Wife's Waggy "Walter"...

[tedlovesjeeps71]

The late models, 89-91, use a sanden instead of a york compressor. We've got a dedicated location for the ground but on the old York compressor brackets there isn't one.

Another option is to relocate the ground to one of the block side motor mount bolt holes.

Yup.. I knew something looked weird. Haha. The Sanderson gives a lot more room than the York.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Skerrvydog]

Thanks guys! Nikkormat can you show me where you mounted to the top of the compressor like you said? (If you get a chance) I also intend on replacing motor mounts too so that might be a good time to move it there.

We now return to your regularly scheduled programming on the Wife's Waggy "Walter" channel.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[tedlovesjeeps71]

So I finished the new wires as well as getting the starter put in. Have to take the core back tomorrow so we have food money but at least I can cross one item off the honey-do list.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Nikkormat]

It looks clean under there!

[tedlovesjeeps71]

It looks clean under there!

Back when we first got it we trailered it to the diy car wash. Spent all day and about 40 bucks pressure washing it all. I like starting clean since it lets me know where the leaks are. It also makes stuff less yucky while wrenching so I enjoy it more.
I've located several leaks that will need to be addressed. Just not sure how to attack them in blocks of time that won't keep the jeep down past the weekend. Rear and front main seals need done. Really want to do a new timing chain but that's a good bit of work. Valve covers will be easier once I get all the emissions stuff out of the way.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[tedlovesjeeps71]

Spent today rummaging through the storage shipping container. Scrounged up some stuff for the wife's waggy. Pulled the carb and valves for the AIR system off the "spare" motor. Also found another carb in a box, a replacement turn signal receptacle and a used fuel pump. Just need to get this thing running for about 2 weeks. By then we should (hopefully) be looking at installing a fuel injection set up. Lord willing, one of these two carbs is serviceable. The one from the spare motor actually has a remanufactured sticker on it but who knows how long ago that was. Guess I'll try Sunday to get it running again.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Pablo]

I don't think that dent warrants replacing the whole tailgate. Its innards may need to be swaped with your spare, but the body looks like it could be fixed. Maybe ask for some quotes?

The tires, I would cross shop, maybe Cooper and General to save some coin. Plenty of great tires out there. BFs are sometimes pricey for what you get. Save money where you can.

I don't believe you will find a 4 inch leaf with a good ride. I would swap your stock extras from the Commando for now, or I would assemble some bastard packs from yours and maybe the junk yard and shoot for a 2 inch homemade lift that should still ride nice. Lastly, if you cant stand those options, go with stock new one's from bj's if you have the budget. Even stock will give you some lift if they are sagging. Just something to consider.

I like TBI much better than carbs. However, some TBI kits are better than others and I don't remember if the one you have has good or bad reviews on a 360. I would research it. I like the HAMB board for that sort of AMC stuff. If your unit is problematic, I would stick with carb and maybe even sell the tbi to pad the budget. Otherwise, do the TBI to save gas and maintenance-- if you can squeeze it into a weekend.

What about the ignition? This could stand attention if still stock. I think most here swap it out as well.

When you do the waterpump and gear, back flush it out with the hose and flush kit and get the heater core too. I would replace every hose and belt if not already done. Replace radiator cap and thermostat. Check the cooling fan(s) to make sure it all works.

The skid-- it looks like you are offered a few. If not, why not weld up one out of scrap using stock as a template? Then rattlecan it.

I would yank the emissions stuff and hold onto it. The only thing worth having is a new cat. The TBI is better than most of that stock nonsense anyway.

While you are replacing seals, check your exhaust header for cracks. Would suck to put new muffler on and find header was the source of leaks.

Your wife needs to drive something, so seperate your wants from needs and focus on keeping the Jeep drivable as much as possible (minimize downtime). Keep some money for those incidentals that will happen when driving a used older vehicle. Focus on the appearance, stereo and lift stuff last. Just my 2 cents, does not mean its worth 2 cents to anyone.

[Pablo]

Oh, get extra inline see through fuel filters to hold onto and add one if you haven't. Some of your sluggish accelation may be due to crud in the tank or fuel line. Inspect and maybe seafoam it.

[tedlovesjeeps71]

Today was productive. After taking the dogs to the park I worked on "Walter". Pulled the old carb and looked over my two replacement ones. The "rebuilt" one from the spare motor was the winner as it was pretty clean inside and out. Once I got the old carb off I spent a while looking over vac lines and stuff. All said I replaced about 2 yards or so of various hoses, some were nothing much more than dust held together by grease. I also realized the return fuel line was not much better with lots of dry rot cracking. Not sure but it's highly likely it was leaking pretty good.
Also had to fight with the A.I.R valve on the passenger side manifold. What was left of the old one didn't want to come off so I had to be careful not to crack the air tubes. Took some efforts but got the replacement one on.
Then I got the reman carb set back in place and everything hooked up. After some triple checking I fired it up and it roared to life. Had to clear the choke manually and let it idle to operating temp. Nothing leaking and it seems to be a little snappier in throttle response. After a run around the block it started idling kinda fast. Couldn't burp the throttle to clear it but manually working the linkage seemed to drop it to normal. I'm not sure what the issue is, why it wants to idle high? Maybe from sitting so long it just needs to be used.
There is this thing (step motor??) that doesn't seem to be as close to the linkage than the other one was. What's it do and do I need to adjust it?

Because we all like pics, here are the old and new carbs side by side. The old is on the right and you can see all the build up gunk and where the power valve/accelerator pump was leaking. Yuk!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[tedlovesjeeps71]

Today sucked. Started out thinking it was gonna be fun but went south quickly. Got to the shop before they opened but no lifts were available. Seems they had an unusual number of people who started work on their cars Friday but didn't finish. Not usually a big deal but many of them didn't show up until almost noon for some. By the time we got the waggy on the lift it was 1:30.
So as I'm looking over the exhaust I realize how bad it really is.... so we make the decision to not waste time and take the sawzall to it. The muffler weighed about 25 lbs and the heat shield fell off the cat as the first cut was being made. Went to unbolt the flange that holds it to the crossmember and realize it's cracked about half way around. The cheap patch just after the Y joins was a joke and just about fell apart. Then I notice the passenger side is loose... very loose at the manifold. Put the socket on the flange... snap! So much for an easy day. All of the other three bolts came off fine. As I slide the heat riser off I see the other stud is rotted about half way through. Crap! So now I need to fix both passenger side studs.
As I look down at the heat riser in my hand I see the butterfly doesn't actually hold on the cross shaft anymore. Guess I'll cut it off and leave the shaft.
So then I get to looking at the "new" (used) exhaust that came off an 89 waggy. HOW it was on there is beyond me because they are very different! The flanges at the Manifold are wrong. The muffler sits directly over the rear axle. So much for a bolt on.
So tomorrow is gonna be rough. Have to get the RMS done AND fix the manifold. Then build a complete custom exhaust. All so the wife can take it to work Monday. Ugh.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Nikkormat]

You can do it!

[tedlovesjeeps71]

You can do it!

Thanks. It was just frustrating. Not sure what the fix is for the broken studs. I drilled the first one out but can't get the last bit which has the threads to break free. Don't want to break the easy out off. Can't use heat because there's too much flammable goo everywhere. If time wasn't an issue I'd just go to storage and the the one off the spare motor... or the headers off my commandos 360. Just worried I won't be able to get it to work. Don't like the option to drilling all the way through and using a bolt to hold it together. And I get to repeat it twice.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Nikkormat]

You can do it!

Thanks. It was just frustrating. Not sure what the fix is for the broken studs. I drilled the first one out but can't get the last bit which has the threads to break free. Don't want to break the easy out off. Can't use heat because there's too much flammable goo everywhere. If time wasn't an issue I'd just go to storage and the the one off the spare motor... or the headers off my commandos 360. Just worried I won't be able to get it to work. Don't like the option to drilling all the way through and using a bolt to hold it together. And I get to repeat it twice.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Tap new threads in your drill holes?

[tedlovesjeeps71]

You can do it!

Thanks. It was just frustrating. Not sure what the fix is for the broken studs. I drilled the first one out but can't get the last bit which has the threads to break free. Don't want to break the easy out off. Can't use heat because there's too much flammable goo everywhere. If time wasn't an issue I'd just go to storage and the the one off the spare motor... or the headers off my commandos 360. Just worried I won't be able to get it to work. Don't like the option to drilling all the way through and using a bolt to hold it together. And I get to repeat it twice.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Tap new threads in your drill holes?

I'll try but cast iron isn't great for that. Especially over my head with minimal leverage to turn a tap but not break it. I should have just left before starting when we waited 5 hours for a bay with a lift.
BTW... since the VW got turned in yesterday we are waiting of the waggy building funds. I have reserves this weekend but I still want to get that gas tank skid off you. Maybe a tank too if you have one? Maybe in a couple weeks??


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Nikkormat]

I'll try but cast iron isn't great for that. Especially over my head with minimal leverage to turn a tap but not break it. I should have just left before starting when we waited 5 hours for a bay with a lift.
BTW... since the VW got turned in yesterday we are waiting of the waggy building funds. I have reserves this weekend but I still want to get that gas tank skid off you. Maybe a tank too if you have one? Maybe in a couple weeks??

I've got a tank and skid for you, I'm going to be gone next weekend until maybe the following Thursday. I can't make it down this week but after I get back from Montana, on the 8th or 9th, I'll be free every day except Saturday before noon. So I can definitely come down then. I'd love to come meet you and see the Jeep.

Need anything else? I'm trying to use or sell most of my horde. J20 axles?

Also, I HATE manifold studs. If it were my Jeep I'd through drill the holes and stick some socket head cap screws through the hole. So that when one breaks or has to be cut in the future the remnants can be punched out and replaced.

[tedlovesjeeps71]

I wish today went well. It wasn't completely bad but at the end we didn't finish and had to leave the jeep for another day.
I was lucky on the passenger manifold. After drilling some more I bored all the way through. I then took a tap and ran it up just to see what would happen. Turns out I was able to make threads towards the upper part of the hole so a long 3/8s bolt will work. I then got another break when the second passenger manifold stud actually came out. Yea! Here's what it looked like.


Then while the wife was cleaning the oil pan I set to doing the rear main seal. Getting the old upper out was not as bad as some I've done. Getting the new one in... not so easy. I made it about 2/3rd of the way back in before it somehow started to peel a sliver off it. Crap! Not sure if it will leak, probably will...but we will see.
Got the oil pan on which was only a pain because the gasket shifted which made getting some bolts started a real bear. That took way longer than I thought and the day was getting late. Ended up having to start from worse than scratch on the exhaust. Using used exhaust to try and make a new one sucks. Short on time and not enough material I tried but lost. After making new parts to mount to the exhaust manifolds I realized that the studs I thought were ok on the drivers manifold are bad. The lower threads are all jacked up so that ended progress. No time to go through trying to pull those and I wasn't excited about how the crossover was looking. So as we packed it all up I'll leave it in the shop. Monday and Tuesday they are closed so I'll go work on it Wednesday before school. Hopefully I can get the other two studs out easy (hahah, yeah, right!) and at least get a decent cross pipe done.

Last thing is the main cap bearing. How bad does this look to you guys??



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[tedlovesjeeps71]

Today was rough. After only getting about 20 minutes sleep I took the wife to work. Then went to the shop and tried to finish the exhaust. Started out great as the two drivers side manifold studs came out with minimal effort. Got the correct angles for the crossover pipe and thought I was on a roll. After some initial tack welds to keep position I pulled it for final welding. Again... no biggie though getting it out took some creative twisting. Then things went a little sideways when the exhaust machine started having fits. I decided to cut the donor exhaust up and see if I could do better. Upon closer inspection the Magnaflow muffler wasn't all that nice. *shrugs* it was free so I figured I'd try it. Didn't have enough 3" pipe to build a tail pipe so I had to just dump it before the axle in a turn down.
Then I decided to fire it up to check for leaks.... oh, there were plenty! Both manifolds leaked pretty bad. As I was tightening the passenger side I heard a "tink", the sound of my bolt losing its bite on the tapped threads. Wasted a while trying several different length bolts and finally found one that seems to be holding. Then just as I'm tightening the drivers side the motor dies. I honestly don't know if it ran out of gas or if maybe the mystery blockage is back. At that point I was out of time and had to head to school. I'll try again tomorrow and hope I can make it run.
One note worth mentioning is I know I will have to order a muffler that isn't so loud. This thing sounds way louder than a 40 series flow master. No way the wife is going to be ok with that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[tedlovesjeeps71]

Not sure if anyone is even following this thread but today ended in a let down.
First thing I did was work on getting the waggy to run. It's been having a random fuel starvation issue which has been interesting to chase down. Today I dumped in 5 gallons of gas just to be sure it had some (gas gauge is inop) and tried it. Nothing.
I then disconnected the fuel line just before the pump and blew air in the line running back to the tank. It took a few seconds but eventually I heard the tank rumble a little followed by air being released. Then some fuel started to splatter a little. After some careful peeping with my light I decided it must be on top of the tank. Lowered the jeep down and exposed the inspection cover over the sending unit. Low and behold it has Never been messed with! Instead of screws it was held on with rivets. Never knew that because all my others had screws. But as they were painted in factory silver like the rest of the jeep I feel safe in saying nobody ever messed with it. So out came the drill and I pulled the plate.
There... screaming at me, was the cause of the fuel issue. The feed line was original and beyond done!!! It was literally crumbly and full of holes. The factory squeeze clamps lead me to believe it was the original 26 year old hose. Scary but even more amazing that I've put a few hundred miles on it since we pulled it from the field!
My guess is the decomposition of the hose meant that the mechanical fuel pump had no hope of drawing fuel since it doesn't generate that enough pressure. So it took some doing but I got the hose replaced. I also did some scraping at the top of the sending unit and removed a goodly pile of crap. I also discovered the likely cause of the inop fuel gauge. The ground has rusted off the SU completely. Since I plan to replace the tank and SU I didn't even bother trying to fix it.
Here's a pic of the hose.

Took a little while for the pump to prime but it eventually sputtered to life and began to idle as it should. YEA!
So with that out of the way I raised the waggy back in the air to check for exhaust leaks.... which I found. Unfortunately it is at the passenger side heat riser because my attempts to fix the broken stud has failed. The bolt just doesn't have enough grab to pull the down pipe tight with the heat riser. It's leaking more than before I started on the exhaust. So now my only option is to go to storage and pull the passenger manifold off my donor motor and hope it's good. Also means I have to take on the likely nightmare of removing and replacing the passenger side manifold. That is NoT gonna be fun! As I looked it over I noticed it already has one (at least) broken bolt. At least that is up front so maybe after I move the charcoal canister I can get at it. I hope!
Guess I'll try and pull the heater box to give some room to get to the back of the manifold. I smell a snowball coming my way but don't have any way to avoid it.
At that it was time to pack up and head to school. My last thought was to drive the jeep out so I wouldn't have to pay the fee for being inside while I was in school. I look down and one of the wires which goes from the starter to the solenoid (??) was just laying there. Seems the tab it goes on had broken off. No start. Crap!

So tomorrow is going to be busy. Need some parts and a run to storage then see how far I can get with the manifold. Wish me luck folks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Nikkormat]

Good luck Ted!

[BRUTUS]

I definitely wouldn't say mechanically minded but she's well grounded if that makes sense.

In other words she is electrically minded then?

With mechanical fuel pump failures, I always suggest that you smell your oil before going too far. When the diaphragm breaks in the fuel pump, often times it "pumps" fuel into the oil and washes all your bearings. Since you already pulled the rear main, you have at least changed the oil since the fuel pump replacement so that is good. To me I would replace that rear main bearing while you are in there, but I understand being on a small budget too.

I am impressed that that fuel hose has made it this long! Hopefully it wasn't too difficult to replace.

I am also in the "old Jeep and VW TDI" owners group but I am going to keep my TDI for a myriad of reasons. Can I suggest that you wait to turn the VW in (if you haven't already) until the waggy is a pretty reliable daily driver? As I recall, you have until December 2018 to decide either way. I also realize that you are planning on using the money from the turn in on the waggy so you are more in a catch 22 situation. Ironically, I am spending the TDI kickback money on my Jeep too!

Best of luck to you on the build and just remember that if you have a big project that you need done fast, don't hesitate to let the other Coloradoan's know and we can set up a wrench-o-thon and help you out over a weekend. Easiest way is to join Colorado Full Size Jeep email list at CFSJA.org and post up your requests. This is the last one I was involved with and I had as much fun messing with the camera as I did lifting the waggy! http://www.bigscaryjeep.com/Jan_Wrench-o-thon.html