Comanche Dawn

[Limeyjeeper]

Swapped out the upper hoses. I was using 1 3/8" hoses and I noticed that they were leaking. I found some 90 degree 1 1/4" hoses which is the correct size for the upper LS hose. Fit is much better. They are Texas Specialty Products Part No TSP-13.6508.

 

 

 

[Limeyjeeper]

The OEM, original front clip is off to paint. All OEM parts. Big mistake going aftermarket. Never fitted right and now half the tabs that the top mount screws into snapped off. Not a solid piece at all. Yet another lesson learned. I only did it because it was less parts to paint. So now the OEM one will be painted as 8 separate parts. Main clip, top metal rail, bottom metal rail. Indicator inner insert left and right and headlight bezel left and right. It is fascinating how the front clip went from 8 parts in 86-90 to 4 in 1991 (left and right headlight bezel, clip and grille and then to 2 in 1997, clip and grille.

 

Headlight and inner bezel for indicator. Replaced headlight bezel as it had a broken side piece

One of the broken tabs holding the L bracket to the top radiator crossmember.

[boxyjeep]

Ugh, nothing worse than having to repaint after a new paint job.  I've also noticed sub-par quality on the aftermarket 97+ header panel that I installed on my truck prior to paint.  Half of the mounting bolts broke off just like yours (nothing a little bondo couldn't fix!) and the top portion doesn't fit perfect either.  Not worth repainting for me now, but will swap in OEM if I ever need to replace it.

[Limeyjeeper]

Had a pretty busy week with the Jeep. I fixed the hinges on my hood. When I first did them I thought rivets would get the job done, but no I should have mounted them in Fiber Glass which I now have done.

 

 

 

Also replaced the disappointing Quik-Latch hood pins.

 

 

with the Aero Latch pins. They are bigger but sooo much better. With a bigger area they put a lot less stress on the fiber glass and they are also much easier to adjust. The Quik Latch quality for the price is not good value. The Amazon knockoffs are just as good/bad.

 

 

 

 

I got the new battery tray in. My old one from Rusty's only held an Optima battery which only lasted 3 years. Now have an awesome Odyssey battery in place with the Dirtbound Offroad Battery holder.

 

I installed the cargo box splash guards which had been missing. I replaced the deteriorated factory ones with Styrene Butadiene Rubber SBR which is more flexible and doesn't become brittle in time.

 

 

I also refurbished all my fender flare retainers. Some were only 3 years old and had already snapped. Used Stainless bolts and internal lock washers to hold them in place, so they are easy to replace if I ever need to.

 

 

This week I am going to build new taillights using the Key Parts lenses and the ZimmDak Industries housings. The fit is great, just waiting for the Sikaflex to glue them together.

[boxyjeep]

How are you liking the fiberglass hood so far?  The guy who created them (Baja Fiber) is now known as SoCal Fiber and is somewhat close by to me.  Worth the investment?

[Limeyjeeper]

On 1/26/2023 at 2:20 PM, SoCalJeepComanche said:

How are you liking the fiberglass hood so far?  The guy who created them (Baja Fiber) is now known as SoCal Fiber and is somewhat close by to me.  Worth the investment?

My hood fit was very poor. Hopefully Socal Fiber pay a bit more attention to that. I love the hood. It really turns heads. You just need to do a lot of rework to get it to fit. Mine didn't have enough bow in it so the back of the hood didn't line up with the fender very well. We had to cut the fiberglass and remake it to increase the bend. 

Other people have had no issues so maybe I was the last one before they went belly up.

[Limeyjeeper]

So an interesting lesson in exhaust design. I have a 2 1/2" system on my LS. It should be OK for 320hp. However, I have a Dynomax Super Turbo 2 1/2" muffler. I have just discovered that this muffler necks down to 2 1/4" internally. Not good!! That is too small for an LS. It annoys me that Dynomax sell a 2 1/2" muffler that is actually 2 1/4" internally. So next week I am changing the exhaust after the Y pipe to 3". You can see in the pic how it narrows internally. The 3" Dynomax muffler is 2 1/2" internally which should significantly help with flow. If they didn't sound so good I will go elsewhere. Was this my overheating issue?. Time will tell.

 

 

My other issue was leaking flange fittings. Most of them are junk. I found a new style of flange called a Marman flange fitting. It is so much better. GBE Mandrel Bending makes them. They are no more expensive than regular flange clamps. It clamps down with a gasket and there is no way it will leak. They are going on next week.

 

 

 

 

[Red Mistress]

Good info on GBE V band clamps.

 

forget which 5 inch stainless I put of Ford 7.3. 
they are stainless billet weld on ends.

never had a leak.

 

had TIG weld with Argon purge.

 

 

[Limeyjeeper]

I wanted a donut spare to go with my 245/70/17 tires on JK 5x5 rims. So after some research I landed on using the WK2 donut. It is a T175/90/D18 with 5x5 spacing. It will only work with an MJ running JK wheels with the adapter to go from 5.4.5 to 5x5. Not going to work for everybody but if you are running JK wheels it is a good option. Wheel fits just fine and the diameter is almost identical to the 245/70/17. I just wanted to run a donut when I am driving around town and not have to have a full-size spare in the bed.

 

 

[ghetdjc320]

5 hours ago, Limeyjeeper said:

I wanted a donut spare to go with my 245/70/17 tires on JK 5x5 rims. So after some research I landed on using the WK2 donut. It is a T175/90/D18 with 5x5 spacing. It will only work with an MJ running JK wheels with the adapter to go from 5.4.5 to 5x5. Not going to work for everybody but if you are running JK wheels it is a good option. Wheel fits just fine and the diameter is almost identical to the 245/70/17. I just wanted to run a donut when I am driving around town and not have to have a full-size spare in the bed.

 

 

We’ll call it a “traction aid” 

[Limeyjeeper]

Got the exhaust fixed. Sounds better, no more leaks and it will flow much better than before. I didn't use stainless this time as I wanted it bent, not a bunch of welded pieces which is tricky with stainless unless you have special bending equipment. Got the exhaust much tighter around the bellhousing and up by the front driveshaft. No longer hitting the cross member of the rear leaf spring shackle bolt. Also clears the donut spare much better. I will ceramic coat it black at some point. It is 2 1/2" from the headers to the collector then 3" from there. Also put in a new Cat the replace the rattly Magnaflow one, which got warranted. The marman clamps are fantastic. No leaks ever with those installed.

 

 

 

 

 

Also installed the Deatschwerks DW200 255lph fuel pump. Definitely holds pressure better. Only issue now is that the fuel regulator sounds like squealing pig. The DW200 is higher pressure than the stock Jeep pump so I am hoping it is just faulty. It regulates the pressure ok, but the noise has to go. Got a new one coming on Tuesday.

[ghetdjc320]

2 hours ago, Limeyjeeper said:

Got the exhaust fixed. Sounds better, no more leaks and it will flow much better than before. I didn't use stainless this time as I wanted it bent, not a bunch of welded pieces which is tricky with stainless unless you have special bending equipment. Got the exhaust much tighter around the bellhousing and up by the front driveshaft. No longer hitting the cross member of the rear leaf spring shackle bolt. Also clears the donut spare much better. I will ceramic coat it black at some point. It is 2 1/2" from the headers to the collector then 3" from there. Also put in a new Cat the replace the rattly Magnaflow one, which got warranted. The marman clamps are fantastic. No leaks ever with those installed.

 

 

 

 

 

Also installed the Deatschwerks D2000 255lph fuel pump. Definitely holds pressure better. Only issue now is that the fuel regulator sounds like squealing pig. The D2000 is higher pressure than the stock Jeep pump so I am hoping it is just faulty. It regulates the pressure ok, but the noise has to go. Got a new one coming on Tuesday.

Looking good! Looks like the exhaust pipe is a bit oval in some areas? 

[Limeyjeeper]

We flattened it a bit under the trans, but it won't affect flow materially. Other than that it is round. Being 4WD it is really tight getting down from the drivers side header

[70barracuda]

How did you mount the new fuel pump? Stock sender?

 

I got a wahlboro 255 but haven't figured out a way to mount it yet. 

[Limeyjeeper]

Here is what I did. It isn't pretty but it works. The DW200 is much shorter and slimmer than the standard pump. So it requires some serious surgery to get it to fit.

 

 

I used some rubber parts I had lying around. You could use large diameter fuel hose to create the rubber spacers. I had to cutout some of the bottom mount to allow the filter to work. I used a US Motor Works 12-104-5 filter. I clamped it using a hose clamp. 

 

I had to trim out the top mount to fit around the connector and clamped it down. I had to add a new hole to clamp it to.

 

 

 

Like I said it isn't pretty and next time I would probably use different diameter fuel hose and make better spacers. It is very tight and won't move, just doesn't look factory. I used the DW200 because a lot of people said the Walbro is noisy. The DW200 is very quiet considering its output.

[ghetdjc320]

I noticed the Bosch 69302 was a very similar size but had a plastic adapter/spacer. If you could find that part, I bet it would adapt these smaller turbine pumps great. 

[Limeyjeeper]

I saw that but could never source one. I think they are discontinued which is a shame because it would have made for a much easier conversion.

[ghetdjc320]

2 hours ago, Limeyjeeper said:

I saw that but could never source one. I think they are discontinued which is a shame because it would have made for a much easier conversion.

Supposedly Napa still has them in stock but I spoke to Bosch directly and they discontinued it 2 years ago. I asked if they still had any of the other parts in the kit but they were unable to find any.

[Limeyjeeper]

Swapped out the regulator so everything is playing nice now. No more noise. Used the AN fitting Holley unit 162-591. Makes life much easier when hooking up the fuel lines.

 

 

Fuel pressure on the gauge is now showing 65 which is a tad high. But by comparison I was at 60 before so I presume the sensor is reading a bit high. Going to hook up an actual gauge to see what the true reading is. Always something.

[thecodemonk]

I remember looking at the Aerolatch stuff when I first got the LS to go in but ended up staying with the stock setup for now.  Are you still using the stock hood latch system too? or is that completely replaced by the aerolatch setup for you?

[Limeyjeeper]

On 2/28/2023 at 2:09 PM, thecodemonk said:

I remember looking at the Aerolatch stuff when I first got the LS to go in but ended up staying with the stock setup for now.  Are you still using the stock hood latch system too? or is that completely replaced by the aerolatch setup for you?

Completely replaced. Tough to use it with the fiberglass hood.

[Limeyjeeper]

After 2 years of fighting overheating and going down multiple rabbit holes I decided to ditch the Novak radiator and replace it with a Champion Radiators 2 row crossflow XJ radiator with 3 Spal 30103057 10" fans. My overheating problems have now completely gone away. Driven about 400 miles on open road and in heavy traffic, driven hard and never went over 200F. Never had that happen before.  I am so stinking happy!!

 

 

 

[boxyjeep]

That's awesome.  I've heard so many bad reviews about Novak radiators cracking/leaking and also not be sufficiently efficient.  It's honestly very odd considering they set the bar in many Jeep V8 swap parts otherwise.

[Limeyjeeper]

I think the dual pass doesn't work very well on an 11" high radiator that is 35" wide. Basically, each pass is only 5.5" high. A stock truck LS radiator is around 18" high and 34" wide. So volumetrically a stock LS radiator is 60% bigger. Triple fans compensate for some of that. I need to dig into the construction some more. I heard that the baffles were not installed on some I need to check mine.

[ghetdjc320]

13 hours ago, Limeyjeeper said:

I think the dual pass doesn't work very well on an 11" high radiator that is 35" wide. Basically, each pass is only 5.5" high. A stock truck LS radiator is around 18" high and 34" wide. So volumetrically a stock LS radiator is 60% bigger. Triple fans compensate for some of that. I need to dig into the construction some more. I heard that the baffles were not installed on some I need to check mine.

Interesting, I haven’t completed mine yet but I know they said they were waiting in some new cores when I ordered mine. Came in late last year iirc. I hope that radiator isn’t a $1200 paperweight… I ordered mine complete assembled with the fans. Came with some very nice Spal units with a larger one near the inlet/outlet.