I've been trying to prep my '78 Cherokee for long-range road trippin'. The only bummer is, as soon as I get one thing done, four other problems crop up.

 So far I've replaced almost everything except the engine on this sucker. I think I can string the factory 360 along for a while, but on a recent 90-mile round-trip voyage to pick up family at the airport I found the interior gets really fumy with all the windows up. Until now the weather has been hot, so I've had the windows down everywhere I've driven. Now that it's cooled down, there's a stench of exhaust mixed with a little burned oil that starts to get pretty thick after 10 minutes of driving at 65 mph. The engine leaks oil pretty good, so I'll start with some new valve cover gaskets. And there's a really noticeable exhaust tick. I'm not sure if it's at the manifold gaskets or the downpipe collector, but I'll have to check it out before I drive it any distance with the windows up.

Oh, and the fuel tank still leaks, so I'll have to drop it again and check the fuel sending unit in the MTS tank.Maybe they left out the O-ring or something. And the T-case still leaks. And the rear pinion seal. And the front axle seals. And the brake combo holdoff/proportioning valve. Actually, it's probably easier to list where this thing doesn't leak.

Still, it was fun driving my vintage Jeep into downtown San Diego. I even got a thumbs-up from a Harbor Patrol cop. Bonus points if you can tell me what kind of helicopter that is flying low over San Diego Bay!