Tried to get the oil pan skid I ordered to fit the oil pan, but turns out it won't fit any of the 3 factory oil pans I have, but it will fit the one aftermarket oil pan I have without any problem at all. I also cleaned another NSS today and I ordered a trans pan skid so I don't dent my freshly acquired junkyard pan.

 

So for a bit now I have been hearing a clunk here and there.
Because my hearing is not so good I want to say it is coming from the rear but not to sure.
So checking things out I did see that my passenger side sway bar link was rotted away.
Also missing the bump stop on that side.
So have the sway bar links and new bushings coming from Napa.
Should get dropped off about 3:30.
The bump stops will have to be the Crown ones off Amazon I guess.


Now before you guys tell me to just remove it realize I don't want too. Plus my Jeep is just a DD.
Even if and when I duplicate the Up Country Suspension I will try to keep it.
I know they deleted it in the Up Country Package.
But it might happen cause of this.
My rear sway bar appears to have rusted in the bushing.
The diameter of the sway bar is smaller cause of the rusted metal that fell out when I took the bushing off the sway bar.
My guess is that it will be loose in the new bushings.
Which might be a bad thing or not really matter.
Any body have any thoughts on that?

 

Since I am waiting on parts I figured I would get the bump stop, well what is left of it, off.
I have had good luck with the Loctite Freeze and Release stuff.
That and working it back and forth to try not to snap it.
Figure hit the bolts and nuts in the uni-body with my thread restorer tool real quick.

Going to be a week before the bump stops come in.
Anybody see a problem running with out them?

Might slap a little POR 15 in that area in the meantime.

I used it on the M-12 bolt that I have to reuse for the sway bar links.
Forgot to mention that the M-12 had bound to the metal in the sway bar link bushing pretty good.
Some of the Loctite stuff and work that back and forth too was enough to "release" it.

 

Unless your springs are worn out, which I don't think they are, you shouldn't have a problem daily driving this without bump stops in the rear (or front).

 

Not in the best of shape but not totally beat.
Just a DD so.....
Plus I don't go out of my way to hit things. LOL.

 

So remember how I told you guys that the sway bar rotted in the old rubber bushing and now the diameter is less?
Everybody sing along now
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-EEEEEEE

And the passenger side finished.

 

Discovered today that my left front caliper is dragging. It was smoking on that side after driving around today and definitely throwing off more heat than the other side. Not sure yet if it's the brake hose or the caliper, but given the age of the vehicle I'll replace both front hoses and go from there. (The hose to the rear axle is recent.) A problem is not knowing yet how rusty the fittings and bleeders are since I haven't had time yet to crawl under there and take a look - and with a heat wave breathing down our necks out here probably won't be doing so for a little while.

 

So I decided to get the driver's side sway bar link done today.
Pretty much the same problems. Bolt adhered itself to the metal sleeve in the bushing.
I actually had some bump stop left on this side but as soon as I touched it with my impact to
get the nut off the back it fell apart.


The end of the sway bar did not rot away in the bushing though so I won't have to Mickey Mouse this side.
But I did bust one of the bump stop bolts. Drill was to big to get in there. My impact driver is smaller and could
but the drill bits that you use with it did not seem to make any headway.
So I punched it out and it turns out the hole is a 1/2" in diameter.
Which is the exact size hole you would drill for a 5/16" rivnut.
And it turns out that the bump stop bolts are not metric. But 5/16-18.
Which is the exact rivnut size.
So I don't know how secure the rivnut is in there. It was a little awkward and tight trying to do this.
But I guess I will find out.

 

So I pull out the new sway bar link and the bushing is ripped on it.
New in the box.
And of course we don't have any in the store so I won't see another
one till Monday.
So I am done for the day.

Think it is alright to drive the Jeep with the driver's side sway bar link not there?

 

Should be fine just don't do any wild maneuvers or serious flexing

 

That is not a problem.
Thanks.

 

Didn't do anything yesterday, but went to Jeep All Breeds show in York Pa. Saw some awesome Cherokees Like a Mercedes diesel swap, one with 5.9 and a bunch of cool color options. So as my 94 get's finished have some ideas on custom things to do.

 

Finally got around to bending a brake line to correct one that came in the kit i bought as the passenger side front that came with it was WAAAY off.

The kit line is on the left, mine on the right.



And another. Kit line on the left, mine on the right.




The kit is supposed to be for a 97-01 XJ, so i dont know if the bender fell asleep or what, but every 97-01 XJ i have seen looks like mine. The rest of the kit is ok so i didnt bother returning it. I took the EVAP canister and bracket out to get a better look at the routing as i have yet to remove the old line, and traced it using a spool of solder as a guide. Came out nice.

 

I have a 96 ZJ that Must have sat in water when it lived in Michigan Because I've been dealing with rusted undercarriage problems for about a year now. I just replaced all of the Brake lines and Rear Hose and Junction box earlier this week. Only to find that when mounting a drivers side front caliper that the caliper bolt on the top had been modified to hold a larger bolt. Enjoyed running the new lines but was so angry at myself and the previous idiot who let this thing sit in that much water in the first place.... A few more modifications on the bolts and the caliper should work. Replaced the Headliner myself too but not without a few curse words and cuts on the hands. That is what I did to my ZJ today.

 

It was about 100 degrees here yesterday and 90 today. About 105 in the garage. But it was time to pull the fender off any way. I knew things were going wrong because the paint had been bubbling up past the fender for the last couple of season. Figured I would clean it up. Didn't know that under the fender almost the entire supporting surface for the brackets was gone. But since the fender was off and the brackets were toast, I had no choice but to get into it and get it put back into shape. Saturday was miserable because of heat, today not so bad but it was a long day just doing all of the steps.



Knew things were bad behind my fender flare because the rust bubbles were starting to work their way above the top of the fender. So it was to take of the fender and look at the carnage. This was after I had already taken a wire wheel to it and started cleaning it up to get a better look. Put acid on it for the night to work on any remaining surface rust.



Created myself a guide from some spare epoxy putty. To be used later to rebuild the entirely missing section.



After building a backing support from long strand fiber epoxy, I could start building up the top layer of sheet metal with short strand fiber epoxy. Using the guide to help continue the shape of the original, which I have just started to hit with a rasp so you can start to see it coming in.



After a few more rounds of molding and rasping to knock down the extra material, and cutting off the excess around the lower section.



Finally starting to fine tune the surface with filler and spot putty.



Prime it up.



Top coat and clear, and let it cure for a couple few days while I wait for my replacement brackets to arrive. Meanwhile, I'll blend/rub the new paint into the surrounding factory paint and put the fender back on.