So after a few weeks of toying with the Jeep here and there, taking stock of what needed to be done and fiddling with it (so to speak)…it’s alive! Tonight I finished connecting all my electrical connections, including the oxygen sensor, coolant temp, and knock. I installed the new heater control valve and new heater hoses, and converted the closed-loop cooling system to a more effective and better open loop system, in doing so eliminating an excessive number of hoses and an awful coolant reservoir. Have not put in the new radiator yet. I also installed the new cap, rotor, spark plugs and wires. I used high quality Standard Motor Products replacement parts, all made in the U.S.A., and I also had the valve cover off to inspect the upper end, making sure that all the valves were where they needed to be (and because the valve cover had leaked before. We don’t need to mark our territory everywhere we go, so I used a Fel-Pro Perma Dry gasket for the valve cover replacement. This made installation very easy, and helped ensure that I wouldn’t have any leaking issues in the future. So after all this I installed my new battery, an Orbital High Power AGM battery, to see what would happen. And the first turn of the key, nothing but a few spits and sputters, but with the second go it had life! It was louder than heck with no exhaust, not to mention a bit smoky from the oil in the cylinders from testing. But all the more satisfying knowing I am one step closer.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 7th, 2007 at 12:20 am and is filed under Joe's Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.