Learning to Weld

Learning to Weld

I grew up around welding. My Grandfather had a welding shop where he built bulldozer blades. My dad worked his way through college as a welder. And as Plant Engineer, I supervised welders. However, I have done very little welding myself.

I know a lot of the theory and I know how to set the welder to the specs for the material being welded. But the actual physical skill of making and holding an arc and forming a puddle, I am just learning.

I have three welders to choose from. I have a small flux core wire feed welder. I have a large Lincoln MIG wire feed machine. And I have an old Hobart gasoline powered DC ARC welder.

The little wire feed is great for tacking stuff and welding exhaust. Because it is small and portable, it is great for working under the car. It makes ugly welds however. And with minimal control, it often does not hold very well.

I have learned to make pretty nice weld with my MIG. The Lincoln has continuously variable controls for voltage and wire speed. As long as I keep good tips in the nozzle, it makes nice smooth welds.

Only recently I go the old Hobart running again. It has sat dormant for at least five years. It took a bit of work to get the engine running again. But after the twigs and acorns flew out of the generator, it is making good power.

I have begun learning to use the stick welder. It turns out that the current setting has a much narrower range than I expected. If it is too hot, it blows holes in the metal instead of welding. If it is not hot enough, then the rod will not strike or it will stick. Also, the arc length seems to be critical. If it is too long, then the weld just splatters. If it is too short, then the rod sticks.

Getting the hand coordination right has been the most challenging part for me. I now understand why people say that the only way top learn to weld is to practice. I have been practicing on some simple projects that allow me to grind away my mistakes and try again.

While you can’t learn how to weld by reading a book, you can get some valuable tips. Luckily I have my dad and a good friend to ask when I have a problem. But there is a great reference that tells you all the things you need to know to learn to weld. Get a copy of Welding Secrets Revealed to learn more. Sign up for their newsletter to get timely tips in your inbox. Welding E Book

Jeep Distributor Indexing

Indexing the 4.0 distributor
Jeep Cherokee Repair – Motor Problems

After having heard and read many horror stories about Jeep 4.0’s that don’t run after pulling the distributor, I was very careful about installing the distributor in my new Titan Stroker Motor.

The procedure in the factory shop manual is surprising simple:

Use a 3/4 inch wrench to rotate the engine to the zero degree mark on the Damper. This is easier if the electric fan is not in the way. Also, you must ensure that you are on the compression stroke of the engine. One way to ensure this is to watch the motion of the valves and make sure that you are using the mark just after the intake valve closes.

Another note: If your damper is old, this is a good time to make sure it is not twisted by checking that the engine really is at TDC when the damper lines up with the mark.

With the cap on the distributor, scribe a line just to the left on the number one terminal. Transfer this line down onto the metal distributor housing. On the Renix version, it will be near where the wires come out.

Use a screwdriver to set the slot in the oil pump drive to 11 O’Clock.

Now take the distributor cap off. Eyeball the mounting tang over the mounting bolt hole in the block. Pick up the gasket you just dropped and put it back on.

Set the rotor to point to about 4 O’Clock. This will be a bit to the right of your mark.  (on the HO distributor, align it with the wire.)

Lower the distributor in to the hole and allow it to engage the cam shaft drive gears. The rotor will turn as the gears engage. When it hits bottom, the rotor should be pointing at the mark you made earlier. If not, try again.

Put the mounting clamp on and tighten the bolt.

From the stories I have heard, the computer will not work if the distributor indexing is off even one gear tooth. By using this procedure, yours will be right. Check off another item from your list of Jeep Cherokee motor problems.

How to Change Taillight Bulbs on a Jeep Cherokee

How to Change Taillight Bulbs on a Jeep Cherokee

The brake, turn signal, back up and running lights are all housed inside the taillight housing. In order to change any of these bulbs, you must remove the tail light housing.

In Cherokee’s built after 1990, the housing is held in place by three bolts with 10MM heads. On the 1990 and earlier there is a fourth bolt at the bottom that is very hard to access due to the way the bumper cap is made. Jeep replaced this bolt in the later Jeeps with a flange that the light housing slips over.

To remove the housing, open the hatch and locate the bolts. I usually use a ratchet and a 6 inch extension to turn the bolts.

Once the bolts are out, tilt the housing from the top to remove it from the body. Be careful with the wires and the bulb sockets as you tilt it out.

To remove a bulb socket, twit the socket 1/3 of a turn and pull it out of the hole. To install note that one tab is larger and will only go back in one way. Line up the tabs and twist 1/3 of a turn.

Installing the housing can be tricky as the ground prongs on the bulb sockets sometimes hang. Gently work them into the holes using before pressing the housing into place.
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Rally Tires for sale – SOLD

Rally Tires for sale _SOLD
Kumho R700 205/60R15

Kumho Rally Tires for sale

For sale 4 used Kumho Rally Tires. They have about 70% tread left on them. They would be good for stage rally or rally cross.

Average tread depth

Currently they are mounted on Jeep wheels. I can include the wheels or pull the tires depending on what you need. The wheels are 5 on 4.5 with fits the Mitsubishi Eclipse and many other cars as well as the Jeep.

I also have one brand new Kumho Rally tire on a new wheel for sale separately.

New Kumho Rally tire for sale
Kumho R700
Mounted on new Jeep ZJ wheel

SOLD

Adjusting Pinion Preload on a Dana 30

Adjusting Pinion Preload on a Dana 30

Jennifer’s Jeep Cherokee has been riding a bit rough lately. It has had a growl and a vibration at speed. We tried swapping drive shafts and rotating the tires but the noise and vibration was still there.

A close inspection showed some play in the pinion shaft in the front axle. I knew form the experience with my Jeep that this could cause a vibration.

She really did not want to spend a lot of money fixing up this gear set since she will be installing a set of 4.11s in the next few weeks. She needed just a temporary fix to get by.

I looked in the factory shop manual for the preload adjustment procedure and it mentioned a crush sleeve. I thought that I could just crush the sleeve a bit more and take out the slop. I put a big pipe on my pull handle and cranked on the nut. The nut turned but the end play stayed the same.

A bit more research made me realize that there is no crush sleeve in a XJ Dana 30. I am not sure which front axle the shop manual was referring to. But, I was sure I had succeeded in stripping the nut.

When I later pulled the nut, sure enough, the threads of the nut were nicely embedded in the pinion. I was glad the nut stripped and not the pinion. It took a few minutes with a pick, but I was able to clean the threads.

To adjust the pinion preload, I began by removing the wheels and tires. Next I removed the brakes and the center axle nuts. I could have left the axles in the hubs but it was easier to handle them separately. I used my sacrificial bolts to separate the hubs from the knuckles.

I then removed the hubs and axle shafts. I then separated the tie rod on the driver side and let it hang down out of the way. I then removed the cover and drained the fluid.

I removed the carrier bearing cap bolts and after noting he marks, carefully removed the caps. I was getting ready to set up the spreader on the case to remove the carrier when Jennifer who was removing the drive shaft tapped on the pinion. The whole carrier fell out almost on my foot! So much for needing a spreader. I guess all the bearings are pretty worn. The carrier as well as bearing s will be replaced when the new gears are installed so I just reused all the parts anyway.

With the drive shaft out of the way, I removed the pinion nut. Sure enough it was stripped. With the yoke off, I tapped the pinion out the front. I pried out the seal and collected he slinger, bearing and shims.

I set the pinion back in place and removed a .010 shim. It was still too loose. I pulled another shim and it was still too loose. With .030 shim gone it felt about right. With any less shim, it was way too tight, so I settled on a shim pack and put it al back together.

I made sure it all felt OK with the axles back in before I installed a new pinion seal. The seal and the gear oil were the only expenses for this job. I used an old pinion nut from a spare axle behind the barn.

I used black silicone for the front cover seal and left the tie rod off until Jennifer had refilled the housing with gear oil before putting it back in place.

A quick test drive showed much less vibration and the dragging growling feeling was gone. Hopefully the bearings will last a few more weeks.
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