DirtyComanche

I'll start this off by saying that today was of 'mixed' success. I sold my cherokee. Which is a good. I got not quite what I wanted, but close enough. And it is gone. I hope the kid who bought it doesn't kill himself with it though. I made him aware of what he should know about it, as to if he follows my advice or not is another matter. I mocked up my tank location and seriously debated going to a different tank setup. This one is bloody large. Really bloody large. I'm still not sure, but I managed to get it sitting in a manner that I think will be acceptable. First location: Image Not Found Way too high. It's a lot of weight to put up there. And I need space for the rad too. Image Not Found It'll also cause issues trying to put an X in the cage there. So, definatly not good. Image Not Found Dunno why I took that pic. Must have been a good reason. Another success (mostly) was I went to work on gettign the Offy mounted up. Image Not Found Mocking up for port matching. Image Not Found I had to use fender washers under the cone washers to have as much engagement on the manifold bolts as I'd like. These ones needed to be notched to fit the header. Image Not Found For the top centre ones I just needed to notch the cone washer a bit. Image Not Found The lowers ones just needed a fender washer. Mixer going on: Image Not Found I'm still trying to figure out the throttle. Apparently I need linkage brackets from a YJ. Other than YJs didn't come with the linkage brackets that were described in the instructions. I'm kinda going WTF on that one. I might be able to run a more generic throttle cable setup. Not sure yet. There's also a problem in that I couldn't align the P/S pump brackets with the tapped holes in the intake. I actually had to shave a bunch off the back of the bracket to get it to fit even. I'm not sure if only having it bolted to the water pump is wise? I think I'll put a belt on it and get it fired up and if it shakes too bade I'll figure out something. I can always drill/tap the intake. And here's how I finially placed the tank. Image Not Found It's way better. I just need to work on some brackets for the straps that hold it down. And it'll have enough clearance for an X now. If I use this tank or not is still up in the air. I'll need to clean it a bit and paint it if I do. I'm also considering mounting my radiator above the tank. But horizontally. I don't know if that would be legal. Or if it would work? I don't know about that either... But I want it somewhere where it won't get bashed by $#!&. If it's behind the tank it'll get bashed, I think. Unless I actually start securing stuff to my bed better... As to of what makes me consider this to be mixed success... Well, I need a dist. drive gear from an 81+ AMC 360. I can buy one new for $140 (wow, I love the stealer). Or I can get the junkyard one for $5. The problem was I went there but lacked the tools to pull it... So I gotta go back tuesday. But, more annoyingly, I think the parts stores hate me and jsut want me to @#$% off and never come back. I order in some gauges, and I ask specifically 'are these electric?' and was assured they are. Now I have a mechanical oil pressure gauge, and a thermocouple style temp gauge. Who runs a mechanical oil pressure gauge? I'm SURE AS HELL NOT. So, maybe I f'd up by not asking more questions on that one, seeing as I doubt electric gauges are entirely universal. And the temp gauge won't fit anywhere in the head, unless I drill some major holes. I also ordered an intake/exhaust gasket on thursday. I was assured it would be in friday morning. I went to pick it up today (saturday) and it was not to be found. But it had come. I told the guy I'd be back in half an hour and to look for it... I come back and he's sitting on his @$$ not doing @#$% all. Guess what? Look after your customers or they WON'T come back. So I went to a wholesaler instead and got one... I also asked more than one person about the topic of a nightswitch (battery isolater). Nobody understood me. Even after I described in detail what I wanted. Until finially it clicked with somebody. And they told me that they don't sell them. Guess what? I know they do - I went in with somebody when they bought one. I can't wire the truck without one (well, I can, but find that it complicates life as the switch location determines other things.) So, I guess I'll go to an electrical supplier now. Unless I can get that P/N off the other switch. Anywho... Tomorrow I'll go pick up the bender/dies. Monday I might jsut go buy a MIG. Or I'll put it off a bit. Then maybe I can make some progress and feel a little better about this thing.

IIRC YJs were available with em til the end in 95 Yeah, and they came with the worlds crappiest carbs. So normally they run like $#!&. Which means lots of YJ guys pull them and put in V8s. So you can get them cheap. And the same time, a guy can pull his 4oh and put in a V8.

You can theoretically off-set grind the crank and get 5L out of one. The reality is that it's not a good idea. Maybe not even possible from a practical point. The money invested makes no sense at that point, and reliablility could easily suffer. I don't know of one that has gone that far.

And there's lots of guys that do it in their back yard/garage.

A few problems with the 5.9 cummins... -It weighs about 900lbs turnkey. -It's a big mother. You think the 4.0 is cramped in a XJ/MJ engine bay - the cummins is probably 40% bigger in every dimension, and needs a massive intercooler and radiator.

AFAIK, yes, but all are the 5x5 bolt pattern. A guy could try using crown vic brake parts. They're easy to get and seem to bolt up to random things most of the time...

An XJ is 43.5" centre-centre, give or take a bit (they're metric.) And they are SOA. A MJ is 42" centre-centre and SUA.

The 6.2 will probably get better milage than a 2.5L... Or close, factoring the cheapness of diesel. Besides, it may be slow but you can haul things with them. My cummins gets better milage than my 4.0 cherokee.

I use lots of stuff... I've got a speed blaster, I don't use it much unless it's really weird. A 5" angle grinder with flap disks and wire brushes. A die grinder with sanding drums and a wire wheel (it's crazy with a wire wheel). And a wire wheel to go in my cordless/air drill. And lacquer thinner. Lots of it... I don't worry about prep being a problem.

I'm a prep nazi anyways. Even with the stick. Then I go help somebody weld something and it's like 'don't worry about the paint, it'll burn off' and they wonder why it looks like $#!&.

Ebay is evil. Like the crack cocaine :chillin:

To buy one locally is about the same price as a miller, near as I can tell. The selection has been lacking at the other stores. I have a lincoln tombstone, got nothing against lincoln. And job? What's that? :D

No worries... That quote included the bottle filled, and a pack of tips. I could talk him into some wire too, probably... I think for the extra money I should get the 180. I'll need the extra duty cycle if nothing else. I'm somewhat limited to what I can buy locally (or close) becuase shipping is such a b*@$£.

While it is possible, it would be way too much work. I had another renix intake which I used to check the feasability and basically it wasn't. The 4bbl pattern is WAY too big, unless you want to cut the entire middle area out of it and weld a new one in. Given I only have a stick welder (I want a mig, buuuut), I'd have to get it welded by somebody else. That costs $$$. I think I'm going to cut the dowels off the head and try. If not I might look into putting an AMC 258 head on a 4.0 block. God damnit.

Yeah, I'm converted, I think. I was at the local welding supply because well, I dunno. I gravitate towards those sort of places. Anyways, push came to shove and I started looking at their millermatics. MM140 is about 800 and the MM180 is like 920... Think I should pony up the extra 100 and change for the better one? Hmm... (I think I've got 1000 for the cherokee... hence, I'm going to buy a MIG) I might go and look at other places too.

They didn't hassle you at the border with that without papers?

She's a pretty old girl.

You can get a ratchet over it on my MJ. Do you have ABS or something stupid? There should be some clearance.

The driveshaft would need to pass through that x-member. I think this build has been going on a for a while because he's hit a few brick walls. Just judging by the rust and the state of everything. If he posts up we could get things sorted out.

Not quite. I've never actually seen a 1/4 elliptical that is like the one you are describing. But I have heard of it. With that setup you're combining the negatives of leaf springs with link suspnesion. Since you're still relying on a spring to locate the axle. In this setup the leafs are on a shackle at the axle (his it turned over and might need tweaking) and can move around however much they want. The links locate the axle.

Actually, it turns out there is a package for summit for me. It's my intake manifold... But, I gambled and lost. The 4.0 and 258 head design was NOT the same regarding the port placement. I should have gone and bought two intake gaskets to see for myself sometime BEFORE I ordered this thing. The difference was that the 258 ports are even LOWER than the 4.0 renix ones. I couldn't have believed that possible, but they are. Now, I think I can bolt the intake up in the correct position, providing that I change a few slight things. I'd have to either cut off the alignment nubs on the head, or cut the holes for them in the intake into slots. I don't know if this will cause the manifold to not seat correctly or anything of that nature. Or perhaps it will seat, but wiggle loose at some point? The intake is drilled for the P/S brackets, so that actually wasn't a problem. But if I do move it up, it may be. However, I think I can make some room in the mounts and deal with it... Not sure. I dunno. I gotta make this work. It's too late to go back.

You can break a D35 with just about anything. Locked or welded it really doesn't have a chance. And if you plan to drive it on the street, a welded rear sucks. But a welded front is worse.

I need parts! GAHHHHHHHHHH. Nothing ever shows up on time. Oh, and I decided to ditch the speedometer. Who cares.

For a quick rundown on propane, see this page... http://comancheclub.com/forums/viewtopi ... 4&start=30 I briefly explained it. I have an offenhauser intake that is ment to put a 4BBL carb on an AMC 6er. The propane mixer is a 4bbl.

I've got a chevy HEI setup to go on for the disty. I don't like ford parts. And yeah, I've got all the gauges figured out AFAIK. The coolant one was throwing me off because of the other one... Apparently I live in the middle of nowhere, so I can't just order in some generic gauges and things like a nightswitch and dist drive gear. I love parts stores... The good news - I found a guy that does propane conversions and repairs that not only knows his stuff, but is nice enough to sell me rebuild kits for impco products at a great deal!