Project Red Roof Inn

[BigDaveZJ]

Just about have everything ordered. Still need to decide on a radiator and source the heater hose that goes from water pump along the pass side of the intake manifold. While everything is torn apart I finally got around to ordering the Kolak Ignition Upgrade that I've been eyeing for 15 years or so lol!

I'll start assembly next weekend probably once most of the stuff shows up. Doubt I'll have time to finish it all up before we go out of town in a couple weeks so I'll have to wrap it up when we get back. Assuming everything works as it should at that point I'm going to pull the header panel off and Rick make me a set of his fancy headlights. We're heading to Ouray for Labor Day and while we can take the JK, I would really like to have both rigs down there.

[BigDaveZJ]

Tear down is just about complete. Just need to clean everything up and pull the cap and rotor for the ignition upgrade. And then clean some more, and probably even more. As a side note, Pam's rubber gloves really work well to seal off lines we don't want leaking everywhere.

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[BigDaveZJ]

Lots of new parts. Started cleaning up the intake manifold and the block last night. Accidentally only ordered one head gasket, the other one should show up tomorrow. Hope to get the heads on this weekend and the manifold too if I get my ignition parts in.



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[BigDaveZJ]

New heads are on. Now for every other tiny annoying part.



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[BigDaveZJ]

Lots of hardware still left to install.

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[Sudz]

New heads are on. Now for every other tiny annoying part.

looks good dave. nice having a big garage to work in isn't it. i'm stuck working out in my driveway. at least i'm getting a nice tan

[BigDaveZJ]

looks good dave. nice having a big garage to work in isn't it. i'm stuck working out in my driveway. at least i'm getting a nice tan

Thanks Ron, hoping to see you soon at GSW again! It's 91 outside right now, current temp in the shop is 72 and my beer is about 33. Definitely very happy to have the ability to do a job this big in my shop.

[Jeep Whore]

What headlights is he making for you?

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[BigDaveZJ]

Making progress. Currently being held up by the stupid EGR tube off the back of the intake manifold.

Might actually get to fire it this weekend if I don't run into too many issues.

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[BigDaveZJ]

Still fighting the EGR tube. I can get each end to connect on its own, but not both of them at the same time. The tube seems to be warped or bent and is not lining up where it should. I might make a yard run and grab a couple more tubes to see if they fit up easier.

The fuel line to the rail on the driver side of the intake manifold also doesn't want to go back together, not sure what I'll do there.

Good news is I can at least continue work on the front of the motor and put the PS pump, alternator, a/c compressor, etc back on and not be too much in the way of everything else I still need to re-assemble.

[BigDaveZJ]

EGR tube problem solved. Cut the bitch and installed each end separately and lined the two ends up as best I could and tacked it together. Pulled it out and welded the rest up and it works great. Probably flows a bit less than before, but with it just being the EGR I'm not too worried.

Pass side valve cover back on as well. Still need to figure out the fuel line that doesn't want to reconnect and then put everything back on the front of the motor, throttle body, new radiator, and fire it up. Aiming for this weekend.

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[Kraqa]

weird why it wouldn't line up.

easy fix i guess. still a PITA.

keep the progress coming.

[BigDaveZJ]

Soooooo close . . . . .

Needs the following:

-find out where one of the negative battery cables is supposed to attach to
-tighten coil/tensioner pulley mount (think the neg bat cable goes here somewhere too)
-mount a/c compressor
-re-attach pass side exhaust y-pipe to header and heat shield
-mount a/c collector, re-attach a/c lines, and recharge once confirmed everything works
-install new rad and hoses
-install air intake to TB

Kinda weird that this is getting so close. Definitely the most in depth project I've undertaken from a mechanical standpoint. Welding the roof back on probably took me longer, but that was more fabrication and less mechanical work.

[BigDaveZJ]

Smokes to high hell, but it runs. Hoping its just a bunch of shit burning off.

[BigDaveZJ]

Maiden voyage was overall quite the success. Put 15ish miles on it, drove it hard, and ZERO issues with overheating or boiling coolant. Stayed at or below 180* the whole time, even with the a/c on. Couple minor issues still though. Getting a code 51 from the CEL. Appears to be a running lean condition as indicated by the O2 sensor. Did not have that code before, and my thought on it is that the O2 sensor may not be reading accurately after all of the coolant that was burned through the exhaust when I first fired it back up. Tensioner pulley bit the dust too, already fixed that. And for some reason my almost brand new fan clutch no longer frees up, so the fan is running 100% of the time. Seemed to have a bit more power than it did before with the fan running, but would like that to operate properly. Still pretty stoked that it's working so far.

[Ken L]

That's great news, Dave!

[Ted_Z]

So was it a cracked head or a leaky head gasket? Or maybe you don't care now that it's fixed?

[BigDaveZJ]

The head gasket appeared to be intact, so I'm going with a cracked head.

[BigDaveZJ]

The Jeep has worked great this weekend. Everything from the head issue appears to be 100% resolved and working great.



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[Sudz]

The Jeep has worked great this weekend. Everything from the head issue appears to be 100% resolved and working great.

that's gotta feel good. temps holding steady?

[BigDaveZJ]

Never even got over 200 and I was trying to get it as warm as possible. Fan clutch didn't spin free the entire time though, not sure wtf is up with that.

[Kraqa]

looks good. Glad to here its back up and running.

[BigDaveZJ]

So now that we're back from Ouray and everything worked as planned, it's time to start planning out the winter projects on the ZJ. We might still go camping a night or two, so it's not completely put up for the winter, but it's close.

Here's what I would like to accomplish over the winter:

New header panel
Fancy lights from Rick
Front diff seals
Taurus Fan and controller
Replace Belt Tensioner
Rear storage system and fridge slide
Better shocks? (running cheapo RE twin tubes, might finally step up to real shocks)
Might replace the head unit
Repair unibody cracks on rear bumper/x-member
Reinforce rear bumper mounting
Maybe find another steering box, or a brace for the sector shaft
Maybe add 2Lo to the t-case

Most of the stuff is a "want" list. If I were to leave for Moab tomorrow, all I would "need" to do is the belt tensioner and the front diff seals.

[BigDaveZJ]

Turns out I'm leaking power steering fluid out of three sector shaft as well. I saw someone is now making a ZJ steering brace that also braces the sector shaft, may need to get one of those with a new box or modify my homemade brace.

[BigDaveZJ]

Nice to have something other than the engine torn apart. Driver side axle seal and the diff cover seal were all leaking, and I still had the break in gear oil in there so I'm yanking it apart. Should've done the axle seals when I redid the gears earlier this year but oh well.

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