I know, I know, you guys are clamoring for pictures.

I just realized that I forgot to post a few that I took a week or so ago, so I'll do those first.

 

And here's a couple more that I took yesterday I think.

 

 

Not a heck of a lot done lately. Got the oil change finally. The oil that was in it looked like something out of a tar pit. I had to go out and buy an oil filter wrench as the PO I think used an impact on it when he put it on.

While I had it on ramps and was running it to see if I could figure out the exhaust leak it just shut off, almost like someone turned the key off. I figured that it was out of gas, but it didn't sputter or anything. I put some gas from my lawnmower can in it and it cranks and cranks and nothing. I think I determined that it's getting fuel as the fuel rail gets pressurized even when I bleed it, so I figured spark.

A quick google search to figure out how to test for spark led me to multiple threads about how the Crankshaft (crankcase?) Position Sensor likes to go bad in these things and will prevent spark, so now I'm leaning to that being the culprit. Doesn't look like it's the most fun to replace though, so I'll try to track down one probably online and maybe get it by the weekend so I can take a stab at it. They're like $70-$80 in the parts stores around here and cheaper online, so I'll do some research.

At some point I will be at a position where the only thing keeping me from driving it is title/plates, but it doesn't seem like I will get there. There's a lot of oil/fluid on various parts of the engine, so I think I'll need to get everything cleaned so I can see what is leaking from where. The back of the power steering reservoir seems rather wet. *Sigh*

 

Loving the paint man. Nice to see people taking the time to bust off rust and repaint

 

Thanks! I figured I'm one or two red parts away from needing a Type-R sticker.

Nyuk nyuk nyuk

 

Crank sensors can be a pain.

1/4 drive socket, lots of extensions, and a swivel are great for the job.

 

I've got oodles of 3/8 extensions and a swivel. I read somewhere about being able to get it from the inside by the gas pedal if you remove some of the heating components, I'll probably research that way too.

Found out that I'm going to have some cash coming in October and I can probably throw some at the Jeep. I think I'm going to try to get it lifted around 3" or so, probably a bastard pack and new shocks and coils up front, maybe a shackle in back too. I will price out stuff to see how much cheaper it is than a Rough Country or some other type lift. I want to say that I saw a nice kit for around $350. There's cheaper ones for around $250, but it looked the the upgrades might be worth it.

I also need to figure out if my leaf springs are going to be ok or if I will need a new pack. That's kinda what's holding me back at the moment.

There's a picture of my rear drums that shows some of the leaf pack, what do you think? Are they too flat to save?

EDIT: Post 33 has the picture that I was referring to.

 

Not sure about down by the gas pedal. I'd think to remove enough you'd have to pull the dash. That seems like more work than it's worth. But I can't talk much there, I had an extra set of hands to help when i did mine. Crappy thing, I had my trans put and didn't replace it. Wires were burnt, but maybe if I'd replaced it I'd have routed the wires better.

 

As for the leaf springs, they look negatively arched on the front half. That probably wouldn't be good.

 

Bah, that's what I was afraid of. Guess I need to source a new set of leafs instead of getting old ones that might still be crappy. Didn't want to get a lift kit that included the full leaf, but that might be the best option at this point. I would have rather spend some of my money on my new tires/rims that I want to get for her.

 

I think I might try to take the weird add-a-leaf off and see what the springs look like. It would save me a boatload to lift it 3" or so without having to get a new leaf pack, as I was planning on just going the bastard route.

 

Haven't done much lately as I'm in more of a planning phase and waiting to get some cash. I did order a new Crank Position Sensor online and I'm waiting for that to come in so I can see if I can get it running. I should probably pull the cap and check that and the rotor to rule that out too.

I did pull the back bumper off tonight. It's got a couple dings in it from backing into something by the PO so I'll take a BFH to it and try to straighten it out. It's amazing how many bolts I break off of things because they're so rusted. So far it hasn't been anything I can't replace with new bolts or a bolt/nut combination, so no worries there.

I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to do for a lift. I know it's going to need shocks, front coils and something with the rear leafs and I'm leaning towards a Rough Country kit which would just replace everything and be all done properly. I think even if I go with a budget/bastard hack together kit a brand new correct kit is only a couple/few hundred dollars more, so I might as well save up for that and do it right the first time.

Besides, I have someone interested in the guitar setup I have for sale so if he comes through in a couple weeks it'll be easier to justify buying a premade kit.

 

Woot! Good day today. The ebay store I bought the CPS from was in West Allis, so it was less than 24 hours from ordered to my mailbox. It was a pain in the butt, but I managed to get the old one out and the new one in in 30-45 minutes, wasn't really paying attention.

Got in and turned the key and it fired right up. Didn't run that smooth at first, but I figured it might have been pseudo-flooded from all the cranking the past week or so. After it ran for a few minutes it seemed better. I was still nosing around under looking for the exhaust leak and even though I can't see it, I think it's still the exhaust manifold.

I'm leaning towards an APN header along with a 99+ intake and a bored throttle body and then find a place that does mandrel bent installs. Any places you know of in SE WI?

At work today I managed to get the end caps off of the bumpers with some persuasion. One of them is pretty smushed from the PO backing into a tree, but I did find some online for like $8 each. My coworker (the guy who gave me the Jeep) and I used various tools, hammers, blocks of wood, clamps, etc and we managed to get the bumper back to a reasonably stock state. His wife was rear ended and the bumper was a bit jacked up, but not too bad, and we managed to get it acceptable. Not perfect, but I can live with it.

After that I sanded it, scraped a mess of rust off the inside and hand sanded that (it's ugly but it will do) and then slapped a couple coats of heavy-rust primer on it. When I get the front bumper off and cleaned up I will hit everything (bumpers, caps, front grill, etc) with Bed Armor.

Slowly but surely it's coming along! Next paycheck I think I will get it registered and plates for it so at least I can drive it to the gas station to get some gas in it so I can run some seafoam through it.

 

No idea who does mandrel bends in the area. I figure the XJ isn't going to out preform a crush bent exhaust, there are bigger bottle necks than the exhaust.