derf

I never saw it as a Canada only package. Someone who knows for certain should correct me if I'm wrong.

That package was available in 93 in the US.

When I bought mine, I bought a pair. Both in rough shape. The one with the really trashed bed is going to be built up. Not quite into a truggy but it's going to be built into a serious wheeling rig. I'm still tossing the idea around of even building a custom bed over just cutting up the beat up bed it has. The other one has some minor damage on one side but it's salvageable. I'm going to build that one into a milder truck set up to be a run-around truck or even daily driver to replace my 01XJ.

Children of the quarn.

That's only slightly thicker than the bondo on the bed of my 87.

So with a bunch of people stuck at home with nothing to do, I fully expect a big baby boom come December. And, of course, once we get to 2033, those kids are going to call themselves the quaranteens...

I've been involved in recovering trucks stuck like that and worse. You're not kidding about the suction holding the tires in place. It's less fun when the truck has hydrolocked. That's a big part of why I don't go mudding any more.

Mine are still sitting where they've been resting for a while. The whole buy a house, start working on the MJs plan has hit a snag...

Yeah, learning the radios does take a bit of work. One piece of advice that works well for me. Once you pick a major brand of radio (Kenwood, Yaesu, etc.), stick with that brand. Once you learn their system, going from one radio to another is easy. Trying to remember the commands between two brands of radios can be hard. They're all good radios so just pick one with the features you like and go from there. I've gone with Kenwood myself.

The test is pretty easy. They publish the questions. You can do online study guides and memorize the answers. Local ham clubs will host the test either for free or for a very small fee. The basic license (technician) is a really easy test. Basic middle school electronics and some questions about regulations. Best part is that they dropped the requirement for Morse code a while back. It gets a little harder as you go for more license but as you go up you are able to access more frequencies and use more power to broadcast. I'm happy as a tech. I use the two most commonly used bands for short distance comms, 2m and 70cm. Lots of radios to choose from in this range and it does what I need to do. I am legal to transmit up to 1,500W but my radios only go up to 50W. CBs transmit at 4W. I rarely find myself in a situation where I go over 5-8W and the radio carries a lot further than CB.

Like everything else, you can spend as much money as you want to in this hobby. Honestly the cheapo Baofeng UV5R with a decent antenna and a bigger battery pack won't set you back too much. The battery seems to last forever and you get good quality audio even out of the cheap Chinese junk. After that, you can look at putting a base station in your Jeep. And again, you can spend as much as you want there too. Though a good radio and, more importantly, a good antenna will set you back maybe $2-300 if you want something respectable. I went bigger with mine. Both are dual channel radios. The 710GA has built in APRS, which is a GPS based position reporting system that links up with digipeters (digital repeaters hooked up to the internet) so you can go to a website and track me when I have my radio on.

I saw a thread or two that are maybe 10 years old. Figured I'd start a new one. Who else out there runs ham radio? W0JPR here. I mostly got it so I can punch through to a repeater if I'm stranded or need help out in the mountains in Colorado. Some people in my group are also hams and we will chat on the trail. The clarity is so much better than CB. I still run CB because I want to be able to talk with the 90% of people with radios in their Jeeps. I'm running a Kenwood TM-D710GA in my XJ right now. I may move it over to the MJ when it's ready. I do have a Kenwood TM-V71 as well. Good 50W radios, the 710 has built in APRS which is nice. And, of course, the "disposable" Baofeng HT is always along. Who else is a ham and what are you running?

I dunno. I suspect the "least worst" of the replacement rockers are a good bet. They just take a lot of work to get lined up right and in properly. But I suspect they're easier than fabricating something entirely by hand. Unless you just want to.

That reminds me of the Bacon Explosion. http://www.bbqaddicts.com/recipes/pork/bacon-explosion/

Samuel M-Fin Jackson. Obviously, NSFW.

Mom taught me the basics on how to fend for myself and I have experimented with a bunch of things over the years. I'm a fair cook. Not a chef by any stretch of the imagination but I don't burn Kool-Aid most of the time. A lot of the experiments I went with over the years were lessons on how not to do it. But that's just as valuable as the successes.

If you're concerned about moisture content, you can pre-cook the bacon and drain it. The crispy bits will soften up a little while they cook more inside the loaf. Works either way. For the peppers and mushrooms, you could always cut back on the milk a little to compensate for the moisture.

Add one ingredient. 6 strips bacon (4 if thick cut bacon), cut into 1/8" to1/4" strips (i.e. uncooked bacon bits). You'll thank me.

Living alone and working full time, I don't like to spend a lot of time cooking (and especially cleaning afterwords). I tend to look for simple things to prepare without a lot of effort and fewer dishes to clean. My typical evening meal is some kind of meat on the foreman grill with some warmed up veggies and maybe a biscuit in the toaster oven. Pillsbury Grands come in a bag in the freezer section so I can pop in one or two at a time. Once you get the timing for the foreman grill figured out, it's easy to cook chicken breast or thighs, pork chops, and steak the way you like. Add the seasoning or sauce of your choosing. Marinating the meat ahead of time is always an option. I like chicken breast marinated in Italian Dressing. Dry rub on pork chops is pretty good too. For lunch at work I like to try and stay healthy. So I'll do a bagged salad, split into separate Gladware containers. I'll cook up some cubed chicken and maybe add some diced ham. I also throw in some other things I like on a salad. But if you're looking for somewhat healthy lunches without a lot of prep, that's one way to go. Ingredients are basically whatever kind of salad and add-ons you like. Everyone is different there. Another simple lunch I like to do is my low carb chicken "stir fry". It's another quick and easy dish to prepare and makes enough to have for lunch at work for a week or so. * 3 good size chicken breasts, cubed or cut into strips. Pork chops (1.5-2 pounds) work as well. I haven't done beef or shrimp with this but it would probably work. * One bag frozen vegetables. I like peas and carrots mix, but you could use broccoli, peas (without carrots), or whatever suits you. Fresh vegetables would work too. Pea pods are good if you want to do fresh. * 1 cup peanuts. I use dry roasted, salted. Low salt and unsalted would work as well. * 1/2 cup soy sauce (more or less, I don't actually measure) Optional ingredients: * Bean sprouts - 1 can (or equivalent fresh) * Water chestnuts - 1 can (or equivalent fresh) * Bamboo shoots - 1 can (or equivalent fresh) Pre-heat some sesame oil in a pan on medium-high heat. Add meat to the pan. Stir frequently until fully seared. Remove meat from the pan and drain. Add frozen veggies and peanuts. Stir frequently for 1-2 minutes. Return meat to the pan. Reduce heat to medium low. Pour on soy sauce and add optional ingredients. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat as needed. Unlike traditional stir fry, there is no thickening agent (i.e. starch in water). Keeps the carb count lower but there's no "sauce" to hold things together. You could serve this over rice but that would kill the low carb nature of this dish. I end up splitting this into even portions in Gladware containers. After it cools down a bit I toss the containers in the fridge and just grab one in the morning on my way to work. Toss it in the microwave in the break room for a minute and a half and I have lunch that's better than junk food by far.

Oh, and please take pictures and post details as the swap progresses. I'm still tossing around lots of ideas for my own engine swap. I'd like to do something more in the unique side myself and have been looking at several options. If this goes well, I may put the LT1 back on my list. :)

It's a decent engine, and will work well in a Comanche. It's just not used often and lacks aftermarket support. Since you have a specialist that knows these engines and has experience swapping them, a lot of the potential problems will be mitigated and make this an easier swap that trying to tackle it yourself. Exhaust manifolds should be block huggers. I'd recommend starting here for basic information: http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/engines/swap-guides/chevy-buick-gm/xj-swap/ That's a good starting point for general swap information and advice for a GM engine into an XJ/MJ.