derf

If I could...

I'm an introvert by nature. I hate being around people. Living alone, I spend most of my time by myself anyway so this isn't a huge change for me. I usually go into work but sit at my cube with my headphones on and I don't interact with people much because I don't have to. I could get used to this whole working from home full time gig if I had to. I usually spend time on the weekends helping friends wrench on their Jeeps. Instead of that, I've been finding time to do things around the house I put off. I've been able to organize a lot of stuff. I've even done a couple of things to my own Jeep. Little things but useful things. I do get to do my laundry while I'm working so I don't have to dedicate off time for that, which is nice. My plan for this weekend is the spring garage cleaning, which I wouldn't have time to do if things were "normal" because I'd be elsewhere doing other things. So mostly for me, it's the ability to get things done that I usually don't have time to do.

The tall intake issue is with the LS truck blocks 1999 and newer. The 4.8, 5.3, and 6.0 from the early 2000's at least have a very tall intake that hits the hood. The LS1/LS6 intake manifold from the cars is quite a bit shorter and bolts right up. And it fits better under the hood of an XJ. The LT1 has a slightly taller intake manifold and may suffer the same problems as the truck style LS intakes. But I can't say for sure. The only way to use an LT1 is to get a full running/driving donor with an intact wiring harness and computer. Take absolutely everything for it at once. Don't cut a thing. You won't be able to find many replacements for things like that. And there isn't much aftermarket that supplies alternatives. Like I say, the LT1(and LT4) are the red-headed step children. They were only produced for 6 years and they are full of unique parts. The block, the heads, the OptiSpark distributor in front of the engine, all of it. It's weird. It's unique. And not many people like it. It works fine if you're set on using one. Just know the aftermarket is worse for these engines than it is for the MJ. But a unique, limited run engine in a unique, limited run truck would be appropriate. Look at Novak for the conversion kit for the 4L60 so you can run a transfer case. It will put a speed sensor on the transmission tail shaft so that the computer can shift things correctly no matter if you're in high range or low range. In fact, you don't connect any transfer case wires to the donor computer. You can keep the speedo cable in your transfer case to run your dash. For dash gauges, you're better off adding factory sending units for oil pressure and water temp somewhere you can find room. Some conversion radiators (hoses switch sides so you need a new radiator) have a port for a temp sender. You can put a "T" fitting on the oil pressure tap in the block and run 2 senders. Keep the one that goes with the engine for its computer and take the one out of your Renix engine and connect it to your factory wiring harness. Other than that, it should be pretty straightfoward. As unique as the LT1 is, it's still just a modified first gen small block chevy. Once you get outside the block and heads, it looks like many other small block chevy engines.

I've been there a couple of times myself. Sucks no matter how you try to spin it. You'll get through this.

I knew a guy who's father was in charge of procurement of fasteners for AMC. He explained it to me. When the engineers turned in a spec for a bolt, it usually has a range, or at least a minimum. So he'd go out and find fasteners they could buy in bulk for manufacturing. Given the penny pinching going on in AMC at the time, they would buy the cheapest fastener that met spec. Sometimes that was metric, sometimes that was standard. Even if they only saved $10 on 10,000 fasteners, they'd choose the cheaper one. That's why you have a mix of standard and metric bolts on vehicles of that era. As far as torx, there's something about it that makes it better for manufacturing in the assembly plant so they use it a lot. But I forget the exact reason why.

My 2019 Subaru reads empty when it still has a few gallons left in the tank. I think a lot of manufacturers do that on purpose so that you don't run the car out of gas. They pop up all kinds of warnings on the screen about low fuel to scare you into filling up. Which, given that the fuel in the tank keeps the pump cool, it's not a bad idea to follow that advice. But I don't know how linear the gauge reading is. i.e. is going from 3/4 tank to 1/2 tank the same as going from 1/2 to 1/4 tank?

The LT1 has a lot of unique things associated with it and it's kind of the redheaded step-child of the Chevy small blocks. Few people want to bother with them. I seriously doubt there are any writeups anywhere, unfortunately. The only advice I can offer is to keep absolutely everything from the donor that you can and install it all together. The LT1 block is a slightly tweaked Gen 1 350. Most of the changes are on the front and with the intake. The mounts should be standard SBC so the Novak kit would put the block in the right place. The transmission will be standard 4L60 so the trans mount will be like everyone else. Engine accessory locations may be an issue. And finding relocation brackets, if needed, may be "challenging". Running the dash may require some creative engineering or just punting and wiring up extra sensors, leaving the ones for the computer alone. Best of luck to you.

My bet is on linkage adjustment.

Yeah, 2wd low (either FWD or RWD) is useful when rock crawling. An Atlas or other twin sticked transfer case makes that so much nicer.

Fill it with ATF until it starts coming out of the fill hole.

You don't need a C-Clamp to hold the leaves together when you pull the axle. The only time you need one is when you remove the pin. And you really should use 2 when you do that, one on either side of the pin.

They did. That's the second one I've seen in the wild. I wanted to buy the first one for a Cherokee I had at the time but it didn't work out.

There's basically zero chance the house would have 3 phase power. That's something you usually only find in industrial areas.

WD40.

With some of those, clicking the unsubscribe link only confirms you email address and you just end up getting more spam.

I don't know that I've ever had an accurate fuel gauge on any single vehicle I've ever owned.

I forgot how bad people are with emails. After the first realtor asked for my email during house searches earlier this year, I was reminded. I now give out the address of an email that I lost the password to and never use any more. It's a version of my name so it's a legit address. But for all intents and purposes it's a dead end for email.

Getting rid of my home phone (not always an option for some people) 10 years ago was the biggest relief. But I would still get a few calls now and again on my cell. Though I haven't had any telemarketers call me in many months at least.

I haven't gotten a telemarketing call for a long time.

I agree that they did a good job with LotR. One thing that made their job easier is that Tolkien goes on for pages describing the scene in intricate detail. It's easy to capture that with a 15-30 second camera pan at the start of the scene. I have the extended editions and I watched the extra material. They talked about the decision making process when writing the screen play. Their #1 rule was "if it's not directly tied to the story of the ring, it's something we can take out." That's why whole sections, like Tom Bombadil, are entirely missing. While it's interesting stuff, it's not directly related to the story of the ring. And with only a few hours per movie, they couldn't fit everything in and they ended up making some changes to fit more of the story in to less screen time. But that is why so many movies are so different than the books. They just don't have time to fit everything in. So they make changes. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. With LotR, they put a screenplay together that flowed well and kept the essence of the story going. That doesn't always happen when they go from the book to the movie, unfortunately. But it's great when it does. I ended up liking the movie adaptation of Ready Player One. The book was great. The movie, I think, told the story reasonably well. It helped that the original author was involved, as was Stephen Spielberg. The book was able to get deep into the nostalgia and really tell a great story. The movie only had 2 hours to tell the same story. While they made some fundamental changes, what they changed it to made sense in the context of the environment. Sections were entirely different, but it worked. The car chase at the beginning was able to communicate a lot more than just the fact that the contest was in process. In just a few lines at the start of the race, you find out just how poor the main character is in a way that flows well. They were able to fit so many other pieces in that way without it seeming like they were just doing scenes to check a box on the plot sequence list. It all flowed well. The Martian was another good adaptation from book to movie. Mat Damon captured the essence of the character. They cut stuff out to fit in 2 hours but what was left seemed to flow pretty well. I was able to enjoy both the book and the movie in this case as well.

I would actually shy away from companies like Rough Country in favor of the smaller shops. Rough Country has a reputation as being a company that sells cheap junk. Some people don't mind their (lack of) quality. They don't mind having to piece together the parts that aren't included but are necessary for a lift. They don't mind the Chinese made springs getting rusty in less than a year. They don't mind the really stiff ride (at least in some platforms). They don't mind the $10 shocks that don't work well for very long. The smaller dedicated shops cost more but they give you much more for your dollar. Also, there are other big name companies that sell better kits than companies like Rough Country. Just because they have a big name doesn't mean that they sell quality parts.

With enough power, you can break anything...

I have only heard of it happening 3rd hand. The AMC20 that was used in the CJ and full size Wagoneer was only pressed in with no plug welds. I never saw one myself but heard of it happening more often in that axle.

Rear, unbolt at axle and pull. It may have some stiction (sticky friction) making it feel stuck. Pull a little harder. Front takes multiple steps. Break loose the 2 bolts that you can get to at the transfer case side. The head of the bolt is at the yoke coming out of the case and it faces the case. Once those 2 are out, unbolt the axle side and pull it loose. Spin the shaft halfway around and reinstall at the axle loosely. Break the other two bolts loose at the transfer case yoke. Then just finish removing at both ends and pull the shaft.