Hey Portland/Vancouver area! Gonna need some extra hands.

[lost1]

Fate is such a fickle girl. :o
A quick update for those unfamiliar with my tale of woe; several months ago my jeep's very tired(possibly original) engine decided to start eating itself and I'm currently the proud owner of a 360 v-7 powered Wagoneer. I've also had to move my family down to Bend due to some under-employment issues.

Luck has turned though, so the jeep is out of the for sale ads and back in the garage. Dajeeps has kindly offered a used engine very cheap, and to help with the engine swap.

Timing though... timing sucks. It is now the rainy season, and I've never swapped an engine before. I'm stuck in VA limbo with doctors regarding my back, but I'm still a good wrench-turner. Oh, and I have to have my apartment in Gresham emptied out before November. (that includes the garage of course.) I find myself -very- motivated to get this jeep roadworthy again before November rolls around, or else I have to keep it on someone else's land.

The simplest thing is to hold a sort of miniature Wrench-O-Thon out at dajeeps' place, and since I'm poor I can provide things like a crock-pot full of chili and some cornbread, chips, non-alcoholic drinks, etc.

I know this is some pretty short notice, and weather will probably not be on our side. Rather than try to pin down a hard date and time right away, I'd like to see who out there would be willing to lend their wrenching hand for a day or two on the weekend of the 23rd-25th of this month.:drivin:

[Danbert]

You helped me out when I needed it. I will find a way to help you out. Let me know more firm when. I know where dajeeps house is so I am good to go on that front. and I will even bring my wag for moral support. Might want to post up in the NW section too.
Of course I have to clear it with the time keeper (wife) but I don't foresee anything getting in the way.

[lost1]

Ah, that's good news Danbert; I'll look forward to catching up a little then.

I suspect plans for the weekend as a whole will solidify over the next two or three days, so hopefully we can get solid times and such. Looking at the 14-day forecast for the area confirmed my suspicions though... basically a week of showers leading into the weekend, and temps in teh mid-to-high 50s. Sounds like tarp and worklamp weather.

[AlsChopShop]

i work friday and saturday, but i'll do what i can to get up there and lend a hand saturday evening or sunday.

Al

[dajeeps]

my wife is suggesting a little potluck so it's not to strainus on one person.i'm working on the tarp senerio and the cherry picker should be home with in the week.
no need to bring tools i have all the tools we need.
matt

[lost1]

A potluck could be fun. I'm still good for the chili and cornbread, and if no one's got sugar issues I'll bring sweet tea.

Looks like I'll be ready to hit the tools around noon Friday and the rest of the weekend after that.

[Danbert]

Home made? I am down for some home made sweet tea.

[Brizio]

I read only now, but if you need one that make confusion, or better that take pics, I can follow you! :)

[lost1]

Home made?:D Anything else would be uncivilized.
Edit: sorry Brizio, I missed your post at first. The more folks the merrier, especially if there's a camera involved!
(I've been known to cause mischief with Photoshop, there's your warning yall!)

[dajeeps]

this is dajeeps wife.... need some ideas of what you guys would like for a dessert. So I can figure out what to make. Thanx:)

[Danbert]

Brizio: It would be good to have ya there even if it is just to take pics. Every one on the board likes pics of these things, so it might be good to have someone recording this event digitally. Also this is a great way to learn about these things.

[lost1]

Ooo, dessert... actually I haven't met a dessert I didn't like. I'm easy to please. ^_^

I'll be out of regular internet access once I get on the road tomorrow morning, as we've already cut off the cable internet at the apt. up in Gresham. Dajeeps, I'll send ya my cell # in a PM. I'm still planning/hoping on being ready to start work on the engine Friday after noonish, or later if that won't work.

[Danbert]

Guys

Update via this post with the time for each day so those of us that plan on helping know when to show up.

Oh and I am good for anything dessert-wise

[AlsChopShop]

yes, please keep me posted on what's going on for saturday. i get off work at 5:30-6pm on saturday, and can head right over afterwards if you guys are still wrenching. i also have all day sunday i can help, if you don't have it swapped by then.

tell me what to bring for the potlock!

Al

[lost1]

Heya fellas. doing my nightly internet hunt, finally found a spot. :)

Dajeeps and I talked for a little bit, tomorrow around noon I'll drive over to his place where we'll be prepping the engine to be pulled. Saturday is when we'll do the actual swap, so long as nothing crazy happens. Since tomorrow and Sunday are supposed to be wet weather, it looks like Saturday would be a good one to git r' dun. If it goes on into Sunday it'll probably just be tuning issues.

So far as potluck goes, I'm not sure what anyone else is pringing. I'm still good for the chili & cornbread. Oh, and tea.

[Danbert]

maybe a sunday afternoon potluck would be the best for all. That way the most of us could be there and we can all celebrate the finishing of the project.

[Danbert]

Hey all just giving an update on the engine swap. We got the old heart out and the new one in. What we have left is installing the radiator, and putting in fluids, then we are ready to fire it up and start tuning.
We could still use extra hands for the tuning. Also just for get together sake. We hadn't firmed up plans for potluck but lost1 is bringing more of his excellent chili tomorrow.
Come join us, lend a hand or just meet the guys.
Al, we would like to see ya there.
If you have any questions on where we are, PM me or drop me a line on my email, danbert1.0@gmail.com That will come straight to my phone and I can call ya.
Thanks
Dan

[dajeeps]

all went well, lost1's chille was great. we got the new motor in and running sounded good even if it sat for 4 years.

[Danbert]

What happened with his low beams?

[dajeeps]

i would imagine is is a fuse or a lose ground wire. remember the idiot lights blinking that fuse actually was blinkling you could fell it blinking.

[lost1]

Hey folks, back in Bend again. The jeep is actually parked in Sandy at my old employers/friends' parking lot. By 8 pm yesterday evening I couldn't even get that solenoid click we heard earlier in the day; tried charging the battery overnight on a trickle charger (6amps cycling down to 2 later) but that made no difference. I'll probably put up a thread in the tech section to get some ideas and bounce a few around, after I've researched more. I have my suspicions, but I won't be back in that area for at least 2 or 3 weeks.

Those troubles aside, I want to say thanks again to Danbert for coming to help, and especially to dajeeps who went above and beyond. He wound up just giving me the motor, which makes a big difference in my budget right now.

Plus, between the actual work and the conversations we had over the weekend, I've really learned a lot in a short amount of time. Kudos to you gents!

Edit: Hey danbert, do you still have those pics of that front axle?

[Danbert]

Yeah I do have them. I will put them in the email for ya. I have it still.

[Brizio]

Sorry guys!!! We went to the coast, for see some Golden Retriever puppies...
I hope to see you next time, and hopefully with my Wagoneer. :)

@DaJeeps, I start the little green one... ;)

[AlsChopShop]

sorry i couldn't make it. still trying to get over this stupid weird virus/infection stuff at home.

sounds like a bad solenoid or starter? if its in sandy i might be able to get some wrench time in monday for you. let me know if i can still help.

Al

[lost1]

Hello again! Don't sweat the small stuff Brizio, family and such always comes first anyway. Hopefully there'll be a chance to meet again, but if not there's always the forum.

Sorry about my late response Al, the whole house has been dealing with the h1n1 virus here, or 'piggy flu' as my kids have come to call it. I appear to be the asymptomatic one of the bunch, so I've been taking care of a very full house on quarantine. I can't be up there in Sandy right now but if you're willing to help out I'll gladly accept the help.

It -is- pretty doggone frustrating, having to let it sit when its probably a relatively simple fix. Anyways, I can PM or email you whatever info you need and I should be able to keep a closer eye on the forum for the next several days; I think we've turned the corner on the piggy flu.:thumbsup:

[AlsChopShop]

sorry to hear of the piggy flu stuff. i hope your family gets better soon.

where would you start? battery, solenoid, starter? i don't have anything big planned this weekend (and finally start saturday sunday weekends again) so i can probably drop by with some tools if the weather isn't too miserable. i was hoping to be in damascus at some point this weekend, its just a hop away from there.

Al

[lost1]

well, first things I'd be checking are the ground strap for the block, and the solenoid. Battery should be fine (in fact it was charged on the trickle charger two weekends ago and is sitting on the floorboard in the backseat. I'm a little worried about the ammeter as well... some sort of major short was making it bounce from -60a to +60a intermittently. Don't expect the headlights to work, I think they might have actually blown; they were extremely bright before they stopped working.