Project "Honcho" - The '87 MJ

[AMC-MJ]

:bowdown: Lookin sweet :clapping: Lookin sweet :yes:

 

Ok off to PM some AMX-390 pics ;)

Mike

[Zenobian_84]

 

Getting down to the wire now, not to mention hot and tired.

 

 

Made good on the promise to myself to change the oil sender. Here's the new one in the slot. Pretty simple install. :bowdown: Thank god.. lol

 

 

Then started on the de-rustification of my bed and cabin.

 

Behind passenger side wheel well.

 

Bad spot near on the bed near the cabin.

 

Halfway done with most of the de-rusting. The POS sander I'm using; still, it's better than doing it by hand I suppose. :redX:

 

Got the rust off the bad spot.

 

Unfortunately, I didn't prime any of this because of super heat. This was 3 days ago. Came back to it last night before a rainstorm (my luck) and the bed had been through a pretty bad rainstorm shortly after I got the old rust off. Greeting me was new rust there to take it's place in the frame somewhat. Sanded all of it off while dark storm clouds loomed overhead.... :mad:

 

Behind the well and on the edge of the top rail; primed and waiting it's 2nd or 3rd coat, I can't remember. Such a PITA to get that edge...

 

Spot behind the driver's side.

 

Driver's side rain rail. This one was pretty tricky to prime, but I did it with only a slight overspill onto the chrome railing.

 

3 coats on everything in the bed. Didn't bother to tape it off because it's just going to get sanded again when I go to seriously redo the entire bed. Good enough for a few months I suppose.

 

 

Took some pictures of everything this morning to see how it is. Stands up pretty well. Good enough to last til the winter comes :rotf: Love working outside in the winter, but not very much in the summer unless I absolutely have to.

 

 

 

 

You can see all the little lines I missed when I was doing this. It's frustrating me, but I can live with it until a later time. Still have to do the passenger side rail.

 

------------------------

Here's a possible timeframe for the things I need/want to get done.

 

Aug. - Finish sanding rust from bed and prime it; finish installing new cluster :thwak: Also, go get pricing for front fog lighting. Keep looking for a job. :cry:

 

Sept. - Go to junkyard and get front chrome trim to replace the ugly, splitting plastic black pieces I have. Do rust removal on passenger front wheel flair. Replace passenger side front fender (still on the fence with this one... :hmm: ) And finally, celebrate the 19th birthday. :D

 

Nov./Dec. - Winter time rust removal in the cabin. Along with finishing everything up cabin wise I haven't already done.

[Zenobian_84]

Been a while since I updated this. Been busy working my 8-5 job these last few weeks to really get a lot of work done on the truck. My time to work on it has been whittled down to mostly weekend nights/mornings (the former more-so than the latter) but I have made progress.

 

 

Went back to my local P&P to find this red MJ in the back where it's sat for 7 months; and where I've pulled random parts from it. I highly doubt anyone's going to crush this thing because it's surrounded by about 50 other cars. :yes:

 

So, I drug along one of my good friends I haven't seen in a few months to help me pull parts. Highly doubt he's going to want to do that again... :shake:

 

After about 10 minutes of clearing out the cabin of wasps, I started fumbling around the cabin for odds and ends parts. Came up with these two after a bit of decision making...

 

 

The dubious fog light OEM toggle switch I've been wanting to get a hold of, and a driver's side view mirror in pretty good shape. The PO of the truck installed some other kind of switch where the other cutout is. Only thing I can think of is that he rigged up some other fog lights and didn't know about the OEM switch (switch appears to be all there and function correctly, from what I can gather). The sad part I found out about the truck is that it only had 165k on the clock, and the body was virtually rust free on the outside. Pulled the carpet's up some to see very little surface rust. :( Oh well, one project at a time I suppose.

 

I figure I'll venture back out there this coming Saturday to remove some other oddities from it, and maybe pick myself up a bedliner while I'm there. The yard I go to only charges $30 for any SWB bedliner and $40 for a LWB. This red MJ was a LWB I found out, and I might just grab the taillights seeing as they were in alright shape (minor crack on the right one)

[Zenobian_84]

:ack: :fs1:

 

What a horrible week, and a horrible way to spend labor day. Cutting into my truck like a surgeon isn't fun in the least.

 

Don't have any pictures of my story because I was far too busy to even think about taking any. Spent 5 hours today putting the following in the truck:

 

Starter

Distributor Cap

Rotor Button

Spark Plug Wires

Fuel Filter

Oil Pan Gasket :headpop:

 

Took about an hour and a half to replace everything else on my truck sans the Starter and Oil Pan Gasket. Have to replace the OPG before I can put the starter back on, and boy, do I @#$%ing hate the setup for the 2.5 and how you have to access the OP.

 

First I thought taking the starter out would allow me enough room to squeeze the OP out and change the gasket, but I was wrong. After taking the starter out, I had to take the flywheel cover off to get access to the bolts holding the OP in place because the geniuses at AMC thought that throwing all the steering linkage, muffler piping, and the flywheel cover would allow someone ample access to the oil pan, should a problem occur. :nuts: :wall:

 

With that being said, I took out the flywheel cover, took the bolts off the oil pan, and then spent 3 hours trying to dislodge the OP from the block. My @#$%ing god. It was like someone rubber cemented that thing to the block of the engine, and only after taking a 2x4 and a sledgehammer to beat the side of it did it come out. The next problem I ran into was figuring out how to get it out. The way the muffler piping runs from the manifold down behind the OP and to the Cat Converter puts it right in the way of easily removing the OP. Needless to say, I wrangled it out somehow (with the help of my old man, who I will thank to no end) and will probably slice and dice the old piping to get it out of the way until the new gaskets are on the pan and the pan's back on the truck.

 

Oh, and did I mention the fact that there's half a millimeter of gasket that's burned onto the block? :doh: What a fun way to spend labor day. :shake:

[Zenobian_84]

Salutations, online compatriots. It is I, back with another rousing update. :roll: Lol.

 

First off, I found some pics I took of swapping out my oil pan. I thought I didn't have any, but I took some during the whole thing :oops:

------------------

Truck up on the lift, I was swapping in the new fuel filter and stopped to take a picture of my dad unbolting bolts from the pan and cleaning off the oil from the steering linkage. :ack:

 

Getting the flywheel cover and bolts off. Nothin' fancy.

 

24 year old oil pan after it was taken off and cleaned up. What a pain in the :mad: to get it off.

 

Shot of the pan after we had to cut the exhaust off to get it back in. :nuts: Thanks AMC. :fs2:

 

Where we had to cut the exhaust at. Right before it elbows off in front of the pan and leads up to....

 

The port to the manifold. Pretty clean looking oxygen sensor if you ask me. :eek:

 

Letting the truck warm up after we got the pan in, new fuel filter, new oil filter, spark plug wires, D-cap and button, etc etc.

 

Picture of the junk in my bed. Diggin' the 2.5 emblem on there. :chillin:

-------------------

Which, after all that, the truck ran well for about 3 days until the steering linkage started on its last leg. Which, has gotten replaced. But the truck is sitting around because I need a new steering box. :fs1: It was supposed to be here yesterday, but it won't be in til sometime next week. Happy birthday to me, I suppose. :no:

 

A picture of a random MJ I found at a local Publix supermarket. Pretty good rattlecan job if you ask me. Seemed in pretty good shape considering.

-------------------

Pictures of swapping out the TRE's and drag link. Not really a lot here though. :fool:

 

On the lift again, the truck is taking a liking to the lift. Wedding plans will be here one of these days... :shake:

 

Putting on the TRE after struggling to get it off. I don't know what I'd do without Frank. Guy helps me out whenever I need the help, so it's cool. :cheers:

 

And the last picture I felt like taking, of all the nuts, bolts, tools and whatnot scattered around. You'd think I'd put them in a bowl or something.... :no: :nuts:

-------------------

Also, here's a few pictures of some goodies I picked up last week online. :thumbsup:

 

Look at that classic, antique packaging. Sears & Roebuck? Didn't know Sears partnered with them back in the day.

 

Some nice, brand new (although 33 years old) amber fogs that I've been scouring the ends of the earth for. (on the cheap side, that is. Picked these up for a whopping $18)

 

They even had the original installation manuals for both of them. Makes my life simpler.

 

Shiny chrome.... :yes:

 

And a side shot showing the size of them. I haven't mocked them up on my truck yet (still waiting to get a chance to head to a P&P to find a foglight harness so I can wire up the buttons and whatnot I got a month ago)

 

Slowly but surely, my truck is starting to come along. Hopefully I can get back to driving and enjoying it once I get the new steering box installed. :cheers: Until then, keep on trucking everyone.

[Zenobian_84]

So... the fog lights I got for the truck seem to be... a little big? I did a mockup and they just seem really out of place. :hmm: Not sure if it's me, but for whatever reason, I'm not really diggin' on the ambers anymore. Oh well, I suppose I'll save them for another project in the future. It could just be because I think they'd look better when I got the new grille, and paintjob etc etc.

 

Currently debating whether or not to get a bundle of XJ dash buttons (fog lighting, rear defroster, power tranny switch and rear wipes) for $15.... decisions decisions.... Kind of wanting to find a cargo light, but I doubt that will happen. Also beginning the hunt for black interior pieces. Can't wait to get my truck back on the road, I miss driving it like you wouldn't believe! :fs2:

[Zenobian_84]

Seems like my posts are few and far between these days. Back from the graveyard with new news in tow. Not literally of course though. Sort of hard for me to tow anything other than my own @$$ out of bed these days :yes:

 

Went off to the LKQ P&P over in Daytona today with my old man. Truck's been running great since I've gotten the new steering shaft, box, and alignment done. Now that it drives good, I figure it's time to start making it look good. :chillin: The LKQ over in Daytona is a massive place. Everything is neatly organized and it was a real surprise considering what other forms of crap Junkyards I usually go to....

 

Like this, a straight path with everything in nicely spaced, uniform lines. Quality stuff here.

 

Ew gross, General Motors cars.... Just kidding. I'll always have a spot in my heart for GM's cars, even if I may never own one again. :rotf:

 

Everything is organized into the "Big 3" categories. With everything else in the far back corner under "Imports". It only felt like I had to walk a mile to get to Chrysler's lot. Of course, I ended up walking this path about 4 times today. So it probably was a mile or so.

 

With my wheelbarrow, tools, and old man in tow, we scoured through the ruins of all the cars. I stopped for a bit to take a unique picture of the cars. 89 Cherokee in that shot. I ended up pulling a decent bit from that particular Chero.

 

Of course, that couldn't quench the thirst that everyone here gets when they go to a JY. They're in it for the big bass, or in this case... the quality MJ on perches. Look at that old Pioneer goodness. Shame it ended up here. :(

 

Frontal shot of the Pioneer. I pulled the badges off, and took note of the VIN number. 242 I6 gone to waste with only 150K'ish miles on it. I laughed a bit when I saw what the guy wrote on the door when they took it in. :help: :yes:

 

Snagged a few bits from the 89 Pioneer, unfortunately I couldn't snag the sliding mirror in the back. Lack of tools and knowledge/patience got the better of me. Plus, there was a big, literal dent in the mirror in the passenger side corner. I can only wonder what caused it.... :nuts: Finally made it to the back after going through 8 or so cherokees to find something I never thought I'd get to see in real life; an '82(?) J10.

 

Unfortunately, I couldn't grasp the concept of what I was seeing. I really couldn't justify this to my dad, who looked at me with confusion. Me thinks someone needed a very specific corner piece that required them to turn the side of the bed into a piece of a playdoh sculpture? And yes, the frame jutting off to the side was still connected to the rest of the body. You could literally pick it up and flop it around. What a damn shame. The thing looked like it had survived a trip through the wrecker, as you can probably tell. Luckily, I pulled 2 emblems off the old girl. I guess she can live on with my truck. ;) If only I had been able to snatch the front D44 and rear D60... :drool:

 

About 3 hours into my trip, found this one hiding from me in Dakota infested waters. :no: Not today Dodge.

 

Did my obligations and pulled the VIN from this one too, as well as a factory cig lighter. Looks pretty good in my truck now. :roll:

 

And yet another 242. I couldn't even remember how many of these I saw today, must have been at least 12 or so just going to waste.

 

At the end of the day, I tallied my final results. $190.82 and 4 hrs worth of work later I was the new owner of

 

2 4x4 badges

2 Laredo badges

2 Comanche badges

1 Pioneer badge

1 Jeep XJ rear hatch badge

1 4.0 Litre badge

1 4.0 HO badge

1 J10 "Jeep" badge

1 J10 AMC Jeep logo badge

 

2 Front headlight chrome trim mounts

1 OEM black Jeep steering wheel w/ matching black horn button

2 OEM factory clocks

Full Renix era gauge cluster set

Shifter boot

1 side view mirror

1 OEM cig lighter

 

4 Hurricane style aluminum rims. The tires are dry rotted though. No biggie, I was going to get some new ones in a few weeks anyway. :chillin:

 

Finally I can get back to doing some serious upgrades. First on my list? Installing a radio, and clock. :wrench:

[buxmj]

Great day at the jy. I go to that LKQ myself but hadn't been in a while. It is better than the one in Orlando, imo. I have a running list and will have to get back up there soon.

Buck.

[Kernel]

dang... i could use that rear slider.

[Zenobian_84]

dang... i could use that rear slider.

Same. Shame it was dinged up, and I didn't have the right tools w/ me. Goes to show you that you should be prepared for anything I s'pose. :dunno:

[Zenobian_84]

Back to lurking status on the site sadly. Progress has been slow, and few and far between these days, but It's still occurring. Shame I can't kick my own @$$ into doing more work nowadays. :fs1: :thwak:

 

Did some moderate updates to the truck since the last post.

I figured, "Out with the old and..... in with the nothing!" :roll: Just kidding, I had to clean up the grille a bit from one of the bug storms I went through driving along the lakes around here. I was also going through the task of trying to get some new horns I picked up as well to work. Suffice to say, they didn't. And, I despise AMC for the horrible horn placement (have to take apart the driver's bezel/headlight/housing to access it.) Does anybody know how the horns grounding system works? It's basically the horn w/ a metal piece jutting off and a bolt goes through the center of that piece. I tried grounding the piece by laying it against the truck, but I'm not sure if that was strong enough.... :hmm:

 

Also note the shiny chrome front bezel pieces. Scored those a while back if you remember, and just NOW got around to putting them on back in early November. :thwak: Something has do be done about the laziness.

 

Next on the list was putting some nifty swag on the truck (thanks again Pete for the CC decal :cheers: )

 

10 minutes later, and swag done. Hopefully I never have to replace these things, or find a reason to get rid of my old back window in favor of a fancy new slider... :brows:

 

Fast forward to a few weeks later and another JY trip, and I decided to clean up the roof of the cab. Paint was starting to fleck off and seemed like it was in the beginning stages of getting rusty. :no: Not today Mother Nature. Believe me, the primer job was a lot better looking than that; but a sudden downpour ruined my work. I primed and painted a few more spots around the truck (like the rusty roof behind the primer spot) which turned out very well.

 

Primer redone, spots fixed. Still have that derpy grey shark fin on top of the roof. I ran out of "Shadow Blue" and have to pick up some more one of these days. :doh: The GF likes the fin though; so I'm tempted to keep it. :rotf:

 

Along with the roof, I primed and painted some spots in the bed, and the tie down hooks in the truck. Turned out nicely, but I wish I could have been able to do the entire bed. :(

 

Before my last trip to the JY w/ my buddy to get parts for his XJ, I did some bushing replacement on my wiper system. Fixed the sloppy wipers I had, but the water tube going to the holding tank came loose and I lost all my fluid. Going to have to go back in and recheck everything... :mad:

 

Finished bushing replacement. God these arms were a PITA to get out of the truck. Took me a good 20 minutes and a lot of swearing to get it out. I remember that day because it was only 90 out when I was doing it and by the time I finished, I was covered in sweat.

 

Last semi-big thing I accomplished last week. Scored an AMC cluster out of a Chero. Waggy at the P&P for 30 smackos. Brought it home and set it up inside the truck. My tach problem from before is gone, and since I recalibrate the new one, it reads correctly. I thought I had an oil pressure issue, but the new gauge works well; and the readout from the last one was accurate. It seems I have about 50-55 PSI driving on the highway, and about 35-40 idling. I was pretty impressed that the engine is still holding that kind of pressure after so long. I also discovered that my thermostat is shot (truck barely gets to 160 after completely warming up), and I plan on replacing it within the next few days, along with the upper/lower rad. hoses and a radiator flush.

 

The absolute best thing I like about the new cluster is this. After tinkering and setting back the miles...

 

Sweet trip gauge Speedo assembly. Makes my life a lot better. More pictures tomorrow, because I can't seem to think of all the other things I've done. :idea: :chillin:

[Zenobian_84]

Now 2 months later, time to dredge this thread up from the grave. Progress!

 

Early January, took the truck in and got 5 new tires put on the rims I picked up back in October. I think they look pretty snazzy. Using the truck's only original rim as my spare. God, look at those dents in that fender. :eek:

 

I spent a few hours cleaning up the thermostat housing, installing new rad. hoses, among other things. Found out the PO installed a 180 thermostat instead of the 195. 20 minutes of finagling later, a new Stant Superstat is inside, solving my temperature issues.

 

Days later, after solving my thermostat issue, I spent a good part of the afternoon replacing my cracked, corroded, dissolved and generally oil-grimed battery cables. No pictures of that (hard to do when I'm the only person working) Along with replacing the cables, I took the liberty of cleaning up the cables leading to the... :redX: I want to say ignition computer, but I doubt that's right. Strangely, I didn't take any pictures of the cables cleaned up.. just extremely dirty and dusty.

 

Just figuring out what wires go to what. I can only assume this is part of the non-existent AC system. :headpop:

 

I have absolutely NO idea what this particular hose is, only that part of it cracked off in another hose behind the Charcoal Canister (hooked them back up together) If anyone could tell me, I'd appreciate it. :???:

 

Too long have I been without the simply pleasures in life, namely, a Radio. Scrapped the idea of using the XJ Tape deck in lieu of my friend "donating" (Read: Pilfered) Sony Tape deck from his Cherokee that he had to leave behind at his parent's house when he moved out. Shame, it could have been a decent truck if someone would have taken the time to take care of it. It's memory shall live on in my Comanche. :yes: Shiny.

 

My neighborhood buddy that strolls around occasionally. He kept me company while I was rewiring some essentials inside the cabin.

 

Getting the buggered radio to work. It's pretty sad that I haven't gotten around to doing this sooner. Now I can blast all that heavy metal through the cab while I'm on those long road trips. And no, I didn't use those $#!& little blue thimble connectors. Those were used to get the right connections, etc.

 

After installing the radio and generally feeling all around accomplished, I got this in the mail from Comanche87. Sweeeeeeeeeeet :chillin: :brows:

 

The same day I rewired the radio, I decided to replace the breather inlet hose that was completely destroyed. It was a miracle the pieces didn't fall into the rockers or the lifters. $6 at my local parts store later, I rigged up a more than suitable replacement. I like my setup much better than the factory's.

 

About a week or so ago, my clutch slave finally gave out, and so did my patience. I took it up to a mutual buddy's place to have him:

 

Replace the non-existent clutch and other assemblies

Re-finish the flywheel

Install a new clutch slave

Install a molded, rubber oil pan gasket and oil change :brows:

Flush and change the gear oil in the AX-4. (God knows the last time this was done.. :dunno: )

 

Was pretty satisfied with the results, and even moreso with the price (got qoted by several shops for over $250 for just the clutch work) he only charged me $170 for everything.

 

Here's a picture I took after I brought it home. My two other friend's and I waiting to help another buddy move to a new place with his missus.

 

Since all the major work finally got taken care of, the truck is running better than ever. Keeping myself busy, I went over to my bud Taylor's (guy sitting in the truck) house to flush my D35. Took about 45 minutes and was easier than expected. Threw some synthetic gear oil in there to replace the muddy brown fluid. The spider gearing checked out okay, and I could definitely tell the difference after doing it. Also, it's worth mentioning that my truck had 3 fragments of the original gasket on there. :eek: Was not too happy about that.

 

The victim of my stubbornness. After my socket slipped and I went finger first into the Dif cover.

 

The finished product. Quite pleased at the results. ;)

 

Fast forward to a few days ago, I went out to Daytona Beach to my local stomping grounds. Spent a while looking for Cavalier parts for a friend of mine, but soon found myself wandering over to the Chrysler emporium of junk. Decided to head to the back to see if the beauty was still back there, and sure enough, it was. Though, I hardly recognized it at first.

 

You can imagine my face when I saw this. Honestly, I don't care what part this guy was trying to get, but he seriously didn't need to completely mangle the front clip. Very disappointed with this.

 

Luckily the grille I stored in this thing 3 months ago was still inside, but I didn't take it. I'm sticking with the one I have. I stored the Wagg. grille inside the back, hopefully someone will come along and save it. Most of the interior was still there, and the door panels were still in excellent shape. Too bad I didn't have the money to snag them.

 

Came across this a while later.

 

Just your average 88. Nothing special.

 

The inside looked like somebody threw a grenade inside. There were pieces of dash everywhere, along with chunks of the gauge cluster everywhere. Nothing of value I could find to take. The only thing were the taillights, but I don't need an extra pair.

 

At the end of the day, I went home with a new front passenger panel, a Trans Am glove box case, some Laredo moldings for the truck, and a few Firebird badges.

 

All in all, a pretty decent pick. Next on the list? Paint the valve cover and replace the gasket, along with installing a new O2 Sensor.

[skidoo_j]

Re the hose you asked about. It connects to a vacuum bladder located in the bumper

(you can see one hanging from the front of the cherowaggy pic you posted, ball shapped). The other end of the y connects to the hoses that run to your transfer case then to your CAD. and the other end of the y goes to the intake manifold. the bladder helps to retain vacuum to help keep vacuum for your heat control valve and to keep in 4x4.

[xeducatex]

way to go . keep it up.

[Zenobian_84]

Continuing the ongoing saga of the '87. Decided to change the name of the thread while I was at it too; I just didn't like the original name for it.

 

On the tail end of February, I got my grubby hands on a free diamond plated toolbox for the old girl. Still looking at getting a lock for it (the guy took it out to put on the new box my dad gave him for his Sierra) but in the meantime, I'm content with it sitting in the garage for now. Gave it a thorough cleaning and repainting on the inside. Looks pretty sharp :brows:

 

Mockup in the truck. Going to be drilling through the bed, much to my chagrin. :(

 

A week or two after my last junkyard run, a buddy I know called me up to help him go out to one of the local LKQ yards near him. 15 mins down I4 at 70, and we arrived at the Orlando yard. I had never been to that particular one.

 

You don't want to know what the people did to that Bronco in the foreground. It was all kinds of horrible looking. Definitely not one of the better garage-done camo paint jobs. :ack:

 

Spent about 40 minutes wandering through the isles and isles of junk to help my friend find the only 300ZX on the lot. Matched his '85 inch for inch, but he really didn't pull many pieces from it. :shake: Oh well. His loss, I suppose. :hmm:

 

Had to go off the trail to find this DJ. Never had a chance to see one up close, what a beaut! If you can get past the stick on faux brush leaves.

 

The real workhorse of the 70's. I wish I could have picked this up; I need some practice on engine disassembly and the ins and outs of doing it. Besides, this is probably one of my favorite engines of all time. One day I'll get a 258... :fs1:

 

The interior of the DJ. In pretty good shape if you didn't count all the dust and minor surface rust. A very do-able restoration project. I can only begin to wonder how this thing wound up being here...

 

Here's a few random pictures I snapped while we were there.

 

 

 

Ended up with a new "upscale" trim of dash bezel (silver lined), burgandy dash pad (now black dash pad), and a few other odds and ends all for around $20. Not too bad. :brows:

 

Fiddling with the old wheel, attempting to get it all rigged back up. :wall: Frustration got the better of me when I snapped off a piece that made the horn sound. So.....

 

I switched over to this. :banana: Just have to finish wiring up the horn, and that should be good to go.

 

Just within the last week, I decided that enough was enough. I finally lost it when a clump of that gritty, nasty green headliner fell in my eye while I was driving down the road. So... doing what any sane, calm person does, I tore apart the interior to remedy this problem. :headpop:

 

Shiny..... that's some nice factory paint up there.

 

Pieces of stuck headliner; didn't bother to take them down. :peek: Small amounts of surface rust creeping in the background. Most of it wiped off with a rag though.

 

About as good as it gets for a 19 year old. Definitely not quality stuff (the "quality stuff" was about $25 a can :eek: ) but for $11 I got....

 

This.

 

And this. Not bad for a first attempt. Although the nice headliner lasted all of 5 days in the FL heat, a nice staple gun fixed the sagging mess. I'll take a stapled headliner any day over that green $#!&. It's also worth mentioning that the headliner is both a PITA to put in, and to take out.

 

Picked this up a few days ago, thanks to my mom. :cheers: And should have this in by tomorrow's end.

 

All in all, pretty productive last month. Should be upgrading to the newer YJ valve cover by weekend's end. :clapping:

[Zenobian_84]

More madness!

 

Went outside with the intent to swap over radiators. Made the mistake of leaving the truck in the sun, instead of moving it under a tree... :fs1: Oh well. Gave me a chance to work on that tan. :chillin:

 

Started off pretty simple. Removed the broken fan shroud and cleaned it up.

 

Look at these "quality fan shroud bolts" the PO left me. :roll: :brows:

 

If only I could go back to 1987 and kick the AMC engineer who used these bolts with the rubber boot for the rad supports.... Most of my afternoon revolved around trying to finagle these things off. :headpop:

 

Out with the old, crusty, worn out rad.

 

Good god, look at that mess. :eek: Anybody know what that little copper coil is called? Couldn't find a mention of it anywhere in the repair manual. :dunno: Cleaned and now looks 100% better. No pictures of the cleanliness though.

 

In with the new, shiny, radiator. Truck's starting to look better now, piece by piece.

 

New rad support bolts to replace the old rusty ones. Much better.

[MancheKid86]

more pics!

:D keep that progress coming,

 

so is there such thing as laredo sportruck or is it your hybrid? :yes:

[Zenobian_84]

more pics!

:D keep that progress coming,

 

so is there such thing as laredo sportruck or is it your hybrid? :yes:

:brows: I wish there was, but it's just a hybrid. Although, I am the only owner with a SWB Laredo. ;) :shake:

[Zenobian_84]

More updates to the "Heep"; on an related note, that's the name my friends and I have have given it. Kind of an inside joke... :brows: :D

 

Started tearing down the inside late last week to add an additional ground to the dash circuit. Went pretty smoothly (after I fixed my tail-light problems) and was able to notice a big improvement the new ground provides. The lighting barely bogs down anymore when I'm running the heavy duty stuff. Gotta thank Cruiser54 for the how-to's. :cheers:

 

Passenger's side, behind the kickboard. Not too ratty over here. Might pretty it up one day; but for now, it'll do.

 

Driver's side. Anyone know what that wire is that's hanging down low (closest to the floor)? Been trying to figure that one out for a while...

 

Valuable work space. Here's where the real magic happens. :shake:

 

After I figured out the lighting problem; and re-assembled my interior (again ) started to do a bit of clean-up work.

 

The inside after a few Gunk-ings; also, the only Chrysler thing on my Jeep currently. :fs2:

 

Exterior of the aluminum cover. Scuffed up with some 60 grit, and ready for painting. Not to mention awaiting flecks of old paint to fall off.

 

First coat of "Daytona Yellow". Looks like regular yellow to me... :shake:

 

After 3 coats, mostly taped and awaiting the black stripes.

 

First coat of glossy black. Had to add another coat of yellow to some parts after I scraped old paint flecks off. Somehow I ended up buying glossy black when I wanted flat black.

 

Saturday comes and I got the stripes done, so I shot the crusty oil cap with some new paint. Decided the glossy black wasn't a bad idea afterall.

 

My old nemesis, the engine head. Forgot to mention that not only did I Gunk the engine compartment a few days earlier (made it look 10 times better than what it was), but my old valve cover was cracked AND warped. That's Karma I guess. :ack:

 

Important oil lifters. Almost ended up taking apart most of the engine that day. Dropped a new VC bolt down into the lift shaft and about had a meltdown. Luckily, my old man had a considerably long magnet and I was able to fish it out; so the crisis was averted. :yes:

 

Everything assembled. Not the best paint job, but it's good enough for me.

 

A better shot of everything.

 

Since I was on a roll, decided the next morning to go over to my chap's house and trade work for work. I help him on his '86 Grand Prix, and he helps me on the Heep. Here's after we finally got that damn header panel off.

 

Felt weird taking the "face" off of a car for the first time. Don't know why, but whenever I look at a car, I view it as having a personality (face, etc.)

 

New, old quarter panel. Now that that's on, I have a 90% straight truck. :clapping: My friend's kept asking me what the "PM" stood for on the bumper, and I didn't know. Fortunately, they have now dubbed my truck the "Pre-Menopause" truck.

 

Adding more goodies. Now everyone can tell what my truck is when I drive down the road. :chillin:

 

Finally, as of today, this is how she sits.... Until the next time I start adding things. :brows: :wrench:

[raviolli]

Went back to my local P&P to find this red MJ in the back where it's sat for 7 months; and where I've pulled random parts from it. I highly doubt anyone's going to crush this thing because it's surrounded by about 50 other cars. :yes:

 

 

if you happen to go back and find this red MJ still sitting there, could you find out the price on that windshield visor thing? I'm not sure if i would like it on my truck or not...

[MancheKid86]

Went back to my local P&P to find this red MJ in the back where it's sat for 7 months; and where I've pulled random parts from it. I highly doubt anyone's going to crush this thing because it's surrounded by about 50 other cars. :yes:

 

 

if you happen to go back and find this red MJ still sitting there, could you find out the price on that windshield visor thing? I'm not sure if i would like it on my truck or not...

 

uber rare moon visor,

snag it up!!!

[89Comanche4x4]

Went back to my local P&P to find this red MJ in the back where it's sat for 7 months; and where I've pulled random parts from it. I highly doubt anyone's going to crush this thing because it's surrounded by about 50 other cars. :yes:

 

 

if you happen to go back and find this red MJ still sitting there, could you find out the price on that windshield visor thing? I'm not sure if i would like it on my truck or not...

 

uber rare moon visor,

snag it up!!!

 

i want it

[Zenobian_84]

Went back to my local P&P to find this red MJ in the back where it's sat for 7 months; and where I've pulled random parts from it. I highly doubt anyone's going to crush this thing because it's surrounded by about 50 other cars. :yes:

 

 

if you happen to go back and find this red MJ still sitting there, could you find out the price on that windshield visor thing? I'm not sure if i would like it on my truck or not...

 

uber rare moon visor,

snag it up!!!

 

i want it

I highly doubt that particular MJ is even still there, suffice to say.

[raviolli]

Went back to my local P&P to find this red MJ in the back where it's sat for 7 months; and where I've pulled random parts from it. I highly doubt anyone's going to crush this thing because it's surrounded by about 50 other cars. :yes:

 

 

if you happen to go back and find this red MJ still sitting there, could you find out the price on that windshield visor thing? I'm not sure if i would like it on my truck or not...

 

uber rare moon visor,

snag it up!!!

 

i want it

I highly doubt that particular MJ is even still there, suffice to say.

 

do you know their phone number, or at least the name of the JY so i can look it up? Fruitland Park is probably about an hour and a half to 2 hours away from me. Id make the drive if I found out it was still there

[Zenobian_84]

do you know their phone number, or at least the name of the JY so i can look it up? Fruitland Park is probably about an hour and a half to 2 hours away from me. Id make the drive if I found out it was still there

I couldn't tell you the name because I don't even remember it, quite frankly :oops: :( But one of the reasons I don't is because most of the people that work there are a$$holes who charge outrageous prices even the smallest things. A sun visor for inside the cab costs $15 dollars there; ridiculous!

 

Anyway, more madness!

 

Went out for a drive on Sunday to Astatula to a friend's house to talk to his old man about a job he needed me to do. Unfortunately, that won't get off the ground til' later this week, so I'll just have to do something else until then.

 

Decided to wrench on his 86' GP, so I helped him finish up wiring in his distributor cap and plug wires. Can't wait until he gets done with that. Looking forward to hearing those Hooker headers scream :banana:

 

Checked under my hood and found out that my battery decided to slide into my the alternator, which chewed a pretty good sized hole in the side of it. Blew acid on the passenger side of the compartment, but I cleaned it up. Will probably go back and do some scrubbing with some baking soda within the next day or so. For now, I just slathered on some rust inhibitor, which has solved most of the corrosion issues.

 

More down near the stabilizer and the frame. :headpop: That crap also got onto my linkage.... And, you can see the paint peeling off the alternator fan.

 

$80 later, I got myself a new battery hooked up, and tied down. It's going to take a Tornado to make that battery move.

 

Decided to retire my classic AMC gauges in favor of the red ones. I like the look of the red ones better and I finally have a working oil pressure gauge! :clapping: Still don't have a working gas gauge though.

 

After a 20 minute drive. You guys wish you could have that much gas in your tank. :yes: :shake: