neohic

I’m now torn on a new dilemma... red letters in or out? Thoughts?

Everybody likes coming home to nice things, right?

Yup. Right rear tire had the razor right square in the middle of the tread. Looked to me like it was wedged under the tire so it could wait for me to back out of the parking spot. Who checks under their tires?... much less the one furthest from the driver’s door? Anyhow, I shared some “words” with someone last Friday... someone that has previously bragged to me about a past coworker that pissed him off so he spread boxes of nails on the dirt road leading to his house. Let’s just say that this person also works at the shop I work at now and this person left work early on this same Friday. I brought the tire in to see if it could be patched. It was... kinda. They put the biggest patch they had on the inside (it wasn’t big enough), put a few layers of sealer on, and then it still leaked just barely. Granted the tires were old, but they weren’t cracked, they all still held air, still had enough tread for another season, and they still balanced great. I'm not happy with any of this.

What route are you planning?

^Very cool!! I’m really going for a look on this little Jeep that makes it look older than it is. I already had someone asking the other day if I had any interest in selling my “short hood!” ... which is funny in the early CJ crowd because it is clearly not a short hood. As for an update, I picked up an entire razor blade in a tire that I’m very pissed off about. Didn’t really look like much of an accident to me, but I have no evidence on anything... but I’m pretty sure who did it. Anyhow, Pinky needs tires. I wanted to go with a 33” to get my final drive RPM lower, but my current 32x11.50s already rub the springs. I found these: That is the General Grabber X3. They’re one of the few tires that can be had in a 33x10.50 size. Price was very good compared to other manufacturers in the same difficult size. They should be here by Thursday. Hopefully mounted this weekend.

Good luck, Bo! Safe travels.

What was your decision on what to do with the cage?

I had the opportunity of swapping stories with Jim a few times. Always a pleasure.

Been a few hundred miles since the new bearings. Things are still going well.

Very cool! I look forward to this.

I often think of the history and evolution of some vehicles with my job and this truck always comes to mind. Very cool to still see it around!

Drove Pinky back home this afternoon. After 30 miles in 90* temps today it got down to about 15 pounds of oil pressure at idle. 50-60 pounds while operating at speed. I can live with that!

YAASS!!!

... had to.

Well, things went well today. I ended up putting a mic on the crank before anything. Obviously the crank is worn some and I was shocked with how close to spec it still was. The more I looked at the interternals the more surprised I was with its condition. It was a day of a few surprises though! What I was told was that the engine was out of an ‘81. Nope. This thing has Chrysler stamps all over it! I went into the parts store and gave them the vehicle to search for parts as a ‘90 YJ. Everything worked out. In the end, it got standard bearings, a timing chain, oil pump, valve cover gasket, thermostat, and belts. Eventually I plan to look into a 4.0 swap but I’m in no hurry. This refreshed engine still runs super strong!... but I know I’m on borrowed time.

... you should tell it at parties.

Apparently my connecting rods were panning for gold. The crank looks great though! Plastigage says I’m good to go with rolling on a set of standard bearings. Timing chain must have minutes of hesitation though. Taking care of that along with a new oil pump and a slew of gaskets while it’s apart.

Dang... puking a rod bearing. At least it still looks kinda cool all loaded up behind the shop truck.

Yup! Something like that. It’s got some aftermarket gauges that someone added so I’d either like to match the original speedometer or the gauges

Maiden voyage with the updated fuel delivery today. Put 30 miles on it without so much as a hiccup. First time I even had it up to 70! It even maintained speed! Definitely needs a tachometer now. Between the wind, road, and tire noise it’s difficult to judge by ear when enough is enough. On the hunt for the right vintage tach!

Wow! Just wow!! I got the fuel injection in and running today. I decided to go through Performance Fuel Injection out of Michigan. A base kit direct through Howell would’ve been way expensive. Affordable Fuel Injection was a close second but by the time you add in a few options the price was just about equal to Performance. We’ve worked with Performance at the shop in the past and their tech support is just awesome. The kit comes with an HEI distributor, but lacks things like a thought out throttle linkage. It’s easy enough to figure, but even on the informational video on YouTube they say “you’re going to have some thinking here”. It also does not include fuel hose, clamps, an air cleaner, or plug wires. Everything else was pretty well self explanitory. I ended up using a modified air cleaner housing from an International Scout but it seems to just be temporary. Power brakes are in the plans and it looks like the booster will be sharing a space with the air cleaner. Overall I’m happy with the results. I was impressed with the performance out of this old CJ before but now it’s absolutely amazing!

I’m very much enjoying this little CJ. Fuel injection happening this weekend!

What?... April?

Thanks! Having an early CJ has been a learning curve for daily driver usage. I’ve really enjoyed the minimalist driving style. Really just enough to be a practical vehicle, but just barely. Been noticing more things on it that I’d like to be upgrading and fixing. Nothing really pressing... just things to make it more driveable. Power brakes is on the list. Fuel injection soon too. Got a big box in the mail that’ll help with one of those things. Goodbye carburetor!