Philadelphia Steel Co.
1717 Woodhaven Drive
Bensalem, PA 19020

(215) 633-9600

They are the cheapest especially for full stick length.
Call, they will have what you need. Just know what you want.
Or let Ben know and he will call.

We buy all our steel there.

Thank you. That's who my company called for me. They said it's because of tariffs. Whatever that mean.

The other day I talked to David from CavFab and I asked them if I gave them the measurements, would they machine a set of drag link and tie rod out of solid steel for my 1-ton steering on a waggy 44. They said they could. So that's an option on the table as well.

That's what I heard was going to happen. The price of steel and Aluminum would almost double!! Most is all imported.

With this tariff on imported steel and aluminum, US Companies are starting to look at re-opening. Sort of good for US, America First and all, but prices will be higher in the short term.

Good news is that the price of scrap is going up.

Ah ok got it. I wonder how long is this gonna last?

Well... probably however long it takes US Steel manufacturers to open plants back up here stateside, then recover from the cost of re-opening, staffing, training, etc.

Years, I would assume. I think it will be a good thing in the long run though.

So Trump only 'threatens' (He has NOT done it) to raise tariffs on imported Chinese Steel and Aluminum and other products, So China, in advance, raises their prices of goods they export and the US imports.

I thought the bill that just passed included the tarrif raise :confused1:

Last night I had a bit of time so I made brake lines.

To start with, I bought a rear brake hose for a 93 Dodge Dakota.

Bolted that on the axle so that way I can have accurate lengths from wheel cylinders to the tee.

It was easy to make up the drivers side line. However as for the passenger side, I really had no idea how to do it so I just went along with it. Not bad for my first time bending brake lines. In hindsight. I should have not used 90 degree bends in certain spots.

My OCD slowly is setting in... I may remove those and redo it someday.

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Attachment 402167

Gonna buy the shoes & hardware, then this axle basically is ready to go. The front axle is next to prep and finish.

I already had knuckles with new ball joints pressed into it that I bought for $20 at a swap meet (pretty good score considering those ball joints are $120).

So I just gotta get front inner & outer wheel bearings for the hub rotors on the spindle, I also need to get the spindle bearing kit for the axle shaft into the spindle. Need to buy new calipers, pads, brake hoses.

The axle will get same paint scheme as the rear axle.

Not a bad looking brake line. Use a piece of stiff wire to plan the route for your lines. Bend it by hand to fit well, then use that as a template for your tubing.

Oh that's a good idea. I ll have to do that next time

A GOOD pair of tubing benders makes a real difference too. I fit pipe for a living, love my Rigid benders. For something like brake lines, not too critical. But on something like the fuel line (long run, many bends), a good set of benders does a great job. Easier to make accurate bends.

Well what bender would u suggest?

In that picture you can see the bender I borrowed from my coworker. Is that similar to what you would use?

Hard to tell from the picture. I like the Rigid 400 Series Instrument Benders, each size tubing requires a specific size bender. These benders are nice because they have marks for 90 degree bends, 45s, and right hand bends (labeled 'R' on the bender). Benders of this type are designed to work from left to right, measuring center to center of bends. Sometimes you need to bend the tubing from the right hand side due to clearance. If you bend the tubing from the right hand side on the 90 mark then measurements will be thrown off.

The MJ died on me while I was driving home at 2 am. Luckily my wife was driving her van behind me.

Pushed it to a parking lot and left it there.

No warnings or anything. It simply died.

I think I did try starting it few times and gave up.

Next morning I came back and took a look at stuff

Swapped starters. The old one look sketchy

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Attachment 402497

Still wouldnt start. So took the starter relay apart and cleaned all the internal contacts on the contactors and the external connections.

Improved a bit and started cranking.

Fiddled around with various connections in the engine bay.

Then walked to get my lunch

Came back, managed to fire it up

Quickly drove it home & got a ride back to get my XJ back home.

Tested fuel pressure, 28 psi.

Discovered that MJs had external fuel filters so I replaced it, but before I did. I bypassed it with a piece of hose and re-tested the fuel pressure without the inline filter in the way. Still 28 psi.

Started draining the tank and siphoning everything into the XJ.

Found out that the fuel pump is mounted on the side of the tank. Yay. No need to drop the tank.

Removed that, everything looks good but I don't trust the pump. I know the check valve has been toasted for long time.

Went to Napa and bought a pump motor for a 88 XJ. Will be arriving today so I gotta pick up after work.

Wow what a great mishap at 2am.

So I don't know if it's just my profile or what, but your pics are showing up as URLs and when I click on them, I get this...

"Invalid Attachment specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator"

Not just you

:thumbsup:

What he said.

Last Sunday. I drove over to a barn about 60 miles away to pick up the last remaining tools I had in storage.

After leaving the barn, about 10 miles later, the MJ sneezed and blew holes through the oil pan and through the side of the block, rendering the truck loaded and useless.

Had my buddy come over and tow me home. Thanks BEN!

It's not a priority to fix it because I wanted to do 5spd/4wd swap at same time. So the ZJ gotta have to happen first.

Dang, was it overloaded? I thought you went through that motor when you put the truck together?

Barely overloaded. I mean I had hauled a whole lot more on the truck in the past.


I still don't know why it happened. It was the original motor that grenaded itself. I still have the other motor sitting on the floor waiting to go in the truck.

My Comanche bit the dust today as well.

What happened

Damn... bad day for MJs.

I traded my 4 pro comps tires away for two 90% firestone destination MTs in same size.

Just need to find two more

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Nice!

There's a quite bit of an update but I ll post about it shortly. Gotta give the kid a bath and put her to sleep

Took the wiring harness off while labeling each connection. Also labeled the vacuum stuff.

Took both manifolds off...

Originally thought theres just one hole on the side but now with the manifolds out of the way, I can see that there's two holes.

Attachment 403246

In addition to the holes in the oil pan. It LOOKS like cylinders #1, 2, and 3 are dead.

When I put the intake manifold upside down, the oil started pouring out of the cylinder #6 runner.

The air filter was so soaked with oil, it literally came dripping outta the filter. It's crazy.

I also took the battery cables out & sold them. I ll just make new set when I drop the new motor in.

A guy on NAXJA was selling bunch of stuff and he had a set of MJ bastard packs that he built like 10 years ago along with 1/4" wall driveshaft in perfect length I needed. So I had him deliver them to my house.

Attachment 403248

No problem. I ll just take the leaves apart and hit with a wire wheel & give them a coat of paint. What kind y'all recommend. Tractor paint or something?

I also bought a set of LWB sliders from a member on comancheclub. (krustyballer). Had to shoot a coat of primer on it immediately when I got home cause it was raining and I had to bring the sliders home on the top of the jeep. Didn't want it to start rusting bad.

Attachment 403247

That's it so far, I think.

Holy crap... I know how to weld patches into those holes if you are interested? lol Man... Don't look good Neal.

A bit of an update but I gotta type it all up later today

A question

Any benefit in getting rid of aluminum valve cover or is it better to keep rather than go with steel one?

I don't know about these for sure, but it has been my experience that as long as it is good and flat, aluminum covers tend to seal better because they apply more equal and even pressure all the way around.

The steel ones actually seems to seal better from what I've seen, the aluminum fill cap leaks unless you do cruiser's mod, and the pcv/ccv need to be cut. I went steel with my swap. Make sure you get the correct valve cover gasket for whichever you choose. I'm fairly certain they have a different gasket for the two types.

Thank you for sharing this. That's why I was not sure about these, every engine design has their own little quirks like that. I could see the metal possibly being better with the composite silicone gasket and the standoff bushings.

Took the leafs apart last night

Attachment 403251

Ordered the timing chain kit, mopar 195 thermostat, and water pump today.