mws

Thanks, all!

Where are you located? Maybe you're close enough to one of us that we can get together and help you do it right... I'm in NoCal, 88 is in central Ore, Slick is in central CA.... etc etc etc.

I may be going out on a limb here, but I question your mechanic more than the headers... In my 25 years of wrenching experience, the only times I've heard of people having problems with headers is when they used crappy headers, crappy gaskets, or did a crappy job (over torqueing is common problem). Properly installed quality headers have never given me any problems. If he's had so many problems, he must have been guilty of at least one of the above and the real problem is him... I would say learning to do it yourself would be a far better option! Using the ceramic coated Thorleys is the best option available to us. The ceramic coating reduces the under hood temps quite a bit. Just like manifolds, make sure no wires are within a couple inches of the tubes to avoid burning. And do the oil filter relocation at the same time. Your comment on usage of cats with headers is also grossly bad information. They work perfectly fine with cats. Very few of todays automobiles use manifolds as poorly designed as what was common back in the 80's. Almost all have gone to tubular headers or much more elaborately cast manifolds. This results in greatly improved efficiency (mpg and hp) If you hear all this and still don't want to make the swap, I'll buy the Thorley's from you. I'll pay the price you paid if you pay shipping. I have needed to make the swap anyways, and I'd be happy to help another customer not get reamed by AC.

We're driving to Portland for the weekend. If eliminating the mechanical fan saves us even 1 mpg on the freeway, that will be over $10 more beer money! So I will be diving into the electric fan swap tonight. I just so happen to have a BMW 528 electric fan sitting on the shelf. It is a pusher style, so I will need to make brackets to hang it behind the radiator as a puller. We leave tomorrow. I am pretty sure I can get all the fab work and wiring done tonight.... but if I don't, we'd have to drive with no fan. Since temps will be in the lower 80's or less and the drive will be almost entirely freeway miles with no in town traffic, I believe it will be no problem to go without a fan. Can anyone confirm or deny my thoughts?

Include the IAC valve in the list of suspects.

Before you give up.... why not consider becoming mechanically handy? Nobody is ever born mechanically handy. It comes from having a desire, willingness, and ability to learn. Lots of folks on this board to help you along!

How handy are you? Swapping in a transmission from another vehicle can be a very cost effective repair. We did this for my nephew's oldest son. '92 cherokee with blown trans, burning oil, exhaust leak, lift kit, some nice parts: $400 Low mileage replacement transmission from wrecked Cherokee (with guarantee): $500 Rebuilt cylinder head: $300 New header: $200 Reliable beater 4x4 for $1400? Yahoo! He loves it! Could easily sell for well over $2K. Took the better part of a weekend to complete the swap. The fan working on high only sounds like a burned out resistor pack. I think it cost me about $20 to repair mine... And the exhaust leak is typical on Pathy's. Broken exhaust manifold bolt. A time consuming but not too difficult of a repair. If it was well maintained for those miles (oil changed regularly, etc) and you're able to do the repairs yourself, this could be a heck of a great deal!

Come on guys.... you can get a brand new high flow cat from Summit Racing for about the same cost as a tank of gas ($47.99 + $8.95 S&H)...

I'm usually a supporter of the live and let live and conformity sucks group... but this is an area that DOES affect everone else. Hence, one more vote that "intentional" gross polluters deserve being called names. If you really need to compensate for some gross personal inadequacies, just bolt on some useless bling or something... If you want to blow flames, just get an additional (SMALL!) fuel injector out of a junkyard and bolt in it the tail pipe right before the igniter and tailpipe tip. Use the same switch to activate both. That way you can leave the cat in there - AND it will be far more spectacular! If you insist on taking the cat out, do us all a favor and route the exhaust tip into the cab so your lungs can filter it before ours...

How do you want the rear spring rate to change to be "better than stock"? Less compliant (stiffer)? More compliant (less harsh)?

1-2" lift is simple, and pretty much free... Crank the T-Bars up front and get it realigned. Make and add a spacer to the rear springs. Done!

Good on ya! Regardless of fear factor, keep in mind you always have to live with yourself. It's easier to live with somebody you like. I know I don't much like people who take advantage of others for personal gain...

You're on the right path here - proper paint adhesion is all about the prep work! Your best bet would be to sand them well with 240 grit wet paper to give the paint some "tooth" to grab on to, and then clean well with lacquer thinner or pre-paint cleaner. Also important is the paint. A catalyzed and baked automotive paint or powder coat would obviously be the toughest. If you want to do your own, I recommend not using your average Kylon paint if you want to minimize touch up and repainting. It scratches pretty easily and fades pretty fast. If you want a rich satin finish (like european car trim) Go to an automotive paint store and ask for a rattle can of "automotive trim paint". Yeah, it will cost close to $10 a can, but it will last 4X as long. It is tougher and has UV stabilizers in it so it doesn't fade away as quickly. It can also be applied directly to bare metal with no primer. Follow the instructions on the can regarding flash time between coats. If you want gloss, ask the guys at the paint counter what they recommend. My personal favorite is Por-15 Black Coat, but it does not come in rattle cans. You either need to use a gun or be really good at brushing it on... But this stuff does smooth out really nice if you know how to brush it on properly (keys are to apply the proper amount on the first pass and avoid going back over the same spot more than once or twice). If you're painting wheels with lots of smooth surfaces, you really need to shoot them to have them come out looking really pretty.

Based on '88's experience, it sounds like the L&P are perfectly adequate for even relatively hard off road use.. I haven't heard anything bad about them at all... But being an enginerd, I have to say I am impressed by CalMini's design and execution. Sure, it may be complete overkill for how I use my Pathy, but I love seeing good design and am willing pay the extra $$$ for it. And to be technically accurate, CalMini doesn't really do away with the centerlink, they just replace the factory link with their replacement centerlink that is slightly modified in design and beefed up. It's up to you whether they are worth the extra bucks to you!

Most headers will leave a "ridge" around the exhaust port to provide better sealing. However, the top surface of that ridge should be relatively flat.

At one time, Pennsylvania crude was considered inferior to Texas crude as a base stock for motor oil due to the higher paraffin content. Whether the resulting oils are inferior depends on how well P or QS refined it... But to make it as good would require more refining and more cost. Regardless, that stuck in my mind and I switched to Castrol or Valvoline. I've used both for many years and have no issues with either one. Switching? No problem at all.

Hey, that looks familiar! Frankenpathy, meet Frankenvan...

Please let us all know what you end up with and what you like and dislike about it!

I like to use the "just enough" method - just enough to prevent squeeling! Too tight puts more load on the bearings, making them more prone to fail. And it is normal for a belts to stretch a bit in the first couple hundred miles. So if you tightened it to "just enough" at install, you will likely have to tighten it up just a bit more a few days later. And they are most likely to squeal at start up - that's when the alternator goes to max output to recharge the battery. So you probably only need to tighten the belt that drives the alternator.

Oh, and on question 1: Absolutely! I will probably put RSX's on the front of the tow van as the load on the front varies only a fraction of the rear. Loading up adds well over 1500 lbs of load to the rear axle, only about 500 lbs to the front (and that is only because I use weight distributing bars on the trailer). In your pathy, the front suspension load will vary even less.

I have 9000's on my tow van. We put RSX's on my nephews Cherokee. Both are fine shocks. Not spectacular by any means, but far better than most of the crap shocks available for cars/trucks (as compared to motorcycle shocks!). In both cases, they were way better than what the vehicles' previous owners had installed. Which is better for you? I'd say it depends on whether you want to/are willing to adjust your shocks, and how much your loading varies. Or if you are filthy rich, go with the 9000's with the remote adjusters... If you're not willing to crawl around on your knees and twiddle the knobs, definitely go RSX. They turned out to be a great all around compromise for roads and trails in the Cherokee. MUCH more plush on the highway than the el cheapo "off road" shocks it had (so harsh your teeth would rattle running over a dime in the street!) yet still always in full control. If you are willing to get dirty, the flexibility of the 9000's is very nice - especially if you sometimes carry heavy-ish loads. I love them in our tow van. Setting 3 is comfortable when empty, yet 7 or 8 will keep everything in control with the trailer hooked up and 1000+ pounds of toys in the back. But you do need to adjust them whenever conditions change or put up with slightly compromised handling or comfort. The design of the RSX allows it to "adapt" to varying conditions better than the 9000.

We have an HPI Savage .21 as well... Seriously BIG and seriously fast! Not a rockcrawler at all - more like a rock hurtler. Get it up to about 45 mph and just hit a root and hope it just clears the rock.... Way insane and a lot of fun, but a whole lot of bother to keep the methanol/nitro engine running well and the busted parts replaced. I like the idea of a slower and more controllable rock crawler - and electric motors are perfect for that application. The down side of the electrics is the run time (battery life) and heat management in the motors. I want to run them longer than they can or should be! Hint: Get multiple batteries, good chargers, and add as much heatsinking as you can to the motor! I usually sandwich a thin (1/16" or so) aluminum plate between the motor and mount with extensions sticking out in the air wherever there is room, and then add transistor heatsinks to that wherever they will fit. That draws the heat out of the front end of the can and lets it radiate out.

And deeper gears, and stickier tires, and.... AACK! Just can't stop it, can we? That does look like great fun! I have a couple of the little (1/18 scale?) Kyosho mini-Z Overland trucks and they are a hoot! Not the monster truck versions, but scale trucks. They have BMW X5 bodies for now, with scale 31x10.5" Yokohama Geolanders... seriously soft tires as well - sidewalls actually deflect! They have fully proportional steering and throttle, and the diff can be left open or locked, and it comes with multiple gear ratios. They were under $100 each, and really great for indoor rock crawling! We use NiMH batteries to keep cost down. Now if only they were 4WD....

The picture is quite helpful... What I think I see is a "Chassis 1" brand box with a label on the side listing the TRW, Moog, and Chassis Select PN's for cross reference? Where were they manufactured?

Only the fenders and doors if you have to perform any abrupt evasive manuevers :o Other than the safety issues, it will not induce any radical changes in wear. All components will get a little more workout as the suspension deflects more in the corners, but nothing beyond normal excursions.