johnj92131

Took a long trip up to the high desert today (160 miles each way) to pick up a 4.2 long block. On the way back home near Rainbow I noticed the "check engine" light come on. It stayed on for the next 50 miles till I filled up the gas tank at Costco (22.65 gal and 400.1 miles). When I restarted the car the light was gone and I made it home with out incident. Just looked up this post in the DIY section: Followed the procedure and I get a 51 code. Most likely cause O2 sensor detects lean mixture check for vac. leak Now this was after 250 miles of 75-85 mph driving on a hot day. So I will see if the problem happens again. Now another small issue on the trip was the cold air stopped coming out the vents several times while I was trying to accelerate up a grade. Is this normal? Or am I loosing vacuum somewhere and the flapper valve moves to cut off the air flow? As soon as I back off the throttle, the cold air flow returns to normal (till next time). Taken together, do I have a vacuum leak I need to find? What say you folks. Thanks,

For sale post deleted. Stolen post still up. Interesting, wonder if he (either one) sold it!!

JohnnyC, I went to High School in La Mirada. Used to go to Hollywood to see the "big" movies, like James Bond, 2001 Space Odyessy, Saw Gone with the Wind for the first time at Pantages, think the Bond movies opened at Grauman's Chinese. Lot's of fun for high school kids! Would sometimes go to Will Rodgers State Beach in Santa Monica. Have not been back to Hollywood since I moved to San Diego in 1981, other than just driving thru. Was surprised to see/read that Whiskey A Go Go was still open! I really need to get back up that way and play tourist and take a visit to the Peterson Muesum, what ever it is called now.

After I posted my "why didn't the factory do it" comment, I remembered some NASCAR guys used "spacers" under the throttle body after the size of the throttle body was limited. Seem to recall it was to smooth out turbulence in the intake air stream. Then I remembered some spacers used under carbs were there to insulate the fuel from the hot engine manifold some times from the factory. So sometimes spacers do have a valid use. Don has posted some good observations and it will be nice to see another dyno run on his engine (after the roller rocker conversion?). Cruiser54, where did the Renix 4.0 put out 182 hp? 1990 what? Do know the Renix era 4.0 had better low end torque and a knock sensor. The real issue with the Renix is the limited electronics in the controller, right (and age)? The knock sensor and high altitude CPS seem to work together very nicely. The cam was also tuned for more low end torque compared to the H.O. cam.

According to some reading I have been doing on different stroker sites: The throttle body spacer is supposed to change the length of the intake manifold path. On the 91+ H.O. manifold the runner length is something like 11 inches, on the 99+ it is something like 13.5 inches and longer runners are supposed to aid low end torque production. Notice I said "supposed" several times. Also the 99+ manifold runners are smaller in cross section than the H.O. manifold. That also aids low end torque and is supposed to provide a higher air velocity. As for the spacers You have to ask yourself - if it was that simple, why didn't the factory do it?

I looked at a bit differently back then. The Cold War was in high gear, Nam was gearing up, so the "Duck and Cover" drill was US-wide. SOP, no problem. I didn't worry about getting drafted, but wanted to control my own destiny. Instead of being drafted, or running away to Canada, I joined the Navy. Ended up on a diesel submarine and my first cruise was a run down south to Cuba during the Bay of Pigs crisis. Our boat evacuated a lot of US folks there, and I think to this day that operation was the beginning of the eventual downfall of the Russian Bear menace. Lots of political crap going on then and in retrospect seems ridiculous now, but you did what you had to do where I came from. I think Rob understands. Don, 1961 in the navy? You are a couple years older than me. I volunteered for the army, but got a medical discharge in 1969 before I could finish basic. Rob, what I was trying to say is that we have only today and we all live in today. the 1950's and 60's are good to look back on. JohnnyC, I was looking for the Chinese theater - think it is/was a couple of blocks away from Pantages. Didn't see the Capital Records building at Hollywood and Vine. It was not built till April 1956, but should have been there. Maybe a different corner?

And I was going to ask what her name was. Silly me

Not so Rob. Bet you never had to practice "Duck and Cover" when you were in school. Never had to get polio shots in school either. And you never had to worry about getting drafted...

I am doing much the same thing to build a stroker. But I am buying parts to be machined back into factory specs. I got a 98 short block for $200 just for the rods and the block. This weekend I am going 150 miles away to buy a 258 long block just for the crank and the con rods. The crank may or may not be salvagable. But for $75 it is worth a shot. $95 more to grind the crank, $11 to rebuild each con rod. Piston? Still looking, may go cast for under $200 or up to $500 for forged pistons. New stock 97 cam and timing chain, gasket kit. The cylinder head will be a bit of a challenge. Buying a used late cylinder head could mean buying a cracked cylinder head. But the late small exhaust port may be the best head for low end torque. $50 will get me a used H.O. head and for a couple of hundred the machine shop will make it good as new. Why am I doing this? Because I purchased a "good running" engine that turned out to have a badly scored main bearing. To me that is the problem with a used engine. You don't really know what you are buying. Sometimes it works out OK, sometimes not quite as OK as you want. But it is a used engine, right. For about $2K, I expect to have a new factory specification engine ready to go for at least 200K miles. And it will put out 15-20% more low end torque than the stock engine. Only thing I could do better would be to supercharge the engine.

Nice video. Had forgotten how many buses used to be in Los Angeles of the 1950's Also not shown, were the electric buses in the Downtown area. Then there were the fixed rail Pacific Electric rail cars. All most got myself killed by one of those when I was a kid.

Had a leaking radiator 3 weeks ago. Check out this thread: http://comancheclub.com/topic/43874-radiator-source/?hl=radiator Some real good information there. Hope it helps.

Any idea where I can find more pictures and or directions on how to make one? Wondering how it "fits" under the shell and along the bed rails? Like how does it change or alter how the shell bolts/latches onto the bed. Rear bumper looks like Hanson. I like the wrap around the ends. Need to save a few of these pictures.

Just found this in the for sale section: http://vancouver.cra...4570852140.html Interested in the metal over the shell roof rack. Not to buy it, just how it was done. Looks like a full bed length metal bracket under the shell all along each bedrail, then just 2 loops over the shell.

Interesting rack over the camper shell.

Rocky Mountain National Park is worth the small side trip. Go in thru Estes Park, Co. Have lunch at the Stanly Hotel from the movie The Shining in Estes Park. Estes Park is a neat town. Enjoy looking at the elk. Spend one or two nites in the national park. Hard to go wrong. Take Trail Ridge Road from Estes Park to the western exit of the park. Here is a link: http://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/trail_ridge_road.htm Totally different environment on the west slope. It is one of the places I love going to again and again (Yosemite is another). I will second the St. Louis suggestion! So much history in that town. Do take the trip to the top of the Gateway Arch. Well worth it.

Worthless to me. Put it at the very bottom or get rid of it entirely.

Glad to see you found what you wanted. And a big Thank You for posting the picture of what you found. Something else for me to watch out for.

Where the heck did that cluster come from? Is it a set of custom decals? Can you share the source?

I found a 98 Cherokee XJ in a local yard. The engine over heated, so tthey want $200 for the short block as a rebuildable core. I will pick it up next week and it will be the starting point a stroker engine. Thanks for all the assistance.

Turns out it was a tube in the radiator that failed, not the plastic tank. Ran out of time for a DYI repair, so turned it over to a local radiator shop. Charged me $195 for a single core replacement radiator, $140 for labor, $30 or so for antifreeze, $15/20 for some additive, the rest was tax. Total $420 out the door. But it is done now. So need to see if I did any long term damage to the engine. The DYI cost would have been $150 or so with just a stock single core radiator.

Manufacturers have been charging huge prices for spare/replacement parts for quite a while. Price increases on parts do not get "noticed" like price increases for new cars. And manufacturers have a very large, nearly captive market with the dealer networks. That cable may very well have come from the same supplier Chrysler uses for it's OEM cable and be exactly the same quality as the OEM replacement part you would get today from Chrysler. May also be a cheaper, lower quality "CRAP" (Chinese Replacement Auto Part aka, "CRAP"). Not many of us do the price search at the dealer and at Rock Auto, so Chrysler makes a fancy profit. At least, that is my take.

A sheet of plywood would also be a good thing to use for a bumper mockup. Pleanty of material to build a several different mockup, easy to work with and modify also. Home Depot will even cut the plywood to size for you if you want. Plywood would permit you to drive around with a mounted mockup. The Fey bumper is a good choice for a near stock replacement. But it is not any stronger than the factory bumper. If you want something to pull the truck with, build a good frame mounted trailer hitch for the rear and buy a front mounted hitch for a Cherokee for the front end. TerraWombat has posted detailed measurements of the required brackets for the trailer hitch. I will post a link, when I find the old thread. Here is a good start: http://comancheclub.com/topic/32136-mj-trailer-hitch-group-buy/page-2?hl=hitch&do=findComment&comment=356063

You mostly want a daily driver, right? You want to run 31's? You don't NEED a lift of any kind. Spend your time and money making the truck a Good daily driver first. The 4 X 4 conversion is nice with a daily driver, get that done and running properly before you worry about lifting the truck. Just my not so humble opinion. And worth every penny you paid for it!! Best of luck.

Yes, the head to go with is the original H.O. head. Lots of them at the pick n pull yards for cheap and no cracking problems like the small oval ports. Think the old H.O. head bolts on to the later blocks with no issues. Just seemed like a good idea to get a later block if I could for not much extra money. But even the latest XJ blocks are close to 15 years old now. The "long bridge" for the main caps was like 97 some time, with the first NHV improvements. Hornbrod reposted a casting number link there: http://comancheclub.com/topic/43896-a-40l-question/ Great resource. The link to the casting numbers should be pinned in the tech section.

JeepcoMJ, So even a 2001 XJ motor may be an issue??? 98/99 motor may be easier and cheaper to get. Do like StokerMJComanche's 2K stroker build. Price is sure right. Perhaps if my engine is OK...I will go that route.