And an even stronger finish

Current weather:
Cold as fuck, foggy.  Burton with disaster.
Beware of black ice!

I haven't gotten around to patching that tire, but I'll tell you what I have done.  When getting my ps pump, I also grabbed the correct manifold gasket.  If you aren't aware of how much of a difference there is between the pre-'00 and later ports, check this out.

'00 and later:

And earlier:

I installed the intake and exhaust, for real this time.  No picture since it doesn't really look any different than it did before.  I can say without a doubt that no person without some kind of NASA space gear can get to those manifold bolts with a torque wrench in a way that an accurate measurement can be had.  No wonder it seems like I see so many Jeep folk complaining about manifold leaks.

I also discovered that the hardware stores in town (which all pretty much stock the same selection of sheet and bar metal) carry up to 16GA sheet, followed by 1/4", meaning I was screwed for the 1/8" steel I needed to make my PS pump bracket.  Luckily, I had stock that could be butt welded together and used as a mock-up.

Here's the test bracket laid over the original.  I'm still on the fence as to whether the top portion of the original is really necessary, but we'll see tomorrow, after I get some real sheet from the metal supply I learned about half an hour after they closed.

Here's the old bracket laid over the test.  The only difference between these (aside from the questionable top portion) is the hole pictured on the left:

In order to allow clearance of the PS pump retaining bracket (the big, two-part aluminum cradle) and the exhaust manifold, I pivoted the leftmost hole over 1", which is to say that the distance between it and the top hole in the picture are the same on both the original and testing brackets.  Test fit and adjustment of the pump assembly was great, leaving design and fabbing of the rear bracket to be done tomorrow.

Speaking of brackets, I picked up a 3/8" recessed brass plug for the temp sender port in the tstat housing and checked if the idle pulley bracket assembly cleared after the plug was installed.

It does, but we're still seeing some interference between it and the front corner of the head.  I'll be grinding the bracket a little more tomorrow until it's fitting proper.

All in all, I'd say it was a pretty productive day, after taking into account that it began with a totally flat tire and no spare on hand.  Hopefully the gods are pleased by my perseverance and they'll back the fuck off for a while.