Advocate I
TJ,
That's a hell of a lot of movement for a few days! I'm impressed. In the same time frame all I got done was my taxes and earned a hell of a hangover. I did squeeze in a little carburetor work on the old 76 though.
James
2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland Build
- Thread starter tjZ06
- Start date
That's a hell of a lot of movement for a few days! I'm impressed. In the same time frame all I got done was my taxes and earned a hell of a hangover. I did squeeze in a little carburetor work on the old 76 though.
James
Advocate I
To be fair, my buddy Chris (whose house the Heep is now at) did a lot of the work this go-'round. He's the professional mechanic that helped me w/ the timing set and such so he feels kind of invested in the project and WTF happened. Friday night we got a good bit done, and he had more done before I got back to his house on Sat. Then I had to bail Sat to make the run out to Reno for the ATI puller so Chris and my brother-in-law (sorta, I'm not technically married, but for all intents and purposes he's my BIL) kept at it. Now I'm back down in Palo Alto because I had to run down to work last minute yesterday, and I think Chris plans to work a bit on it again today.
Of the things Chris might do today, I think he's going to knock that passenger side head off to maybe see what happened...
-TJ
Advocate I
Some good progress tonight. Didn't get started until 4 or 5 and like always with motor swaps it fought us going in. Bellhousing is all secured. Torque converter bolts torqued. Motor mounts done.
Didn't take a pic, but got the new '08 manifold all dressed out including the throttle body adapter etc. too.
-TJ
Didn't take a pic, but got the new '08 manifold all dressed out including the throttle body adapter etc. too.
-TJ
Advocate I
Obviously you hear the air sucking through the IAC port on the TB more than anything else... but trust me in person it was a beautiful sound. There was a lot left to do after yesterday, even though it seemed so close. We weren't able to start working on it until about 6 PM tonight because myself and my buddy whose house we're working on it at had family stuff all day. That fire up was something like 1am. Had to undo the main motor mount bolts to drop the engine enough to get the '08 manifold in. Had to drop the trans cross-member (part of the IRO long-arm, so we couldn't drop it as much as we wanted because it hit the lower link bolts) so we could get the trans cooler lines back on that side. Getting the exhaust back together always takes 10 times longer than taking it apart. Few other little hiccups and some redos. There was also some stuff to setup that wasn't 100% bolt back together because of the '08 intake but I wanted to get it all done clean and right now. I'm very happy with how the PCV stuff that needed modded came out, as well as getting the oil dipstick mounted up etc. to the different locations on the '08 mani.
No check engine light after we remembered to plug the stock fan control solenoid back in and cleared that code and it was nice and smooth, good oil pressure, obviously some initial smoke like any fresh engine at start-up but then nice and clean. Fingers-crossed, tomorrow we can do the winch install and mostly juts assembly... I hope.
-TJ
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Advocate I
Advocate I
Okay, time to write about this thing...
As a small recap, there are LOTS of new things in the Heep. Obviously the radiator (and all radiator/heater hoses), water pump, t-stat and housing, e-fans, power-steering pump to facilitate hydraulic fan deletion (and all PS lines) and such that started this latest round of mods. But it ended up being a full reman long-block (with hardened valves seats, updated pistons designs, MLS head gaskets, drilled-out oil-drainback holes, etc.), new '08 intake (with adapter for stock TB), EVERY sensor new (all 4 o2s, crank position, camp position, knock sensors, ECT, oil pressure, IAT, TPS, etc.), new EVERY gasket (intake, TB, valve covers, front cover, whole new oil pan with gasket/windage tray, etc.) new IAC, new coil packs, new plugs, new engine mounts, etc. etc. etc.
We got it together last weekend, and she fired right up on the first crank, but immediately set a solid Check Engine Light. Okay, no worries... I'm sure something is just unplugged. Did a quick visual and didn't find anything obvious. Scanned the code, and sure 'nough I had forgotten to plug the stock hydraulic fan control solenoid back in (you need it, or an appropriate resistor in place even w/ the e-fans to keep the ECM happy). We cleared the code and tried again: BAM no CEL and a nice, smooth running motor. Oil pressure was great and the motor sounded nice and healthy. There was obviously a lot of smoke off things like the exhaust manifolds and Y-pipe from greasy hand prints and fluids spilling on them, and a tiny bit of smoke out the pipe initially from any oil/assembly lube etc. that was in the cylinders or intake/exhaust ports etc. That all cleared up quickly and we let it come up to temp.
We had used a vacuum system to fill the cooling system which provides 100% fill, no opportunity for air pockets etc. (pretty much like this one: Snap-on Store) so the system required no additional bleeding (even though I had done the AN bleeder setup on mine). We played with the fan settings and got them where we were happy and I drove it around the block... SUCCESS. We messed around with fitting the winch bracket a bit, but that's pretty much where we called it last weekend.
Bracket roughed-in, and winch test-fit:
Where is the handle to lock/unlock the drum you ask? Well we rotated the housing on the winch basically 180 degrees and put it straight out the bottom of the winch bracket, so we didn't have to put a giant hole in the bumper to get to it:
I suppose you could argue that's going to suck if I'm stuffed into a hill-side or sunk in the mud... but it is what it is.
As a small recap, there are LOTS of new things in the Heep. Obviously the radiator (and all radiator/heater hoses), water pump, t-stat and housing, e-fans, power-steering pump to facilitate hydraulic fan deletion (and all PS lines) and such that started this latest round of mods. But it ended up being a full reman long-block (with hardened valves seats, updated pistons designs, MLS head gaskets, drilled-out oil-drainback holes, etc.), new '08 intake (with adapter for stock TB), EVERY sensor new (all 4 o2s, crank position, camp position, knock sensors, ECT, oil pressure, IAT, TPS, etc.), new EVERY gasket (intake, TB, valve covers, front cover, whole new oil pan with gasket/windage tray, etc.) new IAC, new coil packs, new plugs, new engine mounts, etc. etc. etc.
We got it together last weekend, and she fired right up on the first crank, but immediately set a solid Check Engine Light. Okay, no worries... I'm sure something is just unplugged. Did a quick visual and didn't find anything obvious. Scanned the code, and sure 'nough I had forgotten to plug the stock hydraulic fan control solenoid back in (you need it, or an appropriate resistor in place even w/ the e-fans to keep the ECM happy). We cleared the code and tried again: BAM no CEL and a nice, smooth running motor. Oil pressure was great and the motor sounded nice and healthy. There was obviously a lot of smoke off things like the exhaust manifolds and Y-pipe from greasy hand prints and fluids spilling on them, and a tiny bit of smoke out the pipe initially from any oil/assembly lube etc. that was in the cylinders or intake/exhaust ports etc. That all cleared up quickly and we let it come up to temp.
We had used a vacuum system to fill the cooling system which provides 100% fill, no opportunity for air pockets etc. (pretty much like this one: Snap-on Store) so the system required no additional bleeding (even though I had done the AN bleeder setup on mine). We played with the fan settings and got them where we were happy and I drove it around the block... SUCCESS. We messed around with fitting the winch bracket a bit, but that's pretty much where we called it last weekend.
Bracket roughed-in, and winch test-fit:
Where is the handle to lock/unlock the drum you ask? Well we rotated the housing on the winch basically 180 degrees and put it straight out the bottom of the winch bracket, so we didn't have to put a giant hole in the bumper to get to it:
I suppose you could argue that's going to suck if I'm stuffed into a hill-side or sunk in the mud... but it is what it is.
Advocate I
So this weekend we picked up with just putting the front end together and wiring the winch. I pretty much totally failed to take any pics during the process because I just wanted the thing done, but here's what I got.
Here's where we moved the winch control box, with the bumper on it's pretty easy to reach up and plug in if I need to (but the wireless control works great so far):
Here's how the battery terminals ended up, love how the winch leads have their own spot on the terminal to go directly in, no terminals, nothing, just direct in and pinched in (which they claim has better conductivity than any other terminal setup you can do):
We had to do a bunch of fitting and whatnot, but we got the bumper all on, spooled the winch in, and I drove it home:
Even gave it a bath:
Here's where we moved the winch control box, with the bumper on it's pretty easy to reach up and plug in if I need to (but the wireless control works great so far):
Here's how the battery terminals ended up, love how the winch leads have their own spot on the terminal to go directly in, no terminals, nothing, just direct in and pinched in (which they claim has better conductivity than any other terminal setup you can do):
We had to do a bunch of fitting and whatnot, but we got the bumper all on, spooled the winch in, and I drove it home:
Even gave it a bath:
Advocate I
Next up was swapping the fairlead. I had cutout the bumper way back before the first engine catastrophy based on the guide in the HK Offroad winch mount instructions. I will say, the kit fit great and is extremely solid, but the bumper cutting stuff left a lot to be desired. However, back at that point it was when I was stalled waiting for the right pulley for the ATI, so I was just trying to keep things moving ahead. Of course, my cutout for the fairlead missed... bad. If you look at the pics above you'll see it, but here are some cose-ups.
Before:
After (Warn Epic):
And yes, I put the new fairlead on upside down to "hide" the Warn symbol, since I'm not actually running a Warn winch and I'm not a big fan of logos and branding anyway. Also, as you can see this bumper looks good from far, but is far from good. It had a plate mount and bracket on it and the previous owner had obviously rear-ended somebody. In fact, both bumpers have stretch-marks and stress-cracks from hitting things before it was ours... but that's perfect for a wheeler so I don't have to feel bad. :p
And that's where it sits now. I need to go put more miles on it, but I have over 100 miles on it now and it's been flawless.
Before:
After (Warn Epic):
And yes, I put the new fairlead on upside down to "hide" the Warn symbol, since I'm not actually running a Warn winch and I'm not a big fan of logos and branding anyway. Also, as you can see this bumper looks good from far, but is far from good. It had a plate mount and bracket on it and the previous owner had obviously rear-ended somebody. In fact, both bumpers have stretch-marks and stress-cracks from hitting things before it was ours... but that's perfect for a wheeler so I don't have to feel bad. :p
And that's where it sits now. I need to go put more miles on it, but I have over 100 miles on it now and it's been flawless.
Advocate I
One other little announance with HK's instructions, is their pics show chopping the first and last of the grey vertical bars in hte lower bumper (along with all of the rest of them). But I don't see any reason why that's needed now that it's on. Here's an example:
I think it'd look cleaner and keep the bumper more rigid with that part left in place. If I find a really clean one in a junkyard this color I may take another shot at cutting up the bumper overall (including how I did the foglight buckets). Or... maybe not cuz I'm probably just going to thrash it on the trail.
-TJ
I think it'd look cleaner and keep the bumper more rigid with that part left in place. If I find a really clean one in a junkyard this color I may take another shot at cutting up the bumper overall (including how I did the foglight buckets). Or... maybe not cuz I'm probably just going to thrash it on the trail.
-TJ
Advocate I
On paper my plan looked a little simpler- replace later model hydraulic setup with earlier model electric/mechanical fan setup. Replace 2003 parts with 1999 parts, with as little aftermarket/custom as possible. And while I am there throw in a few mods to help the cause. What could go wrong?
But now that I am in it, I clearly see I'd be money ahead if I followed your lead and used the aftermarket electric fan setup. So fewer parts, so much better access to the front of the engine. I can see it now, God help me if I have to change a serpentine on the trail once this thing is back together.
Good job!
But now that I am in it, I clearly see I'd be money ahead if I followed your lead and used the aftermarket electric fan setup. So fewer parts, so much better access to the front of the engine. I can see it now, God help me if I have to change a serpentine on the trail once this thing is back together.
Good job!
Advocate I
No plan survives first contact, right? I tried to get a few pics of the space to work on the front of the engine:
Clearly I wasn't meant to be a professional photographer, but you get the idea. I got a few glamour shots too out running errands and just putting miles/heat cycles on it (literally making it a grocery getter):
I pulled it in the garage tonight, to pull the headlights back out tomorrow. I forgot to mention I got a HID kit for the lows, LED bulbs for the highs and also LEDs for the blinker and parking lights. I like HIDs for the high beams, because IMHO they throw the best distance short of factory HID setups. I don't like HIDs in the high beams though, because HIDs typically need to "warm up" so flicking them on and off isn't the best for the application so I went with LED there. The LEDs for the rest are just so I don't have to pull the headlight buckets out again anytime soon (it's a bit of a PITA to get them back in with all the HID wiring and stuff... and there's only so much you can secure before you push them back, it always takes a few times before they land w/o something in the way)...
...of course, they sent the wrong color/heat range for the HIDs, so they're super yellow (3k vs. the 5k I wanted). The new bulbs will be here tomorrow so I'll pop those out and swap 'em. I also need to turn the fans up some, it's honestly running too cool and short-cycling the fans (which is okay with the PWM, but I can let it build a little more heat). Finally, I need to replace the door check on the driver's door and "repair" the rubber boot (which has been messed up from repairing the door wiring). Little stuff, which feels nice after all the major projects.
-TJ
Advocate I
Short answer, we really don't know. We have some theories (like valves sticking to seats from sitting so long in the first time... ever, or the old HLAa actually were beginning to fail so the new ones opened the valves fully for the first time in a long time and them closing full-force again knocked seats loose) but really we're just guessing. All of the timing set stuff, rockets, HLAs etc. were all perfect when we took it back out, but it definitely had bent valves.
-TJ
Advocate I
I've been toying with the fan-settings a bit. My first go I waited until I felt the t-stat open, then brought the adjustment down in temp (counter-clockwise) until the fan kicked on very low. This worked okay, but really was just too low. The instructions for my exact PMW don't actually give a turns of adjustment to temp change mapping, but I found other Derale units that suggested about 3.5 degrees temp for every 1 turn. I ran it clockwise 2 turns the other day and I think I'm happier. The fans start to come on around ~195, I have a 180 t-stat in it and "conventional wisdom" is to have about a 15 degree spread between t-stat and fan turn-on. I don't think I've seen it make it over 200 yet... it barely needs any fan cycle to come back down with this giant AL radiator and what would seem to be very efficient fans/shroud at this point. That said, this is all going from gauge on the dash.
Chrysler, like everybody else that actually gives you numbers on a temp gauge seems to make you want to do non-obvious math to figure out what the tick-marks mean, and doesn't give you all too many tick-marks. I suppose that's better than some GM stuff, like my '11 Silverado or '99 Z/28 (but not my '02 Z06) I had previously where everything from ~160-240 degrees just reads at 210 on the gauge. The "story" with GM goes that when they released the LS1 Fbodies (Camaro/Firebirds) for the '98 model year the temp gauge was accurate. I can attest to this from seeing friends' '98s. However, they got so many people bringing them in for service because the "temperature fluctuates drastically" that they just dumbed-down the gauge into a glorified idiot-light where it's set to display ~210 across a wide variety of actual temps. I have a tuner/gauge setup in my truck that allows me to see real temps, and it's pretty sad comparing to the factory gauge (strangely, the trans-temp GM gives you in the Driver's Information Center is spot-on).
Anyway, back to Chrysler, they have numbered marks at 100, 210, and 260 in the WJ. The distance between 100 and 210 is the same as between 210 and 260, so on the same gauge in the same sweep on one side you cover 110 degrees, on the other side you cover 50 degrees. I can only assume it's programmed to be accurate and somewhat linear in a given range of sweep, but that the distance swept for temp changes across the gauge display (and that it's all run from the PCM vs. being sending unit direct to gauge). Ignoring the land beyond 210 for now, there are 3 tick-marks between 100 and 210. One is halfway between them... so I assume that's about 155 [(210 - 100) / 2]. There is another tick on either side of that "155" tick that divides that space in half, so I assume the one clockwise past "155" is about 182.5 [(210-155) / 2 + 155]. I have a 180 t-stat, and it does seem like it opens very close to this tick-mark, supporting my assumption. Finally, there is no additional tick past the "182.5" mark before 210, but if you visually split that space, it'd be about 196.25 [(210 - 182.5) /2 + 182.5] which seems to be about where my fans kick on now. So, all of that to say I want to get one of those USB OBD-II dongles and a decent app to measure REAL ECT (and trans temp, among other things) before I bother trying to adjust too much more... oh and I need to see what it does creeping down a trail when it's 100 degrees outside and there's no natural air-flow. I've never seen the other side of 210 with this setup, and barely saw it previously, but using the same type of logic I assume the ticks are 235 for the big tick dead-center between 210 and 260 with the two ticks on either side of "235" being 222.5 and 247.5 respectively. With a 4.7 if I ever saw anything beyond that 222.5 tick I'd start to worry indeed.
Also AC over-ride definitely works (it runs the fans at 60-100% whenever the AC is on, depending on temp) but it seems like it short cycles to high operation for maybe 10 seconds every minute or two... perhaps in hotter weather the high run will be longer and it won't seem so odd, but I'm not sure I love that. Finally, the big AL radiator and 180 t-stat mean it stays riiiiiight on that 182-ish tick mark anytime it's on the freeway, but again the hottest day I've run it was in the mid-70s. So when it's 30 degrees hotter out, we'll see what changes. Once I start monitoring via OBD-II, I'll be very curious to see if I end up needing an aux trans cooler setup. I don't intend to tow heavy, but I could see towing my 10' flat-deck trailer with my 2-seat RZR on it at some point, which is probably in the low 2k range (RZR itself is prob 1700-1800lbs).
-TJ
Chrysler, like everybody else that actually gives you numbers on a temp gauge seems to make you want to do non-obvious math to figure out what the tick-marks mean, and doesn't give you all too many tick-marks. I suppose that's better than some GM stuff, like my '11 Silverado or '99 Z/28 (but not my '02 Z06) I had previously where everything from ~160-240 degrees just reads at 210 on the gauge. The "story" with GM goes that when they released the LS1 Fbodies (Camaro/Firebirds) for the '98 model year the temp gauge was accurate. I can attest to this from seeing friends' '98s. However, they got so many people bringing them in for service because the "temperature fluctuates drastically" that they just dumbed-down the gauge into a glorified idiot-light where it's set to display ~210 across a wide variety of actual temps. I have a tuner/gauge setup in my truck that allows me to see real temps, and it's pretty sad comparing to the factory gauge (strangely, the trans-temp GM gives you in the Driver's Information Center is spot-on).
Anyway, back to Chrysler, they have numbered marks at 100, 210, and 260 in the WJ. The distance between 100 and 210 is the same as between 210 and 260, so on the same gauge in the same sweep on one side you cover 110 degrees, on the other side you cover 50 degrees. I can only assume it's programmed to be accurate and somewhat linear in a given range of sweep, but that the distance swept for temp changes across the gauge display (and that it's all run from the PCM vs. being sending unit direct to gauge). Ignoring the land beyond 210 for now, there are 3 tick-marks between 100 and 210. One is halfway between them... so I assume that's about 155 [(210 - 100) / 2]. There is another tick on either side of that "155" tick that divides that space in half, so I assume the one clockwise past "155" is about 182.5 [(210-155) / 2 + 155]. I have a 180 t-stat, and it does seem like it opens very close to this tick-mark, supporting my assumption. Finally, there is no additional tick past the "182.5" mark before 210, but if you visually split that space, it'd be about 196.25 [(210 - 182.5) /2 + 182.5] which seems to be about where my fans kick on now. So, all of that to say I want to get one of those USB OBD-II dongles and a decent app to measure REAL ECT (and trans temp, among other things) before I bother trying to adjust too much more... oh and I need to see what it does creeping down a trail when it's 100 degrees outside and there's no natural air-flow. I've never seen the other side of 210 with this setup, and barely saw it previously, but using the same type of logic I assume the ticks are 235 for the big tick dead-center between 210 and 260 with the two ticks on either side of "235" being 222.5 and 247.5 respectively. With a 4.7 if I ever saw anything beyond that 222.5 tick I'd start to worry indeed.
Also AC over-ride definitely works (it runs the fans at 60-100% whenever the AC is on, depending on temp) but it seems like it short cycles to high operation for maybe 10 seconds every minute or two... perhaps in hotter weather the high run will be longer and it won't seem so odd, but I'm not sure I love that. Finally, the big AL radiator and 180 t-stat mean it stays riiiiiight on that 182-ish tick mark anytime it's on the freeway, but again the hottest day I've run it was in the mid-70s. So when it's 30 degrees hotter out, we'll see what changes. Once I start monitoring via OBD-II, I'll be very curious to see if I end up needing an aux trans cooler setup. I don't intend to tow heavy, but I could see towing my 10' flat-deck trailer with my 2-seat RZR on it at some point, which is probably in the low 2k range (RZR itself is prob 1700-1800lbs).
-TJ
Advocate I
Well, a sick doggo, Modelo Flu panic, and general 'life' has kept me from throwing the new alternator, bulbs, etc. in yet. I did turn the fan temp up 2 turns (which should be ~7 degrees) and I think I like that setting better. I do, however thing I need to find a different pickup for the AC-override. We pulled from the fan-clutch harness, which as you probably know isn't engaged 100% of the time when the AC is on. However, it makes the fans cycle on/off a lot as stated above. It's probably okay, and the AC is blowing ice-cold, but it's sort of annoying. Then again, will the fans ALWAYS be going 60% min be more annoying (cuz let's face it, I'll always have the auto climate control on, and therefor the AC... why else build a WJ?).
Also, it seems like I have an oil leak. I thought it was going to be a rear main seal, since the oil was collecting at the seem between the block and bellhousing and dripping off of one of the bellhousing bolts. However, I got under there to look closer, and the oil isn't coming out of the weep hole provided in the bellhousing that would indicate rear main:
So much for having the world's only non-leaking WJ.
I brought it in the garage last night and put it up on ramps so I could take a look today (I knew it'd be raining today, so I wanted to keep it dry under there, other than the leak). We'll see what I can actually figure out...
-TJ
Also, it seems like I have an oil leak. I thought it was going to be a rear main seal, since the oil was collecting at the seem between the block and bellhousing and dripping off of one of the bellhousing bolts. However, I got under there to look closer, and the oil isn't coming out of the weep hole provided in the bellhousing that would indicate rear main:
So much for having the world's only non-leaking WJ.
-TJ
Advocate I
Turned out to it was the back corner of the valve covers. It's weird, since they are brand new gaskets and the valve covers were cleaned in the blast cabinet so I know there was nothing left on the sealing services. Further, the valve covers were put on with the engine on an engine stand, so we are sure we got the gaskets totally in the right place, and torqued each bolt to factory specs - something you are not going to achieve in the vehicle. Went ahead and tightened each bolt a 1/4 turn, and we'll see if it stops the leak. There's a chance some was just residual from the block and valley. We cleaned things up well, and I'll keep an eye on it. I'm just glad it's not a rear main - I think.
Oh, and I drove it ~160 miles down to Palo Alto last night, and it was flawless. It still gets pretty bad mileage, I got 16 MPG coming down here yesterday mostly freeway at 70-72 MPH using cruise control (setting the CC speed off of GPS, not the dash and also hand-calculating MPG using Google map distances since the speedo isn't corrected). I guess that's not horrible for stock gearing and 32"s, but I kind of hoped it'd do a little better. It was windy the whole way down, so we'll see if it does better on a calmer day.
-TJ
Oh, and I drove it ~160 miles down to Palo Alto last night, and it was flawless. It still gets pretty bad mileage, I got 16 MPG coming down here yesterday mostly freeway at 70-72 MPH using cruise control (setting the CC speed off of GPS, not the dash and also hand-calculating MPG using Google map distances since the speedo isn't corrected). I guess that's not horrible for stock gearing and 32"s, but I kind of hoped it'd do a little better. It was windy the whole way down, so we'll see if it does better on a calmer day.
-TJ
Advocate I
Valve covers still leak, I believe. I need to get in there and look more closely, but it's really the only place it could be coming from. The valve covers are basically the ONLY thing left from the original engine, so I figured screw it and ordered a new set. I'll pull it in and get these ones out as soon as I get confirmation the new ones have even shipped, in the meantime I got distracted on the RZR:
Initially I was just changing the sand wheels/tires off for the dirt wheels/tires (our sand season is ~Oct-March in Glamis). As things go, I figured I might as well grease the wheel bearings while I'm in there. That was all going fine until I got to my last corner and just was not happy with the play in the bearing, and also noticed the grease had blown out way more than any other corner (as witnessed by the very dirty knuckle). So I went ahead and knocked the whole knuckle off. I left it like this last night, and looked into getting a bearing ASAP.
Meanwhile I got an email today that I should expect to stay Work From Home through the end of April. As such, I just ordered all 4 bearings and I'll replace them all (I have to figure if one was on the way out, the rest couldn't be far behind... and the passenger front has a little play starting anyway). Maybe I'll go out later and jack-stand the whole thing and pull the other 3 knuckles.
-TJ
Advocate I
Advocate I
Got the valve covers swapped finally, man I hate that job. So far, so good. The design of the head and drain-backs is a big part of why ALL these 4.7s leak, IMHO. Especially on the passenger side oil is always going to puddle in that back corner to or above the height of the valve cover mounting surface. That said, I think my issue was more obvious:
That's a machinist's straight-edge up against the valve cover sealing surface with a light behind it to help show the issue. These things were warped AF to the naked eye, forget about it with the straight-edge. I can't believe I didn't catch this when we did the motor swap. Of course the ONLY used part I put back on was bad.
That's a machinist's straight-edge up against the valve cover sealing surface with a light behind it to help show the issue. These things were warped AF to the naked eye, forget about it with the straight-edge. I can't believe I didn't catch this when we did the motor swap. Of course the ONLY used part I put back on was bad.
Advocate I
Also installed my Panavise mounts, then attached my Rugged radio mount w/ hand-mic mount as well as mocked-up a phone mount (it's not my perm solution):
I like how it came out. I thought about swapping sides, but I like how easily the hand-mic comes to hand, and I think on trail trips I'll be going for it a lot. Also, the phone screen would be a bit obstructed if it were on the left. I plan to get a good OBD-II scanner and app so I can use the phone to display gauges and vehicle read outs, in addition to using it for things like GAIA and Avenza. Perhaps a cheap tablet would actually be better. Also, as you can see the "ducky" antenna hits the glass... it'll give the little hand-held better range, but we'll have to see how annoying it is going down a trail.
Finally, a couple beauty shots:
-TJ
I like how it came out. I thought about swapping sides, but I like how easily the hand-mic comes to hand, and I think on trail trips I'll be going for it a lot. Also, the phone screen would be a bit obstructed if it were on the left. I plan to get a good OBD-II scanner and app so I can use the phone to display gauges and vehicle read outs, in addition to using it for things like GAIA and Avenza. Perhaps a cheap tablet would actually be better. Also, as you can see the "ducky" antenna hits the glass... it'll give the little hand-held better range, but we'll have to see how annoying it is going down a trail.
Finally, a couple beauty shots:
-TJ
