rang-a-stang's summer project/build

[bkilby]

https://youtu.be/Pn1wFUfn6wQ

My ears are bleeding.

[Ristow]

I have merely begun to dig into the Ristow playlist...

[bkilby]

Good to know. I'll get my cotton balls now. Lol!

[Ristow]

Lol!! Ok back to scheduled programming , Rang.

[rang-a-stang]

I've heard worse songs than that.
***********************
I put about 100 miles on my Jeep this weekend. My son put about 200 on it in the last 2 weeks. This is the most driving this Jeep has had in DECADES. When I got it, the stickers were 1996 and from what I could tell, that was probably the last time it drove regularly. It's running pretty darn good.

Did another hard drive to get data at RPMs above 4K. When I did that on Friday, there was lots of popping and it was super sluggish. This tune had a little popping and a little more pep (but was still sluggish). The tune is looking nice. Around town, it runs like I would expect it; smooth. If you are not paying attention, you do not hear the lump in the cam, but if you are listening for it, you hear it. Just right.

Got a spare TH400 governor (THANK YOU Asphaltrockdweller!!!) cleaned it up and took inventory of it. Hopefully I can compare it to the one in my truck later this week.

If I lighten the outer weights, it should shift at WOT, later. Around town the trans is great. I just need it to spin up a bit more at WOT.

Oh and my tailgate window stopped working. Guess I need to fix that first.

[Wagoneer Taylor]

Hey Marc, I feel for ya. I used to get all hot and bothered when my dad would get on me about keeping a car clean. But I quickly figured it out once you have put the time and energy (not to mention money) into something you expect to have it taken care of accordingly.

Sadly the getting these rigs back on the road is only the beginning, next is working out the gremlins that lay dormant from lack of use.

You'll get this stuff figured out, we've seen you do it before!

[rang-a-stang]

Nah, I am good with it. I am 90 percent sure it is just the safety switch connector coming loose. The window is up so it is not a big issue, I just have to crawl back there and pull the access panel and hook it back up or jumper it.

Honestly, finally having it at a point where I can just hop in and take a ride is refreshing and re-motivating. It has taken me almost 2 years to get here. Even before I tore it apart, I could drive it but it kinda sucked. Gutless, stinky, dirty, rattley but bad@$$ and loud. It feels good to finally only be dealing with gremlins and not self imposed casualties, mistakes, and a never ending list of failure prone cheapnese parts failing.

[SOLSAKS]

it happens on almost every build,.....

the one thing, or several things that make you question the whole idea...

I just had a 360 built, installed on frame
body panels, etc installed, it was really coming together when,.....

then the motor fails while idling,....wore the cam lobe down in minutes....

so,....another rebuild, going to be re installed this week.

glad it happened while the mechanic had it, and not me.

dave

[rang-a-stang]

...I just had a 360 built, installed on frame
body panels, etc installed, it was really coming together when,.....

then the motor fails while idling,....wore the cam lobe down in minutes....

so,....another rebuild, going to be re installed this week.

glad it happened while the mechanic had it, and not me.

OOOOHH NNOOOO DAVE!! On your red Honcho?!?! Since it happened under their watch, it's their problem, right? This is awful to hear. I wonder if you got a cam from the same lot as full size jeeper's first cam? Was yours a Comp Cams 270H?
*********************************
Earlier this week my midget and I pulled my stock governor out cleaned it, weighed the weights, and documented our results. Then we weighed the weights ashpastrockdweller sent, then we ground down on the outer weights on the spare governor and documented those weights and re-installed it. Here are the weights we wrote down:

The way you read this:
Start: spare weights sent from ashpaltrockdweller as sent
Stock: weights pulled out of my rig
Try 1: The weights I installed
combined: inner weights+outer weights+springs, per side
Outer: Primary heavier outer weights=These effect less than WOT 1-2 shift point. The heavier they are the later it shifts
Inner: Secondary small inner weights=these impact the WOT shift point for 1-2 and 2-3. The heavier they are, the sooner they shift. The springs also play into this but I left the stock springs in there.
For now I just messed with the outer weights; Trial and error. I felt like if I messed that up, it would be less noticeable and more enjoyable if I did it right. You'll notice we shaved off about 3.3 grams of metal. It made a slight difference in the 1-2 shift point but it feels good. I am going to leave the outer weights alone now. Next time I open the governor up (probably in May), I'll pull about .4 grams out of the inner weights.


I drove it to work yesterday so I could drop it off at the exhaust shop. Ever since I swapped my chassis, the exhaust does not hang correctly. It does now! No more rattle on the transfer case, no more rattle on the front bump stop, no more rattle on the rear shock! Woo Hoo!

I decided to do a tuning run on my way home from work. I’m in first gear LOVING the sound of 5k+ RPMs! I look down and it’s a little warm on temp gauge. I do 2 or 3 more “pulls” and look down and it’s getting really hot FAST! I look over to my digital dash on my laptop and I’m at 230 degrees! Oh crap! Go to pull over, no power steering. Ah! Threw the belt. Of course I did. I HATE THIS POS SERPENTINE KIT.

Hope you kept all the v-belt pulleys and hardware. Cuz you’re gonna be putting it all back on.

getting close... really close. Grrrrrr....

I pull over, pop the hood to let it cool, and decide to trek back on foot to find the belt. I get about 100 yards down the road and look back to see if I left the hazards on. There’s my belt hanging under my rig. Awesome.
Head back and put it back on as I listen to it gurgle and boil. I noticed my belt is barely too long. When I have it alllll the way tightened it is almost tight enough. Guess I am buying another $45 belt.
Good news is the data looks pretty good. High RPMs still need more fuel but the O2 sensor readings look good and everything seems to be working correctly so that’s good.
Got home, wrote a new BIN, and installed it.

Son got home from an appointment and we decided to wrench a little. He crawled over the back seat, removed the tailgate access panel and reached in to re-attached the safety switch connector. Window works. Opened the window, opened the tailgate, put a jumper in the connector (cuz my switch does not work anyway) and buttoned it all back up.

Moved on to the headliner. Took the rear piece down and was STOKED on the almost rust free interior of my roof!! I was nervous it would be bad around the well nuts since they leaked but nothing! Woo Hoo! Those spots you see in the picture are just dirt/dust and will wipe off.

There was a mouse nest up there...

...and I broke one of these little plastic elbow thingies. Anyone got one? Are they the same between Cherokee and Wagoneer? I put up a wanted ad in the classifieds here.

I thought this was funny; This is all the "sound deadener" that was up there! Good job AMC! Not only is it so small it's pretty much useless, it had also fallen off the roof onto the headliner.

Next up is removing the front headliner and installing my heat/sound barrier on the roof. I will probably burn a couple more BINs between now and my next long business trip but that's all I have planned for the next few months. I will be out of town the entire month of April so I will spend most of March with the boss and my midgets. I am sure I will wrench a little but nothing juicy.

[rang-a-stang]

Last weekend the wife had a project for me to do so we went out to pick up some finished plywood from a local wood shop. I convinced the wife we should take the Jeep since the plywood would fit inside. Had a nice drive out there (about 15 miles one way) and a nice drive home. I could tell she was diggin the cruise. Jeep was earning it's keep.


Then I headed out for a bidness trip Monday morning and got home last night. LLLLllllong story but this happened when I was gone:

I know that's a bad picture but it is the front of the driver side flare. I don't feel like typing the details out of what happened but I am not mad about it. Guess I'll be ordering some BJs flares sooner than I expected.

My son also broke the turn signal stock today. It was already compromised from an earlier mistake he made (he grabbed it thinking it was the tilt handle) when he was learning to drive. I just ordered a new stock and turn signal switch and will install them tomorrow.

[bkilby]

Well that sucks. Can you hammer that flare back into shape?

[rang-a-stang]

Not really because I don't want to hose up the inner part of the flare any more than it already is. I'm going to leave it so my midget has to look at it every time he gets in/out of it. I was planning to replace the flares when I got to Idaho in 2022 anyway but I guess I'll do them this summer instead. It's not rubbing, it's just ugly. I won't be looking at it for a couple months anyway so, I'll leave it there as a reminder for him.

[MysticRob]

Not really because I don't want to hose up the inner part of the flare any more than it already is. I'm going to leave it so my midget has to look at it every time he gets in/out of it. I was planning to replace the flares when I got to Idaho in 2022 anyway but I guess I'll do them this summer instead. It's not rubbing, it's just ugly. I won't be looking at it for a couple months anyway so, I'll leave it there as a reminder for him.

What's the reason for the move to Idaho, and where specifically? I just made the permanent move from the SF bay area up here a few months and love it. Did a mission up here in 2018 so was kind of familiar with the area by the time the company decided to move ops up here, so I felt comfortable getting the hell out of CA.

[chubbinius]

That's a bummer on the flare, but at least you know how it happened. Had my Wagoneer out two weeks ago for a quick stop at Home Depot, came out to three nice scrapes into the paint on the passenger side front door.
(No note, or apology left. Parking lot camera video didn't show anything of value either as it was opposite side of the camera)

The rear window is very handy when putting them to work...hauled a bunch of eight and ten foot long 4x6 redwood posts in mine when my son was working on his Eagle project.

[Heep-J4000]

I can only say that it's time to let your son work for his own car!
Or tell him that he has to start using your Jeep in a more careful way!
When my brother and I just got our license and got to drive our dad's older classic car we never trashed or messed it up.

I know it's a old work truck , but just hate to see this happen, even more with a good looking classic car!