Automan2164

Just peeking in here, but I see your route will be pretty close to my place in Harvard, and also near Scott's place in Woodstock. I'd more than welcome a cc gathering at my house, have 5 acres for plenty of parking. Marginal off-road park about 35 mins away. In McHenry, IL. Also have the turbo diesel MJ and 2.5 others on the property. Rob

Sorry to hear about his passing. He was a long time friend and adopted family here. Rob

Thank you for the updates. Don is among the small group of us that go all the way back to the Yahoo group. I hope that things are going better for you buddy, and that you find this thread. Keeping you in my thoughts. Rob

Hmm... Makes me wonder if the effect was amplified for me because along with the bar I also replaced the bushings each time... Maybe the new bushings amplified the effect because the old ones were shot. Rob

I started bringing a really cheap caliper with my in my yard bag for when I needed them. I plucked all my bars out of XJ limiteds of various years. http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1292839&KPID=981061&cid=CAPLA:G:Shopping_-_Precision_Tools&pla=pla_981061&k_clickid=0ee28179-4ec1-dee8-fb21-00005b07ab2f&gclid=CjwKCAiA-KzSBRAnEiwAkmQ150agyuUKfiEPRIMfbxsJrKqLzOU1PvOsdz0dxJpAPNaCMCkRM8XdyBoCEjMQAvD_BwE Rob

That would have been a good score for someone. Once I picked up my first 28 MM bar at the yard, 'errything I owned XJ/MJ wise got one. Makes the whole thing feel noticeably tighter. I also did an aftermarket addco rear bar on my XJ before I sold it. Felt like a gokart. Rob

That is fixable... Looks like you missed most of the frame rail. If you can spot weld and drill... You can get it back to what once was. I know. Rob

I've always pined after an original flat-fender, relegating them to something I would only get years down the road. I search every once and awhile looking around, but nothing ever really seemed interesting. A couple weeks ago, a little fella washed up in Iowa and I had to go check it out. The body appeared well weathered, patina for days. The seller didn't know much about it, only receiving it in trade for a pickup he had. At first glance it looked pretty rough, but looking at the pictures I could see new seats, gauges, wiring harness, and exhaust. The rear axle was fresh black satin paint, as the trans/trasfercase... Battery new, generator redone... Enough to see there was more under that wrapper. I made the 3 hour trip for me, and discovered a worn soul with a heart of gold. It clattered to life in a garage filled with a '63 Split window vette, and a later model vette next to it. A Willys sign hinted at the Jeepster nearby under a cover. Chrome and flash abounding. Then there was this little bruised and discolored tin can humming in the corner. My hunches in the pictures were accurate. Beneath the body riddled with 69 years of work, "Just fix it" repairs, and stress cracks was a redone driveline and electrical system. New tires, new wheels... Sure, the body has seen better days... but what it lacks in structure it makes up in raw character. Oozing with stories. The frame had been repaired up front by the crossmember, as in back by the right leaf spring hanger, but nothing because of rust. Just stripes from nearly 70 years in the working class. I dug it. Without so much as a drive, we talked money, and agreed upon an adoption fee. Now that I've bored you with text... Pictures baby. I don't know much about the history of it other than I was told it came from Wyoming at some point, and that someone put a ton of money and time into the hard parts, while not touching much of the patina at all. My kinda person. So far I flushed the coolant, changed the oil (HOLY CONDENSATION in the dipstick tube, about had a grabber), and just got parts in today to rebuild the bell crank, the drag link socket, and the right inner tie rod to get rid of the wander in the steering. I'm in love. I've never experienced such eyes, pointing, and neck breaking in a vehicle before. I am a purist at heart with a love for a story. My plans are to keep this thing as original as I can. As long as the body can hold itself together on top of the frame, the history it has will continue on. Rob

50 Cent Ice T

1986 MJ - "The Diesel" because of obvious reasons. 1987 MJ - "The Farmer" because the guy I got it from bought it from a melon farmer. The melon dropped off. My 2012 WK2 gained a nickname stemming from my cousin's Grand Caravan, which has limo tint all the way around, save for the windshield. I started calling it "50 Cent's Minivan" because it looked like a murdered out hood van... which turned into "50 Cent". I got the windows on my WK2 tinted, but not as dark, so he started calling mine "Ice T" because "It's dark, but not as dark as 50 Cent". Rob

Thank you for all the times you've done these posts. I've looked into and bought a few things, including a factory brush guard from PA to IL... And then found one for 1/4 of the price, 1000 feet away from my work, in better shape... Lol. I'm going to miss the posts, but there is a limit to the time you can spend doing something like this. I'm sure I'm not the only one whom you've helped along the way. Rob

I can't say for sure about some things, but the Chrysler or AMC PN's didn't cross to anything. Rare/Vintage parts by Mopar only had the one parking brake strut. Because not a lot crossed to the OEM numbers, and I didn't have the actual parts, it was hard to source suitable replacements. Late last night I was doing my thing again after posting here, and discovered that Google searches of the part numbers popped up with some Omix-Ada parts. When I looked closer at some of the Amazon listings, the part numbers from Omix were right, but the reasons they hadn't been crossing was that the would leave off the "J" prefix letter, or when a PN was "0000XXXX" they would list the crossing number as "XXXX" so it wouldn't show up on the searches. Last night I ordered 4 wheel cylinder pins, 2 parking brake levers, and 2 parking brake strut bar springs. I still cannot find the other side parking brake bar. If it all comes in and appears to work, shipping a little bar should be easy if someone has one. I'll update as I can. Rob

I may have found what I needed... I'll let you guys know. I was bored in the late hours of last night and running part numbers. The only one I haven't been able to find is the right parking brake strut bar. I'll update once the parts come in. Rob

Hello all. I am in need of the factory big brake rear parts. I am in the middle of a 7 year MJ rebuild. I took the D44 rear axle apart for refinishing, and while everything was off, I discarded the whole pile of parts thinking that I would be replacing it with new hardware... Sounds decent right? Nope. When I cast away all the used stuff, I never removed the parking brake bars, the parking brake linkages attached to the rear shoes, and the wheel cylinder arms, all of which are not available anymore. The only thing I was able to source was a left side parking brake bar. I need all of that stuff for the 10"x2" big drum brakes found on the D44 and select D35's. I have the entire truck re-brake lined, and ready to roll around, but I am missing the rear hardware that you can't get in the generic kits. Pics for attention. Thanks in advance. Rob