere between fixing it "right" and letting it rot away. He is cleaning up the bad spots and trying to fill in the gaps. It may not be the right way, but it falls somewhere in between. I understand not agreeing with his approach, but having an opinion and being rude can generally be two separate things.

He is filling it with MT-90, but 10w-40 is the oil recommended by the factory for the ax-15, so there shouldn't be any issues using it as a flush. Doing a flush with MT-90 would be a silly expensive way to do it lol

Lookin good! It's very common for people to black out those tabs to hide them. Another thing you can do with the P71 grille is to paint the surround body color and leave the mesh black. It really cleans up the look of the nose.

Actually to reduce the fuel pump noise, not extend it's life. That's surprising, because I wouldn't consider the pump very quiet even with that resistor in place. Usually manufacturers will reduce power (Voltage) to the pump to slow it down when fuel demand is low to prevent excessive fuel heating and extend pump life. I can see it making the pump quieter since it's not working as hard though, so it makes sense. If your pump is noisy with the resistor, it shouldn't be. There was a TSB issued in 1987 that had us guys putting the ballast resistors on the early models built without it, SOLELY to address customer complaints about noise. I have a carter pump, which are normally noisy anyway. It's not obnoxious, but noticeable. The noise level doesn't change when I bypass the resistor, funnily enough.

^Proof of what I said! I guess if you are trying to suspend the truck in the air with the wheels and tires on at full droop, those high stands may be a good idea though from the sounds of it. I am sure you will figure something out though.

Actually to reduce the fuel pump noise, not extend it's life. That's surprising, because I wouldn't consider the pump very quiet even with that resistor in place. Usually manufacturers will reduce power (Voltage) to the pump to slow it down when fuel demand is low to prevent excessive fuel heating and extend pump life. I can see it making the pump quieter since it's not working as hard though, so it makes sense.

You can also get some overkill heavy duty stands (12 ton) that usually extend to around 27-30 inches in height. I can't imagine needing anything more than that as most generic 2-3 ton stands only extend to about 18-19 inches high max, and the bigger 12 tons start at that height. In any case, I can promise you will find 12 ton stands for cheaper than those extra high stands posted above. want an idea of what height you need, measure the height to the frame from the ground with the vehicle on the ground. That should give you a good idea of at least a minimum height you will want to start with.

It's main purpose is to reduce the power to the pump to help extend its life. Many people simply bypass it by connected the two wires together.

^That. There were enough XJ's made that you have a better chance of finding a decent condition dash out of another vehicle for cheap. I repaired a plastic dash once using a plastic welding kit and lots of sanding. I then had a friend clean up and glue new soft vinyl over said plastic. It turned out pretty good, but it cost me over $100 to do, and all the labor was free. If you had a shop do something similar, it could easily cost hundreds.

This one. Ironically, I'm not much of a Jeep fan :hmm: I have always loved the Comanche though, ever since I was a teenager. Back then I couldn't quite afford one, and then they became harder to find around here. When I had the chance to buy one, I took it.

Pretty much any XJ Door from a 4dr up to 1996 should work with no kerfuffle.

Those same forest fires have been causing a smoky haze all the way down to my neck of the woods here in Nebraska. That is a really neat picture though. I tried to get a picture of the orange/red sun in the sky we had last week thanks to the smoke in the sky. It was blocked enough that you could stare straight at it and not hurt your eyes.

I still have my atari 2600 and boxes full of games from back in my younger days. It has outlasted an SNES, N64, Sega, Sega Genesis, Playstation (original), and Playstation 2. I rarely play it. I just tool around on my XBox 360 from time to time and troll people on GTA5.

Cheap clean oil should work just fine to help flush out metal particulates. I drove my truck around until the trans was hot, and opened the fill and drain holes and let it drain up on ramps for a while to let as much flow out as possible. I put the drain plug back in and filled it with a couple quarts of cheap motor oil I had laying around and then drained it again to push out as much of the fine metal filings as I could (Brand new transmission break in, so I had plenty). I then filled it up with MT-90. Done.

I wish I had 3.55 gears with my manual trans. To answer your 75mph question, with the AX-15 and 3.55 gears you will be sitting at right around 2400rpm in 5th gear. With 3.07 gears and the same tire size and transmission you would be at 2100rpm. 300rpm isn't that big of a difference. Worst case scenario would be losing 1mpg, and honestly the difference wouldn't even be that much.