Went to Discount Tire and had a set of Nitto Recon Grapplers installed to get rid of the crappy SUV tires that came with him. Not quite the effect of the Black Widow I thought I wanted so bad a few years ago, but this will definitely do. Especially with my back being junked out – at 6’5″ I can pretty much slide into Clifford with hardly any effort – the Black Widow would’ve been a challenge to daily drive in my current condition. Looks like a dodged a bullet on that front (but, the truck was pretty dang cool… and I hate black rims, but those spoke to me for some reason).

After returning home to find Dave ready to throw something, we finally agreed there was no further progress to be had on our own, so I caved and called Edelbrock Tech Support. The tech was friendly and helpful, and suggested I get a NOID light to check all of the injector plugs… just to rule that out. Well, by the time we got the NOID light, made a harness adapter for it to plug into and checked all the injector leads only to determine we’re right and the ECU is telling the injectors to fire – but they aren’t – we called back only to discover that they punch-out for the day exactly on-time.

GAUGH!!! OK – I guess we’ll call ’em back tomorrow.

I’m not asking for much. Just let the engine run and be happy so we can finish reinstalling the brakes, steering column, rear driveshaft, get the seats set where they need to be, and get the lights hooked back up so I can go get a sticker and re-register by COB Friday and we can take a cruise together in our Jeeps before he needs to leave.

We spent most of today going through everything… and I mean everything. Checked every electrical connection, checked voltages, unplugged & replugged everything, and this sucker just won’t start. I had an appointment to drop off Clifford at West Texas Off Road to get the lift/level kit installed, but even after getting back from picking it up, still no joy.

Well, we heard it run today… kinda. Apparently, the ECU won’t turn on the injectors, despite everything else being set up and connected properly (fuel sump and fuel rails both are loaded up with fuel, so the pumps are working fine). The only thing I can think of is the ECU’s IGN wire needs a different power source – we plugged it into the big red wire on the leftover Duraspark 2-prong plug (tested good for key power), but maybe it’s not on for both ‘On’ and ‘Cranking,’ or is somehow tied to the Coil+ (which the instructions say not to use the same power as the coil – probably because of potential voltage drop).

We heard it run (kinda) because Dave suggested dumping some fuel down the throat to make sure it would even run if the fuel system would let it… and it did… or at least it tried. So, fingers crossed we can get the ECU happy enough to grace us with working injectors by finding a different key-power source that won’t have any weirdness associated with them.

The only pic I would’ve posted for today would be me giving the Jeep ‘The Finger’ on many occasions, which we didn’t get any (probably for the better).

OK, so Dave showed up yesterday and the first order of business was to remove my custom stinger bumper and the 8274 (man, that sucker was heavy). Installation of the Fishbone Piranha front bumper went well, but we wound up a few fasteners short, and needed something a little longer, anyway. After a trip to Westlake ACE Hardware and some jooking about with the bumper and my old diamond plate front frame cover (that Dave had since painted black), we’re done! Honestly, I like the cover painted black better than bright. SCORE!!

Did a few more random things, but didn’t get pics.

Getting Closer…Put the battery in, tossed the steering column in just so I could plug in the ignition switch and column plugs, and started testing for key-power hot leads for the ECU ‘Ignition’ lead, and frame-mounted ‘lift’ fuel pump. Decided to see if the halos are as cool as I hoped they’d be, and I’m not disappointed! Time to check the wiring diagrams to see if the ‘key-On hot’ leads I found are viable candidates.

Got some more wiring done today. Dave turned me on to some cool distribution blocks, so I mounted them last week, and today I was cleaning up the routing of a few wires, and made the battery cables (using the power blocks). Also, got the battery, starter, and ground cables clipped and tipped so they won’t be all over the place and installed. Just a few more wires, toss in the steering column, top off fluids, check everything one last time, and it’ll be time to turn the key to see if this will actually run or not.

Got a few things done today. Pulled the old valve covers, and while I had ’em off, test-fitted the Scorpion 1.7 roller rockers and the fit – WINNER! Re-routed the main and fuel injection harnesses on the firewall to clean up the mess a little. Then boxed up the old valve covers, motor mounts, the old Duraspark distributor, and a few other things to send to Dave.

One bite at a time. Got the fuel injection harness sheathed, routed, and plugged-in (except for the fuel pump and main power). Still need to mount-up and wire a couple of fuse blocks for the new accessories near the ECU (one always hot and one on keyed power), but that’s for another day.

I’m hoping that stray red wire in the top pic (connected to the Duraspark plug) is a keyed power lead – if so, I’ll run it to a fuse block for keyed power accessories (and the bundled-up ‘Ignition’ wire for the ECU). I believe it’s “13F,” with the light blue being “14” on the main harness – so both should be keyed power, if I’m right.

After finding the ECU yesterday, I made it my mission to get that sucker mounted up before I wind up losing it in plain site again. Best place I could find for it without having to bundle a bunch of wiring harness was over on the driver side firewall where the old factory Duraspark module lived. I also adjusted the driver door striker so it would close better, and laid the wiring out loosely where it will be routed for final connection. Tomorrow, I’ll finish up the wiring … See more

I need to figure out what that stray wire is for (probably don’t need it…) and plug those holes thru the firewall (don’t need a hole for the clutch pedal linkage, after all).

AHA!! Gotcha Now!!

I remember working on the Jeep back in September when Dave came to visit having to constantly pick it up and put it down, always getting in the way. Well, we weren’t anywhere close to being ready for it and I specifically remember saying, “I need to put this somewhere I won’t keep losing it under piles of parts and tools.” Well – mission accomplished. I put it in the best hiding spot I could’ve found: right on top of the trunk of the Mach 1 in plain site… and I’ve been looking for it off and on for the past several weeks. Geez, I’m an idiot.