Coolwind57's

[coolwind57]

BTW, rear custom bumper fabricated by krustyballer16.  I had the pleasure of riding a couple hours and meeting him to pick up the bumper last weekend.  The dude's got mad skills, and at such a youthful age.  I like the more retro military look of this rear bumper versus the stock.   Anxious to install it.   

[coolwind57]

I got her running last night.  My lights are all screwy, so I have to dig around and see what's up with that.  After a bad contact somewhere, either my ground wire going to battery or starter relay, she fired to life after A LOT of cranking.  New gas tank, new filter, so I expected this.

 

Took her for a quick spin and the brakes are AWESOME!  Thank you, Cruiser54!  Here's what I had done to the brakes:

1.  Remove front proportional block.  Install inverted flare T to the front brake lines. 

2.  Remove both rusty lines going to rear (Height Leveling Valve had already been bypassed by PO).

3,  Install single brake line to rear, with adjustable proportioning valve installed under the hood near the master cylinder.

 

I've now got awesome, unrestricted pressure to front brakes and much better, controllable pressure going to the rear.  I am not kidding, it feels like I have four wheel disc brakes now. 

 

I would recommend this mod to those stock brake guys not so interested in going rear disc brakes and/or upgraded master cylinder.  I actually was planning on eventually upgrading my master cylinder, but I swear I have no intention to do so now. 

 

 

[90BlackMJ]

That monstaliner really turned out nice. Texture looks great for rolling it on

[coolwind57]

7 minutes ago, 90BlackMJ said:

That monstaliner really turned out nice. Texture looks great for rolling it on

 

Yes, i agree.  Every once in a while I can see some very tiny bubbles that had formed and popped, but this is not noticeable unless you really look hard for them.  I also see a few places missed by the second coat.  Again, very minor and hard to find.

 

The biggest tip I can give when using Monstaliner is this:  roll slowly. Fast rolling causes problems.  Change out rollers frequently.  Rollers are very stiff in the beginning and soften after 10-minutes or so.  That softening is actually the material chemically breaking down.  When that happens, you get debris from it into your finish.  Buy extra rollers and take your time.

 

I had no rust through on the body to start with, which is nice (and rare).  No dents on the cab forward.  My bed had several dents.  I beat the worst ones out a bit, but I chose not to take the time to do any real bodywork to fix them.  I actually wanted a "road-worn" retro-type of look, believe it or not.  Plus I haul stuff on occasion, so I wasn't wanting a trailer queen.  

[coolwind57]

Pics of her back on the road this morning.  All is well, except when I attempted to fill the new tank.  Pretty obvious that I didn't get that dang sender/tank gasket on correctly.  

[Skorpyo]

Looks awesome, very well done tribute!

[coolwind57]

As mentioned earlier, the bed underside was in really good condition.  It was the top of the frame and certain installed parts under there that took to the rust significantly more.  Anything that took on rust, I hit with POR-15.

 

Muffler hanger:

 

I had just enough left over to get those spring shackles:

 

[coolwind57]

And compare this pic of the spare tire carrier with the BEFORE pic posted earlier.  Much better.  I chose not to top coat.  Shouldn't loose much UV color loss with it being under the bed.  And I wouldn't really care anyhow. 

[coolwind57]

I chose to replace my gas tank strap bolts with stainless steel.  These had complete eyelet tops, which I cut and made them into a slight hook to better bite inside the bed pockets.  I might highly recommend replacing your rust-prone originals next time you mess with your tank.  I had to drop the tank twice already and it sure was nice not having to fight a corroded nut and VERY long thread shaft.  I also coated the tank straps with POR-15.  They were in decent shape so I chose to retain them.  

[HOrnbrod]

21 minutes ago, coolwind57 said:

I had just enough left over to get those spring shackles:

 

 

XJ shackles?

[coolwind57]

 

1 minute ago, HOrnbrod said:

XJ shackles?

I don't know.  I just assumed they were original MJ.  

 

Dude I bought it from was 2nd owner and really didn't  know anything about the truck.  I''m running a couple inches of lift in the rear (by measuring) and I"m still SUA.  

[HOrnbrod]

7 minutes ago, coolwind57 said:

 

I don't know.  I just assumed they were original MJ.  

 

Dude I bought it from was 2nd owner and really didn't  know anything about the truck.  I''m running a couple inches of lift in the rear (by measuring) and I"m still SUA.  

 

Probably a illusion - the factory MJ shackles are 4-3/8" eye-to-eye.

[coolwind57]

3 minutes ago, HOrnbrod said:

 

Probably a illusion - the factory MJ shackles are 4-3/8" eye-to-eye.

 I'll go measure here shortly.  

[coolwind57]

Just now, coolwind57 said:

 I'll go measure here shortly.  

 

woops!  I got ahead of myself....

 

I wanted to brag on Krustyballer16 and his well-made rear bumper he did for me recently.

[coolwind57]

Hitch pins in the rear of the bumper, which I thought was cool:

 

And he made me a custom hitch license plate holder, which I really dig.  My License plate bolt-LED's come in the mail today, so I'll be legal.  I will rarely pull a trailer, so the plan is to use the hitch license plate mount with lighting attached via bullet connectors (stock wiring has them there already.  When I need to remove the plate to hook up a trailer or something, I pull the bullet connectors and remove the hitch plate frame.  I can always then tape the license plate to my back window or something.  

 

Buy from Krustyballer.  He's good people and does some really great work.  

[coolwind57]

9 minutes ago, coolwind57 said:

 

Any buy the way, I was goofing around with a front license plate idea, hence the "HMFIC" I digitally stuck on this pic.  Only certain guys will get the meaning, Haha!  

[HOrnbrod]

The HMFIC will most likely be in the Navy.  

[coolwind57]

I swear I probably have at least another inch of lift in the rear now that I removed the factory bumper and the receiver hitch.  I nearly broke my back lifting and tugging them once I broke them loose from the frame.  The universal hitch was especially heavy.   I remember the rear end of the truck shooting upwards like when a fat lady gets out of a Kia. 

 

I have a free rusty but very usable universal hitch if anyone wants it.  I'll hang on to it for a month or two before scrapping it.  Just PM me and come to Georgetown, Indiana to pick up.   

[coolwind57]

Just now, HOrnbrod said:

The HMFIC will most likely be in the Navy.  

 

I remember the story of a Naval ship Captain had kept referring to a certain Gunnery Sergeant in his LFOC as "Chief" instead of Gunny.  After making the mistake a few times, the Captain apologizing said, "I'm sorry Gunny....It's just that if you were in the Navy, you'd be a Chief."   The Gunny replied, "No sir, If I were in the Navy, I'd be an Admiral."

[HOrnbrod]

Always remember that the Commandant has been and always will be the CNO's biotch.

[coolwind57]

11 minutes ago, HOrnbrod said:

Always remember that the Commandant has been and always will be the CNO's biotch.

More like the go-to man when a good ol' A$$-whooping is in order.  

 

I once drove for Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Lewis G. Lee.  I was a Corporal and was scared shirtless of this man.  I was asked to drive him around Okinawa once when he arrived on the island one day.  As he approached the staff car, I opened the door for him.  Big mistake.  He coldly barked at me, "I'll open my own God$!#$@ door!"  

 

It was the most uncomfortable driving I'd ever done.  The mean salty bastard didn't say a single word to me as the two of us traveled together the entire day.  Total silence in the car.  Longest day of my life.  

[coolwind57]

1 hour ago, HOrnbrod said:

 

Probably a illusion - the factory MJ shackles are 4-3/8" eye-to-eye.

 

Looks like I'm factory MJ.  The harsh angle makes it look like the tape measure is not centered on top bolt, but it is.  

 

Thanks for the info.  I now know something I didn't before.  

 

[coolwind57]

I'm legal now.  I got my LED lights set up on my license plate now.  Krustyballer16 had built me a hitch-mounted plate holder which is really cool.  I figured I'd better light it up before I fight the law and the law wins.  

There are LED-lit bolts.  Had do install on bottom versus top due to clearance.  Struggled with getting a good shot in the dark.

 

[coolwind57]

it's wood hauling season, so I bought these rear bumpstops.  I had one missing already and the one in the picture was pretty messed up as you can see.  It was practically dangling from the frame.  I think the reason they had failed is because of the hollow design.  We can assume that they had been holding water.  Water must creep in there and pool inside, causing corrosion and eventually rubber distortion and rotting detachment from the frame.  My guess anyway.

 

 

I chose to shoot some silicone caulk to better seal up this open pocket inside.  May be overkill but it might help preserve the bumper stop's lifespan.  Perhaps more importantly, it may help keep frame corrosion down in this area, as both the metal from the bump stop and the frame saw rust.  

[coolwind57]

So, I knew my negative battery cable was bad.  There was a crack in the coating near the terminal and a small bare area near the engine attachment area.  Glad I pulled it today.  Check this out: 

 

 

This was maybe 8-10 inches from the engine side.  It was hidden down there, so i had no idea it was this bad.  The insulation was sticky and gooey and not burnt and hard like you'd expect from the picture.   It was coming off in my fingers.  Perhaps it was that consistency due to chemical and thermal stress.  And old age.  Anyhow, I replaced it with an Autozone 2-gauge replacement cable in 38-inches which was the perfect length.

 

Man, do I feel better about my better/starter area now.  One day I hope to budget in upgraded cables throughout.