I have looked at 5 Jeep forums in the last week and been fairly disappointed with all of them.
So here we go.....

I'm going to bore you with a thread on my Jeep,If it is not your thing that is why it is in the "non-Jaguar Vehicles" section.

I bought it in 1997 for $17000 with 20,000 km on the clock(has 225,000 now), it was $49000 new.
The first owner was moving back to India and had to offload it quick, when I looked at it he had $33,000 on it. I sat back and watched.
When he had one week until departure I offered him $25,000. Obviously I got a knock back.
2 days to go I offered him $22,000. Knocked back again!
I rang him the day before he was leaving, the Jeep dealer he bought it from offered him $15,000 cash.
I said I'll give you $17,000 and drive you to the airport(he was staying one street away and I needed 24 hours to get folding).
Deal done. The rest is history.
Since that day in 1997 it has never had a paid mechanic lay a spanner on it except for air-con.

This is the first pic(s) I have of it, the day after we got it . A barge trip to Stradbroke Island to have my first off road drive. Only got it stuck once,lol. Let down the tyres and away we go again.

 

 

As you can see,over the years the family has grown up and the toys have changed, the youngest will be on "L" plates soon, he came home in it as a new born!
Accessories have been added and mods have been made,but only as budget has allowed...
That is why the XJ6 has only been added this year,"slowly but surely" I will get my big shed and 4 cars and 4 bikes.(had to sell a bike to get XJ6)

 

You got a Real Deal on that Jeep, didn't you, Clarke!
You realize now you're bonded.

Probably you'll never be able to replace it with one as serviceable. So you're gonna hafta fix it.

What's wrong besides the plugs?
(';')

 

Hey Elinor,, nothin'g wrong with it. Just leaking coolant on the floor and because I know where its coming from all will be removed and replaced accordingly to fix it! Jacked it up today,..strip down tomorrow,then friday morning taking XJ6 to my mates exhaust shop to manipulate knocking muff and weld XJC (cherokee..not coupe) extractors then heading off on the 1200km road trip.(in xj6)
At least I know one person is following my boring Jeep thing.Thanx..
(Jeep is shoe-horned into usual workspace)lol

If you don't like Jeeps or really long story's, I suggest it is time for you to tune out.

 

The jeep is a pukka and must become more reliable than Range Rovers
Happy driving

 

Hi Cadillac, is Pukka a good or bad thing?
In New Zealand when the Moari's say pukkaroo they mean ready for the rubbish tip
(or f@#$ed) in english,
But looking up "pukka" it could be a good thing.

 

 

It's a good thing , how on earth would I dare to say anything bad for a triumphant vehicle.Top Gear's James May also uses that term to appreciate a stuff
Pukka or pucka rugby opppps not rugby it's roughly all properly constructed

 

Well, I now know how not to fit welsh plugs. First 3 I installed I damaged. They probably would not have leaked if I knocked them in flush, but for the sake 3 bucks each I started again after a bit of google and youtube research.(lucky I bought 4 spares when I got my parts)

Preparation is the most important part of the job,and I failed to get that right.
So got some emery paper and fixed the bock first ,then put the non hardening sealer on the block and not the plug(makes them so much easier to hold in place)

Make yourself comfortable on top of you engine,and have a helper available, because when your 4x4 is up on 18" stands it is not that easy to get to the tools you forgot to bring with you.

 

This time backed up with fresh youtube knowledge I had a second go.
Place the plugs square in the hole in the block then insert the biggest socket you can fit inside the plug and tap it gently until it has started to go in straight,then give it a few decent whacks with the hammer.

The next step is my own idea,

Once it is about half way in,cut yourself(or find) a small piece of 1/2" steel plate to place over the plug then drive it in with the hammer.(using the plate you are gauranteed to get the plug seated flush to the block)

 

I'm prepping intake/exhaust ports on head for refitting manifolds between posts tonight....playing with my truck.

 

Nice work on the welsh plugs and a great buy price-wise on the Jeep!

I just knocked the plugs out of my LT1 this weekend. After removing them, I wondered why, as they were in great shape. I'm lumping my 82 SIII with this 350 cubic inch "LT1" out of a '96 Chevy Caprice. The exterior of the car is crap, it looks like it's been through a demolition derby. The irony of that is I have the car sold to a local who is going to put it in the county fair's demolition derby...

Anyway, the car had 160,000 miles on it and it was extremely neglected-inside & out. The story is this, I bought my XJ6 almost 10 years ago, not running, with the intention of lumping. Low and behold, my masterful mechanic skills prevailed and the car has been running since a few months after purchase. I'm a racer at heart, and consider the V8 to be a part of my very soul. The bookshelves in my house have Jaguar Hot Wheels, two black ceramic Jaguar desk lamps and a model of a 350 cu in Chevy engine. I've been in love with Jaguars since I was (at least) 10 years old...so the marriage of a Jaguar to the other love of my life, a SBC is (to me) a match made in heaven.

My Father was a die hard purist, so I have a nagging guilt about lumping, but it is easily trumped by my desire for a Chevy powered Jag. The other night, while tearing out the crankshaft (had to have it ground .010"), I decided the engine should be named "Onion". Every layer I removed caused more tears to swell in my eyes. Reading the stories of your road trips reinforce my motivation to see this conversion process through to the end.

Oh yeah, back to the Jeep. There are tons of those Jeeps in the midwest states. It's great to see you use yours for what a Jeep is designed for. Like the Range Rover, they are not a soccer mom's grocery getter. They're meant for off-road and utility purposes. Keep up the quality maintenance and it will continue to treat you well.

 

Good luck with getting your XJ6/SBC completed. I don't think it is a road I will take if my XK fails,love my straight 6's. Had a SBC in a 74' HQ Holden, and a BBC in a 47 Fleetmaster,also had a Ford barrel nose truck with 272 flathead and a 77 Falcon coupe with 351C,all good cars,but I keep on going back to straight 6's.
As for the Jeep. If I was to start telling stories about road trips in that there would be 200,000km worth to tell,and they all have their moments. Good thing is it has always got us there and back,maybe held us up sometimes but always got there. And it's not from being wrapped in cotton wool, this baby has been thrashed.(but looked after too)

 

Clarke, it's no wonder it was leaking coolant! They must have failed almost simultaneously! Which makes perfect sense, as they were installed simultaneously. duh!

Good job getting the plugs all back in place. Isn't YouTube wonderful? Between them and Google there's nothing that can't be fixed. Well, nothing automotive anyway.

I knew about the biggest-socket-that-will-fit trick, but I didn't know about the steel-bar-to-get-it-flush trick. Thanks for that one.

Well documented; good pictures and good commentary. A very clear explanation of what you're doing and why.
(';')

 

that was just something that crossed my mind while having the second attempt after destroying 3 plugs the first time. It's something we do when installing new bearings into sideframes of printing machinery to get them flush.

 

Clarke, Since your trans is out, are you going to do anything with it, or just clean it up and put it back in?

Just wondering if you were thinking about new bands, discs, shift kit, etc?

 

Replaced the trans less than 10'000 k's ago.With one that came from a one owner wreck that had been a grandads car all its life(never off road and 126000 km on it),and replaced chain and bearings in the transfer case while it was out.
Trans went back in today(another job I should get help with),should have done rear main first but still waiting for the seal to arrive,I can easily do seal with trans in place. Couldn't waste a day waiting for a seal,I miss driving it. Even though its only done 9000 km In the last 2 years.
Pulling sump pan off tomorrow to do oil pump and have to drop front suspension so will see what needs doing there too.
Trans doesn't even need a clean, I pressure wash under the car all the time.

 

Clarke!

There's something Wrong when a JEEP UNDERSIDE IS THAT CLEAN!!!

I don't know Anyone else who does that!

Mercan Jeep owners go so far as to make the TOP side dirty every weekend BESIDES the bottom side! And they run around town for 3 days showing off all their dirt!
(';')

 

Call it ****,but you have seen pictures of it dirty. There is no mercy when I take it off road,but before and straight after the beach I take through the oil wash to get the salt off and most of the sand,then when we get home I go under with the pressure washer for an half hour or so until no more sand or mud is coming out. Then spray with Inox to get the moisture out.
I like to have a clean car to work on instead of all the crap falling in your eyes and being black up to the armpits. My wife's Mazda3 still looks like brand new underneath(2006 my) with 117000 km. It gets the same treatment before every 5000km oil change and service.
These pics were taken at the 115000 service. And this cat has never been garaged,always on the street.


Jeep is all set for rear main seal,oil pump rebuild,front main seal,oil filter adapter orings. Took 4 hours to get sump off and out over axel. Really should have left trans out to do this,I could have just slid sump straight back. Got to wait for next day off to do more.