Interesting, I thought the P38 used Connolly hide - just before Connolly went bust in 2002.
That's interesting. I'm just casting about for leather products as I've finished my supply of Gliptone which was excellent but I first bought it a while back. Saddle soap isn't exactly a new innovation in the market :) but if you like it, it must be worthy.
Do you clean the seats before using the saddle soap? If so, what do you use?
Lightstone shows every speck.. and there are some minor cracks on the front seats which look terrible really quickly.
Gotta love consumer AV - always trying to justify the renewal license!
Gilbertd wrote:
Don't know what model it was but a few years ago my neighbour was buying a caravan and asked me what I thought he should buy to tow it. As it was at the time we had the TD5 Disco at work I told him to get one of those. So he went out and came back with a Jeep Cherokee of some description. Went away with the caravan for a weekend and came back with a howling rear diff so he went back to the dealers that he'd got it from, a specialist 4x4 dealers. They agreed that the diff was shot and asked if he'd been towing with it. When he said he had, the response was that while they look like they should be good for towing they aren't really up to it. They refunded his money, he added a bit to it and came away with a TD5 Disco.......
He probably made the mistake of buying a post 2001 "Cherokee" known as the Jeep Liberty or KJ in the US.
They're the Freelander of the Jeep world.
I'm no shed-dragger but the XJ is a reasonable tow car for caravan type loads (like 2000kg) according to what I've read. I'd still take the P38 for a big load.
Ah yes, the colour that people go to great lengths to describe as anything but "Murple" in ads.
It looks good in person though :)
My XJ is Gunmetal Pearl which is nice enough but needs US levels of sunlight to really show the pearlescent paint. Most of the time it looks light grey but in strong sunlight it looks very dark grey and is actually gunmetal to look at.
My favorite colour was the Green we had on our first Jeep. IIRC it was Moss Green which was metallic/pearlescent and showed a very restrained sort of bronze under the green when the light hit it right. The only pic of that Jeep I can find is of the dogs and the jeep is filthy.
Try post #32 on this forum :) https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f46/96-moss-green-pearl-i-love-gas-guzzling-97813/index3/
That sounds insane! How did you not get stopped?
This is the reason we got our first 4x4!
Apart from my wife's 02 plate Golf GT TDI which she absolutely loves (and frankly, it's all the car you really need 360 days of the year) my other charge is a 1997 Jeep Cherokee XJ which I may have mentioned on occasion:
That's it freezing its nuts off outside my old house, ready to go to work. There's something very reassuring about the XJ as it has nothing too complex and everything you need. Live axles, ABS, 2WD, 4WD, Low range and comfy seats. Great heating and aircon too (the yanks can do aircon!)
Lots of bits can break - mainly wires as the harness isn't great quality - but the aftermarket support is amazing. Sadly it's all in the USA so shipping kills it but I love mine. If I had to take someone to hospital, that is the vehicle I'd take.
Mine was converted to LPG by a total dickhead using the wrong tanks and old LPG kit. By the time I bought it, the reducer had gone and the injectors were knackered. It barely ran on LPG at all. It has since been re-converted by another company local to me and then taken to Simon to actually finish the job properly. As ever, I should have just taken it to Simon in the first place!
The engine is the amazing AMC 4.0 litre, affectionately known in the Jeep community as the 4.slow as it puts out between 180 and 210 BHP depending on age and emissions spec. It's plenty for a relatively light vehicle like the XJ which weighs around 1420kg wet. For comparison that's almost 800kg lighter than a P38!! The 4.0 (or 232 cu in if you prefer) is a straight six with 7 main bearings, iron block, iron head and pushrods. It's fuel injected and pre 2000 they run on a distributor. Simple, reliable and re-buildable. Jeep made 6 million of the things and they run pretty much forever. They were killed off in the UK with the 2002 model year like so many classic engines (including our fave V8) :(
To drive, the XJ is nothing like a P38a and not what you'd expect from the outside. It's light, peppy off the line and corners flat. It's also noisy, jiggly and much smaller inside - although I'm OK at 6'4" in the front, rear space is much more limited. The brakes, when in good condition, are Perfectly.... acceptable :) It has rear drums which are a pain in the arse like all drum brakes I've encountered. There's a hiliarous self adjustment facility which needs you to rock the car back and forward a couple of feet 10 times. It works and sharpens up the rears, until you don't bother for a few months and the auto-adjusters seize again.
For towing it is plated at 3250kg which I probably wouldn't exceed without a rear disk brake conversion (you just slap on the rear disks/calipers from a ZJ)
Transmission is the bombproof AW-4 as used in many other trucks including contemporary Toyotas which makes it a bit easier to get service parts. It's a 4 speed. No modes in my year. TC locks up at about 45mph and that's it. The only pain is the lack of a 1 setting. The 2 setting is the lowest and you can sometimes get a fierce downshift when using engine braking. It's not exactly a crippling fault. If you're towing, use 3rd as it's the 1:1 ratio. All UK spec XJs that I've seen came with a transmission cooler. I did have some funky shifting in mine at about 165,000 which was solved with new transmission solenoids for about £70 for the set of 4.
The whole thing is relatively OK on cost. 20mpg UK is the offical stat, which is bearable on LPG. I got just over 50k from a set of General Grabbers, using 235/75r15 which are one size bigger than stock and look better :)
So, that's it!
I usually set off on the Friday, stay with friends on the Friday night and get to Marty's around mid morning, depending on how many horse-farms I visit while looking for his workshop.
I've just had a BBQ, it put me in the mood for some P38 tinkering :)
You never know, if we get a firm list of names, once we have a date we might be able to negotiate with a hotel for a group booking.
He's actually asking for a V8 swap... which wouldn't be impossible!
I need to investigate the Cruise Control (Again!) I think the little pipe needs replacing/extending depending on where the leak is.
Satnav Antenna connectors - and perhaps just try it with a known-good CD.
Just embarrassing stuff I haven't got round to yet!
Hell yeah!
That is exactly 3.8million times better than the last one - awesome work Marty :)
After this lockdown tedium is done, I need to find an excuse to come and ogle it in person!
kultur wrote:
They bought it, they own it, they can do what they want with it. Historically, government seizing land from owners has never been good for the public.....
It's the legislators making laws banning use of green lanes no? Seems like the lobby that wants to ban recreational off road use is a lot stronger than the lobby fighting to keep them open.
Very few of the large landowners bought their land, most of it is inherited. In many cases it has been in the family over 300 years.
But no, there's no danger of any government seizing land in the UK. When land is needed for roads or w/e they have a thing called a CPO (Compulsory Purchase Order) where a value is calculated and the owner has to accept it.
This isn't something that is relevant to offroading though.
Actually we need a revolution to remove the people who own all the land. The Government is powerless against those vested interests.
If you're after car cleaning products, Bilt Hamber are selling online as normal (or they were a couple of weeks back). Quick delivery on the very best cleaning stuff.
RightO, another task for the Lockdown List!
Thanks Richard :)
Today I finally changed out the front grill. The original was in perfect (but faded) condition until a Pheasant tried to fly through it.
The new one has no visible damage with the bonnet shut, but the outer screw holes are cracked :/
Still an improvement, even if it has taken over 2 years for me to bother! Hurrah for Lockdown.... kinda..
Next question: Is the colour coding meant to cover the slats as well as the painted lower part? Both of mine are pretty much grey. Should it be black or green?