Not too much "real work" happened this weekend, but I did order/receive some parts, plus I was able to clean a few things up.
I wasn't planning on spending a "bunch of money" on this project, but I think the V8, 33's, stronger axle shafts/differential I will be installing will be a little bit too much for the stock "5 bolt" lock in hubs, so I ordered an internal mount hub kit, just like I installed on my red Scrambler.
I already had all the front hub bearings/seals, but I went ahead and bought new ball joints/spindle bearings, too. I also purchased some fuel injection rated rubber hose/clamps for the sending unit, in case this engine is ever upgraded to a MPI/TPI set up.
Quick picture of the gas tank, note all the dust/dirt!!!
After fighting for about 20 minutes, i was able to remove the tank from the skid plate. I bought a new in tank filter, and I have another "solid foam" float to install, but I believe this sending unit is still good. The original gas tank strap will be cleaned up and reused. The factory vent valves are good to go, but the rubber grommets are shot.
After pulling the tank, 20 plus years of sand/dirt were discovered on top of the rubber "anti-chaff" mats.
And underneath the mats, more dirt. The picture makes it look like rust, but 90% of it is dirt.
And after soaking/scrubbing/washing for two hours, I got it to this condition.
The remaining dirt/mud is like concrete!!!!!! I will have to pressure wash/steam clean the remaining dirt out. This skid plate is 100% solid, minimal internal surface rust. I am going to repaint the inside of the skid plate, but the outside is fine.
Since it was nice weather, I also cleaned up a bunch of other parts that will be reused.
I thoroughly cleaned the outside of the gas tank, and flushed the inside of it out, too. The fuel fill/vent hoses are ins great shape, and all the gas tank rubber mats cleaned up like new, too. Even the little plastic under body flaps will be reinstalled.
Now that we have longer days, I also washed the whole undercarriage/chassis. It has not been washed in years, it looked like the gas tank did!!! The under body is in great shape. I believe the dealer "undercoated" this Jeep before it was initially sold, the perimeter/wheel wells/easy to get to spots have black paint/coating on them, but above the gas tank/hard to get to spots are still the factory color. I "might" steam clean off this undercoating in the future, but for now it is fine.
Besides the inside of the gas tank skid plate, the only other parts that need "attention" are the two little gas tank "side protectors" and the gas tank strap. The strap is galvanized, and was not painted. It has some minor surface rust.
I had my buddy sand blast these parts, and I will paint them before I reinstall them.
I also found the tap i need for the wheels. The wheels I have were modified by the previous owner for Staun bead locks, so each wheel has an extra valve stem hole. I am going to tap these holes and install pipe plugs to seal them up.
My plan for this week/this coming weekend:
1) pack all the wheel bearings, reassemble the wheel hubs, front and back
2) get the tires swapped over to the other wheels
3) reinstall the front axle
4) install gas tank (maybe)
The sooner I get it back on all "4's", the sooner i can mess with the transfer case/transmission.
That's it for now.