Jeff Balazs

Hi Bob; Yes I have an aftermarket vacuum gauge mounted on my steering column. I have not ever seen anything indicating that these were offered as a factory option. I would imagine that a previous owner fitted yours. They are as you probably know an extremely useful instrument to have in place. The perfect "analog" addition to almost any vehicle of this period and type. I am not sure why you don't see more of these gauges fitted to our trucks. To me they seem kind of naked without one. If yours is working correctly you can tell an awful lot about the condition and state of tune your engine is in. If you are not familiar with how to interpret the readings you see there are several good tutorials on the web. Being able to see manifold vacuum can make problems like a stuck or burnt valve very easy to spot. The same is true with most of the common mechanical maladies we face when operating an older engine like this. In my opinion having a working vacuum gauge permanently fitted is one of the smartest things you could do. When I fitted the PCV valve the other day I could tell right away that I finally had the correctly sized and functioning item in place.....just by watching this gauge. A test drive confirmed what I already knew. Hope this helps. Jeff

Hey Don; Yes it is a Quality Power 50A single wire unit. Pretty much fit and forget. The wire you see (+) does go to ground. When you do a Pertronix conversion the trigger wiring is completely isolated. Jeff

Well I finally have a pcv valve installed that works well. Surprisingly the truck even seems to run better with it. My truck had one mickey moused on it when I got it but it did not function properly. I had tried the VPW kit and could never get a steady idle with the valve they supplied. So I used some of their plumbing and a different type of valve and bingo....it runs good now. I have always suspected that my carb had been modified for use with a PCV.....this appears to be confirmed by how well it runs now. A few more little tweaks....painted fan HiVis yellow. I had John at Pilothouse Interiors make me a Cargo Pocket for one of my doors that some of you might appreciate. Also added a handy first aid kit and an accessory thermometer / barometer recently. Hope some of you like this. Jeff

I have been using the Pertronix 6 volt positive ground set up now for several months. It is a very simple installation. Works great with very quick starts. With a spare in the glove box I definitely won't be going back to points system. Jeff

Hey Ed; A stove in the garage.......definitely a regional thing. We could have all used A/C here this year.... I bet that got your attention and you were just kids. The fellow in my story was in his 50's and an engineer. Should have known better. I worked around him for years and he was pretty useless and a total slacker. Just goes to show you ....passing the written tests and getting a license means absolutely nothing. I can't even begin to tell you how many messes of his we all had to clean up. In his case it was who he knew.....and not what he knew. On top of being an embarrassment to the profession he had a very high opinion of himself. I will tell you when I saw his car and heard the real story I laughed until I was in tears. Couldn't of happened to a more deserving person. The Cherokee by the way was a total write off. I wish I had pictures. Just goes to show you that you don't need fire to create an explosion. Jeff

Ok......very short version of a true story. Back in the mid 90s I worked with a fellow named Steve who bought a luxury version of a Grand Cherokee. The spare was located inside the rear luggage compartment on these vehicles. He joined a off road class at a local JC that taught off road driving and sponsored a group expedition at the end of the class to some of the most remote sections of Baja. In this class he learned about soft sand driving and the importance of deflating the tires when operating in soft sand. The instructor suggested that they all carry a portable 12V compressor for topping up their tires after getting out of the soft sand stretches. But Steve had a better idea..... Flash forward several months after their Baja trip. Oh and btw they never got into any soft sand. One afternoon during the heat of summer he was heading back to the office from a meeting at a customer when his solution to soft sand air supply let go. You see he had inflated his spare to at least 125# and had a hose which he was going to transfer air with....... He had forgot all about the over inflated spare and was driving on a very busy road with all his windows up and the A/C running when it let go. I saw the car and it looked like someone had tossed a grenade into it. The roof was deformed..the rear door was sprung.....and.at least 2 windows had blown out and the upholstery was shredded. When a steel belted radial explodes it is extremely nasty. How he was not hit by anything was a miracle. The only damage he sustained was ear drums. Unbelievable but true. He didn't think it was too funny when I super glued a tire valve to the roof......but it was appropriate. Jeff

Ahh come on Don.......surely you know how to blow up a car with air? Honestly it is a pretty long story when it is told correctly and I type very slowly. Jeff

That is going to be one nice looking truck! I looked long and hard at a 57 with a poly ....... in the end it was just too much of a rust bucket for me. Enjoy it.....you hardly ever see one. Jeff

Bill; What makes you think I don't have all 3 bases covered? Next time we meet remind me to tell you the "inflatable Jeep Cherokee" story. Jeff

It almost sounds like maybe it could be idling a bit too high and dragging a bit. Maybe there is a sweet spot as far as idle speed goes? I do know mine has a bit of drag and like a conventional automatic.seem to want to pull some at idle and in gear. I just figured that as long as it doesn't have a tendency to stall all is well. I only really use this feature if I am only going to be sitting still for a pretty short time....or on a hill where it really shines. Jeff

What sort of reading are you getting? Is it well above 18". You may need to turn the idle up some. 550 rpm.....maybe a bit more. Also is the dashpot working on your carb? Jeff

I feel bad that I didn't get there early enough to have more time with you guy's and your cars. Next time right? I got to thinking.....no reason we couldn't have a get together at my shop if an OC meet is something folks would like to do. It's only a minute off the El Toro Y in Irvine and there is plenty of parking on the weekends. We can BBQ or there is pretty decent food within a couple of blocks. I've got air & water and plenty of tools too. Jeff

In order to work properly my fluid drive needed a good steady vacuum reading. When I first put my truck back together I could not keep it from stalling at idle in gear. I had hooked up the VPW PCV valve install kit and it was causing the vacuum reading to fluctuate too much. Once I removed and capped off the PCV line the problem with the idle in gear went away. I have a good vacuum gauge installed and get a steady reading of 20.5". I am finally in the process of refitting a PCV valve.......hopefully I can find one that actually works as it is supposed to. I would like to have the benefit of better crankcase ventilation to go along with the nice smooth fluid drive. I don't know if you have a PCV on your car.....but if you do it could well be what is causing the problem you are having with the idle. Either way you need a steady vacuum reading. Hope this helps. Jeff Jeff

John; Not everybody get's a warning like this. It is always best to pay attention when you do. Glad to see you have taken this one to heart. I am certain I am not the most experienced mechanic here but I have learned to pay close attention to the warning signs I do get. It has saved my bacon more than once too. Often times it is something small like a change in the way something sounds. I have a bandsaw here in my shop that starts making a ticking sound a few moments before the blade is about to break. And it has been my experience with electrical problems that they never get better on their own. The only "difficult" part of rewiring one of these trucks is getting under the dash. The runs are dead nuts simple. The work behind the dash is too......but it helps if you are young and flexible. When I was wiring my truck I actually got stuck under there once and had to have help to worm my way out. Fortunately one of my buddies showed up just when I was starting to really get worried. Jeff

It was a pleasure meeting you guys. Next time I will get there earlier. Jeff

Heck ya man....that would be too cool.......just so he doesn't do the Rollie Free photo op! Jeff

Hey John; I wouldn't wait too long to look into this wiring. Bad connections can mean very hot sections of wire. You just might want to treat this as a friendly warning from your truck. At the very least disconnect the battery when you are not using it..... Jeff

It's a shame you have to winterize and park that beauty. Winterizing here consists of reminding yourself it's winter. About the only difference this year between summer and now is the sun is lower in the sky........just as warm though. Still hitting the 90's during the afternoons and humidity is under 20%. Jeff

John; Any chance you have a wire somewhere starting to work loose? Or maybe just a dirty connection? When an electrical problem is intermittent I always get real suspicious of any connections or switch gear in the run. Years of running a boat in salt water....and I have seen it all when it comes to this sort of stuff. I have seen what look like perfect mechanical connections fail due to moisture or corrosion. Jeff

I see. How will the two center brace pieces attach to keep the sides from bowing etc...? Jeff

I am baffled. I know I am not the brightest bulb but how are you planning to attach the bed without the angle strips attached to the bed sides? They provide the only real mounting points. As others have already said the original design is plenty strong. One thing that is often misunderstood is that the frame on these trucks has a fair amount of flex built into it. It is nothing at all like a modern truck in this regard. The way the bed was designed it allows the frame to do it's flexing and actually compensates for it in the way it is constructed. I can't imagine you improving upon this simple but effective design. Please post pictures of what you end up doing. Jeff.

Yeah! Can't wait to hear good old Dolly Dodge is back on the road. Things just haven't been quite right without her. Jeff

Hank; Yes you are right........some of these trucks have had a hard life and getting stuff to line up just so is not always an viable option. I wonder want to say how many hours I had in getting the cab etc...set. I know I made a few compromises. No worries though. I am just not that fussy about a few gap issues. To be honest I don't really like things like this to be perfect. It is old.....it is a truck....and it should bear some signs of a working life. And if I am really being honest .......I sort of enjoy making the perfectionists out there cringe a bit. Jeff

Thanks Hank P.S. Jeff they probably did that to yours after it was T-boned before you bought it would be my guess. Thanks Hank for reopening those old emotional wounds. I had just about pushed that bit of unpleasantness out of my life....... You are probably correct though about when that "fix" got added to my truck. I suppose I will have to finally remove it so I don't have another reminder of that period in my trucks life. Jeff I would take Tim up on his offer.

Hank; As I look at these photos it appears that the arm on your starter is much longer than it needs to be. The one on mine is similar or the same as the one in Regs' photo. The only real difference is that a PO had drilled mine at the end and installed a bolt and stack of washers on either side of the arm. Presumably this was to allow for misalignment ? When I first installed the cab this fix seemed to be useful as the plunger did not line up perfectly with the arm. Now that the cab mounts have "settled" a bit it finally lines up as it should. I really think that trying to determine how much of what we start off with is as original versus substitutions or modifications is one of the more difficult aspects of repairing or restoring one of these trucks. By their very nature old trucks seem to have more than their fair share of "whatever is at hand" type repairs. Deciphering what was done years ago by someone else can be a real challenge. Jeff