City of Lake O

[mnkyboy]

I think if I ever tried to ride that far on my motorcycle my a$$ would fall off.

[frogpirate]

I think if I ever tried to ride that far on my motorcycle my a$$ would fall off.

 

Yeah, I don't think I'd do it on a 2-smoke RD! I did ride a '82 GL500 (same as CX500) Honda 9,333 miles in 11 days in the 2003 Iron Butt Rally, but the GL500 is a far cry from your RD. Still, I vibrated for hours every time I got off the bike. :eek:

[frogpirate]

Back to the MJ. I crawled under it yesterday with the help of "Curbside" ramps and "cardboard box" creeper and cleaned the tags on the Dana 44 rear. The first tag was the "use clutch type oil" tag that confirmed the Trac Loc. The second one was this:

 

 

The camera did not do a good job of capturing the text, so I went under again this morning with my ultra-cool Fenix LED Tactical light and wrote the text down:

 

8953005417

3 54 605325-9

 

I think this is telling me it's a 3.54 rear? Some of the research I've done indicates that this combo would have a 3.55 rear. Any clues?

 

Ken

[mnkyboy]

3.55 and 3.54 are the same.

 

I haven't ridden the RD yet since I'm still putting it together,my primary road bike is my KTM950 SM.

[frogpirate]

Oh, the Katoom should be a hoot! I had a little DRZ400SM commuter for awhile that was TOO much fun...as long as you were going 50 miles or less. After that, the plank they called a seat got a bit uncomfortable.

 

Back to door locks. When we left our intrepid reporter yesterday, he'd removed the right side door lock and had a key made.

 

Look ma, no lock!

 

Today I wanted to swap locks left for right, since the left lock is all boogered up. (That is the technical term - boogered up)

 

Yep, looks boogered.

 

To get the inside door / lock handle off, you have to remove the linkage.

 

Remove the (3) screws holding the door handle assembly on, pull it forward and out and thenyou can see the linkage. The little clips move towards you off the rod, and then the rod comes right out.

 

Here is a view of the back side of the door handle assembly. The black lever on top is the lock, and the one with the spring is the door handle. You can see the rod clips (white on bottom, black on top).

 

Once I had the locks swapped and linkage reassembled (he says like it was easy, although it wasn't) it was time to button things back up. I'd been careful with the OEM dust cover so I could put it back, which I did using 2" reinforced strapping tape.

 

 

I found just a tiny bit of rust at the bottom of the door, so I hit it with 100 grit sandpaper and some self etching primer. I'll do a better job painting it next time I have the door apart, but this should slow the rust for now.

 

That stuff on the bottom is just good old fashioned DIRT!

 

Once the paint dried I put the much cleaner door panel back on:

 

...and then the door handle assembly, arm rest and window crank:

 

By the way, I was calling the interior color "butterscotch" but I had the armrest sitting on a piece of cardboard drying, and realized it blended right in. So now I'm calling the interior color "old cardboard". :yes:

 

All this so I can lock the truck. Hey, there is a key in the lock on the drivers door!

Note also the high tech door holder opener. Our driveway has a little slope, and the OEM door holder openers are a little weak.

 

Magically the right side assembled itself:

 

**DANGER WILL ROBINSON - Rant coming**

 

Whoever designed these door handles should be shot. Except he's probably already dead. Trying to get the linkages on, and the little clips snapped back in place is an exercise in frustration. :ack:

 

**rant over**

 

I actually partially un-boogered the other lock such that a key will go in now. It still won't turn however, so it is purely cosmetic.

 

And of course, there is another high tech door holder opener.

 

And for the first time in who knows how many years, the truck is sitting in the driveway with locked doors. :banana:

 

In the 2-steps forward, one step back way things happen, I think my speedometer cable broke this morning. I took off to go to the parts store, and there was a awful sound from under the dash. Within a block I noticed the speedo needle bouncing, then there was a twang! and it went to zero. :grrrr: I guess I'll be shopping for a speedo cable soon.

 

Ken

[mnkyboy]

Depending what guages you have this would be a good time to upgrade.

[frogpirate]

Depending what guages you have this would be a good time to upgrade.

 

I have the very basic idiot lights, so that is a good idea. Can I swap my speed-o-meter / ODO into a Cherokee gauge cluster? I'd like to keep the low-mileage ODO. Yeah, I know it's kind of vain, but whatever. ;-)

 

IRS return was in the checking account this AM :D so I just placed an order for a bunch of tune-up stuff. Rock Auto has a replacement speedometer cable from Doorman for $19 so I'll order one as soon as I check the other to make sure that is what broke. I'm 93.5% sure, but hey, I could be wrong. :chillin:

 

Plans for today are to pull the seat & get the mat up to check the floor. Pray for me, I'm going in!

 

Ken

[mnkyboy]

I swapped the entire thing in mine but if you can't swap the odometer it looks pretty easy to adjust. There's write ups on how to make the odometers match.

 

You just need a cluster and senders from around the same year 87 or 88 to 90. Real early ones the odometer hooks up different and 91+ they are electronic.

 

There are write ups on here on exactly how to do it and what parts to get.

[frogpirate]

Thanks Nathan, I'll look for a 87-90 cluster.

 

I tore into the dash, and after a few false starts got to the speed-O cable.

 

Yep, that looks busted. The drive tang was still in the speedometer, and it was a PITA to dig it out!

 

Once that was done, and I had things semi-back together (no point in putting it all back together right now) I decided to add a little personality. The column shifter knob was MIA:

 

 

I have a bucket of old cheesy tools, and grabbed one and removed the handle. A few minutes with the propane torch, and wala!

 

 

Not to pick on Stanly (I have a good friend that works for their industrial tool division) but that is about the best place for one of their crap-tastic screwdrivers.

 

 

Plus, it fits with the working-class nature of this truck.

 

Ken

[frogpirate]

This was my wife's idea.TMSAISTI

 

 

:jump:

[Matt1971]

Nice find. I'm looking to replace my cluster as well. Don't like the dummy lights, but want to keep the AMC logo in the lower left hand side.

[mnkyboy]

I just noticed you have a column shift,that's gonna complicate finding a full gauge cluster.

 

Column shift clusters are gonna be harder to find and I'm not sure if you can make a regular one work.

[frogpirate]

I think as long as I'm willing to give up the shift indicator, a floor shift cluster will work. I'm thinking of eventually converting this to floor shift...maybe. I'd want to do a new column too if I did that.

 

I have seen a conversion of the indicator on a non-column shift cluster, but it doesn't look all that 'clean' as the indicator intrudes on the tach.

[mnkyboy]

Ok,as long as you've done your homework. I don't want to tell you something will work then you go buy a bunch of parts just to find out they don't fit.

[frogpirate]

From forever one of the first things I do is add a semi-decent stereo to my vehicles. :D Back in '81 or so I bought a '57 Hudson Station Wagon (actually a Rambler clone) for $300 and put $400 worth of stereo equipment in it. These days my needs are modest, but I gotta have tunes. I went on Amazon and ordered up a Pioneer DEH-2200UB deck, a pair of Pioneer TS-G1343R 5.25" speakers and some foam speaker mats. After looking at the wiring and mounting, I decided to make it easy on myself and ran up to the local Audio Source and picked up installation and wiring kits. I spent ~ $175 on everything.

 

Old and busted speaker.

 

I wacked the ends off the factory speaker wiring, and soldered on the Pioneer speaker pigtails.

 

Soldered. Heat shrink in place waiting to be shrunk.

 

A quick pass with the heat gun, and the heat-shrink is all nice and snug.

 

Shrunked.

 

I then made a little window in the boom mats with a pair of scissors and pulled the wires through.

 

Ready for a speaker...which I totally forgot to take a picture of.

 

Once both speakers were done, I moved into the house (it was getting chilly in the garage!) and made up the wiring adapter.

 

One wire down, a bunch to go.

 

Again, I stripped, twisted, soldered and heat shrinked all the wires.

 

Ready to go into the truck. A good soldering iron is worth what it costs. Mine is a Hako 936 adjustable soldering station, and cost about $80 iirc.

 

The hardest thing of the whole install was cutting all the extra ears off the mounting adapter. I have a Xacto saw that did a great job, but I managed to hack my finger too. :( Ahh well, it's not working on it if there is no blood sacrifice. :wrench:

 

In the dash.

 

I still don't have my new speed-o-meter cable, so I haven't put the trim back on the dash yet. It was really nice to have tunes to listen to this morning! :jump: I want to add some rear speakers, but I don't have brackets, so I may just make some so I can use 6.5" round speakers (probably another set of Pioneer's).

 

Hopefully some hard parts will show up this afternoon or tomorrow so I can get the tune up done this weekend. And eventually I need to get a set of tires. And shocks. And...and....and..... :rotf:

 

[Automan2164]

Nice! A man who knows how to install a stereo. I can't tell you how many dashboards I have opened up to find the previous owner hack jobbed an aftermarket stereo. Usually just twisted wires and electrical tape, but I have found wire nuts and scotch locks too (VERY VERY evil invention).

 

Coming along nicely. Good to see another MJ in good hands.

Rob L. :cheers:

[mnkyboy]

I had a nice stereo once,had HD radio and all the bells and whistles.

Then one morning I went to go to work and found this.

 

Now I have one of them mechless units that uses SD cards instead of cds,its far less apealing to thieves

[Automan2164]

I had a nice stereo once,had HD radio and all the bells and whistles.

Then one morning I went to go to work and found this.

 

Now I have one of them mechless units that uses SD cards instead of cds,its far less apealing to thieves

 

Friend of mine in tech school came up with what I thought was an ingenious idea... He put in a really fancy stereo. Then he took the stock AM/FM radio, took it apart to free up the faceplate, and glued all the buttons back in the right spots. Whenever he got out, or parked it in public, he would hang the factory shell over it, and no one was the wiser.

 

Rob L.

[frogpirate]

I had a nice stereo once,had HD radio and all the bells and whistles.

Then one morning I went to go to work and found this.

 

Now I have one of them mechless units that uses SD cards instead of cds,its far less apealing to thieves

 

Ugh. I do worry a little about that. I had a set of speakers stolen out of my car when we lived in PDX (Alberta & MLK). I hate the idea of pulling the face-plate out, but I might. OTOH, the truck looks beat enough, maybe everyone will ignore it. ;-) My neighbor's '10 Tundra is a much more tempting target. :brows:

 

Thanks for the wiring kudo's Rob. I'm an ex-Navy Sonar tech, and worked in the electrical field for ~25 years, so it's kind of my bag baby. :yes: I usually end up over-doing it (you should see my motorcycle wiring - two 'extra' fuse blocks and marine wire for everything) but it always works.

 

This is on the bike:

 

One of the fuse blocks:

 

Poor thing has been getting NO love since the 'manche came home.

[frogpirate]

I've been busy with school (this is finals week) so I have not been doing much, other than driving my MJ. I have been collecting parts though:

 

 

Even though today was a study-for-finals day, I took a break and went out and installed the new headlights. I'd noticed the old ones were hazed and fogged up (and dim) so I went ahead and ordered new ones when ordering the other parts. I also got a new right side headlight 'door' to replace the one with a chunk missing, two new turn signal housings and two new side marker light housing. The right side marker housing that came with the truck had a hole in it, and that turn signal housing was partially made of packing tape. :roll:

 

 

 

As you can see, it was a bit filthy back in there, so as usual for me I took time to clean every thing out. I also sprayed all the sockets with electronics cleaner.

 

 

I just washed it out with a little soap and water, with a little good old scrubbing thrown in. With all the new components installed - including a set of side marker bulbs to replace the missing ones - it looks much better.

 

 

From there it is a simple lather-rinse-repeat for the other side:

 

 

And then a light check to make sure everything works:

 

 

They are not HID's, but at least they work (and look) one hell of a lot better. I have two finals tomorrow, then I can jump into the rest of that pile of parts. I also need to pick up a set of plug wires; any suggestions?

 

Ken

[frogpirate]

I've been dreading doing the valve cover gasket, not so much becuase of how hard it is (it's not that bad) but because of the clean up. :( Yesterday I finally tackled the job.

 

Before, oily, dirty and leaking. Ugh.

 

I had an old gallon can of Berrymans carburator cleaner and used it to get the heaviest gunk off. I can't say I'm real happy about the look of the rockers; it's obvious someone has not been changing oil real regularly. :fs1:

 

Yucky.

 

After a bunch of cleaning, I called it "good enough". I put the breather towers in the Barrymans, and they came out really nice.

 

Cleaner. You can see the towers behind the cover.

 

Nice clean gasket area.

[frogpirate]

I didn't have new gaskets for the towers (not sure they are even available) so I used copper RTV. I like gasket cement on the cover side (only) with cork gaskets, so I put that on the gasket surface.

 

Gasket cement in place.

 

And then stuck the new gasket in place.

 

Fel-Pro cork gasket.

 

A little wiggle-jiggle (hence the cement) and the cover fell in place.

 

Cover with new PCV gasket installed.

 

I sold a few items the other day, and have been wanting a 3/8" torque wrench for .. well, years actually. This gave me the excuse, so I checked Sears on-line and the Craftsman was on sale for $70. I got cleaned up and headed into Portland to check it out. I stopped and checked Baxter Auto Parts ($65 for their brand) and Lowe's ($75 for their brand) before just heading to Sears to get an inch-pound torque wrench. Lloyd Center mall is really close to one of my favorite lunch places, so after getting the wrench, I walked to Grand Central Cafe' for barley vegetable soup, fresh bread, coffee and a peanut butter cookie.

 

Lunch. Mmm, cookie!

 

Back at the house, I torqued the valve cover bolts in two-steps to 55 inch lbs. Once that was done, I replaced the air-filter (oily on the breather end - is that usual?) and spark plugs. The plugs that were in the truck have about a .60" gap, while the new ones have the specified .35" gap.

 

 

I'm getting the feeling this truck did not get much love once in left the city. :headpop:

 

I also drained most of the radiator fluid yesterday, and found one good thing:

 

Hard to see, but there is a transmission cooler there.

EDIT: I think I was wrong - I think that is actually a power-steering cooler. The lines are still leaking.

 

...but the lines to it are leaking around the clamps. There is a LOT of leakage under the truck. I'm really hoping the oil on the back was caused by the valve cover gasket and not a rear seal.

[frogpirate]

No pictures for this one, just general maintenance. This morning I put on new rotor, cap and plug wires, changed the oil & filter, changed the fuel filter and replaced the serpentine belt. Nothing exciting, but it's nice to get all the new parts on. I still need to finish up the coolant change, and change the transmission fluid & filter and Dana 44 fluid and gasket. Won't happen tomorrow though, 'cause I'm off to visit my Son.

[mnkyboy]

Looks like your getting all the boring maintenance caught up,once that's all done you can start on the fun projects.

:cheers:

[frogpirate]

Looks like your getting all the boring maintenance caught up,once that's all done you can start on the fun projects.

:cheers:

 

That was the idea, but that idea hit a snag today. Despite the tune up, the 'manche failed DEQ inspection on idle CO2 (3.99 ppm). :( In Washington state you can try to repair and the first retest is free OR you can pay an "authorized" DEQ repair for a minimum $150 repair, and if it doesn't pass, you get a waiver. After a bit of hemming and hawing, I took it up to a local shop to get some work done. Of course, I'm not getting off that cheap - he is replacing the O2 sensor, and with labor etc. it's going to be a $300-dollar bill. Fsk. What burns me is that I could do the work MUCH cheaper, but Washington won't give me a waiver if I do the work and it doesn't pass. :shake: