Time to share my progress over last couple months! Slowly getting things off my long to do list...
Right on the last day of 2019 I finally fixed my "intermittent power loss" issue. That was some story with mechanic that I went to pushing for replacing distributor and duraspark box for a "small" sum of $1000 (extremely rare parts and lots of labor, according to him). That looked shady as hell (thanks for advice from members here) and after a little more thinking I remembered that I never got to changing transmission fluid like I planned. So new ATF, new filter (old one was torn), lube locker gasket and replaced rubber hoses to both radiators. Old fluid looked nasty, like metallic paint nasty. After I was done and took Jeep on a short test drive it was shifting so smooth and no jerking or power loss. Best new year gift I could give myself
Turn signal and windshield wiper switches both started acting up more and more, so it was time to replace them. Also decided to get a new stalk. Just $20 on amazon, why not? Old one had all letters faded away with help of California sun
This actually took longer than I thought (I didn't know that wiper switch is a separate thing, not a part of the stalk) so Jeep was sitting like this for week while I waited for wiper switch to arrive:
And then it took me 3 attempts to route cruise control cable the right way inside, so it wouldn't interfere with turning on high beams or turn signals
But now I can take that part of steering column apart with my eyes closed, valuable learning experience
Replaced TC vacuum shift motor - nipple for vacuum line broke off on my old one, but didn't have a chance to test 4wd except for the fact that light on the dash comes on now
Next thing was new set of tires - old Michelins that I got on the Jeep were getting close to being 18 year old, so it was time for new ones. Went with Micheelin Defender LTX and really like them so far - quiet, goood ob both dry and wet road. Haven't driven them in the snow, but reviews were looking good.
And the last but not least upgrade was the headlights. Old Sylvania sealed beams were a bit older than tires
and just laughable - barely any light on the road. So after some research I decided to go with Hella H4 conversion lights. I got european spec headlights for a few reasons - better light beam pattern, more light on the road, less glare for others and easier to aim. And they are considerably cheaper: $77 for kit (2 headlights, 2 bulbs and 2 dust covers) on amazon compared to $55 for 1 headlight (light, buld and dust cover) for DOT version on amazon. No idea why they only have euro spec as a full kit.
After reading forums I decided to do relay mod as well and put together my own harness. Nothing special compared to well known Serehill one, I decided to use waterproof relays, mesh wire loom where possible and two fuses instead of circuit breaker. One evening full of measuring, cutting, soldering and it was ready:
Spent some time thinking how and where I'm going to securely mount relays under hood. I didn't want to drill anything and the whole harness is made so everything can be reverted back to stock in couple minutes, so my solution was to fix relays to 3d printed plastic holder:
Used 3M extreme double sided tape to attach it to the passenger side fender under the hood. Fits perfectly and is not going anywhere:
Well, results are amazing! After aiming the lights I can safely drive after sunset
Speaking of aiming, when I was taking old lights out, I noticed that plastic parts on the headlight buckets that adjustment screws go in were all cracked. Thanks to jaber who makes
new metal ones. They are great, but I had to drill mount holes a bit bigger to match holes on the bucket and use 5/32 rivets