Bmartin

I had good luck with a Cherokee rear end. The 8.25". Its about the same width and same bolt pattern. They are pretty easy to find. Avoid the Dana 35 out of the Cherokees.

I have the Aerostars in the front of my 4 and am pretty happy with the ride quality. Definitely stiffer, but I also have the relocated shocks with the Monroes - which are significantly stiffer than stock. I cut a coil or so since I am trying to stay lower. I would guess that they lowered my car an inch without cutting. My bet is they raise your front end since your springs are original and have sagged over time.

I'll throw my opinion in here. The stock steel wheels (or similar) look best on these trucks. They are not styled to be hot rods or customs, but good 'ol work trucks. A low gloss white would go well with that color and while you are at it, try flipping the tires around for an all black wall. The biggest issue I see right now is the style of wheel as opposed to the color - wagon wheels just don't seem to jive with the rest of the truck. Good Luck.

The search function does not seem to be working.

The new gland nut and some pipe dope has worked so far.

I found new replacement gland nuts at Oreilly. They are in a packet and manufactured by iEquus Performance, part #9851. $10. Installed the one that fits, only one in the packet is correct. We'll see if it holds.

I'd like to hear any opinions on the condition of this bulb. The original bulb was used in the rebuild and it looks a bit rough. Is this at the point where it need to be replaced? Jerry - have you had luck sealing up the bulb by putting pipe dope on the bulb itself, right at the sealing area?

OK, that makes more sense. I was not quite sure how it was supposed to seal. I'll give that a shot. Thanks.

I had my coolant gauge rebuilt and finally added coolant to the engine today. It was leaking out of the hole that the capillary tube comes out of. Is there any kind of gasket that is supposed to be between the bulb and the retaining nut? I had silicone tape on the threads. Anything else that I need to do? It is leaking along the capillary tube right where my index finger is. Strangely the back of the bulb is a flat face, but the nut is concave like it should accept something that is cone shaped. Could the rebuilder have put it together incorrectly?

Good to hear you are not giving up. Stock rims are 4.5" wide? Is the brush on stuff more like the rubberize white roofing paint? I've seen that stuff get pretty shiny and it has some flex to it. Dash is looking good.

Bummer, sorry to hear. Do you think they would have held up if you did the 'white walling' after the tire was already mounted? Mounting usually flexes the tire more than driving on them.

If its truly a NOS part, then you should be fine. Its all the cheap Chinese new stuff that seem to be of low quality. I've found that if you need new parts, try and get them from NAPA. I have had better luck. Trouble is you need to be able to look at different years. They start running out of parts on anything older than 1950. Luckily a lot of that will cross over.

Only a few Mopars there. Kind of disappointing. Only saw one old Dodge roadster in the main part of the show. The rest were Ferds.

The one from Bernbaum was crap. The threads are not tapered so it just goes in till the thread bottoms. Plus it was too long and angled so it would never seal. I just bought a right angle fitting from summit.

Anyone here today? Phone won't let me upload pics so you'll have to wait.

Would you mind posting up a link to those A/C photos? A/C is next on my list and I'd like to gather as much info as possible. Thanks.

No worries, I go tweeded out in the ninety's. It'll most likely be all vinyl next time around. Although I may go with a leather that looks like vinyl for breathability on the seats. AZ+Vinyl=swamp a$$.

I think its from a 92, but the place I bought it from wasn't sure. They scrap about 10 XJ's a week. The current ratio is 3.55, its the easiest to find. I'll start with this ratio and have it regeared if needed. I want to go with as low a ratio as possible to slow down 1st gear. Cruising with the stock 3.90's was a real chore and my leg wore out after a single lap. Since I plan on trying some 5.60R15's, I'll wait and see what its like with the smaller tires before I make a decision. I think the 3.55's would make a good highway ratio, even with the O/D. WMS was about 59.5" IIRC. http://jeep.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Jeep_axles Guys the interior was like that when I got it. It reminds me of an old couch and is almost as comfy. The door panels will remain for now because the interior is 'done' and that is not that common. Its usually the last thing to get completed. I'd get the door panels and rear deck recovered but there is no way to match the vinyl. It has a marble effect to it that would be impossible to find and its on the seat as well. The 90's 3D graphics are not my style but they don't show up near as well as they do in the pic, thankfully.

That's what I say!

Here are a couple from today. I really don't like the circa 1995 3D graphics, but its impossible to match the vinyl and its done. So it will stay until I redo the interior completely. The fabric has grown on me.

I have finally been making some progress and I grabbed a few pics. Here is a pic of the Cherokee 8.25 in the back with the new driveshaft. One of the other side of the engine. I have started it and let it run for about 15 seconds so far. No coolant yet. Here is one of the interior. I found a beat up floor board at the junkyard and got it to fit good enough, then I cut out the section over the brake master and shift linkage. Now I can make changes easier and see it while test driving. Here is another of the interior. I still have some big hurdles. The starter is not engaging properly about 50% of the time. It grinds on the flywheel. So far I've increased the engagement of the bendix with no change. Next will be to have someone start it while I'm under there and maybe I can see the issue. E-brake cable routing is becoming an issue since the car is lowered. There's no room for a large bracket above the drive shaft and the cables I have grabbed from the junkyard have not been long enough. Plus its difficult to get a smooth transition from the middle of the car over to the left side of the tranny to pick up the stock cable - so binding is an issue. I saw a rear disk explorer at the junkyard and it had all the cables down the driver side. So I may go that route if I can make it work with the 8.25. Carbs are leaking fuel at the base when running, so need to sort that out. Then its off for exhaust, then hopefully A/C. I still need to identify someone who can do the A/C install, I have no interest in doing that myself.

Thanks! That actually worked really well. Easy fix.

I have a steering wheel from a 1948 Plymouth Special Deluxe and would like to put it in my 40 P9. The issue is that the 40 wheel extends over the column in the rear but the 48 does not, leaving about a 2" gap. Did the 48 have a trim piece for that? If not, has anyone seen any trim adapters specifically for this purpose? Also, if you have any other ideas on how to fill the gap in a visually appealing manner, I'd love to hear them.

Bendix moves fine. Full engagement. The starter motor does not engage until the very end of the travel of the bendix. I'm wondering if the rebuild kit had the an incorrect bendix as part of it. Trying to locate dimensions and tooth count of a stock one.

So we heated the arm on the shifter and got maybe 70 thou more engagement. We also added a shim to the engagment spring in hopes of increaseing the engagement force. It made a small difference but its certainly still not working right. Still grinding. We can see that there is 100% engagement between bendix and flywheel. So if you have any other ideas to try, let me know. I think we are going to try breaking in the gear a little since its new.