I like your plan. We have similar financial tastes. lol. My build thread is similar.
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/ethel-budget-restoration.23931/
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/ethel-budget-restoration.23931/
Ran these led light string and the glue would not stick if the jeep was in the sun all day so I had to use super glue to keep it locked down.Sweet! I’m looking forward to pics of the solar setup and wiring! Got a link for the LEDs?
I just about jumped to the conclusion and unnecessary repair of my RMS last year. But, I stumbled onto someone mentioning the valve cover gasket. Since it was a much easier repair, I tried it first. It has been a year, almost, and no longer getting oil under the Jeep.1 step forward 2 steps back!
After reading about the RMS leaks on 4.0l and numerous threads how these Jeep's notorious leak and everyone natural assumes it's the RMS. They change it and it either goes away or still leaks. It happened to me the later of the two scenarios. I made assumptions because the used Jeep had 170k,19 years on the road and very little maintenance records it had to be the RMS. The oil pan seems not to leak and I couldn't see any leaks from the Valve cover and never thought it could come from there. Oh boy was I wrong.
1st I did the RMS Wrong and I didn't know that until I finished the job and it started leaking again. Ugh!
Side note the 19 year old RMS seem ok and no signs of oil leaks we're coming from the RMS but I was going to change it anyways since it was almost 20 years old.
2nd I had a friend do the same job on his Jeep and he mentioned it turned out to have other leaks. His leak came from the valve cover gasket and was leaking from backside of the engine so oil drips couldn't be seen. You need to use a mirror or paper napkin to wipe any oil residue. The oil leaks were so minor even the paper napkin picked very oil stains.
Also from all the RMS DIY threads and youtube videos never mentioned RMS End cap on 4.0l had two types RMS Rubber seals.
1. If you have type 1seal with a rubber ban that stretches across the RMS end cap you apply anaerobic seal on the whole rubber RMS Seal.
2. If you have the type 2 seal the rubber RMS ends only around small potions of end cap. This version you need to apply anaerobic seal on the whole cap to create A tight seal. My 1st attempt I only applied the anaerobic seal on the rubber RMS Part and that led to my second leak.
So I changed the valve cover gasket since it had a very very minor leak coming from the back by the firewall. I wouldn't even call it a leak.
I then went back to RMS and decided to open her up a second time and see if I may have done the 1st RMS wrong and noticed a leak coming from the end seam. Of course with problem found I did the second RMS correctly and finally fixed the oil leak.
Looking back I was told you should always start from the top gasket and work you way down. Don't assume its RMS.
Maybe the next Jeep experience a by oil leak by the oil pan will read my mistakes and fix the problem without assuming it's the RMS.
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