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WEEKEND 8 - 1/13/2001

We started this weekend with the hope that we would be able to sandblast our frame at our friend's fathers Jeep shop, but Murphy's Law kicked in and the compressor for the blaster broke the day before. So to get it out of the way we made this weekend...Da-Da-Dum!...Broken Bolt Removal Weekend! Oh, joy! We had five major broken bolts to remove from the engine block and rear differential. The rear differential bolt had broken when the rear cover was removed. I drilled the bolt as tried to use an Easy-Out but the Easy-Out ended up snapping in the bolt, effectively filling the hole I had just drilled. So I knocked the broken Easy-Out out and drilled the hole to the proper diameter for the differential cover bolts. Then pulled out the Tap and Die set and re-tapped it. One down, Four to go. The next broken bolt was an engine mount bolt in the block. This bolt was an exact copy of the above procedure. Two down, three to go. On the front of the engine the water pump assembly had two rusted broken bolts that snapped off under the previous owners delicate touch. The metal was thin around the broken bolts that all Neil had to do has run the torch over it for a moment and POP, out they came. Four Down, One to go. The mother of all broken bolts. One of the exhaust manifold bolt snapped when we removed the EMs. This bolt, I'm convinced, fussed itself to the block. We could do NOTHING to remove it. Finally we drilled it then tapped it. Whew, Done! While all this was going on, I removed and cleaned the value covers and the oil pan. This engine is in GREAT shape I dare say. Not bad at all for a 28 year old hunk of iron. Our next project weekend is, hopefully, to sandblast the frame.

{short description of image} A look at the top of the engine with most of its parts removed.
{short description of image} I removed the oil pan and cleaned it completely. Man was there some nasty crap in there.
{short description of image} After removing the oil pan we got our first good look at some of the inner workings of our engine. All and all, it's in REAL good shape.
{short description of image} A quick shot inside the Dana 44 housing.
{short description of image} Another shot.
{short description of image} A quick shot outside the Dana 44 housing.
{short description of image} A quick look at the completely naked frame. Some weekend in Feb. this frame is going to be professionally sandblasted. Then all new metal will be welded in.
{short description of image} Here Neil's doing some test sandblasting with that small unit in the next picture.
{short description of image} The Mighty Sandblaster. Wielded by...
{short description of image} The mighty Neil!
{short description of image} Father and Son sandblasters.
{short description of image} There I am, diligently working at removing one of the many broken bolts in this vehicle.
{short description of image} Adam and power tools. A perfect combo?
{short description of image} Another Grinding picture.
{short description of image} How many guys does it take to remove a broken bolt from an engine block.
{short description of image} At this point you think we only pulled out one good bolt.
{short description of image} Same bolt...still.
{short description of image} Last One!!!!!
{short description of image} I think I'm gonna run tires about this big...
{short description of image} This is the view from the driveway where we do our work. This is a local lake that's frozen over now. Sure is a nice place, huh?