Wildman's TJ is getting a face lift

Drained my Chocolate milk oil out of the engine first, got to use the new drain valve and it worked great. It will make oil changes a lot easier with the engine skid in place.

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Next was to pull the lifters and clean them out. I'd been advised that roller lifters don't like chocolate milk oil much and that I should clean them.

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To disassemble them you start with the lifter out of the engine.

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Remove the keeper clip.

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Then take out the push rod cup.

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There is a small plate that has to come out next.

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Then using a small screwdriver pump out the old oil.

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Then reassemble it and repeat 15 more times. And if you don't have one of the fancy trays to set them in pull each individually to make sure that they go back into the same bore that they came out of.
 
I'm undecided yet as to if I'll try reinstalling the windage tray or leave it out. And I've got both the thicker Cometic intake gaskets and another set of the Edelbrock intake gaskets I can use. I'll decide which ones to use when I get to that point.

Cleaned the heads up and just need to blow out the gasket scrapings. Have the blocked cleaned up and ready also.
 
Drained my Chocolate milk oil out of the engine first, got to use the new drain valve and it worked great. It will make oil changes a lot easier with the engine skid in place.

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Next was to pull the lifters and clean them out. I'd been advised that roller lifters don't like chocolate milk oil much and that I should clean them.

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To disassemble them you start with the lifter out of the engine.

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Remove the keeper clip.

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Then take out the push rod cup.

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There is a small plate that has to come out next.

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Then using a small screwdriver pump out the old oil.

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Then reassemble it and repeat 15 more times. And if you don't have one of the fancy trays to set them in pull each individually to make sure that they go back into the same bore that they came out of.

You didn't mention pulling the plungers, but if someone does, MAKE SURE THEY STAY WITH THE BODIES. Lifters, when manufactured, are matched as a body and plunger set...the clearance is set very precisely, within microns (which is 0.001mm). One of my first jobs was with GM Powertrain and I worked in the factory where we made the lifters and lash adjusters for all of GM's engines...Something to the tune of 420,000 full assemblies a day!
 
You didn't mention pulling the plungers, but if someone does, MAKE SURE THEY STAY WITH THE BODIES. Lifters, when manufactured, are matched as a body and plunger set...the clearance is set very precisely, within microns (which is 0.001mm). One of my first jobs was with GM Powertrain and I worked in the factory where we made the lifters and lash adjusters for all of GM's engines...Something to the tune of 420,000 full assemblies a day!

I didn't pull the plungers since I was pumping the oil out of them I didn't feel the need. And just like needing to get the plunger back into the lifter it came out of I'd always been taught that you put the lifter back into the same bore it came out of. Even thought this engine has maybe 15-20 minutes of total run time I followed that rule also. And I don't have one of those fancy disassembly trays which was why I pulled one lifter at a time. more walking back and forth but worth it in the long run.
I didn't know that about lifters but have always only disassembled one at a time.
 
I had ordered some electric horns for the Jeep but once they'd arrived & I tested them I realized I couldn't deal with the Beep Beep they made.

So I order an Air Horn instead & tested it out today.

Wolo (619) Big Bad Max Air Horn​

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Then I did some needed maintenance in the garage. The HF hose reel I'd bought 2.5 years ago was leaking at the crimp & the other hose reel I have was showing signs of wear. So I'd ordered repair kits for both. The one for the HF hose worked but the other one didn't work so I had to improvise.

HF hose

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The other hose.

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Then I spent some time under the Jeep figuring out how I was going to mount the height sensors for the AiRock. I also spent some time figuring routing of wires and line while I was under there.
 
The last of the parts I need are arriving early and will be here today instead of tomorrow or Wednesday like originally expected. So tomorrow I can start putting the engine back together. Once I've got the top end back together and before I install the headers I've got to do a little clearancing on a few parts.
 
The last of the parts I need are arriving early and will be here today instead of tomorrow or Wednesday like originally expected. So tomorrow I can start putting the engine back together. Once I've got the top end back together and before I install the headers I've got to do a little clearancing on a few parts.

Glad to hear good news every now and then, after that manifold fiasco, Paul, Hollie, and Matt all made up a lot of ground on you.🤣
 
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My old drop light from Craftsman that I had was 18 years old and on it's last leg. It would just turn off for no reason and if you bumped it in the slightest it would turn off. But heck I'd gotten 18 years of use out of it so I think I got my money's worth.

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So I'd ordered a new LED drop light to replace it with.

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I've been fighting the flu or something worse all last week so hadn't gotten anything done on the Jeep. I was finally feeling better this morning so decided it was time to get busy again.
 
Started off doing the harder side head first. ARP's instructions are to install the studs first but I was working in limited room so I only installed the 5 lower studs then set the head in place. And yes I made sure to put the head gasket on first.

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Once the head was on I threaded in the 5 upper studs.

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Then using ARP Fastener lube installed the washers & nuts.

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Then did a 3 step torque of the studs 50 ft lbs then 80 ft lbs & the final 110 ft lbs of torque plus going back and triple checking each of them. Yes that was a LOT of clicks with my torque wrench but it's done.

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Last time during assembly I'd used the Fel Pro head gaskets as they are known to be good and don't normally cause issues but since I'd blown one I decided to use Cometic head gaskets this time & used a set that have a squash height of 0.040 for a slight bump in compression ratio.

Fel Pro on the left & Cometic on the right

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Head gasket sitting on the block.

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ARP Fastener lube is used on both sides of the washers & then on the threads of the studs.

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Ran the nuts down with a 3/8's 12 point socket first prior to torquing them down.

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Both heads are on and torqued to 110 ft lbs per ARP's directions. Stock torque specifications are 105 ft lbs but with the studs you tighten them up more.

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Tomorrow I'll start finishing assembling the top end. First is to remove the broken oil pressure sensor.

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And I've decided not to try and use the windage tray so the lifter keeper is torqued down and ready.

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I've got some things I need to do underneath the Jeep prior to reinstalling the exhaust. And I need to drill and tap the frame for the AiRock height sensors which will be easier without the exhaust under there.
 
Been refreshing my memory on how to install my roller rockers and set valve preload with the hydraulic lifters. This will be a LOT of fun with the engine in the Jeep but at least I don't have the radiator in the way for getting at & turning the engine over.

I'll see how much I can get done tomorrow and won't get anything done Tuesday since I've got a doctor appointment in Yakima. But I will get some other things done while I'm in Yakima.

Edit: I'd watched this guys video before but just watched it again and REALLY like his method of adjusting the rockers. I'll give it a shot and see how it goes.


And yes I can remember adjusting the rockers on my first truck with a SBC in it the way he's talking about with the engine running spraying oil all over the place.
One of the other tricks I'd learned way back then was to get an old set of valve covers and cut the tops off them so you could adjust the rockers and it wouldn't spray as much oil all over the place.
 
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I bought some little clips that slid onto the stock stamped SBC rockers. They control the oil just a little bit more than nothing lol. I don't imagine they would work with your rockers

Nope those wouldn't work. I know what you're talking about though.

The best option if I have to adjust while running is to cut the tops out of some old stock valve covers.
 
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WOW what a night. Around midnight my laptop decided to delete the bluetooth adapter. So I spent the new 2-3 hours trying to figure out what had happened and to get it working again. But NOPE it's kaput. Around 4 AM I started talking with my son (he's in FL) and he didn't have any ideas either so we started looking at new laptops. My current one is 7+ years old so I got a good life out of it. Finally around 8AM I ordered a new laptop that will be here Thursday. This works out good for me since my HPT tuner from FRP arrives tomorrow. And I need a good computer to be doing my data logging and other tasks with.

I got about 3 hours of sleep and headed out to the garage around 11:30 and started with putting my roller rockers and push rods back in. Now I don't rebuild a lot of engines so I don't happen to have one of those fancy valvetrain trays but instead I've got this HIGH TECH pushrod holder.

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I got the pushrods and rocker arms installed. I also replaced the broken oil pressure sensor.

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Then set the lifter preload using the technique shown in the video I'd posted yesterday. All done and the set screws were tightened down.


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While I have the battery discounted it was a good time to swap out the PCM in anticipation of the tune from FRP arriving. Ryan and I had discussed it and he felt it was a better idea not to use the PCM that I have that has the tune from B&G but instead to use the unmodified PCM I have. I'll keep the B&G PCM as a spare for just in case.

Pulled the B&G PCM first.


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Untuned PCM. This is for a 5.2 V-8 & not a 5.9 V-8 but Ryan is able to write a tune that will make this PCM work with my stroker 6.7 V-8 (408)

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PCM mounted.

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Hooked the negative cable plus the harness & tub ground back up to the rear of the head on the passenger side. I also changed the oil filter out since the current one had chocolate oil in it. Then I proceeded to dump 7 qts of break-in oil into the engine making sure to pour some oil over the rockers and lifters as suggested in the above video.


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Got back from Yakima and had this sitting on my porch...

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Can't wait to get the engine back together and everything hooked up so I can load this tune onto the PCM and see how it runs then. And really can't to get to drive it.
A big shout out to Ryan @Flyin' Ryan Performance for the help & dealing with me. Once it's drivable I'll do some data loggin and get it all dialed in.
 
Got back from Yakima and had this sitting on my porch...

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Can't wait to get the engine back together and everything hooked up so I can load this tune onto the PCM and see how it runs then. And really can't to get to drive it.
A big shout out to Ryan @Flyin' Ryan Performance for the help & dealing with me. Once it's drivable I'll do some data loggin and get it all dialed in.

Whatcha waitin’ for?
 
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