theksmith 5,874 Posted August 6 (edited) update on the cooling upgrades... to re-cap, Gadget's coolant temp and overall performance up a long steep grade was typically acceptable when it was under 100* ambient. over that and she would get warmer than i'd like, or i'd have to turn off the A/C and back waaaaay off the gas. the new Mishimoto performance v2 radiator seems like it shaved off 3 or 4 degrees. next i removed the Rugged Ridge perforated grille insert and custom vertical strip daytime running lights that i've had for a long time. that change seemed to get me another 3 or 4 degrees cooler. the old look: i really didn't like the way it looked without any insert: so i tried adding a more "open" mesh insert from Custom Car Grills: of course more open to air flow means more open looking, so i don't like it as much as the old insert in terms of just appearance. however... i did several test runs up the I-17 to Sunset Point while it was 109* to 111* in Phoenix and around 104* in Black Canyon City. i wrote out a little script for what speeds and RPM's to hold at various points along the climb, trying to drive it consistently each time. i recorded the engine coolant temps at those points and having the new mesh installed was NOT noticeably worse than having the OEM grille completely open, so the new mesh gets to stay! current results - with ambient temp in black canyon city around 104* - then when i crest the hill just before Sunset Point, i'm now only down to about 60 MPH and the coolant temp will hit a max of 250* for less than 5 seconds before starting to drop. this is with the A/C on the whole time. previously to get the same temp results, i had to turn the A/C off just a bit before the top and would be down to 50 MPH or less as well (due to having to back off the RPMs a lot more). so the new radiator and the improved airflow did make a big difference. i still had to really watch my RPM's carefully on that climb to get these results. i'd love to be able to set the cruise-control to 75 and just let her run up the hill like she did when she was stock... but considering her increased weight and poor aerodynamics, i don't think that is a realistic goal anymore. Edited August 8 by theksmith 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 5,874 Posted September 6 (edited) Gadget took a bit of a beating on our Dusy-Ershim CA adventure! click here for trip report/photos... i just finished getting her mostly all cleaned back up: took a stiff wire wheel on the grinder to the sliders to remove all the new jagged edges sprayed some Krylon satin black on the sliders, wheel edges, and diff covers where the boulders established dominance! inside is all blown out, vacuumed, wiped down, and some Chemical Brothers leather scent deodorizer spray to remove the smell from 4 days campfire and sleeping in there without a real shower! adjusted the drag-link to re-center the steering wheel (tie-rod had gotten rotated up a little) i need a new Nemesis rear passenger fender flare still - might just go to the narrower ones in the rear also still waiting on a replacement passenger mirror from eBay (OEM salvage part) the top did take a few tree hits, but those scratches will probably buff out the next time i decide to get Gadget detailed. my roof rail gas carrier took a good hit too, but just slid backwards a couple inches - i was super lucky it didn't rip off a chunk of the rain gutter! Edited September 8 by theksmith 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 5,874 Posted September 26 crazy nice sunsets this week here in Phoenix - these first 2 shots are directly out of the phone camera without any edits: 5 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dzJeepChic 2,925 Posted September 27 You take the coolest pictures, K. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 5,874 Posted September 28 (edited) spent the weekend out scouting for a future ORP overnight run... there's a trail somewhere in there... encountered a boulder in the middle of the trail on a shelf road area that i couldn't squeeze by. probably could have crawled over it, but i was alone and that would have pitched me really hard towards the edge so seemed prudent to winch. next issue was a tree and a major washout. fortunately i was able to use a creek-bed as a bypass for about a quarter mile to get around those. there had been some MAJOR water flow in the area recently. i walked the creek route first make sure i wasn't going to sink Gadget in some bottomless mud hole. i was in rolling hills for a while after that, so i took the only tiny flat spot i could find (the start of a short spur trail) as my camp spot for the night. had a bright-ass full moon for the evening. climbed up from around 3k feet to over 7k where i had endless views and even a small pine and oak forest. now this part really was just a forest road! found next to a random fire ring, someone had a bath here! tiny but bright flowers. i only scouted about a third of the route i had planned. so watch for a future difficult rated "exploratory" overnight trip in the Superior area - maybe early December! Edited September 29 by theksmith 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
