Dzimm Posted March 11, 2019 Author Share Posted March 11, 2019 More cleaning and some painting today. Intake manifold is stripped and cleaned. I installed some heat reflective tape to the bottom of the manifold to help reflect some of the heat from the exhaust manifold. I only did a little right where the manifolds are closest to keep good airflow under the intake manifold. Got a couple coats of paint on the steel alternator bracket and the water pump tube. I pulled the oil filter adapter off to clean and replace the o-rings and they definitely needed it. Completely hard and one broke on removal. I finished cleaning the inner fender area on the driver's side and got some paint laid down. After some clear coat, it looks super good. The paint isn't a perfect match but it's pretty close. The new exhaust manifold got a couple coats of high heat paint to help avoid rusting. The manifolds are hand tightened with a couple outer bolts for now just to get them out of the way. The gasket that came with the exhaust manifold isn't perfect, all the ports lineup but the bolt holes in the center don't line up correctly. I've flipped the gasket and it's the same so I'm going to have to open the holes up a little somehow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzimm Posted March 16, 2019 Author Share Posted March 16, 2019 More cleaning, painting, and installing today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzimm Posted March 17, 2019 Author Share Posted March 17, 2019 Major progress today! Everything is put back together on the truck, although I just remembered I forgot to plug the headlight harness in . It's super clean and shiny under the hood now. Not going to get crap falling in my face constantly which is nice. Sprayed the frame and bed above the fuel tank with undercoating to so I don't have to remove the tank again when I do the whole truck. Got the new fuel tank put together and installed. The electrolisys thing worked to get the strap bolt nuts broke free after a few days worth of soaking. Had to take them off with the impact but it saved me from finding new ones. They are slightly bent but they still work. Got the wonky exhaust removed, cut, and welded together so it follows the correct path under the truck. It had obviously come from different vehicle, you can see in the picture all the random exhaust hangers I had to cut off, I added the MJ one. The Flowmaster super 44 of course went in with that. Started the truck and let it idled for a few minutes just to make sure it ran and to hear the new exhaust. It idled at about 1500rpm for a couple minutes then dropped to normal and is running smoothly and doesn't appear to be leaking anything so that's a success. Tomorrow I'm going to plug the headlight harness in before I forget and get the coolant burped and topped off as well as go through the curing process for the exhaust manifold paint. The new exhaust sounds really good, I can't wait to get out and hear it on the road. I sat in the cab and played around with where to put the XJ parking brake handle while keeping the bench seat and I think I figured out what I want to do. More to come on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMO413 Posted March 17, 2019 Share Posted March 17, 2019 That is a good looking engine compartment. I really like the red accent on the valve cover. You going to do the silver on the air cleaner in red? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzimm Posted March 17, 2019 Author Share Posted March 17, 2019 22 minutes ago, JMO413 said: That is a good looking engine compartment. I really like the red accent on the valve cover. You going to do the silver on the air cleaner in red? Thanks! Yeah I think I will paint it to match. I don't want to overdo the accent colors so I put it in like that to see what it would look like. I debated pulling the red vacuum lines from the XJ and put them in the truck but that would be too much I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMO413 Posted March 17, 2019 Share Posted March 17, 2019 8 minutes ago, Dzimm said: Thanks! Yeah I think I will paint it to match. I don't want to overdo the accent colors so I put it in like that to see what it would look like. I debated pulling the red vacuum lines from the XJ and put them in the truck but that would be too much I think. Air cleaner will definitely look good. Not sure about vacuum line. If you do I would like to see that. Taylor makes red wires also. I bought the blue and really like them. I was also debating on blue vacuum line but not sure yet. Might have to since blue is the same price as black. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzimm Posted March 17, 2019 Author Share Posted March 17, 2019 41 minutes ago, JMO413 said: Air cleaner will definitely look good. Not sure about vacuum line. If you do I would like to see that. Taylor makes red wires also. I bought the blue and really like them. I was also debating on blue vacuum line but not sure yet. Might have to since blue is the same price as black. As in battery wires or like split loom for the entire truck? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMO413 Posted March 17, 2019 Share Posted March 17, 2019 3 minutes ago, Dzimm said: As in battery wires or like split loom for the entire truck? Spark plug wires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzimm Posted March 17, 2019 Author Share Posted March 17, 2019 12 minutes ago, JMO413 said: Spark plug wires. Oh yeah that could look good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzimm Posted March 17, 2019 Author Share Posted March 17, 2019 Took the truck out today, filled it up with gas and went driving for a while. Thing is running great, sounds really good, and doesn't leak anything currently! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzimm Posted April 13, 2019 Author Share Posted April 13, 2019 Went on a road trip today and picked up XJ leaves (thanks for finding these Pete!). They aren't in the best shape but were cheap and will work. The yard didn't even attempt to remove the bolts, just torched the mounts off the XJ lol. I will be getting the packs separated and cleaned up soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzimm Posted June 4, 2019 Author Share Posted June 4, 2019 Time for an update. Not much has changed since the last post, just daily driving the red truck. I ended up getting a message from a guy 2 days after getting the XJ springs, he had a pair of springs in better shape than what I got and only 20 mins away from me. picked them up for $30 for both. Those springs are now separated and waiting to get cleaned. Today I did oil changes on both trucks and did a general check on them and all is well. Decided to pull the H4 headlights off the XJ and the not faded from end as well. The truck looks so much better now. The bumper on the XJ is straight and not faded either so that will eventually be moved also. I've got tons of house projects going on right now, a few trips coming up as well as my wedding along with quite a few other small things I need to do so the trucks are kind of on hold for now. Will update with any progress that is made but it will probably be a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted June 4, 2019 Share Posted June 4, 2019 19 minutes ago, Dzimm said: as well as my wedding congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzimm Posted June 4, 2019 Author Share Posted June 4, 2019 1 minute ago, Pete M said: congrats! Well thank you sir. I'm so lucky that half of our registry is tools and she actually agreed to it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzimm Posted June 6, 2019 Author Share Posted June 6, 2019 Managed to get the bumper swapped today. Straight and clean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMO413 Posted June 7, 2019 Share Posted June 7, 2019 Looking good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzimm Posted June 13, 2019 Author Share Posted June 13, 2019 On 6/7/2019 at 7:11 AM, JMO413 said: Looking good! Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzimm Posted July 29, 2019 Author Share Posted July 29, 2019 Finally got enough house work done to start on the truck again. I'm working on installing the handbrake and of course had to tear everything apart to do it. Much more involved than I planned but it has to be done, plus I want the trim and carpet loose so when I cut the cab corners out, I have access to put out a fire if the spray foam ignites... Pulled the bench seat by myself, which sucked. Broke the spot welds on the passenger rear mount so I tacked it back straight.  I went ahead and cleaned up the seat brackets and painted them with rust reformer and black paint. The PO repaired the brackets but never painted them so they rusted. The PO replaced the floors already so that's nice, the carpet was damp under the floor mat and there are some bubbles under the paint. Most of what's in the picture is dirt and stuff from the carpet pad, not a ton of rust yet but it will get cleaned up and painted before being put back together. As for the parking brake, I didn't expect it to be so much work to remove it. Had to unplug the bulkhead connector for the fusebox (PIA) and move everything out of the way. But it's out and the parking cable looks to be brand new so that's good. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to hack up the MJ pedal mount to make the new bracket or fabricate one. The pedal doesn't hold anymore so its of no use without repair anyway. If work doesn't wear me out entirely, I will hopefully get all the work done throughout this week and put the truck back together by the weekend, or at least driveable again by then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzimm Posted July 30, 2019 Author Share Posted July 30, 2019 Now I'm torn... Pulled the carpet up on the passenger side and it's drenched so I pulled it completely out of the truck. Floor is bubbling worse on the passenger side. To put the carpet back in or not.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzimm Posted July 30, 2019 Author Share Posted July 30, 2019 Cleaned up and primed. Painted.. and I'm off to work. More to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 gotta find that leak before you can think about putting it back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMO413 Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 Looking good! I hate water leaks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzimm Posted July 31, 2019 Author Share Posted July 31, 2019 Well I know for sure the doors don't seal.. there are layers of weather stripping on both doors and door jambs. I decided to leave the carpet out for now and just paint the floor black. I'll decide later if it goes back in or not. I'm going to let the paint dry overnight and work on the handbrake mount tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dzimm Posted July 31, 2019 Author Share Posted July 31, 2019 17 hours ago, JMO413 said: Looking good! I hate water leaks! Thanks. Yeah me too, not sure if I want to spend the time searching for the leak or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMO413 Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 I have been hunting water leaks for about a year at this point. I wonder if these trucks were every water tight? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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