Little secret: I HATE OFF-ROADING!!!

digitalwanderer said:
I love it when a plan comes together. Today went better than expected. Got the Jeep, took it to Jay the Jeep Guy's place, spent 4+ hours talking to Jay with my buddy and touring his own little mini junk yard. He gave my friend the rear wiper off an old minivan since it'll work on his Can Am, and he really impressed/educated me about Jeeps!
There's a possibility we don't need a new engine, and the guy recommended about 3-4 other little cheap things that the Jeep needs/could use. He's going to analyze it and get back to me sometime with an overview and some estimates, but apparently he charges his cost for parts and barely nothing for labor for fellow jeepers. INSANELY cool, very happy with this guy. I finally feel like the Jeep is in competent hands, and my friend is bringing his jeep in for the guy to fix too. (I'll be bringing in the Renegade for a couple of his recommended upgrades once we get the Wrangler fixed)
A surprisingly wonderful time. The guy works out of his house and has a yard full of vehicles of all descriptions, but mainly off-road stuff. His 18 year old son helps him and was bragging to me that he could switch out an engine in 7 hours or less...his dad takes less than 6! Feels like I finally found a good automotive technician! (Jay asked me not to call him a mechanic as they're hacks who rip people off while technicians diagnose and repair, that comment made me really happy too!)
Oh of course I slipped off the trailer putting the jeep on it and bounced off the steel deck and then flopped on to the steel ramps which happily sprung me to the pavement, but the shock still hasn't worn off so I'm barely feeling it now. Even pushed the Wrangler by myself to position it behind the trailer. The dick people at MTI had watched me fall and I didn't want to give them the satisfaction of letting them know it hurt, also why I refused their help when they offered to help push the jeep. Was physical painful but well worth the mental satisfaction of saying "FUCK YOU!!!" in my mind to them. (I was courteous out loud.)
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Glad you potentially found a good mechanic for your Jeep. That's what I'm talking about, get actual recommendations from other people who have had their vehicle serviced at whatever place or serviced by whomever. It's way too easy to get ripped off/scammed by someone if you aren't totally in the know about how something is done or even what needs doing.

It's one reason I'm doing a lot of work on my own house now. This way, I get a fairly good idea of what something might entail if/when I decide to hire a contractor to do something more involved and/or time intensive. I'll still heavily use user reviews before even contacting one, however. That said, I'm not going to dick around with plumbing. :p I'll still rely purely on user reviews of plumbers for that. :D

Regards,
SB
 
Engine has been pulled, pulled apart, rebuilt, reassembled, and is waiting for a few more people so they can stick it back in the Jeep. LOTS of delays, problems, and headaches...but so far we're only $1,600us out of pocket for parts with about another grand due on completion. Should be done soon, but I've been hearing that for literally months now. Some pictures from the tear down:1682708611920.png



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I guess since last time I posted the engine went in to the Jeep and then got pulled out again since the new clutch that was put in at the Badlands wasn't working. Jay inspected and noticed a flaw with the springs and contacted Centerforce since he has an account with them, (we have this Centerforce clutch, this is our third one since 3rd one since May 2021), and they not only sent a free replacement but are paying him for the engine put/pull clutch install so a nice bonus for him and a solid fix for us.

He thinks it might be done Tuesday now, just had a fascinating 40 minute conversation with him. Did I ever mention his voice is a dead ringer for Alex Jones' voice? It's so freaking weird!
 
Got a call yesterday from Jay saying he thinks it'll be ready tomorrow. Something about it losing oil pressure on top and he had to take it apart and clean more sand out, but I was recovering from anesthesia so I'm not quite clear on it. I remember the tomorrow part clearly, though I'm not sure I believe it.
 
So...

Turns out the head was machined poorly so it couldn't form a seal. Jay talked to a few buddies and found out his machining shop has gone downhill so he ordered us a new head that should be here Monday. If it is the Jeep should be ready Wednesday.

He was extremely apologetic and let me know that the final bill would be $1,200us for the labor like he originally quoted us and since he feels bad about it taking so long. If it's done next week I'll be extremely glad and it'll have been worth it due to the price, but until it's back home I ain't believing nothing.

Also found out from my neurologist that off-roading could have very easily caused my neuropathy by pinching a nerve in my fourth lumbar. Gonna have an MRI Tuesday to find out, but I REALLY still hate off-roading!!!
 
Last time I spoke with him he was in Ohio for his father's funeral. At least that's what he's saying, I'm respecting his grief for now but a part of me is seriously wondering. <sigh>
 
Texted him today to let him know I was going in for surgery on August 1st and if he can't have the Jeep ready by July 30th to please let me know so I can just come with a trailer and pick it up. I gotta get my affairs in order before the fun starts and this is one of those things needing to be dealt with.
 
digitalwanderer said:
Spoke to him today, he was in the same hospital as me in the cardiac section while I was there. No progress.
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Jeeps are cursed. :p My aunt had a Jeep Cherokee back in the 90's and got T-boned by a Semi that ran a red light. I don't think I've ever seen a Semi run a red light. It's almost like it was fated that a Semi would T-bone the Jeep that she was in.

Regards,
SB
 
Since my follow up appt was right by Jay's place we stopped by to put the new registration on our Wrangler. Jay was in the front yard so we had a nice confab. Not sure what his medical situation is but he lit a cigarette while talking to us and went from healthy looking to drenched with sweat and pale as a ghost before it was done. He said he's be starting on our Jeep tomorrow. I kind of doubt it but at least my wife had a chance to meet him for herself and see her baby.

We'll get it back someday, I'm just trying to guess if we'll get Renny or the Wrangler back first.
 
Spoke to Jay today. Centerforce is sending him a new flywheel under warranty to go along with the clutch he replaced. He also picked up and installed a new slave cylinder, which made a lot of sense to me since we've had issues with ours for years now. He thinks he'll be back in town Sunday and plans to finish it Sunday/Monday.


I think it might actually happen, for the first time I have a decent feeling about it.
 
Engine is in and running, clutch and transmission back in and working. Now the oil pressure is climbing through the roof rather than dropping like a stone. Turns out there's sand blocking the radiator, Jay has it filled with drano now in hopes of unclogging it.
 
Jay bought a used engine and swapped all the bits from our old engine and now it all appears to be working. Needs a few parts since the engines aren't identical but it will work, unfortunately Jay came down with MRSA in Dec and is just getting to functional now. Yesterday was the one year anniversary of us bringing the Wrangler to his house.

Hrrrrm.
 
ChatGPT should ghostwrite your Jeep’s autobiography. Maybe title it My Strugg—no, that’s not right. Lifted: My Rocky Journey Off-Road and Back.
 
Pete said:
ChatGPT should ghostwrite your Jeep’s autobiography. Maybe title it My Strugg—no, that’s not right. Lifted: My Rocky Journey Off-Road and Back.
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Our jeep has a 1" lift from the factory, it's not really that jacked up. Enough to help off-roading without killing its road performance.

OMG, I miss the Wrangler a bit! :oops:
 
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