Not going lol. The girl works overnight so I gotta be back home early to watch the kid. Can't risk it if I'm going to Rausch

 

New eBay exhaust manifold is going in tonight. Hopefully it holds up. The welds on it are pretty nice.



Also picked up this DIY diff cover for my D30 from a local fabricator on Craigslist. Just have to weld it together!

 

Got the new header in last night. Took all evening because those bottom bolts are such a pain! So far it seems to be running better...I think I had a slight intake leak somewhere along the line and all seems well now.



Also, I do believe my motor mount is toast. Ordering Brown Dogs real soon.



Another thing I found when I removed the old manifold is that the crossmember hanger broke off of the downpipe. So my exhaust is basically flopping around. I'm hoping the pipe is in good enough shape that I can grind it down some and re-weld it. The factory welds were horrible. I found this picture online of the hanger since I forgot to take a pic. Even this one, the welds look bad on the pipe.

 

I still to this day really don't understand why people have hard time with the intake/exhaust bolts that goes in bottom lol.

It's easy for me..

And did ya use this chart for torquing the manifolds?

 

My Leaked when I put it on, the gasket is crap. At least you used Copper Spray, I have to redo mine now.

How are you supposed to do 6&7 after 1...5 , They hold the manifold up

 

Yes, I did use that chart. I had an awful time with bolt #1 because of the way the new tube design is on the header, it swings around in front of that bolt. Couldn't get a ratchet on it. So that one I actually was unable to torque with the wrench because of that. I ended up tightening it to feel with a ratcheting 14mm.

If you bolt it to the exhaust...and the dowels on the cylinder head...and just hand-thread all the rest, it holds itself up pretty well. I've heard the gaskets were crap that come with these, so I went and got a Felpro and used RTV copper. Works very well so far in the little bit I've driven.

 

finger tighten all the bolts then use the chart to torque them down properly

 

This past Friday, I was perusing Craigslist and just happen to find an ad for a Garvin Wilderness Sport series roof rack for only 100 bucks! I couldn't pass up this deal, so I went for it. It needs sanded and painted and some new stainless hardware, but that's it. I plan to fabricate light bar mounts once I figure out which light bar I want, probably a 50" now to fit the rack better. I'm also looking at Rotopax gas/water can mounts which I'm getting a bit excited about.




My Brown Dog Super-Flex Rubber motor mounts arrived the other day also. No install date planned as of yet...probably next week.

 

How much were the mounts

 

A little over $100 shipped. The poly mounts are 80 something

 

Fappity fap fap

 

Dude brown dog mounts are so worth it. I got a set from a guy on here for 60 shipped and those alone probably made the most noticeable difference I've ever felt in the drivetrain. E-brake got tighter, body flexes when the clutch is released.. I can actually feel engine misfires. Legit.

 

I can't wait to get them in! I have to though since I'll be out of town the next few days while my girlfriend moves to Rochester, NY for school. I'll have much more time to work on the Jeep at least!

 

Got quite a bit done last night after work. First task of the evening was to examine my steering box to determine if the frame was cracked by it or not, or if the stock spacer was broken. Surprisingly, both were intact, but the two bottom bolts were loose. Apparently I never put Loctite on when I installed my front bumper (many pages ago). Now was the time to install the new spacer. I had to lop off the edge with the extra support hole, as the massive carriage bolt for my bumper would not quite work with it, and I didn't have a drill bit big enough...so angle grinder took care of that.

Before the cut. It's pretty amazing how flimsy the stock spacer is!


While I was waiting for the primer & paint to dry, I got to work on the motor mounts. What a difference they made. The engine doesn't shake all around in the engine bay at idle anymore! There are quite a bit of vibrations in the jeep though. I may need to adjust the through-bolts some more.




Once I got the steering box & new spacer torqued back together, I ended the night installing some Hella E-Codes with Osram 80/85w H4's that I got from a friend for $60 who's parting his XJ. Pretty good deal and a great difference!

Hella on the left here, stock sealed beam on the right, low beam. (note: Putco harness installed already)


High beams

I like the semi-stock look of them.


Next plans...

-Removing roof rack for refinishing & welding light bar tabs on.
-I'm going to be ordering a 41" LED light bar eBay special for the front of the rack.
-I'm also going to get two 7" flood light bars for either side of the roof rack for illumination on the sides of the jeep. I love my LEDs

 

*coughLEDWHOREcough*