No more smoking Jeep.

Replaced this garbage with new FelPros.

 

is that part of the injectors?

 

Nope. Valve stem seals.

 

how hard was it with the head on?

 

Easier than removing the head... or at least less-time consuming anyway.

My piston rings are worn, of course, so a lot of the air blew by the rings. Probably wouldn't have been so bad if I was doing it during the day and could have just let the compressor monitor its own pressure... but I was trying not to bother the neighbors with the thing cycling on and off after dark.

Pretty much though, once I got the hang of it, it wasn't so bad. Biggest thing was, even with the compressed air holding the valves up, and the compressor tool compressing the springs, the valves and such hadn't been touched for 250k miles and over 24 years of operation... so I had to take a hammer and give the compressor tool a good whack a couple of times to break the keepers loose.

Pretty much got it down to this order of operations:

(Mind you, this is after valve cover is off and all rockers are removed)

1) Remove spark plug and insert air chuck adapter (also called an air valve holder)

2) Attach compressor tool onto valve spring and tighten down as far as you can.

3) Attach air hose to adapter. Compression chamber will immediately pressurize (hold upward pressure on the tool to seal the valve if you hear air leaking into exhaust or intake manifold)

4) Give the tool a couple of whacks with a hammer break the keepers loose

5) Use a pen magnet to remove the keepers

6) Remove valve spring and tool

7) out with the old, in with the new.... installation is the reverse of removal.

 

nice i'll have to look into one of those air valve holders.

 

Yeah it was definitely a time-saver versus pulling the head, that's for sure.

 

Well, been SLIGHTLY busy lately between work and stuff around the house. Did manage to squeeze in a little progress on her and do a little wheelin'.

Ditched the old halogen bulbs in the domes and converted them over to LED panels. I say "converted" because I actually had to solder the pigtail that the panels plug into to the connections in the dome housing. Couldn't believe how bright it is now. I could barely see anything in there at night - you could practically do surgery in there now.










I had to zip-tie the panels to the insulator of the socket for the original bulbs... not much else really to do with this style of dome light and this style of LED panel. Works great though!

Friday, a friend of mine wanted to do a little exploring. He works for Florida DOT and, while he was doing his rounds one day he spotted the gate opened on an old abandoned lime rock quarry that had been sold off a couple of years ago. Ended up finding a Kia SUV that someone had rolled into the main "pit" and stripped the tag and ignition off of. But I also got a taste of wheeling on/around rocks. The portion of the trail we found and went down had some decent crevices, drop offs, boulders, grades, and off-camber. It wasn't more than a couple hundred feet that went into an open area, but it was really technical getting down it... took about 15 minutes with my friend as a spotter. His son caught a pic of me on the way out




Definitely a lot of fun... definitely wanna get on more rocks... definitely need armor lol

Case in point - my gas tank:












kinda hard to tell from the pics - but my capacity went from 20 gallons to 18... definitely want to skid that so it doesn't get any worse.

I'll eventually get a new tank and modify the vent tube to "cheat" and get a few more gallons out of the tank.

ETA: Spoiler alert, the tank wasn't dented.

 

A ZJ gas tank should be cheap and easy, I even got mine powder coated!

 

The tank or the skid? Nothin' really wrong with my tank, I just need a skid plate for it. Should be able to just drop the tank and bang the dents out on the soft ground. I don't need it to look pretty, just need it to hold gas Skid plate will cover it up anyway.

In other news, I got some goodies.... FREE goodies at that!

Friend of mine has an '00 xj wreck that they bought for the motor. I had asked them about the seat sliders so I could do my ZJ seat swap and they said "come get 'em... I don't care about anything behind the firewall." While I was there, I spied an XJ-correct hitch, and a 29-spline chrysler 8.25. I also snagged the mirrors off of it, and I'll be coming back for the rear seat 'cause it will go better with the ZJ seats than my light grey tweed '92 seat. I asked him again if he wanted anything for the parts I was pulling since I wanted the axle and he said the whole thing was bound for the scrap yard so take whatever I want.

I swapped the 27 spline 8.25 I had so he'd have something to roll it around on but I wanted to keep the disc brakes... so I swapped the drums from the "new" axle onto the old so the parking brake would keep the jeep in place. In the process, I discovered it has factory Trac Lok... so I might fool with a rebuild kit and keep an extra friction plate or two to tighten it up for the larger tires. Worst case scenario, it won't make a difference and I'll still have an open diff... whoopdie freakin' do - that's what I have now.



The following weekend, I took her to a bonfire and got to do more fire-fighting than I did as a volunteer... that's me with the shovel.











Also, my brand-new MOPAR water pump just arrived from RockAuto. Next to arrive should be brake pads and hoses for the 8.25 axle.

 

Nice score! Yeah I meant the skid but you could probably squeeze in the 26 gallon ZJ tank while you're at it too. Lol

 

Hmmpph... didn't realize they were any bigger than 20 gal. I'll have to look into that. 'Cause MOAR gallunz is MOAR bedderz.

 

zj tanks physically will fit in the xj location but i think the pumps/plugs only work for 97+

 

Is it really that simple? I've got a '96 ZJ I'd love to swap with my '99XJ! Skid plate is already on!

 

Yeah makes the 5.2 @ 14-16 mpg last almost 400miles on a tank! It's great.