PP reflection TD

 I had a blast these past couple of weeks working on my 2000 Jeep Wrangler TJ. I ran into many problems throughout the project and overcame some. Having parts fail on the building stage just gives you more ideas on how you can reinforce them. That’s why I was never upset when things didn’t go as planned. 

Looking back to a few weeks before project period, I took the entire exhaust off trying to fit the original headers that came with this turbo kit. The kit reconfigured the stock systems in order to flow air into the turbo. The original idea was to change the exhaust manifold into a single dump manifold that would connect to your turbo inlet pipe. This failed because the headers included in the kit rubbed up against the intake manifold, causing air to get in through the gasket. We didn’t realize our problem at first so we bolted the fuel rails and our throttle body back on and started her up. The car turned over right away and instantly rode up to redline. I couldn’t get a read on our air-to-fuel ratio because we hadn’t put our sensors back in the car. I figured the mass airflow sensor might have gone out because the car was getting way to much air. When I noticed that our intake manifold was wedged up against our new headers, I found out our problem. We had to rip all the stuff off of the side of the engine block to do the job again. We went online to order our second set of headers, these headers were twin dump, equal-length headers that is small enough to fit without touching the intake manifold. We thought this was going to solve all of our problems but it only created more. When the new header came in we assembled it immediately. We got the new header bolts in and we were ready to strap the intake manifold on top. We put the intake manifold in and planned to screw it down just like the other one. The piping was way too close to the bolt holes in the block so we couldn’t fit the hardware through. This made it impossible to screw the intake manifold into the car resulting in a failed attempt. This was the only aftermarket header that was supposed to work with the car so we were really left with 1 option, go back to stock. That’s what we did, our next step was to go to the junkyard to find a 4 liter jeep that has good headers. This was a good option before I found a set of used headers online. These were covered in rust, but they worked. I ordered those headers and they came in just in time for project period. 

I started the week off by getting my tools packed up from Massachusetts and bringing them up to New Hampshire. I had a friend go over to the house on Tuesday and pack my tools into the Jeep. He also helped me coordinate a tow truck to bring the car up. The tow truck picked the car up Tuesday morning and arrived in Wilmot around Two in the afternoon. That evening, I was transferring the old sensors to the new throttle body. After that, I got the new high-flow injectors mounted inside the reused fuel rail and worked on getting them sealed to the intake manifold. I got to the point where I couldn't keep going with what I had in Wilmot so I needed to think about what I needed from Mass when I go back. I made sure that I put together a list of hardware that I need to grab at the hardware store. On Wednesday I swapped the valve cover gasket and tuned the throttle body. Tuning the throttle body is necessary when installing a brand-new one. There is a set screw that pushes on the butterfly valve inside to allow how much air goes through at idle. If the screw isn't holding the valve in the right position, you might get throttle lag or a high idle. The Jeep has had trouble holding hot coolant ever since I installed the 3-row radiator so I worked on sealing up the coolant lines and patching the power steering system which is also leaking. I had never had a problem with the power steering pulley leaking fluid prior to this situation, I assume it is from moving it to an awkward spot while dealing with the exhaust. Adding tension on those 20-year-old lines is never a good idea because anything that hasn't been replaced is most likely dry rotting. I started the next week by making sure everything was running smoothly before I put my Y pipe on. I contacted a few welders to see if anyone would be able to refabricate the kit to accommodate the OEM headers. This wasn't going to happen in the time frame I had to I continued to prep the car for future installation. I put all new heat shielding to protect the plastic injectors from the exhaust heat. I also worked on getting the passenger door fixed. That door broke a long time ago and I never took the time to fix it. The entire locking system inside had frozen up so the door would not open. I unbolted the hinges and pulled on the door to try to free up the clip. All I did was bend the quarter panel and the door didn't move. That took 2 days of work after drilling the mirror bolts out and trying everything to free that door. 

After having some trouble with that door I decided to wrap up the project and get the car ready to go home. I gave the jeep an oil change and packed some tools in the back. It helps that the car runs well so it will be easier to tow home. I am glad I had the time to work on the car but I wish it was a bit easier to fabricate that kit.