Progress on 6.9

[TJ 450]

There's been a lot happening over the last few weeks...

The heater pipe is a brand new, genuine unit. So yes, the components did originally have that amount of "bling". You can see it just next to where the throttle body normally resides.

Images are clickable for higher res versions.

Partial intake manifold reinstallation:










Prop shaft... new front centreing sleeve and centre support/bearing...









Rear end...





Transmission seal kit...



My bellhousing and stator shaft are being investigated by an MB transmission guru.

Tim

 

[Styria]

Hi TJ450 -thanks for the update. As I have previously said, you're doing a great job and you seem to leave no stone unturned to turn your 6.9 into a really nice car.

Just a couple of things I am confused with. Some while ago, you seemed to have inlet manifold issues - water to be precise. I noticed in one of the pics. that part of the manifold you pictured still seemed to show traces of the old gasket or, a surface still marked by the old gasket. Have you been able to rectify those 'issues' ? Also, I note with interest the 'crap' (for the want of a better word) still evident in the bottom half of the manifold. That's an area very difficult to clean 'at home' - I handed mine to the Engineering Shop who have the right chemical solutions and it came back shining like new. Thanks again for the pics. Regards Styria

 

[TJ 450]

Thanks Styria, I'm hoping it will live up to my expectations.

The problem with the intake manifold leaking water turned out to be due to the fact that the gaskets were damaged by the EGR pipe as well as improper torque on the bolts/screws.

I took a lot of time to prepare it this time, though. Both mating surfaces on each side were cleaned and polished with Autosol, leaving an "as new" surface. I was careful not to remove perceptible amounts of metal and checked the surfaces with a straight edge afterwards. Bolts were torqued up to 20, then 25NM using the spiral method. The same treatment has been applied to the flanges for the sump hoses and the timing chain tensioner flange. I will be most annoyed if it leaks this time, but I'm confident it won't.

The inside of the upper manifold was cleaned out with a borrowed Dremel and gasket stripper. I used gasket stripper and WD-40 in the plenum chamber and a scraper to remove most of the "crap", but not 100% of it. I'll have to vacuum it out again before I install the throttle body etc.

By the way, the rear subframe is now installed with all new bushes, with the exception of the anti-roll bar and brake anchor supports.

The transmission will go back together complete with new friction discs in all the clutch packs shortly. The only issue I'm having now, is with the two drive shafts and whether or not the units out of the spare 450 transmission will suffice. They are interchangeable, but the 722.003 version of the intermediate shaft is slightly stronger looking.

Tim