Varg In Jeep's Clothing

[ITLKSEZ]

Aaaaaand she’s torn apart again.

I’ve been going nuts trying to locate the final oil leak. I thought I finally pinpointed it coming from the distributor on the back of the head. To get to that, I had to pull everything out from under the dash again; the new intake tube, airbox and plumbing, and the dog house over the distributor. I pulled the distributor, and it was dry around the bore. The O-ring was doing its job.

There was oil above the distributor which meant I still had a leak coming from the valve cover. I got it separated and found a 1/4” spot over the rear cam hump that had no contact.I should manage to get it resealed and reassembled tomorrow.

Some really good news… I had to take the charge pipe off to get the valve cover off, so it gave me a chance to look inside the turbo after 20-something heat cycles and a few good beatings. I pulled this unit out of a junkyard 10-ish years ago, and I’ve been nervous about its condition since.

Turbo and charge pipe dry inside, with only this tiny ring of oil on the edge of the outlet bore. Score!

 

[ITLKSEZ]

Well, THAT oil leak was cured. It got a healthy dose of right stuff that showed a consistent squeeze-out around the valve cover.

I still have a few tiny ones that I just can’t pinpoint. The problem with running full synthetic oil is that is spreads on surfaces like a virus and stays wet seemingly forever. Everything looks damp, and little stalactites of oil form on every low-hanging point but rarely drip. I might have to wait till there’s a coating of dust on it and look for the clean spots.

For all intents and purposes, I’m calling this turbo swap DONE. It’s given me no reason not to trust it so far, and it’s running the same/as good as it was before the swap, just with more power. Oil pressure even reads in the same range as before. Engine temps have actually been reading cooler, but we have yet to see how it does when ambient temps climb.

Next up is the rebuild of the other steering knuckle. I’ve been procrastinating because it’s a suck job. But I’d rather electively do it here than at a camp site out of necessity.

 

[ITLKSEZ]

One last detail I was putting off was the shroud that bolts to the back of the grill. It needed to be trimmed to accept the oil cooler. You can see the sharpie lines…

I considered leaving it out, but the horns and a relay mount to that piece, and there’s no room for them without it.

Another small detail that has been bugging me; the new fan clutch I purchased last summer was identical in every way EXCEPT that it was spaced away from the engine and toward the radiator by 1/4” more. The fan has never touched the radiator, but it was super close.

I removed the top brace and cut 1/4” out of the center. (The hole in the center was square before.)

There’s a good 3/8” gap now. Much better.

That’s as far as I could move it and still have an acceptable gap at the notch in the cage.

I’m excited for nicer weather so I can get out and enjoy this thing.