What did you do to your TJ today?

past few nights after work the drafty garage has been reasonably well enough temp wise to work a little at a time on the jeep.

nothing is majorly needed but so far.. new plugs, new oil/filter, new air filter & started on the cleaning and fresh lubing of the brakes only to find my newish front knuckles are worn again.

pulled out the mig welder and laid a little bead on all the notches
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im not the best at welding.. ive got a welder and I understand the concept. welding was the easy part but the grinding the weld down to finger smooth was the difficult part being that the welded material was so hard and nicking the non welded area with the grinder just took it off like butter. took some focus to clean it up. done for the night though because kneeling on cold concrete isnt very much fun.

I also found that unfortunately my Mercedes steering gear is leaking fluid at the sector shaft when I was crawling around the front end so I got that outrageous replacement part cost to look forward to.
 
Worked on fitting my new rings on the pistons. The side clearance is a little tight so I need to figure out how to clearance them. I’m at around 0.018 mm on the top compression ring. I’m going to do some more research on my issue tonight while I’m getting paid instead of on my free time at home lol

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Over the weekend, knocked out a project that I’ve had on the back burner for a long time.

Before
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And after
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Never welded before. Picked up a welder a couple weeks back. Practiced for a few days on flux. Decided to spend the extra money on a C25 mix tank. Practiced a few more days then jumped in. Couple of the welds looked surprisingly decent while a couple looked like pigeon shit. But hey it’ll get the job done.

I will say I hated this project because I didn’t have the luxury of having the axle pulled, nor having a lift, nor having the body off frame. Not to mention my garage is the size of a closet. I realize I’m getting a bit too old to be pretzeled under the Jeep trying to cut the welds on the inside of the frame. Maybe time to invest in building a garage🤔
 
Over the weekend, knocked out a project that I’ve had on the back burner for a long time.

Before
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And after
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Never welded before. Picked up a welder a couple weeks back. Practiced for a few days on flux. Decided to spend the extra money on a C25 mix tank. Practiced a few more days then jumped in. Couple of the welds looked surprisingly decent while a couple looked like pigeon shit. But hey it’ll get the job done.

I will say I hated this project because I didn’t have the luxury of having the axle pulled, nor having a lift, nor having the body off frame. Not to mention my garage is the size of a closet. I realize I’m getting a bit too old to be pretzeled under the Jeep trying to cut the welds on the inside of the frame. Maybe time to invest in building a garage🤔

Extended rear swaybar links will give you more downtravel
 
OH SNAP!!

Not sure it is helpful, but I just pulled one of those out. You are welcome to it if you want to pay for the ride from ID to TX.

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Finished up this piece of the project yesterday.
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On to the front axle to install 4" of Curry Spring Goodness. Well as soon as I read up on how to do that....

Disconnect shocks. Disconnect drag link. Disconnect track bar. Disconnect swaybar links. If you don't have extended brake lines remove calipers and hang out of the way. Place jackstands under frame. Let axle droop as far as lower ca's allow. You should be able to remove old springs. Use spring compressors to collapse springs. Install springs. Lift axle and reinstall everything. If you don't have spring compressors you can borrow mine. Your not that far away.
 
Not as fun as some of what is going on here....but yesterday I got the insurance, title, registration done. Removed some stickers, did some interior clean up, replaced some bulbs, and did a hillbilly fix to keep the front side marker light in place.

Picked up a drill bit to put some drain holes in the frame. When it gets above freezing for more than an hour here, i'll drill those holes and try to wash out the inner frame.

The journey has begun...
 
Not as fun as some of what is going on here....but yesterday I got the insurance, title, registration done. Removed some stickers, did some interior clean up, replaced some bulbs, and did a hillbilly fix to keep the front side marker light in place.

Picked up a drill bit to put some drain holes in the frame. When it gets above freezing for more than an hour here, i'll drill those holes and try to wash out the inner frame.

The journey has begun...

Where are you that it's still not above freezing?
 
Booked in for a new windshield today… the roads on my recent trip to the South Island took out their anger on the glass… plus it won’t pass it’s 6 month inspection with these chips. ( this is the easiest one to see)
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Reactions: Rickyd
Just gonna say 35deg at 69-65mph is dang cold!!!!!!

Drove BB to work this morning with the windows still out, remembered from my Katana riding days that a good leather jacket not only protects from road rash, but the cold also!!!

Going to do the same again in the morning too :ROFLMAO: