Finally, it's all clean! Primed and ready for seam sealer. I didn't get a pic of the seams afterward, but it's sealed up tighter than Dick's hatband. I dare say the damned thing would float for 2 days. Every place where metal comes together underneath, it's scrubbed, cleaned, primed and sealed. Even all the joins for the seatbelt anchor braces at the floor pan and at the frame rail. Even the studs for the crossmember braces are filled. Those come from the topside from the longitudinal braces through the floor pan, so yeah. I'll buy a mirror and watch myself starve to death before I do all this again...
Flat black enamel laid down as an adhesion promoter for the Raptor undercoating. The paint is still drying in this pic, laid it down about 20 minutes before. Tomorrow, undercoat.
Got the underside about like I want it. A little work left to do on the bottom and outer side of the driver's side uniframe but I can start engine and interior work now.
Dropped my light while I was taking these pics, looked over and saw HER. I never kill anything if I can possibly help it, but SHE got doused with brake cleaner.
Decent progress day yesterday. Started with the parking brake cable. It's a Bendix C1474, 100% nylon outer sleeve, seems good quality. I did have to shave the sides of the anchor stud a hair to get it to fit into the cable receiver aperture.
Got the firewall pad cleaned and installed and final mounting for the pedals:
The 4WD shift lever came from a 98 XJ quite some time ago, has the 'fat' handle so I had to take it apart to fit the indicator plate. New SS fasteners for all of it:
Brake master, clutch master, valve and lines installed. Modded brackets for expansion tank and relay center/ starter solenoid installed for good. I'll pull the coil/ module back off for clearance during engine install (next order of business):
Here's what's next- cleanup, rear main, input shaft seal, new pilot bearing. The clutch kit and HO flywheel that came out were pretty new but I'd already gotten a new clutch, Renix flywheel and ARP bolts.
Trans is ready for clutch parts. Started cleaning the outside of the case last night, finished everything up just a bit ago. Pulled the bellhousing to make pulling the input seal/ bearing cover easier. Just need to swap the shift tower (taller one from a TJ with a shorter throw). Engine cleanup and Craigslist rebuild ~tssst... tssst~ is next.
A lot of progress this weekend. Finished external cleaning and painting and replaced the rear main and oil pan gasket. Installed the knock sensor and oil filter adapter with new o-rings.
This pin punch set is a nice addition to my toolbox for future rear mains and what not. The thinnest one was the best fit but too long for the purpose and bent with hammer strikes. I may shorten it for future use. The next size up did the trick without nicking anything up though.
You can still see some of the original anaerobic sealer in the outer edges of the cap register. A second pass of cleaning got all of this spotless and ready. I forgot to take pics of the work on the cap. It still had the machinist's ridge on the rear of the seal ridge, took care of that while I was at it, per Fel-Pro's instruction. The bearing has very light wear and good uniform surface, so nothing said to stop and tear it all down for new bearings/ rings.
Old seal was a bit crispy. There were signs of seepage on the back of the block, in the bellhousing and along the bottom of the trans. I think most of it was due to the crud that remained in the seal ridge in the cap, after the last rear main install, preventing a proper seat of the seal.
Nice surprise inside, an almost new Melling pump. Standard volume, standard pressure.
Engine mounts and brackets/ hardware. A good steel brush scrub and DE1635 for the brackets and acetone soak for the fasteners:
The mounts look like Nolathane. They need a light cleaning before going back on.
The 3 items in the middle are trans to inspection plate fastener items. The bracket to block bolts I may replace. They smelled like yesterday's shrimp when they came out. No kidding. Some foul form of threadlocker...
NOS TJ shift tower installed. The lever obviously is reversible, and I have both TJ and an XJ sticks to get it like I want it, once installed. High altitude CPS (Standard Motor Products PC87), We'll see how it acts... I'm now ready to install (new Renix) flywheel and clutch parts, marry engine and trans back together, and install.
Distributor indexing... I took a chance on the Autozone Duralast Gold unit, since it has a lifetime warranty. It's been in a box waiting to be evaluated for over a year. Out of the box, the indexing on this one was about 4 or 5 degrees off from where Cruiser54 describes as "... just departing from the #1 spark plug wire post terminal."
After the prescribed modification to the distributor body, this is where it is now:
Passenger side of the engine- distributor, new Crown OPSU, oil filter adapter and starter installed. Final item is the CTS on the driver's side. Though mostly drained, there's still coolant in the block. Since this is a 93 HO engine, I'm patiently waiting for the 5/16" pipe plug socket to arrive to tackle the plug. It's been there for almost 32 years and I don't want to risk damaging it and creating a bigger headache with a shaved 3/8" socket adapter. I can tilt the engine with the hoist and shift the remaining coolant aft of the plug location.
I decided to switch to a standard/ 'low altitude' CKP for now, and maybe experiment with the 'high altitude' later on. Also found a dust cover for the sensor online (Crown 53006010, $6.50 on Amazon). Still hunting for the grommet for the slave cylinder lines, but I'll proceed for now without it.
XJ/ MJ AX-15 mount plate was not the easiest to find, but it's ready to go as well.
'Horseshoe' intake- was in a box of extra parts that came with the YJ drivetrain. I hate how online salvage yards spray rattle can pretty-up over filthy parts to make them more enticing/ appealing. First drilled and tapped the IAT sensor hole to 3/8" NPT, now in the process of cleaning it up.
AC compressor (now alternator relocation) bracket- "water pump shaft bearing" on the way to replace the crunchy bearing in the mechanical fan bracket/ mount.
Hahahahahaha! No kidding! Thanks for the compliment. I know I'm going too slow, obsessing over every dumb detail. I'm of the philosophy of doing things just once, until it's time to do it again, and I hate paying for the same thing twice if it can be avoided. Truth is, I'm prepping this rig for at least some marine environment use (want to winter drive a little at Emerald Isle). I know that's anathema for a 38 year old vehicle known for leaks and rust. So I'm sealing every seam, protecting every surface as well as I can. And wash really really good after salt exposure. Not to mention the time fussing through keeping of the Renix system and all its sensors in places HO-era motors don't readily provide, lol.
Minor update- I switched out the shaft bearing in the fan/ compressor (now alternator) bracket. NSK 885586. It's longer than the one I pulled out, so I shortened the 'long' end to be the nose. The back side ends up just short enough to cover with a cap plug to keep dirt and water out at that end. I used Seymour Alumi Blast to brighten up and protect the bracket. Good stuff, I'll probably put it on the intake when I get done cleaning that as well.
