Recent content by John Mc

I have no idea how long it takes for things in the distributor to build up to problem levels. I'll have to leave the actual education to someone who knows what they are talking about. A lot of people claim the vent lines are for cooling. However, a couple of very knowledgeable people have told...

I hope you are not running the engine for long with the vent lines to the distributor disconnected.

First thing is clean all the related electrical connections including the grounds. Also check the voltage of your battery when actually cranking. A weak battery can often measure at acceptable voltage when not under load, but can drop to unacceptable levels when cranking. If your battery is...

Per the manual, 90 wt oil is to be used at temperatures above 32˚F. If you are operating above that temperature, 90 wt should be fine. The manual recommends 75 wt for temperatures from +40˚ down to -10˚F. This was before the advent of multi-viscosity oils. I the differentials, I use a 75W-90...

I just made my winch bumper out of my original one-piece bumper. (Or rather, I had a local fab shop make it for me - it would have looked like crap if I had made it myself.) We cut the ends off the one piece bumper and added a length of pipe split lengthwise to make the radius at the winch opening.

Funny, I've never liked directional treads... except on my tractor. The only rational reason is that I'd like to have as much traction in reverse as I do going forward so when I get in trouble working in my woods in my truck, I have a prayer of getting back out again. I do find the stock...

Directional tread is getting harder to find these days. You might be able to find some of the older Michelin XL tires in an 11.00R16. The newer Michelin XZL tires are nondirectional. Here's a picture of my Truck which had the 11.00R16 XL tires on it when I bought it. I have since changed to...

The transmission has either brass or bronze (I always forget which) in the synchronizers. The wrong kind of lube will slowly attack them.

You can find capacities for various lubes and fluids in the technical manuals. Here's a table from TM 9-8030, Section 8 Tabulated Data on page 18. Note that there were two different transmissions depending on date of manufacture, each with different capacities (and also a different capacity...

The "1950s metallurgy" does just fine with synthetic oils. There were some problems with early synthetics, but that had to do with compatibility with seals. That has since been addressed, and is part of the spec for modern synthetic lubes. I use a 10W-30 full synthetic in my truck - one made...

Interesting that the coil on MECO's website does not say anything about where it was made, but their eBay ad still says "Country/region of manufacture: United States".

Well, maybe they found someone in the US to make a run of them? That would certainly be an interesting development. If it was black and made in US, I'd wonder if it was NOS. Those are getting harder to find these days,

I was not aware anyone in the US was making coils that would fit the M37 distributor. The only M37 coil I see on the Memphis Equipment site is the chrome one, which is Chinese and known to have quality issues. Did you find something not listed in the M37 section? Peter Debella at Debella Jeep...

A quick search on Amazon turned up a bunch of switches that would work ranging from $10-$15. I suspect your local hardware or automotive store also has some in stock. If you can't find DPST switches, you could use a DPDT switch (Double Pole Double Throw). You just won't use a couple of the...

If you have a stock ignition switch, it’s a double pole switch - essentially two switches, both controlled simultaneously by one knob. One set of contacts feeds the gauges and the other feeds the ignition. If it is malfunctioning, it’s possible to have power to the gauges but not to the ignition...