Category: Car repair

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A Funny Yoke

A long while back, I ordered a yoke for a Chrysler 8.25 and the one they sent me did not fit. They promptly sent a replacement that did fit. They promised to send UPS to pick up the old one, but after a while, I forgot about it when the delivery driver never asked for it. So for a couple of years now it has been taking up space under a shelf somewhere.

Today I remembered that the sticker I found under the part number of the ill fitting yoke matched the later style 8.25. I had discovered that the later yoke had enough material on it to drill and add U bolts. So, I figured if I could find the funny yoke, I might work with it.

I little searching turned it up covered in spider webs. I also found Jennifer’s long lost hair dryer as well.

So I sat the yoke on a Chrysler 8.25 pinion and found that, after two years sitting in a box, it still did not fit. I double checked and sure enough the pinion for the early and late 8.25 rear is the same.

I counted the splines on both yokes and they were the same. I measured the inside diameter however and found the funny yoke to be a few thousandths smaller. That is when I noticed something I had not noticed before: it is drilled for U bolts, not tapped for straps. Cool. Now what does it fit?

It looked like a D 35 yoke so I tried it on a D 35 pinion. It mostly fit but it seemed the wrong depth.

Next, I dug around and found a D 30 pinion. Perfect fit! I did not have a D 30 seal to test the OD on but I am guessing it is a Dana 30 U bolt yoke.

So Jenny’s XJ will likely get a U bolt yoke when I install her 4.10 gears. I just have to confirm the OD.

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Fabricating a Bumper for a Jeep Cherokee XJ

Fabricating a Bumper for a Jeep Cherokee XJ

The bumper on my off Road Jeep is very simple. It consists of a couple of pieces of angle that extend the unibody frame rails out. The winch plate is mounted on top of them. There are a couple of pieces of curved pipe extending to each side to protect the bottom of the head light surround.

Since Jenny drives her Jeep everywhere she goes, she wanted something that was both functional and nice looking. Had I been fabricating form scratch, I would have used a piece of 2×6 tubing and tapered the ends to make a nice looking bumper. However, the cost of a stick of steel was out of budget for the moment.

What I had to work with was a damaged bumper on a parts Jeep sitting in the grass by the barn. It was made from heavy steel it was just not exactly the shape I wanted. It also had a brush guard and winch plate integrated into the design. Jenny did not want the brush guard and does not have a winch.

I began by removing the bumper from the parts XJ. There was an extra bolt that simply would not come loose. I had to cut it with a torch to get it out.

I began by cutting off the brush guard and its mounting brackets. Next I cut out the winch plate. This left a big gaping hole in the center of the bumper. I cut a couple pieces of angle and used those to fill in the gap.

I did not like the way the bumper stuck out from the front of the Jeep, so I relocated the mounting holes to pull it in closer to the grill. I would have liked to have tapered the ends but that would have meant extensive reworking of the bumper. By setting it back, the tips don’t really stick out too far.

I painted the bumper flat black to mask some of the weld marks and to match her rear bumper. I trimmed the ends of her rear bumper to be similar to the cut of the front bumper.

I removed her twisted stock bumper and the stock air dam.

Mounting the bumper to her Jeep Cherokee, required trimming the front fenders since part of the bumper extends back under the grill. I used a straight edge and a sharpie to make a mark on the fender. I used a cut off wheel in my grinder to make the cut. I touched up the raw edge with spray paint.

I tied the vacuum bottle to one of the fender supports with wire for now. I will move it inside the engine compartment later as the cut of the bumper leaves it venerable to breakage where it is.

The new bumper gives her Jeep a muck more aggressive look. It also improves her approach angle for off road obstacles compared to the stock bumper.

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AC repair Ford Explorer

AC repair Ford Explorer

My friend Ed stopped by yesterday to borrow my vacuum pump. He said his AC was not working on his Ford Explorer. Since he had already picked up some Freon, I decided to just check it out with him rather than loaning out my pump.

A quick check with gauges showed that there was very little pressure in the system. There had to be a leak somewhere. A quick pass with my Freon detector indicated a leak at the low pressure port. This is a very common leak point. We pulled the Schrader valve core and I noticed it looked more like one from a tire than for an AC system. The bottom seal was very ragged and it was surprising it held any pressure at all.

I dug through my parts drawer and found a couple of new cores. We replaced both the high and low ones just to be safe. Next, we put the vacuum pump on and chatted a while.

I shut off the pump and watched the gauges. It held vacuum, so we added Freon to get the right pressure. He had nice cold air when we were done. It has been very hot and humid the last few days here in east Tennessee so I am sure he will enjoy the new cold air.
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1960 Loyd micro van

This is one of the cutest little cars I have seen. I have never heard of a LLoyd before. I did not even know there was a car that shared my middle name. Apparently they did not make very many.

1960 LLoyd