Biotex

The truck ran about as perfect as could be. No issues mechanicaly at all. Turns out it wasn't the RMS leaking. It is the input shaft seal leaking tranny fluid. Every time i got gas I would check out the leak and noticed it getting worse and worse. I decided to play it safe and purchased all the parts and tools to allow me to add oil while on the road. I put in a quart after 500 miles, then two more after 1000 miles. I made it home, so all is good. I knew about the leak before I purchased the truck, so I knew what I was getting into. The price was good, so hey! I have my new Comanche sitting at the house ready for service. Most of the hard stuff has already been done, and it was done correctly. That is a HUGE plus. BTW, the pontiac seats are the most comfortable buckets i have sat in lately. Really made the trip bearable. Not having cruise was the worst of it. (aren't we spoiled?)

Yup, I opted to add a couple hundred mile onto my trip so I could get my luggage. Turns out the plane was 200 lbs. overweight, so they randomly grabbed luggage and put it on the next flight. I didn't want Ryan to have to sit around, so we picked up the CHE, and then i drove it back to Charlotte airport to retrieve my luggage. Got that done, and headed home. Since i'm in Charlotte, I chose the southern route, but will mention that I was happy to get out of the cold front anyways.

I am in Tampa Florida and scheduled to fly to Charlotte in the am. Just wanted to mention that I rented a 2013 jeep Grand Cherokee for my stay here. It is a Limited with all the options. GPS, attelite, Rear Camera, double length automatic sunroof, power everything, remote start, etc... I really really feel sory for future Jeepers that have even the slightest hint of an electrical problem. All that luxury does come at a price. No way i'd ever take a vehicle like that off road. I took some pictures of it, but no way to upload them until I get home. 1500 mile trip begins tomorrow. Thanks to all on here who have offered to help.

E, I can't possibly thank you enough for you devotion to this project. I'm super excited about it.

Sorry to say I don't own a tablet or a laptop. Our ranch is 25 miles from the nearest cell ohone signal. In town we have no 4G, or 3G, so I don't bother. The little bit I travel, just doesn't make it worth it. I will take pictures, but it will be night time during the first half of the trip.

One of the things I don't like about a Chevy swap is the rear placement of the distributor gets so close to the firewall that you can't remove it for repairs very easy.

Hornbrod, That is a tank I used on my 52 Willys build. That photo was taken just after I plumbed in the fuel pump. Later on I added a return, but no canister. The caps were just temporary. Installing that pump like you mentioned is a good idea. The only downside is noise. That is a major reason the manufacturers put them inside the tank. Noise and cooling. I would most definately sound insulate the pump if you installed it under the cab.

In the very beginning of this post, everyone said just replace the tank/pump etc... OP wants to do it his way for whatever reasons. I'm just making a suggestion on how I would do the requested repair. Not saying at all that that is the proper course of action. I like to fix things that break as good as, or better than the factory. But hey, i'm not driven by money either. I'm just going to assume the OP has his reasons.

You can do this in steps. I would spend the money on getting the head to flow the best you can afford. Pull the head, and have a 3 angle valve job done to it, with new valve springs. Have some porting work done so you get them matched up. I'm not big on any polishing because we don't see the kind of rpms that it does much good. Just a waste of money. You want the head to breath well basically. All this work will transfer over to a stroker. Then get the better injectors those are cheap enough to do. Just this will get you enough HP that you should feel it. Then you can swap in a better intake or exhaust as money allows. So far all of this will swap onto a stroke build. I personally feel that a header doesn't do much good below 3000 rpm, but the technology has come a long way since I saw any real dyno numbers. In the 70's, a set of headers would actually lose you HP at low rpms. A certain amount of back pressure is good for scavenging the gasses, so I can't really say for sure if a set of modern shorties will give the same torque or more than the stock exhaust. Who was it that said" I don't have an opinion, I have a dyno"? Anyways, there is a lot you can do that is money well spent towards a stroker build. I'm going to do one in the future myself. I have been gathering parts.

Yes, I will be by myself. Actually, I'm landing in Charlotte on the 22nd at 3:00PM where I have a guy going to get me to where the truck is about 2 hrs North. I got his number from craigslist ride share. He's charging me $120, which is a cheaper than a rental, but less hassle to have to turn it in and all. Iwould be happy to give you that money instead... Thanks for your info. PM returned. Thanks, I've got the Little Rock area covered, now a lot of Texas. Bad part is I don't have a way to log on to the forum. I still have a flip phone :doh: I'll take lots of pictures though unless I get done in by a serial killer (JK) (row faster, I think I hear banjos) :rotfl2:

I'm going to be driving from Asheville NC thru Memphis, Little rock, Dallas, Abilene etc... 1500 miles. If something bad breaks, and I can't fix it on the side of the road, i would love to have a plan B like someone in the area who can help out. Please pm me your phone number if you are willing to help out just in case. The truck is in great shape, but I will be alone without a lot of tools, you get the idea... Eric

Not wanting to speak for Mr. Garvin, but just in case you need a quick answer i'll share with you what I would do. Doesn't mean it is the only way, just my way... Remove the old pump, but before you do, measure the distance from the flange (tank mounting surface) to the end of the pickup tube. once the old pump is off, id cut a piece of tubing same diameter, preferably aluminum, but steel or copper will work. Cut that tube so that if you but the end of it up to the end of the remaining tube it is the length you measured. Of cours it may have a bend in the cut tube so that it matches the one uou cut off. Splice the two metal tubes together using a piece of rubber hose as the coupling. Attach a small hose clamp on each end, and so now when you drop the sender back into the tank, it is a copy of the original but without the pump inline. The reason i'd not dangle a rubber hose into the tank is because they tend to curl up and you might limit the usable fuel in the bottom of the tank by a few gallons. I'd want that pickup as rigid as possible. Hope that helps.

His pump isn't working...

One of the best things you can do on a long trip with an unknown vehicle is to drive about 30 minutes at highway speeds, then pull over and feel for hot spots. Check the differentials, transfer case, transmission, u-joints, and the tires &rims of each wheel. Compare each rim to the other one, same for the diff's. If it feels normal, then drive another hour or two and re-check. This method will give you an early warning of something amiss, and you can usually pull in to a repair shop and have them check that part over and maybe save you a more costly bill. I do this when I am towing a trailer. I can usually prevent a blowout or bearing failure way before hand. A build up of heat is a lack of lubrication, so as others have already suggested, make sure everything is topped off.

Agh! gotcha, I mis-read your post. When you were saying " I use a clear plastic carb filter so I can see how the filter is doing and it feeds my 5.7L V8 just fine (even requires a bit higher pressure than the 4.0L)." I took that for the pressure side.

Asheville, NC to Alpine, TX New to me 90 Comanche. Purchased recently, and i'm going to driver her home and neglect my other projects for a while.

Correct you don't need a filter on the outlet side. You do need one on the inlet side to protect the pump. I have seen a couple of those plastic filters split open before, so I never recommend using them. Yeah, they probably will be fine, but a car fire is just not worth the risk to me and my family. I agree the old pump is best removed, but it is not a positive displacement style, so it should flow through without too much restrictions, but yeah, i'd remove it.

I told her it was just like riding a horse, but she didn't believe me.

I built a rotisserie for my Willys truck frame. Whifey asked me what it was, so i showed her. She was not amused! She usually only comes out to the shop to see if i'm still alive. I tend to lose track of time...

Put the case in an oven and get it hot first, or use a rose bud tip on a torch and preheat the area to be welded first. You want the metal to expand and settle in before welding. Then weld it and let it cool slowly. You don't want to shock those aluminum molecules! :eek:

If I understand you correctly, yes, you can do that. When you mount the external in-line pump, you need to be sure that it is mounted as close to the tank as possible, and at a level with the fuel level at its lowest point. If you don't, you can have problems picking up the fuel. Just install a fuel filter that can handle the pressure/suction, and it needs to be just before the pump, not after it. Not those cheap plastic filters. Here is a picture of one I did: Notice the filter is protecting the pump. Notice the pump is tilted slightly up on the output end. Also notice the pump is mounted just below half way down the tank. This helps the pickup properties. On this installation, the computer turns on the pump for 5 seconds to build up pressure for faster starts. The return line is not hooked up yet in this picture, but it is necessary to keep flow. Those pumps aren't cheep, so you might want to hit a JY. You are looking for an E2000 pump. Used on many Ford Vans, common in JY's. Someone correct me please if i'm mistaken here but IIRC that is the pump to get... The one picture is not an E2000 but an equivalent aftermarket one made by Carter.

I take all my machine work to the border of Mexico near Juarez. I can usually get everything done for around $300. I can't tell any difference in quality.

Have you checked the plugs? You can "read" them and get a pretty good idea about the internal condition of the engine. A compression and a vacuum check is useful also. Those two checks along with reading the plugs and listening to the sounds, can pretty much tell a good mechanic a lot about the soundness of an engine. That is one beauty of a truck, and I'm thinking she will get you to your new home just fine. Are you going to have her heavily loaded? I'm about to drive mine on a 1500 mile trip also, so this post really caught my eye.

Thanks, That picture was taken on the first wheeling trip after the build. I put in a YJ rollbar in the bed and flares up front to match the rear. (rear TJ flares are a match).

I'm going to have to agree on the side steps. I purchased a FSJ Cherokee (rhino grill and pie plates) a couple years ago. Before I even got it running, I removed a set of those.