Ollie's Lil Blue Jim.

Knocked up some steering damper brackets

Drilled holes, test fitted and driven. Definitely makes a difference to the feel of the steering.

Now to take them back off and paint them and fix the oil leak

A bit of spare time at work today so painted the brackets up. Oil leak looks to be the rocker cover, I fitted a new one when I did the head so just gonna nip up the bolts this time and see how it goes.

with the rocker cover gasket i was told by a friend who's a mechanic to put rtv silicone in the corners where it bends up & over the cam shaft. just a tiny smear top & bottom. i've had no leaks at all after doing this.

also pretty sure if you flex your front end off road your damper will contact the airconditioner pipe directly above it on the passenger's side. as before i got around that issue by making a hole in the front tow point slightly larger & bolting the damper there, also removed the need for the large bracket.

GraphicX wrote: with the rocker cover gasket i was told by a friend who's a mechanic to put rtv silicone in the corners where it bends up & over the cam shaft. just a tiny smear top & bottom. i've had no leaks at all after doing this.

also pretty sure if you flex your front end off road your damper will contact the airconditioner pipe directly above it on the passenger's side. as before i got around that issue by making a hole in the front tow point slightly larger & bolting the damper there, also removed the need for the large bracket.

Cheers, it's coming from the front corners and if it keeps leaking I've got a tube of loctite 515 in my toolbox.

I've not got air con so no clearance issues and given how close it attaches to the pitman arm it shouldn't move up and down to much.

sorry is it a power steering line ??

when your driver's side wheel comes up it'll move the damper past 90º & it'll hit, but only if you're wheeling it. it's a rigid line, risk is bending/snapping it. just giving you a heads up, not trying to badger you about it.

GraphicX wrote: sorry is it a power steering line ??

when your driver's side wheel comes up it'll move the damper past 90º & it'll hit, but only if you're wheeling it. it's a rigid line, risk is bending/snapping it. just giving you a heads up, not trying to badger you about it.

I'll have to double check but I think it is for the power steering and I don't think it's rigid.
My car is right hand drive and if I've got this right my passenger side wheel coming up will move the steering rod (the one in front of the axle) up towards the chassis. Because my damper is attached to the steering rod very close to the pitman arm (steering box) end the vertical movement of the damper during articulation should be fairly minimal but I'll jack up the front corner to be sure.
I appreciate the input so don't stay silent.
Thanks.

Adjusted the valve clearances and sorted out the rocker cover leak this morning.

Gave the sealing surface a quick clean

A bead of loctite 515
And same under the gasket on the cover

Refit the gasket

And then the cover.

I'm also really pleased with the effect of the damper on the steering. Highly recommend fitting one.

Good job, the damper was the first thing I bought for mine definitely improves the feel of the steering

Thanks,
Leak has definitely stopped.
Acquired a new (old) drill press.

Surprised how much difference 250lbs in the back made to the ride. I was half tempted to leave it in there.

Well ladies and gentlemen, bad times for my Jimny.
It's been getting rougher when cold for a while and Monday morning it refused to start, missing, coughing and back firing out the intake. After finally coaxing it to life it seemed to settle as it warmed up so went off to work as normal.
Rough start again to come home so I decided to pull the idle control valve and plugs.
The idle control valve was a touch oily but not to bad at all. The plugs on the other hand, all seized into the head.
First plug out....

Blasted thing sheared off and left the thread in the head. So I cracked the other three off slightly and left the lot to soak in plus gas overnight.
Next day......

The sheared end came out fairly easily with an easy out but all 4 plugs stripped out the threads in the head.
Cue head removal (again )
And I located my starting issues......

Cracks between the inlet and exhaust vales in two of the cylinders.
Refurbished head on the way for next week.

PANTS!!! hope you get it sorted soon

Daniel30 wrote: PANTS!!! hope you get it sorted soon

Cheers,
I hope to have it back on the road next weekend but I'll see how I get on.