Posted by: BrJeeper
« on: August 21, 2026, 11:23:40 PM »Updating with some stuff that happened in the last year and a half + since i posted the original story.
Shortly after that post, I replaced the modern windshield wiper motor with a more appropriate one. I routed the positive wire through a tube, to resemble the vacuum line.
September '25, doing farm work, cleaning some branches on the edge of the fields.
In December, I replaced the bumpstops in both axles. I don't know if they were still the originals, but I can say they were definitely worn!
Also, note the spacer, part #640207. Those are part of the rear PTO kit, indicating my Jeep originally had it!
At the same time, I bought a chain kit for the tailgate (which had been bolted shut previously).
March '26. After a day in the farm. around that period, I began removing some of the military features that dad had added. Gone are the jerry can and the Blackout light on the fender.
Another sunset at the farm, in June.
This week, I did the first major work in a while. The Jeep was parked for most of the past 2 months, but the last 2 times I drove it, I noticed a lack of power, and the temp gauge was rising insanely fast (like boiling within a couple of miles). So I knew something was wrong... Dad noticed some bubbling on the radiator, so we knew it was the head gasket.
We started pulling it at 5:36PM
We found the gasket not really blown, but it was leaking compression from the #4 cylinder into the oval hole in the back of the head (the one that is not in the block, but you can still see the path of the carbon into it). I guess the Leak was not bad enough to let water into the cylinder when it was parked (no signs of water level going down and it didn't hydro-lock), but the compression pressure was enough to push out into the water galleries.
For some reason I'm not sure of, we had 2 new L134 head gaskets in the shelf, so this was basically a free fix.
And finally, 7:23PM (actually the time we left the farm). Head back on, torqued, all reassembled, and tested. Temperatures rose normally, so I'd say it's fixed!
Nando.
Shortly after that post, I replaced the modern windshield wiper motor with a more appropriate one. I routed the positive wire through a tube, to resemble the vacuum line.
September '25, doing farm work, cleaning some branches on the edge of the fields.
In December, I replaced the bumpstops in both axles. I don't know if they were still the originals, but I can say they were definitely worn!
Also, note the spacer, part #640207. Those are part of the rear PTO kit, indicating my Jeep originally had it!
At the same time, I bought a chain kit for the tailgate (which had been bolted shut previously).
March '26. After a day in the farm. around that period, I began removing some of the military features that dad had added. Gone are the jerry can and the Blackout light on the fender.
Another sunset at the farm, in June.
This week, I did the first major work in a while. The Jeep was parked for most of the past 2 months, but the last 2 times I drove it, I noticed a lack of power, and the temp gauge was rising insanely fast (like boiling within a couple of miles). So I knew something was wrong... Dad noticed some bubbling on the radiator, so we knew it was the head gasket.
We started pulling it at 5:36PM
We found the gasket not really blown, but it was leaking compression from the #4 cylinder into the oval hole in the back of the head (the one that is not in the block, but you can still see the path of the carbon into it). I guess the Leak was not bad enough to let water into the cylinder when it was parked (no signs of water level going down and it didn't hydro-lock), but the compression pressure was enough to push out into the water galleries.
For some reason I'm not sure of, we had 2 new L134 head gaskets in the shelf, so this was basically a free fix.
And finally, 7:23PM (actually the time we left the farm). Head back on, torqued, all reassembled, and tested. Temperatures rose normally, so I'd say it's fixed!
Nando.
