Rinky Dink

Alright, Cover is off and obviously toast. Same with the distributor and timing chain. Seems at some point this cover was in bad shape with corrosion as it has been built up with weld on many of the mating surfaces, especially around the two main water ports. They managed to lose about half of the area of the port. On closer inspection it is obvious the oil pump cavity is worn also.

Moses, The pump bore didn't look too scored. I have not bothered to measure it as it is being replaced. I will be checking the new one carefully. From what I've read, the Chinese castings are missing the cast-in steel sleeve that should be in one of the through bolt holes. We shall see. It is a Motorcraft magnetic distributor. We will see if it is salvageable, hopefully. The ID plate indicates it is an original V8 build. I have not found the block casting numbers. The thing is quite caked in greasy dirt on the underside. Per the head casting #, the heads are of '74 vintage. From what I have read there is no difference with the later heads. Port, chamber & valves sizes are unchanged.

Got home tonight and tried one last trick. Air chisel/hammer against the 7/16ths rod. Nothing moving. Ordered the new timing cover with oil pump kit from Crown. I hope it is better than some of the reviews I have read.

Zinc plated 7/16ths round stock is about 30 thou smaller dia than the .465" pump shaft. Cut a piece about twice as long as the pump shaft. Fits the hole nicely. Tried a heavy hammer. Nothing.. Got out a small bottle jack to push against the round stock. All that did was jack the engine up. Applied more heat. Nothing moving. I'll try the heat again tonight. Seriously looking at a new timing cover at this point. If it comes to that, I'll check the timing chain for wear. R & R as needed.

Brake lines are not so much an issue as the Master Cylinder. Certainly you need to upgrade to a M/C sized for the disks. A later year CJ that came with the disk brakes would probably be fine.

Yesterday, my Rinky Dink Jeep tried to kill me. The on-going saga of my efforts to resuscitate this long forgotten and abused CJ5. After a week or two spent squirting Sea Foam & JB Blaster in the cylinders I actually got it running on Saturday. I had gone through the fuel system completely, from filler hoses to the carb. Everything is either new or re-manufactured, with the exception of the hard lines which were flushed with acetone. Primed the fuel system. New cap, rotor, wires, plugs gapped. Cranked and it fired. It was apparent that the timing was way retarded, as it barely ran at idle and died with any throttle given. Figured to set the timing only to discover the distributor seized solid. "Like a rock' as the Chevy guys would say. Turns out the distributor is also sitting proud of the housing by 8-10mm. It has been sitting like that at least for 10 years, without a hood, in the So Cal Inland Empire. Hmm. Alum on Alum out where the sun and the stars shine. Not good. Anyway, tried all the usual, tapping up, down and sideways. Soaked in JB Blaster. Even the Milwaukee hot air gun. It wouldn't budge. Sat night decided to try the 50/50 Acetone & ATF Miracle cure. Wrapped a shop rag around the shaft and let it sit over night. My restless ponderings while horizontal led me to believe that I needed more heat. Bright and early Sunday AM, with a cup of joe in one hand and a propane torch in the other, I uncover said jeep and dry off the area. I didn't so much as touch the flame to the housing when it ripped off a huge bang. Blew the valve covers off the heads. That was unexpected! Proud to say didn't spill any of the precious from the cup. Neighbor at the end of the street heard the bang and looked in time to see me standing there with a smoke cloud above me. Obviously set off the internal fumes. Never in my 48 years of playing with engines has this ever happened to me. I may be a bit slow but I eventually figured out that the distributor hold down bolt is through drilled into the timing case cavity and I flashed it off, twice. Did it a second time today to a lesser degree. That is when I deduced the through drilling. Sharp as a marble one might say. Anyway.. the damn distributor is still stuck. I rigged up a small slide hammer today and tried popping it. Still nothing. NOW the question; Is it possible to remove the oil pump and drive the distributor out via the bottom??

I was able to find a PDF of the 1979 Factory service manual. http://oljeep.com/gw/79_tsm/79_Jeep_TSM.pdf No question it is a Calif build. The most obvious difference is the exhaust manifolds. 49 state has the air injection on the driver side only while Calif has it on both. Calif also has two cats, one mounted on the driver's side down pipe and the second in-line after the "Y." They also have differing ignition distributors with different part #s. The 49 state has a straight linear advance while Calif has a stepped curve with a final advance a few degrees greater. The carb is missing it's tag but no doubt it is a 2150 without the compensator. I did note that it's main jets are #53 while the manual shows #55. I now need to find that stupid sticker. On a positive note; in my searching I came across a news story stating that a bill has recently passed committee in the Calif state legislature to raise the smog exemption date to 1980! I can only hope.

Hello Moses, Unfortunately this thing has sat out in the weather for a decade or two without it's hood. The sticker is there, just illegible. I imagine I'll have to search for a 304" pollution control diagram for both Fed and Calif for that year and compare them to the existing P/C equipment on the engine. The primary issue is the sticker. Without it, it will not pass the visual inspection. I need a sticker, whether Fed or Calif, makes no difference. I believe either would work. Obviously it came with a Cat. I have looked at the wiring diagram and see no ox sensor. Should I assume it is uncontrolled?

I have a 1980 CJ5 with the factory 304 and T-176 4 speed. I need to make it California compliant. A couple of questions I need answers for. 1) Was there a difference between the Federal and California emissions equipment in 1980? 2) Anyone know of a source for the emissions sticker located on the radiator support. I can't locate the correct V-8 one. Thankfully it still has most of the original pollution control system in place. All it needs is the sticker and a revert back to a 2-1 exhaust with a Cat. Calif now requires Calif specific converters but I believe 1980 was before this regulation.