Un-torqued
Greetings, wondered if you or any of your staff had ever encountered an issue like this? Check out the picture. That out of place bolt near the front main bearing cap on my XJ's 4.0L is from the oil pump.
To my knowledge this engine has not had the oil pain removed since the factory put it there. Is this an issue with the 4.0L or is it just a fluke?
I checked the entire lower engine assembly visually and didn't spot any damage that the bolt did other than a couple of shiny places where it obviously made contact before lodging under that splash shield where you see it in the photo. Where it landed the crank counter weight struck it ever so slightly each rotation making it sound like a rod knockin'.
The engine has 94,000 miles and is otherwise tight, so I cleaned it up, put on a new oil pump with Grade 8 hardware, and torqued it to the factory specs. After filling it with oil it has returned to its quiet self with great oil pressure of 60 psi. It has never been that high before.
Is there anything else I should be worried about?Billy McCordvia e-mail
I've never encountered something like that with a 4.0L, but everybody has bad days. Looks like the guy at Chrysler who spun that bottom end together was having one!
You've never seen 60psi before because the loose bolt was allowing a gap between the oil pump and block that let the pressure blow out of the oil galley and into the pan.
What should you worry about? Nada. Just run it. My money says that bolt didn't harm anything. It'd be a different story if the bolt had come from above or like a rocker arm nut or something. Hope I'm not jinxing you, but I'd say you dodged a bullet.
Swappin' and Hoppin'
Great magazine and I really dig your new project. I too share a desire to leave Swamper tracks on hippies, but I digress. I have a friend who wants to sell me a '77 Ford with a four-speed, 9-inch rear, and Dana 44 front for $250. My question is this: Would the components listed above be worth my time to salvage for my '85 CJ-7? I know the Ford Dana 44 has some funky mounting brackets welded to it so I realize they would need to come off, but is there anything I'm missing (e.g. diff on the wrong side, steering complications)?Bill Jordanvia e-mail
I assume it's the Ford Pickup and not the early Bronco, right?
Well, just the transmission is worth $250, since it's most likely the good T-18 with the 6.32:1 First gear. The Ford version is actually more adaptable than the Jeep versions since companies like Novak and Advance Adapters find it easier to support the one or two different types of Ford T-18s as opposed to the 17 or 18 different types of Jeep T-18s. There's a slight chance the tranny could be an NP435, which is also a top-notch tranny with a 6.68:1 First gear. The T-18 will have an iron top cover. It'll also probably have Warner T-98 or T-18 stamped somewhere on the side and/or top cover. The NP435 has an aluminum top cover. Check out novak-adapt.com and advanceadapters.com for parts to mate that tranny to your engine and T-case.
The rear axle is also gonna be a keeper. There are a few different versions, but for the most part, the '77 year pickups used the good housing with large axle bearings and 31-spline shafts. Early Broncos of that year used 28-spline shafts.
As for the front axle, the 1/2-ton pickups have that big C-shaped radius arm mount welded to them. The '78-'79 Dana 44s can't have the mounts removed because the axletubes don't extend all the way through. The mounts are so massive Ford just used two-piece tubes that weld into each side of the bracket. If you try to remove the brackets on axles from this year, you'll wind up with a pretty stubby frontend. The '77s, however, still have full-length tubes and the C-brackets can be removed for use with leaf springs or other types of mounts. The '77 should also have disc brakes and a high pinion. The front differential on the Ford axle will be on the driver side, so you'd either need to add a Down East Offroad (downeastoffroad.com) Dana 300 flip kit to your current T-case, or possibly upgrade to a later Jeep NV231 aluminum T-case. The NV231 should fit between your framerails, and its 2.72:1 Low is a little better than your Dana 300's 2.61:1 Low.
As long as the axle width works for you, I'd say you're looking at a screaming deal getting all that stuff for a paltry $250. Part that sucker. You can buy it for $250, pull the drivetrain for yourself, sell off some of the interior and trim stuff to a Ford guy, then kick the rest to the recycler for at least $50. If you're savvy you can probably come out of this with some good parts and actually make money off that truck.