And now it IS pressuring and a coolant test showed exhaust gases.
Well... I guess those shiny new torque wrenches will have to get dirty!

 

While I look forward to the next installment of Project Cheap, I'm sure you don't.

 

ROFL, thanks mate
This has been on the back burner while I did the brakes on the Range Rover. That's all sorted now so...I've ordered the bits. I went with Felpro for a gasket set and head bolts, I hope that was a good choice! The only stuff I could find in the UK was Crown and I thought I'd go the extra as I don't fancy doing this twice. Or once if I'm honest
They should be here on Easter Monday.

 

And the HG was definitely toast!



but the block looks OK



She's heading towards 178,000 miles. This will be the third HG so I'm hoping the head is flat or can still be skimmed. It's away at the moment so I'll just have to wait.
This HG should have lasted a lot longer but I overheated her last summer while I was messing around with the water pump and the radiator. After those two had been swapped out she was holding temp but losing coolant so I guess the damage had already been done.

 

 

I really don't like the look of all that crud in the water galleries though I hope a good squirt of air will solve the issue.

 

Minor update.
She's running fine, but still using a bit of coolant. I haven't found a leak yet

The driver's window decided to go down but not up, so the mechanism was replaced after I spend a couple of weeks driving around with the glass propped up with cardboard while the parts shipped from RockAuto. Seeing as the shipping was more than the window mech, I got a new rear wiper motor and (woah) genuine Mopar wiper arm.
All working now

Stupidly, I forgot to add door pins (the little roll pins for the door straps) to the order so I'll have to wait till next time for those. I'm not paying £7 shipping for a 70c part! Until then, I've got the CRACK CRACK noise on the driver's door which we all know and love.

 

CRACK CRACK! Have you checked that both parts of the door catch where the pin goes through are still circles? Mine were ovaled out so a new pin would not have helped. Before I got my donor Jeep, I drilled them out and used a roll pin. It worked well until the spring snapped so I had to replace it anyway. Also, I'm guessing they're hardened to some degree as they were difficult to drill and burnt out a bit or two in the process.

 

They're very oval now.
I keep forgetting to add door straps into my orders from the US. Damnit! I should have got one when I got the rear wiper motor/arm etc. Grrr.

 

And I've forgotten door straps again.....

Cheap has been running well, but not a lot recently. The aircon has run out/stopped and we're in a heatwave. I was just about to get it re-gassed when the vents decided that they'd only play Defrost and the Cruise Control stopped working. So, it's time to trace the vacuum system again and pray it isn't the HVAC controls themselves. I feel some reading coming on!

In the meantime, the backbox rusted off its hanger and then pulled down the cat, and then... meh. It's time for a new exhaust. I'm getting sick of fitting the rubbish generic stuff that is available over here because it lasts 2 years and falls off. This time I've bought a Walker system from Rock Auto which is still cheap (before shipping!) but hopefully it'll last a bit longer. It was £560 shipped so I'm hoping we can re-use the O2 sensors and cat or I'm in for an even longer wait and a bigger bill :/

BUT, she still runs sweet as a nut. I did an oilchange last month, the filter looked good. I think this is the last 5W30 I'll use, as my favorite oil brand (Comma) does a 5W40 which also has 1200ppm of Zinc and I'd like to give that a try. The LPG/Propane system is running well and the only electrical thing that annoys me is the FULL TIME light has stopped working. I'll pull the dash and check the bulb/socket at some point but it's hardly the end of the world when you've got the big TC lever and not just a switch.

Still rolling! but I'll be WFH in my new job so I don't think she'll get many miles. Or she'll just get the miles that I actually want to do we'll see.

 

Sorry to hijack your thread Morat, but I found it through a Google image search and have a question. I have a ZJ with an under-bumper LPG tank that looks pretty much exactly the same setup as the one on Cheap. I don't suppose you can remember or know how the fuel pump is secured in the aftermarket petrol tank? Doesn't look like it uses the normal white plastic retaining ring from the pic you shared but I could be wrong. I'm about to remove the LPG and petrol tank on my Jeep and replace with a used factory petrol tank, but I'm not sure whether I also need to source the retaining ring or whether it's likely there under there with the pump already. Two decades of rust mean that lowering out the LPG/petrol tank is likely to involve a fair bit of effort, so it would be difficult to check the pump before I actually start the job!

 

I'm sorry, I missed this post! I'll go get a photo if it's still needed? I just need to whip the carpet out of the way and lift the "hatch"

 

It has been a quiet few weeks for the Cheap as I've been busy changing jobs, hosting Ukrainians and generally not getting stuff done.

But, the exhaust decided to fall off again so I ordered a Walker set from RockAuto, puckered up for the postage cost, and it's being fitted now. Not be me though.
The good news is that the garage found the coolant leak. It's yet more core plugs. When they took the intake manifold off, they found a leaking plug so they're going to swap out the ones they can reach now, but probably couldn't before. I splashed out on a Brass set
Result!

I'm not sure how long the Walker stuff will last - let's hope it's longer than the last one. I've -reused the cat as it's not ancient and I don't need one to pass emissions due to the LPG/Propane. I hope that doesn't come back to bite me...

Next up, I need to trace the vacuum leak that has taken out the Cruise Control and left Cheap on defrost. This is the real reason Cheap hasn't been used during the summer - no aircon! I know it isn't hot compared to the USA but 90 degrees F in the UK is ridiculous :sweat: I just hope it's a pipe and not the rotary controls.

Hopefully I'll have the Jeep back on the road in a week or two.

 

Thanks Morat - I've not got round to the job yet. From my poking around underneath, it never occurred to me that there might be any access from the boot, so I'll check before I trouble you for a picture!

 

Jeep has returned after an extended stay at the garage/shop.
Exhaust - on! It turned out I needed a manifold as well, so that's the whole exhaust replaced bar the cat. The manifold is a "Stainless Steel" job from RockAuto, it came bent so it fouled the block :/ It has been heated and bent back into shape.
The guys fixed the vacuum leak without mentioning it, so it was probably just a pipe near the rocker cover. Heh. I went through all the positions on the HVAC, and they work properly along with the cruise control. Awesome.
Sadly she's running badly on LPG but great on petrol. I think it's because some of the LPG injector wires are crossed over, but they're a mess anyway so it'll take a little time to investigate.
If I get that done, I might get the aircon sorted out too. Just in time for winter