July long weekend things

"gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee" (gogmorgo)
07/03/2016 at 02:26 • Filed to: None

As fitting as it would have been to run the LeMons Rally on 3/5 gears, I didn’t relish the though of a roadside transmission swap, and going through a quart of gear oil every 500km is getting old fast, so I figured I should get it out of the way sooner than later.

I took a break cause it started raining which means the ground is getting wet which means the jack stands became dangerous. Everything came out last weekend (Tuesday and Wednesday actually because my work week starts on Thursday) and everything got swapped over from the old transmission to the new one yesterday, except the shifter handle cause I haven’t quite figured out how to get it off, and the new trans got bolted in today. Still need to put the tcase, starter, clutch slave, and driveshafts back in, but I’ll hold off until I can go pick up some gear oil so I can actually run the thing to align the tcase.

Then once all that’s done, I’ve got brakes to replace, a handful of sensors, and get started on the plastidip paint theme (open to suggestions on that), and figure out some crude but effective and more importantly cheap way of keeping cool in August, in Death Valley, in a steel box that can be too warm even in air temps of -40. Also a stereo of some kind would be nice. I can probably rig something up from the collection of XJ parts, but would also like USB charging capability and possibly CB if at all possible.

My co-driver and I have work booked off, and I also just finished booking hotels for the Rally portion of the trip, likely camping on the way down, but we haven’t even planned the rout yet. Just over a month to go... Still can’t believe I’m crazy enough to do it.

DISCUSSION (12)

Birddog > gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee
07/03/2016 at 02:52

I may be missing an important part or two of the story here.

This is for the Niva?

LeMons rally?

Either way. Working on dirt does suck.

6Cylinder > gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee
07/03/2016 at 02:56

Kinja'd!!!

Ever considered a car swamp cooler? I’ve heard they work really well.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee
07/03/2016 at 07:40

I keep forgetting you have a Niva....and you are going WAY down for the Lemons rally? This will be good :D

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > 6Cylinder
07/03/2016 at 08:40

I was going to plumb a bucket of ice water into the heater. I saw mention of swamp coolers on the LeMons forum, but they don’t seem to exist up here.

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > Birddog
07/03/2016 at 08:44

Correct on all three counts. Working on dirt usually isn’t too bad. All my vehicles are tall enough I just need to throw down something to keep me clean, unless I need enough altitude to slide out a trans. Then it sucks. I swapped my MJ’s 4.0/aw4/232 out last summer in just about the same spot, but it wasn't too bad cause everything came out the front in one piece.

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
07/03/2016 at 08:45

The cannonball down and then back up is gonna be crazier than the rally itself, as far as I can tell. Total of around 9000 km in two weeks.

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > Birddog
07/03/2016 at 08:53

But it’s definitely still better than working in snow...

Birddog > gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee
07/03/2016 at 20:48

No doubt there.

To keep cool, you could try making a Swamp Cooler out of an old Igloo Cooler, a 12v fan and some salted Ice or dry ice. Hard part is finding ice in Death Valley..

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > Birddog
07/03/2016 at 22:10

I was thinking a 20 gallon rubbermaid tote or similar full of ice/water with a cheap bilge pump and some heater hose. Plumb it into the heater core and just use the existing ventilation to move the cold around. No real sense vandalizing an actual cooler either since the lack of insulation would just keep the vehicle interior colder. My main concerns with the strategy are lack of interior space and pumping ice water through something that’s only ever seen heat. Although thinking about it now there’s no real difference between that and the coolant getting pumped through it on a cold winter start. Also I have no idea how much pressure a bilge pump would put on it compared to a water pump.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee
07/06/2016 at 22:56

You probably have one, I imagine, in physical or digital form, but if not, I came acros this on my web travels tonight and thought you may like it! :)

http://www.iw1axr.eu/Manuali_off/La… .pdf

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
07/07/2016 at 09:28

Yeah I’ve already got a bunch, got them here: http://www.ladaniva.co.uk

But I do appreciate the gesture, thanks!

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee
07/07/2016 at 09:40

No worries mate, looking forward to more epic Niva updates! :D