i always forget about napa there is only one in quincy and its small. Ill check with them tomorrow. I am pulling what is left of the "engine" sunday and I won't let 2 stupid bolts to stop me!!!

 

I buy there often. The tools seem OK to me, warenteed for life, and there are Napa's everywhere, even in off-beat remote little towns. (I haven't seen Quincy in about 35 years)

 

Man those two bolts were a pain for me. One was damaged. I took an E12 socket 3/8" drive, added a 3/8 swivel adapter, added a 3/8 to 1/2" adapter, 1/2" extensions X 4, and an impact gun. Then it was easy. Got it from the back, across the top of the tranny. The 3/8" extensions were too springy for removing the bolts, but the 1/2" extensions worked well.

 

Dang! I wish I would have thought of that when I pulled my motor... I had to pull the whole drivetrain out to remove those bolts.

 

Ah ha that might be the rout I choose. One of mine is a bit messed up so I will have to take care with that one. What lengths of 1/2" extensions did you use? Was it 4 6" bars?

 

I applaud your persistence I would sooner have chopped the head off the bolts than do that.

 

Harbor Freight?

 

dont you love chrysler and how they change the fasteners/bolts practically from one year to another? And the 30 or 40 different ones on every car?

luckily I found a set of star sockets for like $7 at Harbor Freight...I don't expect it to last long, but it lasted long enough to change out the shocks on my tailgate. Then again I also don't expect to ever use the socket set again

 

Oh that had to be my least favorite part of Cherokees. Chryslers mish-mash of sae, metric, torx, e-torx, screws, plastic rivets, plastic clips. It's maddening. I was Looking for a wrench specifically but HF doesn't carry the wrenches. I finally tracked down a cheep set at autozone 1/2 an hours drive from here. I just can't justify spending allot on a tool I will use once only. I intend to replace the e-torx bolts with standard bolts

 

OH trust me if I could have gotten in between that firewall to cut them off I would have! Its gonna be a ***** to put all the stuff back in when the time comes... But at the same time I cant wait to have her back and running!

 

I used 2 12" and 2 6" extensions. I bought each set of 2 from AutoZone. I had only 1 puny 1/2" extension to start, so adding to my tool collection was not a heartbreaker.

The bolts that were removed did not go back in. I replaced them with hex-head bolts without any problems.

Another note: a swivel adapter works much better than a universal joint. Going across the top of the transmission you don't need much of an angle to be right on it. And the universal will just flop all the way over.

And yet another note: Sears sells a set of open end / box end wrenches that fit all kinds of bolts, including the external torx. But unfortunately the sizes start at 10mm. The E12 head is smaller than 10mm. So don't make my mistake and buy the wrenches then find out they don't work. I added them to my collection, but probably won't ever use them again. They're bulky and not near as nice as my S&K's

 

Finally got the e-torx bolts out. The wrenches I found had an angle on them that made them impossible to use. So I returned them for the sockets and used the over the trans method with great result. Just to get an idea of what it looks like I put a pic below. I also pulled the pistons out also just to take a look at them. The rod bearings were TOAST you can see the 3 playing layers. Cylinders 3-5 were worst.

 

Hey, ya got'm. Bet that's a relief. You're on your way. Just curious, are the back of the inserts stamped oversize?

 

stroker time?

 

I knew you would want to know. As it is I can hardly read the underside but I can make out a STD stamped into the back. So I can safely say this engine has never been rebuilt. I would love to put a striker kit in but it just isn't in the budget