Replace Front Bumper

ShelterLogic 62680 10X20 Auto (Google Affiliate Ad)

You can tell by some of my earlier pics, that the previous owner had added a chrome bumper which was rusted in some parts and bent at the ends.  I'm not a fan of chrome, so I replaced it with a black powder coated Smittybilt SRC bumper with D-rings.  This was a simply, bolt off and bolt on project that took an hour at the most.  I try and replace bolts with galnvanized bolts whenever possible so that they won't rust in the future.  I must say I really like the way the new bumper looks.  I also removed the old back tow hitch and swing spare tire carrier because they were rusted and bent as well.

New Master Brake Cylinder

First let me say Happy Thanksgiving to you all!  Now if you look at this picture and see the master brake cylinder to the top right (where the spiral brake lines are going in) you can tell it's old.  On one of my many test run's, I noticed that if I was at a stoplight on a hill - I had to press my non-power brakes all the way down with all of my might just to keep it from rolling back.  I though I had air in my brake lines and while bleeding them - I found no issues.  So I said to myself - let me replace this master cylinder and have peace of mind.  After replacement - no more rolling on hills.  There is a kit that you can add between the firewall on master cylinder which is a booster, but I opt'd not to add this because you will have to reconfigure your brake lines to fit the additional length of entire unit.

New Shocks for Better Handling

Traxxas TRA4962 Shocks Big Bor (Google Affiliate Ad)

Sorry I know this is a dark picture and you really can't see the old, rusted, worn shocks under the Scrambler.  I'm sure you can see the little nest that some of those pesky muddoggers made.  Anyway trust me, the shocks needed to be replaced.  Everytime I would hit a bump in the road or pot hole - I felt like my jeep was actually a boat and I was going up and down on large waves of angry ocean.  This was a very simple fix and took about 2 hours at most.  I simply unbolted the old shocks and replaced with new ones.  Each shock and a bolt on bottom and top and thank goodness were not rusted shut.  After replacing the handling of Jeep is sooo much better now.

New Carburetor

So in my previous post I mentioned that every time I stopped at a stop sign or a red light, my engine would stall.  I tried cleaning the carb with carb cleaner, but that didn't work.  Then I ran across an article on the web that instructed me in cleaning out the Ventri Tubes within the carb.  Although I did this, and wasted 1/2 day trying to figure it out, that was a fail as well.  Lastly, I thought - let me just suck it up and buy a new one.  Carburetors range in all kinds of types.  So I opted in getting a lower grade version from Advanced Auto Parts instead of a high dollar one.  I did this because later down the road, I plan on replacing carburetor with a fuel injection kit...but not till way, way down the road.  The new United Remanufactured Car was $299, but I got a $50 discount from ordering online.  So it was really only $250.  I took a picture of all the hoses and connections before I took off old carb (i'm learning!) so I can put back correctly.  After spending several hours on this, it was finally done.  I pressed the gas pedal a few times and it started right up.  I did a little test drive to see if I would stall at a stop sign - and WOW!!!  No more stalling issues.