CGCWO

Spent a few days a Barbers Motorsports Park. Toured the museum and watched the incredibly talented racers navigate the wet track all weekend. Now back to real life and getting INKY on the road. Found my brake problem, drivers side parking brake cable was frozen in engaged position. Got it freed up and brakes are now working properly.

If you have kept your drum brakes on the rear here a lesson learned. I replaced all the hardware and shoes. After driving I noticed a slight grinding noise. Thought it was just the shoes seating or maybe I had the emergency brake set to tight. After second short drive the noise increased to metal on metal sound. Removed both drums, right was fine and properly adjusted. Left (drivers side) the adjustment spindle bolt had come dislodged and was sitting sideways in the drum. Further inspection revealed the parking brake cable on that side was stuck in the on position. Just something to look out for.

I used 320 and then 600 grit sand paper to scuff them and then sprayed with rustoleum satin finish (2) good coats. Key I’ve found is to allow them to cure 36-48 hrs before trying to re-install. After install I used a foam brush to touch up the bolt heads.

Thanks! I went back and forth on colors and finish. This was a test and turned out pretty good. I painted the front clip a couple months ago from a different batch of paint than the rest so it’s just a tad lighter than the rest of the truck.

Winch is still in the box for now. Haven’t had a chance to get it in yet. No I deleted the rear prop valve and swapped in a YJ main prop block under the hood. Took it out for a 50 mile drive today. Did pretty good. Temp hovered between 198-206. Still not perfect, but held 55-65mph pretty good. Not bad for 3:55’s and 32x11.50 tires. Brake pedal did get a bit soft a couple of times and she wants to wander on rougher stretches of pavement. We are getting there though.

Got the brakes bled and drums adjusted. Brake light is on so I’ve still got some work to do.

Next addition!

Replaced all the rear drum brake hardware and wheel cylinders today, no if I can just get the brakes bled. Truck has a new brake booster/master along with a TJ distribution block and the rear portioning block has been deleted. Also have all new hard and soft lines.

Update…found the mech that did my longblock swap connected main ground to the alternator bracket (of course this is aluminum). Rerouted directly to the side of the block, found a broken three prong connector to the coil, refreshed all engine compartment grounds. Reset TPS and swapped back to original trans computer she’s shifting and running like a bat out of h3ll now!!!! Maintains speed and gear with 1/4-1/2 gas pedal. Thanks for all the advice and ideas. I knew it was going to be something simple. Not 100% sure it was one of the grounds, tps or the trans computer. Pretty sure the ground to aluminum was a part of the problem.

Winch should be here later this week and then it’s time to break out the cutting wheel again. Went with an XBull 10k synthetic line.

Thanks for the info and confirming I am close to spec for fuel pressure. I absolutely believe the difference is due to the gauge I am using. Still trying to figure out the problem with having to use close to or full throttle to get up to speed and the kick down (passing gear) not responding.

So I finally got around to testing the fuel pressure again. At idle it sits right at 36 with vacuum line attached and bumps up to 40 when vacuum is disconnected. Here's where it gets strange if i disconnect the vacuum line and plug both the regulator side and intake side the the truck idle is more stable and the truck actually seems to run better. I have double, triple and quad checked all the vacuum lines, wiring, tps, cleaned the throttle body/IAC, and have a new (2weeks old CPS) instaled. I am having to push the gas pedal to the floor to accelerate when in gear. TPS shows mid to high 70's during acceleration. Once to speed 50-60 i have to keep 3/4 or more pedal to maintain speed and i have no kickdown when stomping on the gas. Trans was rebuilt and I've tried two different trans computers. Any thoughts?

Body painting all done. Still a few trim pieces to touch up but I am pretty happy with it.

Doors are all that’s left to paint. Yes I know the Pioneer emblems are not in the right location. I am not a fan of the hockey stick stripes and wanted something a bit different.

Front clip back together with matching fenders and flares.

Took her out for a drive today, did a 30-40 min country road loop. Guess I got the closed cooling system burped good temp fluctuated between 195-210. Only reached 210 when stuck at a long red light. She did well on elevation changes (small rollers NW Florida). Still have a hesitation occasionally, need to check injectors and fuel lines. Also doesn’t want to rev past 3k when stomping on her when moving. Next up, finish brake work (rear shoes, wheel cylinders and hardware kit), fix my exhaust leaks and continue paint. Then on to AC, wiper reconditioning and figure out installing the cruise control kit I bought from @eaglescout526.

Ha, Ha, Ha!!!!

Very true

Will do and report back.

I readjusted idle to 750-800 didn’t make a big difference. Also took advantage of the truck being cold this morning to burp the cooling system (rear temp sensor). Temp is good running right at 200-210 (via REMII) when warmed up. Temp gauge on my cluster doesn’t work. Aux fan operating as it should and I am running a 195 thermostat. Tightened exhaust manifold bolts and best I could and tightened down pipe collector as much as I felt safe. Seemed to help exhaust leak. Went back through all the C1 delete splices and re-solder them. Found a few that were not as tight as I would have liked. I’ll be going back through all the other splices I had fixed before the longblock install. Mech that did the install wasn’t very careful with wiring. Now getting ready for TS FREDS impact. Hopefully it won’t be much more than some rain and wind gust since we are just west of the predicted landfall area. Throttle plate is good and moves through the full range.

One more pic from the a$$.

Got the topper fitted and temp installed so it won’t blow away if FRED is more than what’s expected. Fit pretty well, it’s actually about 1inch to short in length, but I worked that out. Now after all this weather pushes through it’s time to continue with the painting.

Are you saying my sitting idle should be lower? At 50mph ish I am showing just under 2k. I am running 32inch tires and 3.55 gears, so I know she’s not going to be a speed demon.

Yes fuel pressure was spot on, 32 at idle with vacuum connected and near 40 with vacuum disconnected. Before the longblock swap. I’ll try testing it again, but the MTS fuel pump and filter are less than 4 months old. All my REMII readings are good, ST fuel trim is a bit high, but not crazy. Best description I can give is once in gear the truck reaches 2500 rpm and won’t climb above 3k after it shifts into 3rd or overdrive. In 1/2 it will, I definitely still have some exhaust leaks and am addressing those.

Trying the converted videos: IMG_0025.MP4