Got both doors on hinges today. Took some effort to get them lined up correctly so they swung open smoothly, but wasn’t too bad. Also got latches made for both sides, heading over to my grandfathers house in a bit to use his drill press for holes. As of right now I’m just gonna have a bolt drop through to keep it closed, but may try something spring loaded later on.
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Clever idea for the latch on a budget. A bolt will work but, when you mentioned that, I thought a next step up would be something like these (you'd need to look around for the right application but I just googled 'pin with spring-loaded ball bearing' for a reference product). Weld a little handle or solid metal ring, rather than the split ring.
[URL]https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08YYFLN4K/?tag=wranglerorg-20[/URL]
Just an idea.
Painted fender flares today. (Except for the little ones at the front since I ran out of time). Used the same rustoleum bed liner that I used for the tube doors
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Tuesday night around 11pm, I finished getting my homemade sliders made, painted, and put on the tj.
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I ran out of paint, so I still need to put another coat on at some point.
And then yesterday, I went to uwharrie with a buddy of mine for the first time. Doing that was one of the most fun things I’ve done in a very long time, and I realized that my little tj is way more capable than I thought it was. Good thing I got the rock sliders done, because I did end up hitting some rocks there.
When I first got there, a couple guys in some big Jeeps (compared to mine, at least…) offered to show me around. That’s and xj on 37s and yj on 33s
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I’m super thankful for that, it made me feel much more comfortable being there knowing that someone would be close by to help should I have any problems.
After a little while, I let them go, and I continued to explore. Ended up doing Dutch John (which was difficult, but much more doable than I had anticipated. A hill climb on there was the highlight of the trip), wolf den, slab pile, and a bit of Rocky Mountain loop. All in all, super fun, the drive to get there is a bit long, but I most definitely expect to be going back. Some photos below…
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Tuesday night around 11pm, I finished getting my homemade sliders made, painted, and put on the tj.
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I ran out of paint, so I still need to put another coat on at some point.
And then yesterday, I went to uwharrie with a buddy of mine for the first time. Doing that was one of the most fun things I’ve done in a very long time, and I realized that my little tj is way more capable than I thought it was. Good thing I got the rock sliders done, because I did end up hitting some rocks there.
When I first got there, a couple guys in some big Jeeps (compared to mine, at least…) offered to show me around. That’s and xj on 37s and yj on 33s
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I’m super thankful for that, it made me feel much more comfortable being there knowing that someone would be close by to help should I have any problems.
After a little while, I let them go, and I continued to explore. Ended up doing Dutch John (which was difficult, but much more doable than I had anticipated. A hill climb on there was the highlight of the trip), wolf den, slab pile, and a bit of Rocky Mountain loop. All in all, super fun, the drive to get there is a bit long, but I most definitely expect to be going back. Some photos below…
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I really like Dutch John. It's got a little bit of everything.
Awesome trip, Dude. Any rocks in the park?
On Friday, I decided I would finally try to figure out exactly where my small oil drips from the front of the engine were coming from. It had always looked like the front of the oil pan gasket, but I was sure that I had installed it perfectly last time and didn’t feel like doing it again for such a small leak. I looked a bit closer and was pretty sure that it was actually coming from above the oil pan. Assuming it was the crankshaft seal thingy, I took apart the front of the jeep and pulled the harmonic balancer pulley off. I found this:
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It looks like a previous owner had tried to get the pulley off by prying it with a screwdriver and ended up popping through the timing cover. Today, I got the cover off and found that there’s actually two holes…
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While I’ve got this apart, I decided a new timing chain isn’t a bad idea. So a new to me (used oem) cover, gasket kit, and timing chain assembly are all supposed to come on Friday.
Additionally, when taking off this cover, I destroyed the oil pan gasket and just decided to buy a new one instead of doing the small replacement thingy that comes in the Felpro timing gasket kit. So I took the oil pan out today, and while I was at it, got the tailpipe of the exhaust out so I can paint it black sometime soon if I find the time.
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I hate to see the jeep sit in the garage for a full week, but it’s for good.
I sold my old smittybilt soft top on Friday and bought a bestop trektop nx which should come on Wednesday. I’m beyond excited about that. Also got daystar .75” spacers from a fellow forum member which I’ll get installed this week on the front end to level out a bit more what the winch weighed down. It’ll be a busy week, but fortunately I only have two half-days at school for exams, otherwise, I’m done for the year.