neohic Posted October 21, 2013 Author Share Posted October 21, 2013 ... Always something... this thing just wants to fight all the way to the end it seems. :fs2: ... and it's something else again. Backed it out of the garage and the apron was wet from the rain and snow today. Noticed some rainbow spots all the way down that weren't there before the truck went over it. Started the truck again and just sat and watched... fuel sender... again. When I first got the '91, one of the first things I did was rebuild the fuel sender because it was leaking around the return line fitting. Looks like it got bumped and a little scratched up with the whole change over. Looks like I get to fix it again. :wall: I'm thinking about trying something a little different on that. More on that later. As for the rest of the truck, I'm pretty happy with it. Obviously, I'd like to have finished a bunch more things before the weather turned sour, but it is what it is. What I need to get done sooner than later is throw some mirrors on it, a windshield (I cleaned all the over spray off in the mean time), and now deal with the fuel sender. As for now, it's back outside to ween it off from the cozy garage stall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComancheKid45 Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 Just Expect Every Problem ;) .....lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 Looks so nice seeing the white birch in front. One of the few things I miss about living up Nawth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted October 21, 2013 Author Share Posted October 21, 2013 Looks so nice seeing the white birch in front. One of the few things I miss about living up Nawth. Come on up and visit sometime! Open door policy to any CC member. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted October 26, 2013 Author Share Posted October 26, 2013 Well, this truck has just turned into a test mule of sorts. I get really excited when I feel as though I've solved a problem. I get even more worked up when I think I'm solving a few problems all with one solution! Over the years of working on these trucks I've ran into HO swaps that turn into fuel gauge issues, leaky fuel sending units, and the lack of good MJ sending units available in salvage yards... every try and make an XJ sender work? Several of us have. Nope, it's not just a drop in kind of fix. What if there was a way that one could use XJ internals to keep their MJ running efficiently and leak free? This sure feels like a sales pitch... this just might be. Let's take a look at just the problem of an external leak at the sending unit. From the factory, the lines are soldered in place with some spot welds on the internal bracing to keep everything together. Over time, rust takes its toll, things vibrate loose, and now you have a leak. What the factory didn't do was make things serviceable. What if the factory had made a sending unit chassis that had fittings instead of solder? Well, the factory didn't and now I have a leaking sending unit again. So I wanted to try with something I've been thinking about for a while. This: It's all stainless and I think it's beautiful. The whole thing works off of that little tab on the sending unit that doesn't seem to have any purpose. It like the factory was just asking for it to be reworked! I bought the '91 with a leaking sender. A couple years ago, I blasted the whole thing and soldered the fittings back together. Must've been from swapping things around that the leak came back. The pump had to come back out. Looking at it, I forgot about a ground. This obviously had to be added. From there, I did what might be considered a cardinal sin in the world of Comanches, but I figured that the unit was leaky anyhow. ... but I had plans to make it better! I'll let the pictures explain: Does it work? Yup! But what about those other issues? You know... HO swaps with XJs, fuel gauge reading backwards, or just the fact that you can't exactly just go to your local auto parts dealer and order one up. To tease us, aftermarket XJ senders can be had... it's just not fair! What does this have to do with my sender chassis? Since it ties off of the mystery tab, that same tab can be found on XJ senders. Wait, what? Does that mean that I could take an XJ sender and just use the internals? You bet I could! I could use my chassis to repair Renix or HO MJ senders or mix and match to use XJ parts being that they're so readily available! Needless to say, I'm pretty stocked about this. I just got it all put back together today so I want to run this for a while to see if there's any unforeseen issues. Might even put together a few if anyone else shares the same problems I've ran into. In the mean time, happy fall! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xjrev10 Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 Very cool Ben. I think you have something there. Yes it's a small, somewhat tight knit group of Comanche gurus, but something like what you have there is something everyone is going to need... Someday!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earl*t Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 :clapping: Genius! Why would I wait until I had a problem. I much prefer proactive solutions that eliminate potential issues. Your welds are "machine like". Assign a value and I'll assist in your R&D. Multiple units can expedite the testing phase. :laughin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComancheKid45 Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 Awesome innovation Ben! I'm sure I could use 1 of these sometime in the future, if you decide to being producing them let me know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted October 31, 2013 Author Share Posted October 31, 2013 First drive into work with this truck! It goes down the road fine and straight. Everything went great! No mirrors... no speedometer... but otherwise great! Stopped at the gas station too for its first fill up with the new pump configuration. No leaks. Fuel gauge works just as it should. Very happy with my setup! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalob Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 Congrats on a simple workable solution. Love it when a good brain and a necessity collide and produce results that work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oyaji Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 A design suggestion about the hex-bar you used - it is way heavier than it needs to be. Though there is no need for it other than saving weight, switching to some stainless tube stock would give you similar stiffness without the weight. It would take away some of the stress encountered from suspension bounce (and thus ease load on the bung base and the welds there)... though the weight of the fuel pump out there on the end will be most significant. You'd be limited by the radius of the bends you could use in the tubing, though, and maybe you'd run into issues with welds too. You could get by with less heavy solid stock though, couldn't you? It might be better to weld the ring to the base from the inner side, so as to not interfere with the O-ring as there is potential for welds on the outer perimeter to do. You might also consider a weld of the rod support for the sender and fuel pump on the perimeter of the ring to add a bit of support and stiffness. Anyway, just a couple thoughts. I like what you made, and would gladly buy one from you if they were available and I could meet your price. Good luck getting your jigs set up, and I hope you start making these soon - I know others are waiting to buy from you too. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted January 4, 2014 Author Share Posted January 4, 2014 Slight update on this truck. It's been pretty much smooth sailing with the couple days per week of driving that it does. Lately though, it's been starting a little hard. I just blamed it on the cold snap we've been dealing with in the north country. Threw the battery charger on it because it was sitting for the better part of two weeks... hit the key to back it out of the garage... click... nothing. Well, crap. Beat around on the starter and it popped right off. This is starter number two for the season as I just put one in my family truckster of a ZJ. Anyway, it seemed like a good time to upgrade the crumbling battery cables while I was in there. Something else that's been bugging me since the big change-over has been the heat in the cab too. I know the heater core was clean, the block was also flushed out, and the radiator is just a couple years old. The last piece of the puzzle was the heater control valve. Not sure why I left it in there when the hoses were swapped over from the old chassis... but it was time for it to go. The hoses were in great shape so I just cut out a couple loops and spliced everything back together. I know... I know... I didn't do a great job of cleaning up after myself. :oops: It's been a busy morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted April 6, 2014 Author Share Posted April 6, 2014 Not much of an update but I felt it was worth sharing... The fuel pump has been working flawlessly however the truck has been seeing less miles lately also. My wife went back to school this semester so we've been carpooling almost everyday. Poor truck has only gotten driven a few times over the past couple months. Fortunately it got up and around this week! Unfortunately, it also has inherited some inhabitants. Driving into work on Thursday and out of the corner of my eye I see this little shadow dart from under the seat to up and in the dash. I instantly knew it was a mouse and started to go into panic mode over what may already be chewed and pissed on in the truck. I've got a couple intersections with a signal light on my drive and at the first one, he pops out and sits right in the middle of the passenger side floor mat. Little bastard just glares at me like I'm disturbing his peace! I'm sure he was giving me the finger in whatever way mice do too! I get to work, grab the trap that's always sitting under my desk and throw it out there for the day. Quitting time rolls around and I go out to check the trap... bupkis. I get home and throw some of my traps on the floor and continue the waiting game. Haven't seen anything since. :fs2: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xjrev10 Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 LMAO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeepcoMJ Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 I will take one of those senders but will need to talk to you about it. To put 97+ on, you have none of that bracketry that you tied into yours. Would be nice to have the tab you used go up a ways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted April 18, 2014 Author Share Posted April 18, 2014 Been checking that mouse trap everyday since I put it out there and it must've been a change in the weather that did it... this morning I got him. I go out to the truck this morning to go to work and there it was all bug-eyed and frozen. Great!... kind of. The weather warmed up a little throughout the day and by the time I go out after work I notice something just doesn't smell right. UGH!!! Smells like mouse piss. I get home, start looking around the cab, and find that the perfect sun visors that I hadn't got around to putting up weren't so perfect anymore. One is okay... I'm sure the other half of the other one is crammed up in the dash somewhere. :wall: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted May 13, 2014 Author Share Posted May 13, 2014 So... I've been having this issue with my speedometer ever since everything got switched around on this truck. Sensors have been changed... wiring checked... last week I bought a complete cluster from another member. I would bet that I'm going to get that cluster at some point today. Do you know how I know that I'm probably going to get that cluster today? Because I was driving into work this morning and guess what decides it wants to start working again? Probably just a fluke. I'm sure it won't be working by the time I go back home today... at least I hope not. :rant: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted July 10, 2014 Author Share Posted July 10, 2014 Took me a just a few months... okay, a little more than a few... but I finally did something that was long over due. Now I've got the problem that the box is glossy and the rest of the truck looks like it was painted almost a year ago. Ah well... maybe I'll mix up a nice bucket of car wash with a nice handful of sand in it. :D Oh... and guess what I noticed when I was finished cleaning up? ... maybe I'll get to it in another year. :dunno: I've got a gallon of bedliner to throw at this thing too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 So... I've been having this issue with my speedometer ever since everything got switched around on this truck. Sensors have been changed... wiring checked... last week I bought a complete cluster from another member. I would bet that I'm going to get that cluster at some point today. Do you know how I know that I'm probably going to get that cluster today? Because I was driving into work this morning and guess what decides it wants to start working again? Probably just a fluke. I'm sure it won't be working by the time I go back home today... at least I hope not. :rant: I'll take that bet. :yes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted July 10, 2014 Author Share Posted July 10, 2014 So... I've been having this issue with my speedometer ever since everything got switched around on this truck. Sensors have been changed... wiring checked... last week I bought a complete cluster from another member. I would bet that I'm going to get that cluster at some point today. Do you know how I know that I'm probably going to get that cluster today? Because I was driving into work this morning and guess what decides it wants to start working again? Probably just a fluke. I'm sure it won't be working by the time I go back home today... at least I hope not. :rant: I'll take that bet. :yes: Ha! Yeah... :wall: Betting has closed. I've got a speedometer that I need to swap in now. Problem is that it's out of a full cluster so it doesn't match. Plan is to swap the face to match the giant blue fuel gauge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 PM sent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComancheKid45 Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 Looks great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xjrev10 Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 Looks like I'm gonna have to shopping for something to trade you soon... Your getting done too fast... Ha Looks good. I'm jealous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted July 10, 2014 Author Share Posted July 10, 2014 Looks like I'm gonna have to shopping for something to trade you soon... Find me a nice stock YJ and it's yours. :brows: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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