derf

The garage. They even left water in the fridge.

The Dana 44 is alive and well in the Wranglers. The ring and pinion upgrades they made a while back make it pretty stout. And junkyards are full of Dana 44 axles from a variety of vehicles from the past. That won't change for a while. As far as the C8.25, it really is just a matter of cutting and welding spring perches and shock mounts. The drum brakes on the XJ will work as-is with the MJ hardware, both fluid lines and parking brake cables. The newer KJ axles have disc brakes but parking brakes cables are easy to work with. I do believe the driveshaft is close to the Dana 44 spec but someone who knows for sure can confirm. Either way, driveshafts are cheap to modify so that shouldn't bother you any. If you're planning a regear, any XJ/KJ donor 8.25 is a good donor because you can upgrade an early model 27 spline shafts to the stronger 29 spline while you're in there. Otherwise, stick with mid '96 and newer to go with the factory 29 spline shafts.

I'll snap a couple more pictures in the next day or two. As you face the house, there's room behind the fence on the left hand side (that you can't see) to park two vehicles. To the right is enough space to build a dedicated shop if I feel so inclined. The garage is oversize by quite a bit. I don't have an exact measurement but it's like 25x25 or so.

Unfortunately there is blood on many hands at this point. Undoubtedly there are instigators stirring things up to advance an agenda. But without a 'smoking gun' it's hard to say who or how many groups are behind everything.

It is done. Now I can start to think about actually working on the MJs...

I work a desk job making computers go so I don't use my hands for much beyond typing and mouse clicking. That's probably why my hobby is working on Jeeps and cars. And I've gone all in. I have enough tools to start as a mechanic tomorrow if I needed to. I can do just about everything outside of the true specialty jobs like bending up exhaust, mounting/balancing tires, and machine work on blocks and heads.

It's rare, so it's worth more than just any $100 junkyard axle. But it's still just a Dana 44. I wouldn't pay huge money for one but I'd drop a few Benjamins on it. Depends on overall condition and whether it has the gears i want in it or not.

Yah. Sure. You betcha. Eh?

That brings back memories.

Don't want to jinx it but that would be difficult at this point. Closing is Tuesday so I'm starting to pack.

I found out that one of my dad's old classmates was the first one in his nursing home to pass from complications from Covid-19. He was in his mid 80s so he probably had some underlying condition that made him vulnerable. I knew him but not very well. He has a daughter that's the same age as my older sister and we'd hang out when we went back to my dad's home town.

I remember living in Satellite Beach back when I was a kid. Just 20 miles south of the cape or so. close enough to hear them. I got to watch the first shuttle launch from the beach. That was awesome. I'm a bit far now so I have to watch it online.

It's definitely at a used car lot, not a real dealer. There's no way a dealer would ever come into possession of a vehicle like that, much less put it up on their lot.

I saw that on the book of faces. Some of the comments are pretty funny. That suspension is downright dangerous.

That sounds way high. You can get a complete stroker engine from Golen engines for under $7K plus shipping. A typical rebuild, even with all new pistons and an over-bore shouldn't be more than $2-3K or so. Hell, you can get a generic Jasper reman engine for around $2K or less last time I checked.

Too soon?

Lots of ways to skin a cat. Most superchargers are belt driven to deal with packaging in a production car that only has so much room to work with and a bunch of necessary accessories in the way. When you're building your car specifically for the drag strip with a wide open engine bay, you have more options. Also, that's one huge supercharger, relatively speaking. I imagine getting a belt big enough to drive it would be a challenge. Besides, the lack of front accessories means you don't have all of that stuff in the way.

Lots of good options to choose from. You can google for things you would want like made in USA if that's your thing. Honestly though, as long as you stay away from the really cheap brands you're good.

This is why I don't buy cheap jack stands. When it comes to safety, buying the good stuff is worth it.

In an unusual mood tonight...

I'm still working from home. At our staff meeting yesterday they told us that anyone who can work from home is required to keep doing so until further notice. There are a few things that people do where they have to be in the office but I can basically do everything remotely so I stay home. Sometimes I miss being able to sit down face to face with someone and work through a problem but we have decent (not great) tools to help us collaborate. I too enjoy the freedom. Having access to the kitchen for a healthier lunch is nice. The commute is a lot shorter and I don't have to "dress up" (i.e. put pants on).

There are two main factors in the spread of this disease. 1. The density of the population. 2. The density of the population.

Sounds like efforts to open things back up are just causing the virus to spread much more quickly, unfortunately. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus/germany-surge-sounds-coronavirus-alarm-as-world-takes-steps-to-reopen-idUSKBN22N1QT We really need to ramp up testing and contact tracing if we really want to open things back up.

The 904 /998/999 was also used in a lot of AMC cars. They're hard to find now but there are several models to choose from. You can also find the 727 behind AMC engines from the factory as well. They all need the CPS for factory fuel injection but that's not terribly hard to do.