My Willys 3A and 3B Community
Your Projects => Your CJ-3A Project => Topic started by: squidtone on October 27, 2014, 11:36:48 PM
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[size=14]Readers: The links in this thread have been broken as of July 2017 due to the photobucket debacle. The photos have now been reloaded but can only reside at the end of the posts, which now makes for tough "flow". Posts after page 6 will hopefully look better...[/size]
I threatened to do this...and here it is: a post about this '50 CJ3A I have here. I got the thing for free, which sounds cool but I really just saved it from a trip to the boneyard. The body is really toast but it is complete; it appears to have been a snowplow rig all of it's life. Despite it's condition, I'm going to attempt to fix it (as shocking as it might seem to the Southwesterners.) Perhaps many of you have seen some amazing tub reconstructions on this (and other Jeep) forums, so I think it's do-able.
But before I drag it out from behind my shed, (I'm waiting for the grass to go dormant) I thought I'd start in the powertrain department. The engine the CJ came with was filled with water and I'm sure it's a goner.
see picture 1
So I sourced a replacement engine from a craigslister a couple years after getting the CJ in 2006.
see picture 2
It had a bulging and cracked head (presumably from freezing), but it turned over nicely and the son/father duo said it ran really well. I took a chance and bought it. And now, finally, it's time to see what I've got.
My goal was to just fire it up on a stand without any fuss. Well there's been fuss, but it has been fun. I used the original 1950 radiator (had to desolder and do rust repair to the mounting flanges), and mounted it to my "stand" with the shroud.
I got some help from the tech section and plumbed in some new oil lines and detailed an oil filter for it. I noticed the head bolt nuts were loose while fitting the filter bracket, so I tried to torque the nuts and one of them broke. BLAST. I removed the head and drilled out the stud and replaced it. I put the cylinder head from the CJ onto the engine because it had no cracks. It is an industrial head, and needed sand blasting and detailing, but it fit up nice.
see picture 3
Since I had the head off, I was able to see that the block bores are still "STD" and look pretty good. The valves have massive slop though, and one exhaust valve is obviously different. I noticed the intake valves had odd springs on the "tulip" end of the valve...I've never seen such a thing.
see picture 4
I sourced what was supposed to be a Delco 10si alternator from Pepboys to make this a 12V engine. The part number (Lester number) says it's a 10si, but it's obviously a 12si. Oh well, it's a better alternator, and it fits nicely. I made a mount with some scrap steel, and used the generator adjuster strap by connecting it to the waterpump bolt. I had another post in the tech section about using the generator pulley to accomodate a wide belt, but I lucked out and found an old solid steel alternator pulley that I was able to widen on a lathe and swap onto the alternator.
I wanted a charge indicator (idiot) light so I got the 3 wire style alternator and used an incandescent bulb/lamp from Radio Shack. I wired in a fusable link to the alternator output. A simple toggle switch turns on power (through the indicator lamp) to the field terminal of the alternator.
I wired the ignition coil wire with another simple toggle switch to supply battery power to the coil. (I didn't have a 2 pole switch around; so I just used two separate switches for ignition and charging)
With everything fitted up, I poured coolant into the engine and immediately coolant gushed out of the waterpump. Dang. I bought a new Airtex pump from Amazon.
Despite the leaky pump, I thought I'd at least try to fire the engine for a quick test.
It was a bust: I never even got a pop. I tested everything every step of the way and I got spark. I kept re-trying, and never got a pop. I gave up and went down to my parts store and bought a new coil and points. New coil, nothing. New points, BINGO, engine fired up instantly. However, it didn't run so good, so I was fiddling with the throttle and trying to mind the oil pump gauge. In those few moments I noticed I was getting spattered. I thought it was the leaky waterpump (and radiator) so I didn't look up. But after a moment I realized it wasn't coolant, it was oil. Gaaaah, oil was POURING out of the oil pump housing, and the fan was blasting it all over me, the engine, and the floor. What a mess! It took me an hour to clean everything up. I gave up for the day and waited for the new waterpump.
see picture 5
Next day I got the pump and fixed the oil filter lid. I got the engine started again but I had a * of a time to keep it running. I started to mess with the "progressive starter" (solex-speak for choke) and got the engine to run by itself.
So, all in all, the engine sounds great. Here's a video:
http://youtu.be/WdwnfoIc530
So I must figure out this odd Solex. I have a frozen/stuck Carter W-O that was on the CJ when I got it...just not sure if these things can be brought back from the grave. So that's it for now....[reason]reparing picture content[/reason]
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Interesting! . . . you and I appear to be starting on very similar projects.
Your beginning paragraph sounds almost exactly like something I would write :) . . . nothing fancy, free, body is toast but complete, snowplow rig, engine filled with water . . .
Difference in projects - > I am starting with body, and will deal with engine later.
I will be watching with interest. Hopefully we will both be driving our revived '3A's sometime this year.
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Great post, keep them coming...
A key element to jeep fever is when you just happen to have a spare engine that you picked up a few years ago.
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Hey Squidtone,
Nice report and I am looking forward to seeing more of your progress.
What did you do with the old generator? I am in need of one for my rebuild. I would like a 12V but I can get a 6V rewound. You can private message me,
Thanks,
Tumbleweed
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I spent a bit of time on this Solex carb by taking plugs, caps and jets (that were accessible without taking the carb off or dissassembling) and blasting them with carb cleaner. I also shot some cleaner in the central brass fitting in the throat. They're all easy to take off with some various metric hex wrenches.
see picture
I had to make a custom brass fitting for the fuel inlet.� The stock one had an unknown straight thread, and I didn't have the fitting for that, so I made up a solid brass block that the banjo bolt can go through. I put a 1/8 NPT in the side for a hose barb so I can use rubber hose with a filter.
I fired it up and wow what a difference; the thing idles beautifully now with no choke necessary. There must have been some dirt in some passage. So it runs really nice at least as far as idling and revving with no load.
I'm itching to pull the Jeep from out back...busy this weekend, but maybe the weekend after...
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Excellent....you are a talented fellow...
How's that L-134 sound without a muffler? Video?
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Nice write up. Good to see another 3A rebirth! Save them all gents! Save them all!
Tim
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Heh.
That's funny; yesterday I had a need to hear it without a muffler too....I really don't know why.
So 1955CJ-5, per your request, I made a goofy movie on my phone of the engine without a muffler.
Disclaimers:
A caster on the cart was making a racket by vibrating at low RPMs,
the clutch is making a slight knock (throwout? friction disc off-centered?)
I never ran it long enough to get it warmed up.
And it ran out of gas.
http://youtu.be/wuGbXccia10
[btw...How do you embed a youtube video on this page]
athawk11. Heh. I have been watching craigslist, and jeez, I want to go out and gather more CJ stuff. There's so much out there and I'm afraid it doesn't sell and consequently gets scrapped. I want to save them.
I spent years getting a very deep knowledge of GTO's. So now I've been trying to learn all I can about flatfenders. It's frustrating as the info is more "fragmentary" than musclecar info. I also note how CJ3A's do seem to get short shrift compared to other Jeeps. Odd.
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I like it without a muffler....a little like a 1920's biplane at idle...
The engine sure sounds good otherwise, if you ignore the rattling caster.....
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This whole thread is awesome! THANKS
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Thanks Kirkski...
But whoa this thread is going to be glacial compared to "JeepFever"'s thread!
I did goof off a little today though...I didn't pull my Jeep out from behind my shed (where it has sat unmoved since 2006) but I did start cutting more snowplow business off of it. I sprayed down everything I could get with PBblaster. I loosened all the lugs...
The only left hand threads found are on the left rear wheel...should I bother getting the left front back to left hand threads?
Here's the demo work underway:
see picture 1
I also started in on the fenders. I was shocked to find that I got all the fasteners off for the driver side with no breakage. They all unscrewed. I get the feeling that these fenders have never been off the Jeep. There is Luzon red under the fender washers.
see picture 2
And there is some sort of welting (sp?) fabric under the flanges on the frame mount area.
see picture 3
Neat. I think it's cool also that Willys used some fine thread fasteners for the fenders.
The hat channels are 80 percent gone. Nothing there. There are remnants at the front, and there is still wood in there. Those fasteners I'm sure will need cutting!
So this work pace will be more leisurely; maybe more fun tomorrow.
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Squid,
Look up and get ahold of the 3A book written by our own Bob Westerman.� �He has done a terrific job of gathering information relating specifically to the 3A.� For reference and history, there is nothing better.
In the book, you may even begin to understand why details of the 3A seem more scattered than other flat fendered Willys.
Tim
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Tim,
I do have Bob's book. I bought it 2 or 3 years ago, and I've read it through a couple times. It boggles my mind that all that information has been gathered! It's going to take a while for all the information to steep into my system....
Another book I actually really like is for all jeeps, it's title is:
Jeeps, the Unstoppable Legend" by Arch Brown. A fun read and lots of Brook Stevens work is highlighted.
I also have Moses Ludel Jeep Owners Bible and Jeep CJ book. His Jeep Owners bible is okay, but covers too much stuff with not enough detail. His CJ book highlights work performed on a CJ-5 with an F-head. It's ok.
I think I will seek out the Jeep Universal service manual, I just have to figure out which one is good.
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I'm glad you have Bob's book. I think you would agree...A very comprehensive look at the 3A.
While reading it, I get the sense that Willys had "more important" things to deal with than the 3A.
I have Moses' book too. I agree with your review. A little short on detail...not enough on the L-134.
I do have a digital copy of the Universal Jeep Manual. If you want a digital copy, send me a PM with your email, and I'll send it to you.
Tim
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Thanks Kirkski...
But whoa this thread is going to be glacial compared to "JeepFever"'s thread!
But you have a running engine !!� :)
Unfortunately,� I think my project is going to be slowing down soon,� lots of other commitments are falling behind� :'( as I spend time in the garage.� � I might have one more decent week.� :)
.
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Well, between weddings, movie screenings, and trips to Boston, and dang cold weather, progress has been scant. However, yesterday's weather was a gift. I was able to give it an instant lift by jacking it up from being sunk into the ground. I put some boards in the ruts and it gained a few inches in height! I managed to pull off the Koenig half hard top. Unlike the fender fasteners, many of these were permanently fused, and required grinding. That top is heavy too. I tried to fold the windshield forward and was rewarded with a snapped shoulder bolt. Gah.
I've been doing this demolition hidden away behind my shed because frankly I'm a little embarrassed to have it be seen. I really don't want to explain to non Jeep folks why in the heck I'm messing with this hulk. I must admit in the past week or so I've had some introspective moments on what the heck I'm doing with this thing. But I have had experience of being overwhelmed on a car project (the GTO I did) so I know if you take small bites at a time, it will get done.
And so far the nothing in regards to the frame, suspension and steering gives me any pause. The body, on the other hand, will most likely need complete new fabrication from the cowl back.
see picture 1
Tomorrow I'm going to make inquiries about getting a couple 4x8 or 4x10 sheets of 18 gauge cold rolled. I can't really financially swing a new repro rear floor so it'll have to be flat sheet. It's a bummer because I'd really like to have a factory style beaded floor. But considering what I'm starting with, it'll be fine. I think 1x2 tubing for "hat channel" will serve well too.
As I mentioned, the tool box is toast too. Eh, who knows, I might try to fabricate the inner lip where the seal goes. I just noticed in this photo where my missing wrench is...there's maybe something poetic about me not noticing a wrench on the ground as viewed from a vaporized tool box "floor".
see picture 2
I'm fabricating a steering wheel puller right now...I tried a wood 2x4 contraption I duplicated that I saw on the CJ2A board, but it got shredded by my puller, so I'm making a 3/4 thick aluminum plate unit....
So hopefully the body will come off next weekend after I get the steering wheel off, and I will pull the chassis into my garage and go to town.� I'll be able to work in the evenings with light and heat!
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It is fun watching your thread. We are in similar situations.
Rear floor: I did purchase a repro floor, but will probably put in a rubber pad (like my '2A), so nobody will see the ribs, except me, when I pull the pad for cleaning. ;D
I wonder sometimes why I am doing this also, but I am hooked.
My plan is to modify the floor to M38 removeable plates. It appears by doing that will mean the steering wheel does not have to be removed when pulling tub from frame.
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Thrashed around a bit more this weekend. I dragged the Jeep out from my backyard due to impending snow. I got it into my garage and managed to grind off the remaining body bolts (there were only a few left anyway), remove the Harrison heater and disconnected everything in preparation for removing the body.
see picture 1
My son's Mazda had a big brake failure so I spent the whole day on that thing so I pushed the CJ out front and got a shot of it:
see picture 2
I got his brakes done so he helped me lift the body off.
see picture 3
The thing is crazy light so we simply carried it out back to where it has resided for 8 years. It'll be out of the way there while I clean up the frame and get the drivetrain set up.
I love seeing odd things and wonder what folks might have to say about them:
What is this big button thing on the corner of the shifter cover plate? I think it's been there since day one? Sadly I broke it while trying to remove it...I guess I can fix it.
see picture 4
So I've started to scrape pounds of gunk off the transmission and transfer case. The buildup on top of the skid plate is at least two inches thick. Bleah it stinks too.
The frame is in amazing shape. I see no cracks. More scraping and cleaning will tell me more. Onward.
Dave
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Hi Dave,
The crud stage.� Gotta love it.
The little button is your foot rest.� It is standard, but a bit goofy. �:D�� �I don't think I've ever rested my foot on mine.
Tim
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What is this big button thing on the corner of the shifter cover plate?
I wondered the same thing, amazing what you learn on this Forum!
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I moved the "foot rest" over to the other side below the high beam switch where it can actually do some good. It can give a feel for just where the left foot is in relation to the HB switch, as well as keep my boot from wearing the floor paint in that area.
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Nice progress . . I wondered what that button was also.
I was also hoping to remove body from mine while my son was home this past weekend, but I want to get the floors roughed in first, and was not ready.
Glad to hear the body is light.
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Glad to hear the body is light
I've seen numbers in the 210-230 pound range for the tub only.
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With two people removing the tub is a breeze. I had my 100lb wife help me the first time. I just pulled my M38 tub alone last week and it was a considerable chore. So much so that I would never do it to again to a tub that I cared whether or not it got scratched and dented in the process.
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Well, as you can see, the tub is probably lighter by about 30-35 pounds due to the absence of floors!
Oddly enough, the front driver side metal hat channel was essentially gone, but the hard oak insert was damage free, just stained. It's actually a beautifully crafted insert for the hat channel; chamfered edges, and nice burr free holes for the bolts. I think I'm going to hang it up....
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I've managed to deconstruct the Jeep almost down to the frame. I uninstalled the drivetrain and stirred up about 15 lbs of sediment consisting of oil sands and mouse pee that covered the transmission cases and skidplate.
The rear half of the frame and suspension is pretty pocked with rust pits, but still no real damage. The front half is fairly well preserved from the oil vapor it was subjected to over the years of operation.
I've already torn two pairs of jeans from catching the edges of the rear crossmember. That crossmember will draw blood, so I tied rags on the ends while I dance around this thing whilst coaxing parts off.
see picture 1
I believe the shocks are original because I found the lower tubes of the rear shocks have these little rock guards which I wouldn't think aftermarket units would have. Some of the cotter pins are one with the shock mounts though, so I just cut them. I'll work on cleaning out the holes. I had hoped to re-use the shocks, but a couple of them don't operate so well.
see picture 2
The tie rods and bellcrank are tight, but I still want to remove them so frame cleanup will be easier. I hope to not damage them upon removal.
I have hit a roadblock on the u-shackles however, I cannot budge a couple of the bushings. I know about the left hand ones, so I know I'm going in the right direction. I am going to post in the tech section in hopes for some advice.
So, I'm getting the wire wheel grinder ready, and I heard the tractor supply sells sandblast sand. I've got a weenie Sears sandblaster, but it still is super handy to have. If more snow holds off, I'll spread a tarp and see what I can do.
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Nuthin' Fancy update:
As noted above, I finally got the Jeep into my garage so I could take the thing apart. This definitely is the worst part of any automotive restoration: So much dirt and rust and grease.
The disassembly proceeded with bagging and tagging of everything, even if it was no good; I know it's always good to keep it all for reference when the Jeep goes back together. While removing the springs, I did have a hard time with the spring shackles. Some of the shackles were frozen and didn't even pivot. A couple of the threaded bushings were frozen into the frame as well. However, wimpy propane heat helped� (along with a cheater breaker bar) and I got all the bushings out of the frame.
see picture 1
I was going to leave the steel strapping on the frame horns, but the ugliness of them got to me, so I did some cutting and grinding to get the strapping off. Here I've started to cut it off.
see picture 2
I didn't know what i would find, but it appears as though it was added to the frame as a preventative measure (for the snow plow rig) as there is no damage to the original frame. Careful cutting and cleanup revealed really nice frame horns.
see picture 3
I wirewheeled, sandblasted and sanded the frame so it's ready for Master Series silver primer. On the rear parts of the frame, there is pitting to be sure, but it's a cosmetic issue, and I might make some effort to fill the pits when paint time comes.
see picture 4
It's a nasty job cleaning everything up. I have been "suiting" up with thermal underwear, full mask, goggles, ear protection, and a hat along with my 4 and 4.5 grinders and attack parts. Actually doing this in 20 degree weather works out well because the goggles don't fog up.
The rear spring packs were rusted solid but in the interest of keeping this just a fun low cost project I decided to take them apart to see what I could do. They all came apart fine with no broken leaves, so I spent some hours sand blasting, sanding and wire wheeling each leaf. There was so much orange rust dust I think the weather radar picked up the clouds...I came out orange too...what a mess.
see picture 5
The rear springs are quite pitted, so we'll see how they do when put back into service. They do stack and slide smoothly now though.
I've gotten the brake system all taken apart now too. It seems as though it must have had a new brake job right before it was permanently retired; the shoes and springs look new, and three out of four wheel cylinders look new on the inside. I did have to drill out the bleeders though...rusted. Thank goodness for carbide drills...I think the tips of bleeders are case hardened. I managed to save all the wheel cylinders. Whoever did the brake job didn't know what they were doing though, half the brass eccentrics were either missing or in some cases they put them on the outside of the backing plate as washers for the nuts on the lower eccentric bolts. I made eccentrics with a cnc instead of buying new ones.
see picture 6
One of the drums is bent however, so I've put in a plea for a used one in the wanted section.
I did have to buy one eccentric bolt from Walcks (as well as pinion and wheel seals, knuckles seals, and all brake hoses.) I've also procurred all the shackles and bushings from an ebay seller, and all the axle u-bolts I need from Stengel Brothers suppliers. Searching around Amazon I found master cylinder (raybestos) for 37 bucks.
Even at this early stage, I look at what I've done and am thankful I've got alot of the dirty work out of the way. I look at the frame sitting on the garage floor and it kind of amazes me how much better everything looks with just some elbow grease.
see picture 7
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Lookin' good!!! :)
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You have determination and a desire that is commendable. Most people would not save that jeep and just part it out and junk it. You'll have to name it something special. Good work! Driving and tuning it will be a rewarding experience. John
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Nice work on the eccentrics. Your frame looks to be in good condition.
I'm a fan of the Master Series products too. Did you use the Silver on your other projects?
Tim
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Thanks guys.
Tim, yes I am a fan of the Master Series silver. I used it on my GTO. I like how you can see it seep into crevasses. Some batches are higher viscosity than others...I actually like when it's rather thin. I like that it is NOT like POR 15. It can be sanded, it does not form a hard shell that moisture can get under. That's what scares me about POR stuff.
Only thing I've noticed: don't apply in cold weather. It will not stick, (or more likely it does not cure properly). So I try to use it only in summer. I'm going to wait to coat all my parts until at least a warm spell in March or something.
I also bought a gallon of epoxy primer and a gallon of "Hot Rod" semi gloss black from Summit racing. Their paints (at least the stuff I bought) is Kirker brand. I've had good experience with Kirker paints. And the Summit version is very inexpensive.
Today I've been cleaning and straightening the crossmember and skid plate. I just purchased a 12 ton press from HF. WOW I can't believe I've gone this far in life without this kind of tool. I've used it everyday for a week!
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I've had a busy half year so far, so it's been very slow for Willys work. However I did get the frame and some parts coated with the masterseries primer.
I also checked the frame and found that it was splayed out in width at the fixed spring hangers for the front springs. I believe it's because the snow plow on my Jeep had a lower mount that was clamped to the frame in that area.
It was splayed out by about a half inch, mostly on the driver side (as measured to centerline of frame).
I figured I'd have a go at straightening it myself, and conveniently enough there is a great point to apply force: the rear spring hangers themselves. I bought a hardened piece of 1/2 threaded rod and spanned it from one hanger to the other also filling the gap of each hanger with washers.
See picture 1
I installed nuts on the rod and squeezed the frame together by an inch. The steel is quite springy and as a check I released this pressure to see if I moved anything. No movement yet, so I tightened the rod nuts again to squeeze about 1.125" and then used a sledge hammer to apply more "nudging" force on the driver side (since this side was more out of line than the passenger side).
See picture 2
I released the rod nuts and everything looked beautiful and within spec.
I hope to paint the frame in the next few weeks, and consolidate all these parts hanging around!
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Very clever fix. Nice.
Tim
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Yes very clever....
And it's a proven fact that assembled jeeps occupy less room than dis-assembled jeeps!
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Thanks guys. It worked out well.
Next up: Frame paint. I painted the frame and lots of bits and pieces, including the spring leafs. Wow what a job. It took alot of paint too! I have a gallon of epoxy, and a gallon of Kirker Hot rod black. I used up a third of a gallon each for this stuff.
But it came out pretty nice. The Kirker urethane paint is almost hard to get runs; good stuff.
See picture 1
I painted the axles too, and I intend to re-hang them on the frame and refurb them installed. (new seals and stuff).
The leafs came out nice, and after the black paint, I sprayed them with graphite paint (EZ slide from Tractor Supply). I made some spring wrap/clamps from some sheet metal as some originals were destroyed when taking them apart. All in all the original springs looks good!
See picture 2
I also did a stud conversion for the knuckles. I used the button head cap screws as seen in Moses Ludel's book. I spotfaced the backside of the bosses inside the knuckle with a radiused endmill, and used 3/8-24 BHCS (modified by turning the head diameters and head height down) to install from the backside.
See picture 3
Some threads were damaged so I heli-coiled them. It was a bit of work but I believe it's a definite upgrade from original (there were actually some broken coarse thread bolt bits in some of the holes I had to remove)
I noticed a thread in the Rants forum section by Carlsjeep on how he came across a knuckle upgrade to 1/2 bolts....but I'm happy with my grade 8 3/8 fine thread BHCS!
So next up is to assemble the leaf springs and install the axles. Looking forward to getting the frame rolling again!
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Since almost two months have passed, I'm posting an update on "Nuthin' Fancy".
After getting the frame and bits and pieces painted, I began the process of putting it all back together. I was very happy with the how the leaf springs came back to life after the grinding and sanding and new paint. I made some new wrapper clamps and they look good!
See picture 1
Some time was spent on the knuckles with the stud conversion. The balls on the axle do indeed have to be notched to make way for the stud heads, but not by too much. You can see where I made a marker trace where I have to notch:
See picture 2
I made a template with a 27.5 deg angle to set the max turning angle. (My front axle has both a rzeppa and a plain cardan joint, so I went for the middle of the road 27.5 degree angle). This was where I realized how terrible the Willys steering is. The steering arms are actually anti ackerman, and of course the steering links are really bad as far as bump steer goes. These CJ's definitely were not made for handling manners!
In another thread I mentioned that my Dana 25 was grenaded at some point. It seemed to have a mismash of parts, and indeed I found interesting king pin caps with the Ford script on the pin tops:
See picture 3
Since it's definitely not a WWII axle I'm thinking a kit must have existed with leftover WWII parts to do the kingpins.
Since I was concerned about what vintage the front axle might be, I checked the knuckle kingpin bosses to see if I had the bottom offset cast in, and indeed I found this can be measured from the ID of the counterbore where the split seal goes, to the boss surfaces themselves. So in fact the bottom boss is thicker by 0.058".
See picture 4
I purchased new king pin bearings from a bearing place on Amazon. The knuckle bearings were 5 bucks for both cup and bearing. We'll see how they do over time.
See picture 5
I actually got far enough to need to put some wheels back on. I wondered about the wheel color, so I sanded down to see what was under the layers. I was pleased to find that they were indeed the cream color (to go with the Luzon Red body) with the Red pinstripe. I love the fact this thing still has it's original wheels.
See picture 6
I also found that the transmission had a cast date of 7/17/50 which matches up nicely with the other July dates on this July built CJ3A.
So, this is the state of my garage right now:
See picture 7
Thoughts of body work still haven't pervaded my conscious mind yet. I hope to have the drivetrain up and running in the chassis in the next couple of months!
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This is exactly the same way I am beginning to proceed with my '50 CJ... great write-up with lots of interesting information. My original idea was to sandblast the frame and then use POR15 after all the cutting and welding was done but thanks to you I have another choice. I have used POR on a couple of my previous projects and it held pretty good but did not like tithe idea that it got so hard that I could not work with it.
Keep up the good work...
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Looking great!
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Thanks Dre and Kirkski.
Just installed all the brake lines and bled 'em, now I've got brakes!
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I am enjoying the thread. Thanks for keeping us posted.
Lots of good info here.
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Overdue update:
I sorta kinda burned out for a while. I've been trying to keep up with my regular household stuff, and daily driver stuff. (All our cars are over 10 years old, and it's quite a task to keep me and my kid's cars running....[i'm the mechanic for the family])
But when I get some time, I still really enjoy getting something done on the CJ. Last time I checked in, I had finished the brakes. I was really pleased I got it done with a very low budget. I did have to buy a new master cylinder and two wheel cylinders, but I managed to rebuild two wheel cylinders, and re-use most of the hardware and brake shoes. JeepFever (of this forum) helped me by sending me a needed front brake drum, and I ended up swapping drums around as well as using some new studs to get the Willys back to all LH studs on the left, and RH studs on the right.
See picture 1
A neat set of Chrysler lug nuts finished it off. (There are really low cost lug nut kits [sub 20 bucks] offered for 60's Mopars that have the correct size and thread for Willys Jeeps offered on eBay.)
I made up all new brake lines by hand, and managed to flare everything with an odd assortment of old flaring tools.
Anyway, all the brakes finally got assembled and they work!
See picture 2
See picture 3
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My Ross steering box internals were still bathed in pure (if not old) oil, but I still needed to replace the bushings. I used a brake hone to size it to the sector shaft. The tie rods and links needed only cleaning and repainting. The steering seems good and tight.
I dreaded the transmission and transfercase work because they were so encrusted with greasy dirt.
See picture 1
But after some extensive cleaning sessions, I got them on the bench and separated. After all these years I still had never cracked them open to see what they looked like inside. I was so very happy to see they look really good. I took the Dana 18 completely apart to inspect the bearings and re-seal the whole thing. The intermediate shaft does exhibit some wear, but I'm going to see just how it does before committing to any replacement.
See picture 2
The T-90 looked so good, I didn't take it apart. I cleaned the exterior and painted it.
See picture 3
The trans and case were reunited and I dropped them into the chassis. The propeller shaft u-joints looked original, and they were still fine, but the seals were gone. I replaced them. The slip yokes are astonishingly still good.
So a takeaway for anyone looking for an old Jeep is to find one that had a top on it! It keeps the water out of the transmission!
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See picture 1
I finally was able to put the engine into the Jeep, but not before doing a spray can rebuild. (haha). If you'll remember, I bought this as a running replacement for the frozen engine that came with the Jeep. So in keeping with the budget, I'm just going to run it as is for now.
See picture 2
With that engine deal, I got the seller to throw in a fairly new exhaust system. In my typical nitpicky fashion (and also because I have the tools at my disposal,) I cut and spliced the intermediate pipe quite a bit to really fit it to the Jeep perfectly. Note how I changed how the pieces "clock" to each other. I think it fits way better than if I had let it be as supplied.
See picture 3
So that's it. I'm populating the engine now in hopes of getting a running chassis soon.
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Spring update:� The frame/chassis refurbishment is almost done. I got the exhaust done and then filled all fluids, greased every zerk, and installed a goofy 1 dollar swap meet lawn mower gas tank mount up near the grille. From my scrapped, beloved Dodge Dakota I saved the passenger seat and fit it to the CJ3A for testing purposes. Let me tell you it is luxurious; it has full forward backward and seat recline adjustments. I wish I could run Dakota seats permanently!
See picture 1
When I had the engine on a "stand", I had made a preposterous, ugly "instrument cluster" which I re-used for the Jeep. I simply mounted it up high with scrap on the back of the bellhousing. It's got a switch for the alternator field, and a switch for the coil. Oil and Temp gauges finish it off. Below is a picture on how I rigged up the gas pedal as well as the base for the "instrument cluster".
See picture 2
I wired the Jeep up with the harness I made for the same engine stand. I'm not sure if I want to go with the expense of an original style cloth wire set up, or perhaps a really neat and tidy wiring harness by myself with some modern components such as relays (I'll keep all that hidden).
I got the Jeep started up and ran it for a few minutes, but the original radiator was just not going to make it. I made a post in the tech section about installing an aluminum radiator in place of the original. It works fantastic, and while it is a rather glaring deviation from stock, the low cost and super performance won the day. I'm still pondering my lower hose solution here...
See picture 3
During the first few episodes of chassis tests, it was evident that the engine was running way too rich. The Solex carb was wet with gas on the exterior. I purchased a Holley regulator and temporarily put it inline with the intake fitting on the solex. I adjusted it for slightly less than 2 psi and it runs so good now. It starts right up with the Solex "starter", and is a bit balky when cold, but when it's warmed up it runs super.
See picture 4
So my son helped me made a gopro video and I put it together in the past couple days:
[media width=800]https://youtu.be/YcGeAcq5zqA[/media]
I did score some parts from a young craigslister with a modified CJ2A (a really nice rig) with a ton of leftover, extra parts. I scored a new signal stat directional, a good Dana 25 and some NACO tail-lights too. 80 bucks for all. The Dad tried to get me to take away more parts (including a Dana 41 with 11" brakes) but I stuck to my budget.
Bodywork next!
See picture 5
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.
Very nice!
This reminds me of your first post, our Jeeps were practically twins at the beginning. I chose to do bodywork first, but it sure would have been fun to first get a running chassis like you did ;D
I have enjoyed all your posts, hopefully our "twins" can meet up one day.
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JeepFever,
Oh yeah, I do remember how similar our Jeeps looked when we started. I thought it would be easier to re-do the body with it on a running frame, but now I'm not so sure. I'll have to store my chassis outside while I work on the body in my garage. I guess I'll get some tarps!
It would be cool to meet up with the Willys! Probably need an overdrive though!
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My thoughts on doing body first was that I HAD to, because if I tried to lift Hoover's tub from frame, it would fold in half. ;D
Again, keep us updated, your posts are very informative and an inspiration to those of us following close behind. :)
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The tub is in the building.
After driving my chassis around a bit, and using it to pull out a big bush from my backyard, I've parked it "behind the shed" where I hope it will survive for a while as I turn my attentions to the tub.
Here's a shot of what I'm starting with:
pic 1
And yes, JeepFever, I think my tub is worse than yours! See the absence of rear floor? The only wee patch left can be seen in the next picture behind the driver seat area.... There also is no floor or hat channel on the front passenger side either.
With a big gulp, I chucked up a 5/16 drill bit and started drilling out every spot weld holding the tub together behind the cowl.
I separated the sides, rear tailgate opening metal, wheelhouses, as well as the various braces inside and out.
pic 2
pic 3
I actually want to keep the wheelhouse tops despite their hammered condition. I intend to beat them back into shape as much as I can, patch them, and weld 'em back in. I think the slight "beaten" look, along with the front bumper will add to the cool factor of this old machine. To me, it doesn't have to be ding and dent free, but it has to look very well cared for and brought back to it's utilitarian/spartan look. Well, that's my theory anyway.
It was actually "freeing" to take the tub apart....it was so floppy and terrible, taking it apart somehow makes it seem more manageable. But it IS still scary, or perhaps daunting on what work must happen now.
I made some drawings at 1:12 scale and printed them out so I could lay them out on a 4x8 grid....to most efficiently cut out all the metal I'm going to need.
pic 4
And I bought some steel.
pic 5
I'm going to use the 1x2 tubing for hat channels.
Here we go!
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You are correct - > yours might be worse.� ;D Looking forward to your posts!
We are on the same page in so many ways.� �I like dents :-[.� . .� but only because I am going to paint with flat color.� �;D
Just re-read your post . .� you used your chassis to do some work??� �That is SO cool !
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I've been cutting sheet metal. I decided to make all my panels at once rather than as I go. Since the rear of the tub is going to be extensively repaired, I wanted to fit it all together as best I can with everything laid out on the floor, with the old stuff right there to compare. I've made everything with stuff I have laying around: plywood and clamps, snips, hammers, etc. I did purchase a nice sheet metal shear from harbor freight. Lots of feet of cutting 18 gauge made me want this tool. Well worth it. For forming flanges and edges, I used some small pieces of angle steel in some cases, but I used wood for most everything. As many of you know, most wood will fail when trying to hammer 18 gauge metal around and edge, but I have some scrap "Ipe' which is basically a South American ironwood. This stuff is harder than rock. Amazing stuff. I cut the shapes I needed into it, and hammered the metal to these shapes. For the huge wheel opening, I spliced three pieces of this ironwood together.
Here's the layout of the side panels:
pic 1
I had access to some small slip rolls and I was able to roll the rear tub curve into the side panels.
pic 2
Here I've sandwiched the curve in a template to make the bottom flange. I sliced the metal close to the bend so the deformation would be easier. Keeping the slices away from the bend zone make cleanup easier after welding.
pic 3
I made a template to keep an eye on the curve shape as I made all my bends.
pic 4
Here's the wheel lip form.
pic 5
Things came together well...the curves are just about perfect and the wheelwell tops fit good. You can see my new tail light panels here too.
pic 6
Here's a mockup
pic 7
I used the rear floor from my dad's old Dodge Dakota. I cut and spliced two ends of the floor together to maintain the tapers of the corrugations. I don't think I'd do this again...too much welding.
pic 8
And here's all the parts laid out. I forgot to include the front floor pans...but I made those too!
pic 9
I've also welded up the "hat channels". I'm going to start there....cut out the old front floors and start splicing in the new stuff there....
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Wow!!!!! Nice work.
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Very, very nice!!
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Belated thanks for the comments!
I tried to fiddle with installing floor pans onto the tub (as it sits loose on the floor), but it's so floppy there was nothing to reference to with certainty. So I decided to get the chassis back into the garage and throw the forward part of the tub onto the frame. I uninstalled my gauges, mini gas tank, seat, and steering column. Kinda sad I will miss tootin' around with it....but getting the tub will be that much more of a priority.
I clamped down my rectangle tubing "hat channels" and placed the tub onto them. Now I can form fit the front floor pans and weld up the channels. I've posted a question in the tech section about what kind of insulators I should factor in (thicknesses).
see pic
So thanks again...I'll continue to have fun here....
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I too found it helpful to rebuild the tub (at least a portion of it) while on the chassis. Especially while "placing" the hat channels.
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I have been away from '3A site for a while.
Love it! . . amazing work!!!
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Belated thanks for the comments!
A somewhat limited update: I can't believe how much little time I've had to mess with this over the summer. I've made very slow progress, but, I'm a slob, so the jeep junk just lays around along with the tools, so I can pick up tools and start in at any time so even a few minutes work can be done at a time.
After making the front floor hat channel braces, I needed to make the center hump connection, and I was able to save my original. I made some plates to integrate the hat channel original to the rectangular tubing. Welded it up and it's nice and strong. the center hat channel is heavy gauge!
pic 1
I reinstalled the almost unwieldly hat channel sculpture and started to measure out the floor pans.
pic 2
The bottoms of the cowl braces were pretty bad, so I decided to cut them out and replace them. I didn't have a chunk of 16 gauge so I bought a small overpriced piece from Tractor Supply and fabbed up new pieces. The originals had folded tabs on the bottoms, but since there's no question this tub will be 70 percent replacement, I just welded up a solid bottom. Here it is almost ready for welding.
pic 3
The problem with taking a tub apart this far is not having very good reference when putting on new patches and parts. I decided to fix up the fenders to a point so I could bolt them on and get the cowl positioned correctly in the fore/aft position. (Yes, there are the two vertical tabs that hang down from the cowl firewall braces, but I didn't trust them by themselves to locate the cowl.)
My fenders were in pretty bad condition with the driver side being particularly bad. The brace was mostly holes and it rotted the fender itself too. But I was determined to just fix it.
pic 4
I drilled out all the spot welds and then used a section of rectangular tubing and also welded flanges on the sides to make it look like hat channel.
pic 5
I patched up the fenders enough just to bolt them onto the Jeep and fix the cowl position.
pic 6
Just grinding off all the rust powder and flaky paint makes things seem much better. I had to pound the inner fenders back into shape as someone beat out a section to make room for plow bracing. I still have to cut out sections of rot and cracks to fix 'em up.
pic 7
I've laid in the hat channels, fit up the floor pans, and I've measured and adjusted and measured, and I've drilled the mounting holes finally, and then laid in the riser and rear floor, and I'm pleased even my diagonal measurements are right on the money. I am going to take it all apart and prime up pinch weld areas, then put it back on and start welding the tub together. Hopefully my pace will pick up!
So the little Jeep kinda looks really cool to me right now. It's got the look of a spartan, tough vehicle. In a way I wish I could keep it with the funky patina. But I love the idea of a flat fender with a beautiful Luzon Red finish too. But that's a way off!
pic 8
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squidtone Impressive work, I really enjoy your post. While I am working on my tub at the same time, its almost comforting in my mind to note that others are doing the same. And when I see work like yours and others here, it really helps me get focused.
Thanks
Kirk
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Hello Jeep fans!
Fall Update:
I've had some dry spells in the late summer with no Willys work for weeks on end. In the past month or so however, I was able to get some rear floor and wheelhouse work done.
If you'll remember, I had made up a new rear floor with a chunk of pickup bed floor from my old Dodge Dakota. It took alot of work to get that made; I think Dodge used a pretty tough alloy and it was tough to make the bends/flanges. But after lots of prep (grinding and sanding) I laid on some epoxy primer and then welded on some side to side braces ( using the same 1 x 1.5" rectangular tubing I used for the hat channel replacments.)
pic 1
I welded both the rear valence and front "riser" to make a complete rear floor assembly.
pic 2
Next was rebuilding the wheelwell housings. These things were hammered, bent, and rusted.
pic 3
But that's precisely why I wanted to save what I could...I love the "patina" (but not rust holes).
My intention was to patch without messing with the "beading" on the tops, but it soon became apparent I couldn't avoid it. I ended up making beads in the most crude way you could imagine: bending them up in a bench vise.
pic 4
And afterall, the patches didn't come out too bad. Examination of the original beading indicates they were made with old worn out tooling anyway...easy to match!
Here's the other wheel house partially welded and test fitting the side sections...
pic 5
I finally welded them all up, ground down the ugly welds, blasted and primed the braces and welded them in too...
pic 6
pic 7
The wheel houses fit up nice to the body. I'm ready to weld them in, but I want to make sure my tail light panels are ready as I think I'll weld them in at the same time. Hope I get some warm-ish weather so I can epoxy prime some more bare metal. I love winter but it's not good for painting!
pic 8
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As I view your project, that old adage comes to mind...
"When there is a will, there is a way."
Terrific work! 8-)
Tim
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Wow, great work! Fun to watch, and gives me ideas.
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Tub fab update.
I have been fabricating and fitting panels and patches all over the tub, all at the same time...so it all comes out kind of "even"...I don't want to commit to any one section until all my fabricated panels fit together as they should. The cowl, front floor square tubing and rear floor were bolted down to the frame and I started to� build up from there. I partially welded in the rear wheelhouses after confirming their size and fit.
see pic 1
I also welded in the front floor pans to the floor riser, and partially tacked them to the cowl toeboards. And I decided to fabricate the floor hump because it was easier to do without sides in the way. To do the hump, I had to purchase a toolbox from Amazon in order to be sure it would all fit together. (common theme: make sure all this stuff fits together)
The OMIX ADA tool box as delivered had some problemsand required some evenings of metal work. The full toolbox report exists in the "tech" part of the CJ3A forum.
The complexity of all the curves and planes of the hump dictated I build it up in pieces. I started by making the top and flanging the shifter opening. I used the toolbox to help suspend it at the correct elevation. I made paper templates then started to simply piece in sections with tack welds as I went.
see pic 2
I felt like I was making a model of the Uss Zumwalt.
see pic 3
see pic 4
The rear quarter curved section slits were welded and then massaged to make all smooth. I decided to weld the tail light panels and quarters together before installing, and I made some body mount flanges too.
see pic 5
The driver side quarter fit perfectly first try, so I screwed it into place. The passenger side was more complex because of the spare tire mount and associated brace. I purchased a new mount and fabricated a brace out of rectangular tubing rather than use a hat channel piece. This was a bit fussy making it all fit with original dimensions.
see pic 6
I test fit the brace but wisely did not weld it in yet....
see pic 7
When fitting this passenger quarter to the Jeep I found that the lower rear corner stuck out to the rear by about a quarter inch. Laying a straightedge along the back valance reveals the corner standing proud.
see pic 8
I believe I must have not "rolled" in the curve perpendicular to level when I was man-handling the piece in the slip rolls. I could not let that be so I resolved to slice the quarter up to fix it. I drew a line to mark my intended cut, then using my cut off wheel in my 4 inch makita I made the cut and pushed the corner forward so that it is now flush along the back.
see pic 9
With the back flush, I tacked the lower corner to lock it in place, then made another cut to slice out the overlap wedge of metal. I didn't slice all the way to the bottom until I had a few tacks in place to stabilize the position.
see pic 10
see pic 11
see pic 12
Of course this meant my beautiful inside spare tire brace was too long so I cut that and shortened it as well.
see pic 13
Finally I put it all back together and fit the new spare tire mount, put the quarter on and screwed it to the "tub".
see pic 14
Next I started finishing the fit of the front side patches. I'm still working on them but most of the old metal has been cut out, and I actually re-used the side flanges of the original steps and butt welded them to my new panels. I still need to make the little flaps at the front and back of the flanges. Right now making a punch tool for the oval drains too.
see pic 15
I'll post soon I hope with more updates...
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Very nice handiwork
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Thanks Kirkski. I think most people think we're all nuts fixing up rusted Jeeps, but I enjoy this stuff. I just had success making my side drains using a fixture I made (I've never done any press fixture before), and I just had to add to my post...I showed my wife and she kinda absently said "neat", but I need to show someone!
I made up a pair of forms with aluminum stock; one is the receiver side with a fillet shape, and the other is a top piece to keep the sheet metal from deforming. The plug is meant to be pressed through so it has a fillet lead-in shape to help bend the metal as it gets pressed through.
see pic 1
I marked out the position of the drain hole, then cut out the center leaving enough for the flange.
see pic 2
The two forms were clamped onto the sheet metal. (ignore the counterbore holes; they were just what was in the scrap aluminum stock)
see pic 3
(the C-clamps were too big so I switched to smaller overcenter clamps) Then I put the set up into my press and put in the plug.
see pic 4
I pressed it through but found my plug was not big enough, so I made a sheet metal shim to wrap around the plug and pressed it through again. It pressed the flanges much better against the form for a more "crisp" shape. I was quite happy with the result.
see pic 5
If i had to do it again I would not make my "receiver" form fillet as big....the original has a sharper folded flange. But I'm quite pleased it came out pretty good. If anyone wants to borrow the form rig, just let me know. It's a bit fussy to use but it worked pretty smoothly.
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I've finally gotten to the milestone of getting the tub welded together (mostly). As noted in my previous post the last parts I made were the forward side pieces. I test fit those and trimmed them in preparation for butt welding and the factory style lap weld where the front and rear side pieces meet.
see pic 1
I prepped all the floor and wheel house parts with epoxy primer, then punched holes for plug welds. I then installed the sides with screws, then proceeded to weld most of all the plug welds. Some welding will have to be done when I can get the tub off for easier access.
see pic 2
see pic 3
see pic 4
So the sides, wheel wells, and front and rear floors are all tied together now.
I had expected to make the top flanges of the tub with square tubing, but I decided to try trimming off the original flanges from the removed rotten sides. There was some bent areas on the driver side, but I was able to smack out the bends and get it pretty straight.
see pic 5
I left about an inch of side material in order to clamp it to the new metal.
see pic 6
I then cut through both new and old to make a "fitted" gap for butt welding. I'm currently cutting a little at a time and temporarily screwing the flange inner metal channel to the new side metal.
see pic 7
I have to be very careful cutting so it's taking time, but so far so good. I'll remove them once fitted and sandblast them, then weld them in. I'm happy I'll have the vestigal top edge flanges on this mostly all new metal tub. More to come!!!
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Nice approach on those top flanges. I like it!
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I'm happy to report that I was able to match cut the top flanges to the new side metal, then remove, sandblast, prime, reinstall, and tack them back in. The inner strengthening channels didn't get cut and I was able to temporarily screw the new sides to the inner channels with little sheet metal screws before tacking. I'll weld the screw holes when I'm done with the butt welding.
see pic 1
With the flange tops fixed in place, I welded in my repaired "L" brackets to the sides/wheelwells, and my homemade "V" plates that tie the forward and rear sides together.
see pic 2
The originals were too far gone. I taped the seams to the floors to prevent too much grinding slag from getting stuck in there. I will seam seal them soon when the welding is done.
I had been avoiding the front fenders because they are in really bad shape. I did do some repairs a few months ago, but they still needed complete "rebuilding" of all the overlap areas; they were severly rusted. I started with the easy repairs to the lower edges...
see pic 3
The corner areas where the tops and backs meet also needed pretty much complete replacement. So I fabricated each section, welded it together separately, then cut the bad parts off the fender and put in the replacement sections.
see pic 4
Each fender area where the wide overlap flange bolts to the tub was bad, so I made those too. I used 18 gauge and I'm pretty sure some of the fender metal was a thinner gauge. But 18ga. is what I have.
see pic 5
The edges that are around the wheel opening are folded around a heavy wire and crimped, so I made those separately by getting some welding rod and folding sheetmetal around the rod. I cut them to shape and welded them to my patches. In this picture I've got one edge tacked in...
see pic 6
MIG welders are not the neatest so I've got alot of grinding to do. Not my favorite thing to do. Here's the passenger fender mostly fixed awaiting grinding.
see pic 7
The driver side fender front was torn and damaged which allowed the fender to slant away from being "flat". So I made a new corner where it bolts to the grille. THere's another sheet metal sandwich there too.
see pic 8
So the fenders now bolt on and are pretty "flat" and look better than they did when I picked this thing up 10 years ago.
see pic 9
I still have big issues with oil canning and warpage from all the damage they had and the weld heat damage I've put into them. I'm not so sure fixing these was the greatest idea. Not the greatest payoff for all the work that I put into them. On the other hand, I don't know what repro fenders look like, and after seeing the repro tool box fit and finish, I guess I'll just content myself that these will do. I'm a little nervous that some of the metalwork on this Jeep is wonky....I guess I've definitely tracked away from having a real "straight" sheet metal Jeep. I'll keep toiling away on what's left and see what it looks like and go from there. My hood is pretty dented and has stress cracks, although it has no rust. We'll see. Thanks for looking...I'm still having fun on this project!
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I think you work looks great, after painting mine I as well noticed some areas that were a little "wonky", but I am satisfied.
I am actually pleased that my Jeep isn't perfect, I don't want a source of contention with my grand kids. I want them to crawl all over it and enjoy it.
I feel I have struck a perfect balance for that
Nice job!
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March 2017
I've made some slow and creeping progress, and I was kind of torn on what to post. I think sometimes I'm putting up too much boring stuff, but then I think maybe it's better to post too much than too little. Sooo, the tub is in the final stages of the major repairs getting welded up. I fabricated the tailgate opening surround by cutting up some Stanley "barn door" track which is used for large outbuiding doors with trolly wheels. I bought a piece at tractor supply as I didn't want to travel to the metal supplier and then hassle trying to bend it into a right angle. This stuff fit the bill fine. I cut pieces to shape and welded it together. Bonus is the track is galvanized...
see pic 1
I welded the surround in with plug welds.
see pic 2
I came close to welding in the toolbox but at the last minute I knew I'd regret not putting in the two louvers. I made "forms" with scrap aluminum which
allowed me to pound the louver shape in with a wood form and hammer. The wood form is on the left.
see pic 3
Before fitting the forms, I slit (note the marker line) the louver opening with a dremel tool cut off wheel.
see pic 4
Once the slit is made, I clamp on the top and bottom form and just pound the wood against the metal to form the louver. Here's the one on the side:
see pic 5
I made up a toolbox gutter drain and welded it to the rear riser. I filled the gaps of the drain with thickened paint to seal it up. The toolbox is now
welded in.
see pic 6
The tailgate was in decent shape rust-wise, but the hinge pin welds were broken. I took them completely out and sopped the insides of both top and bottom
rolls with master series primer, then welded the hinge pins back in. I also had to completely reweld the top rolled flange as all the spotwelds were broken.
It's thick metal and taxed my poor little Lincoln welder! Anyway, the tailgate sure shows alot of character and I kinda like it. (Also note I scraped down
the hood with a razor...the hood must have had body work at one point and it's got very thick red oxide primer. It will be a bear to remove...)
see pic 7
The rear top bow pockets were in really tough shape and one of the tubes was gone. I made new tubes with pieces of EMT conduit (which was the exact same
size) and welded the tubes to the brackets. The body was prepped and then the brackets welded to the tub.
see pic 8
I also welded in the original tailgate chain brackets. I didn't have much experience welding anything except sheet metal, so it was a learning curve to
weld thick stuff like this.
see pic 9
After a break, I went back to the front fenders and finally finished them up. I was avoiding taking out the passenger side brace, but there was some soft
spots so I ended up doing that and patching the fender, blasting and patching the brace which included getting rid of the wood and welding in spacer tubes
so the bolts won't crush the brace when bolted to the frame.
see pic 10
The brace is welded back on the passenger fender:
see pic 11
Here's the driver front bolted on...it's pretty much done.
see pic 12
Both fenders ended up with huge "oil can" issues on the tops. It was really bad and I was ready to give up on them. In desperation I performed a shrinking procedure on them with a propane torch. Using propane seemed to be universally condemned in my research, but, it really worked well for me. To support the "pro"-propane cause I'm making a video for folks with nothing to lose! I'll post it soon...
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Very nice.....definitely some "deja vu all over again" for me in that fender repair :)
Wish I had known about those butt welding clamps you used in a earlier post when I did mine.....you should put a picture of them in the "useful tool" thread...
http://www.cj3apage.com/cgi-bin/3Ayabb26/YaBB.pl?num=1406777226
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Squid,
Nothing you're posting is boring. Not for a true Willys enthusiast. You do really nice creative metal work. It's fun for us to see how you solve common problems.
And remember, this thread is also a documented time capsule of your personal efforts. Years from now, you may enjoy looking back through it. It will also inspire and encourage others that initially think their own project is too far gone to restore.
Tim
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Thanks Tim,
It's funny...I definitely get odd looks when people see what I do to rescue this old stuff. My brother is completely mystified why I waste my time on this old Jeep. We are both "motorheads", but he just doesn't get the flatfender thing. I can't help myself. Ha.
And shifting gears (so to speak) I did post the video about taking out the "oil can" problem on my fenders. I was astonished this worked as well as it did.
[media]https://youtu.be/cLfS6MhTHcw[/media]
I'm drilling out the spot welds in the hood today. I have to take it completely apart to fix cracks. I'll post again soon...
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1955CJ-5
Thanks for linking to that post about neat tools. The very first one is something that I just recently could have used, and never knew it existed. I made some gaskets for my GTO waterpump swap and sure could have used that punch kit. I'm gonna get one...
Dave
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I tried and tried shrinking with a mapp torch, with limited success....but, I did not know about the step using the hammer and dolly....Is that a shrinking hammer and dolly, or just smooth?
Thanks for the video!
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Hey '55,
No it's a plain ol' smooth hammer and cheapo dolly. Some years ago I too tried without success to shrink some sheet metal on my Pontiac with a propane torch and it scared the heck out of me when I saw a huge bulge form. I gave up and didn't try it again until this Jeep front fender situation.
So recently, I thought I'd research the internet on how to do shrinking with heat. Most everything I found (disregarding the "shrinking discs") use oxy/acetylene for a heat source. Well, I don't have oxy/acetylene and wanted to use propane. Most information was sketchy and incomplete. Many seemed to imply that metal "shrinks" just by heating it up and cooling it down. If that was the case, propane should work like oxy/acetylene, which it doesn't.
After thinking about it, I believe what really is happening with the oxy/acetylene method is when you heat a dime size spot dull red, a small, localized hot bulge forms and you create a large temperature gradient. The hot bulge imparts an expanding force upon the cool, stable surrounding metal. Since the hot metal is weaker, it succumbs to the resistant force and thickens in the bulge area. When the hot spot cools to ambient, the work zone takes up a smaller area...it shrinks!
But, if propane is used for for this passive heating/cooling technique, it takes too long to heat a spot to a dull red, and in the meantime, more heat spreads out far, and your localized "bulge" is so large you aren't going to get the compressive forces from the surrounding cool area; basically the large affected zone absorbs too much of the opposing forces.
Logically however, we can help things along in thickening the bulge by hammering the heated bulge flat. The hammering compresses the large area to thicken the work zone. So it's no longer a passive technique, but it helps things along. The downside of the large work area is having to move the hammer around alot which inevitably creates a dimpled surface. You have to go in after it's cool and fix the texture with more hammer/dolly work and/or slappers.
So that was my theorizing anyway. And it seemed to work for me! Many out there in internet land seemed negative on using propane, so I made the video to show that oil canning can be removed with propane heat.
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Thanks for the explanation....my fault was probably with heating too large an area...and no hammer/dolly work...
I watched some of those youtube videos.....acetylene is probably the answer....at least they make it look easy...
Randy
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Wow really nice work !
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Havent been on here in forever ...I redid one in 2013-2014 (1947 CJ2A) that was in about the same shape...yours is coming along great...I am in upstate NY (Albany NY) so I know the feeling with all the rust and such...keep on digging for sure...looks awesome from here...
MikeC
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Amazing work!! My project Hoover has stalled, no regrets there because life is good, but you sure have me salivating to get back to work. . . . So inspiring what you have done!!
Keep posting . . you can never post too much. haha
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Hey folks here's an update...more metal work:
I pulled the hood from my shed and started to clean it up to assess it's condition. And it was pretty bad. The hood
had been caved in a few times, and the center flange was stretched and cracks progagated away from that spot.
see pic 1
Also most of the spot welds holding the two halves together were broken and it just sagged in place. I drilled out the
spot welds and also removed the rear brace so I could completely fix it all up along with new coatings. Earlier i
commented on how this thing had thick red oxide primer and now I'm kind of thinking this was original? I saw no
evidence of prior repairs (filler or dent repair).
see pic 2
Once apart I replaced the stretched flange sections and welded the cracks.
see pic 3
see pic 4
I welded the hood halves back together and noticed the straightened hood now had some huge bulges.
see pic 5
see pic 6
I kept going and welded in the newly coated rear brace. The hinge was almost rusted solid but some sandblasting and
working it back and forth freed it up fine.
see pic 7
Once welded completely I had to tackle the huge oil can issue. I tried using my propane heat method but it was slow
going and I couldn't get all the bulges out. I ended up cutting long slits in the forward part of the hood which
revealed how much stress there was...the slits closed right up, I recut the slits to get the proper weld gap and
welded them back up.
see pic 8
After this the hood was flat although hideously ugly with fine textured "tool marks". The forward part of the seam was
still floppy so I welded it to where the flanges begin (about 3 inches). Not stock but stronger now. I cringe when I
see folks sitting on these hoods...how do they not cave them in? They're so weak...
The welding on the brace curled the hood up a bit at the rear corners so I still need to do some tweaks there, but
overall the hood will cut it. A skim of filler should get rid of my hammer work. This hood was the biggest challenge
and took a ton of hours. Still, my labor is cheaper to me than a new hood!
After that I tackled some of the easy stuff...I drilled a bunch of missing holes for the footman loops, and found the
original panels were excellent for finding the positions for some holes such as the spare tire wood anti-vibe "brace".
I started another thread about how I found holes for the spare tire wood block on both sides of the Jeep, and we came
to the conclusion it's possibly because someone goofed up and used a passenger raw stamping for the driver side. Eh,
who knows, but I ended up using the driver panel clamped to the passenger side to transfer the hole locations....
see pic 9
I cut off the gas tank strap brackets from my old panels and welded them onto the new tub too. I purchased a new OMIX
ADA gas tank and fit that in as well. I am using conveyor belt rubber for body mounts and I can use this same stuff
under the gas tank too.
see pic 10
It's about 1/4" thick and works great. That gap will also allow room for the bolt head for the body mount under the
tank (although I ground it to about half thickness for more space too).
see pic 11
see pic 12
I very carefully measured and remeasured the position for the gas tank filler panel and finally welded that in. There
was enough play between that panel and the body opening to adjust it for best fit around the installed gas tank neck.
see pic 13
I also started to go through all my boxes and pull parts out for sand blasting. It's surprising how good some of these
neglected parts came out....they're ready for more decades of use...
see pic 14
The windshield is the last major job and it's in rough shape.
see pic 15
The biggest problem is the sheet metal at the top...it's rotten from having a hardtop flange overlapping the front,
and it needed replacement. There is a strip that I presume is for a soft-top, and that was also rotten. It popped off
rather easily. I see that these are being reproduced, but Walcks is out of them. Also, some don't come with the
backing piece, although that would be easy enough to fabricate. Anyway, I carefully drilled out the spot welds and
made some cuts to remove the bad section.
see pic 16
see pic 17
continued next entry....
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The patch must have a "z" shape folded in to serve as the windshield gasket flange. The offset is 1/4" or so, and I have access to a cheapo bender, but it can't do two folds that close together. So I did it by hand with wood.
see pic 1
I didn't have a long enough piece in my leftover sheet metal to make it one piece, so I made two and welded them together.
see pic 2
Then I cut out the shape and test fit.
see pic 3
see pic 4
see pic 5
Welding it up.
see pic 6
Since many of the piece-parts are blasted and primed I am putting some stuff together and test fitting. It looks like a Jeep kinda sorta...
see pic 7
Working on seat frames now, then probably get ready to remove the tub and finish all welds, and add some strengthening plates under the seat legs, center soft top brackets, etc. Also thinking about how to wire this thing up. I may just completely build it up, then take it apart for paint at the end. Be back soon I hope!
Dave
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[size=11]June 4th, 2017
Fun projects lately. I've been assembling the Jeep which is fun because I can see the Jeep as a working complete vehicle rather than a pile of dirty parts. I've never driven this Jeep, and never sat in it either since it was such a revolting mouse habitat. As I indicated in my last post I was thinking of taking the tub off to finish welding it up and perhaps starting the paintwork. But I don't have the budget right now so I'm going to just put the thing together. Probably better to do this now since all systems need to be COMPLETELY redone (fuel, wiring, interior bits, etc, etc)
The first thing for me was to repair the seat frames. These seats still had their spring sets and covers, but the mice claimed most of the jute and carried off alot of the gray vinyl.
see pic 1
I got the driver seat in with no issues and drilled in the floor holes for the legs. I ended up making new "feet" for both seats...these are the rear tabs that sit on the edge of the rear floor. The originals are simply an "L" shape but don't offer good support and I had some cracks. I see from Bob W's book that Willys changed to two strut legs in '52 or '53, so I duplicated that.
see pic 2
The passenger seat did not fit into the new floor/toolbox config. I suspect the OMIX ADA tool box I put in is not the same dimension as the original, so the front mounts sit farther back by about 3/8". So this means the seat won't settle all the way onto the wheelwell tab. You can see here that to settle in against the rear wheelwell the front pins are forward of their intended sockets.
see pic 3
I decided to cut the frame tubes and remove 3/8" of an inch.
see pic 4
I welded them back together and the seat fits perfect now.
see pic 5
I got some conveyor belt rubber and made up all my body mounts, and installed them (minus a few I can't put in until I get the tub off to drill holes).
see pic 6
I also did my final fitup of the gas tank. Since I was there I got some 1/4" brake line and made up my gas line. In order to fit this up, I had to drop the exhaust, remove the brake and clutch pedal set up, and also the front fender. What a domino effect. I got the fuel line all beautiful, got some nice line clips, and some slotted screws, and put in the line (still need the insulator stuff for each clip).
see pic 7
I had hoped to re-do the original flexible fuel line fittings at the pump end, but I could not find rubber fuel line in this size to re-use them, (a sort of compression type fitting set)
see pic 8
Instead, I simply made my own inverted flare fitting with a barbed fitting end for now and I put in a 1/4 rubber fuel line to the pump. When fiddling with that, I surveyed the pump that was on the block and confirmed that I had been running it (during my chassis testing) with a huge leak that pumped gas right into the engine. The engine oil is full of gas. I was avoiding investigating this because these combo gas and vac pumps are pricey. Even the rebuild kits are crazy. After looking into it further, it seems that a fuel pump listed for CJ3B's will work fine, and the 17709.03 OMIX unit is less than 80 bucks, it's just not correct for a 3A. I can't justify a completely correct resto so the reasonably priced 3B pump is fine for now.
When I took out the pedals, I decided to fix the brake pedal slop. I ended up buying bronze bushing stock from McMasterCarr and boring out the pedal in order to bush it with the bronze. A 4" length of this bushing material was 16 bucks.
see pic 9
The bush needed honing after to fit over (the new) pedal cross tube and I used a wheel cylinder hone to get it to size. It worked pretty good.
I also fabricated a clutch cross shaft rod with clevis rod ends to replace the simple double
ended "L" rod.
see pic 10
see next entry...[/size]
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[size=10]I started to inspect the gauges and in particular was wondering about the speedometer condition. I salvaged the old speedo cable and wirewheeled the rust off it, then cleaned it, straightened it, and hooked it up to the speedo to see how it worked. The speedo was very jumpy, and since the glass was dirty inside and out and the bezel was rusted, I thought I'd take it apart.
I carefully unfolded the bezel flange and managed to get it apart no problem. It was in perfect condition inside, but I was glad to be able to sand blast all the parts with the delicate internals removed.
see pic 1
The internals seemed fine and I think only needed the bushing cleaned. I flushed it out with alcohol and noticed that this unit has a simple brass plug on the cable boss with a wick hole, so it's easy to re-lubricate.
see pic 2
I used Singer sewing machine oil. I chucked the cable into my drill and the unit works super smooth now! I polished the glass with some Mequiars super fine paint polish and it's ready for some paint and reassembly.
see pic 3
I've started to think about the electrics, and I'm making plans now. I've cleaned and tested all the old switches, and it all seems good. Even the gas gauge works. I believe I've found a way to modify the Signal Stat 900 (to add directionals) I have to work the front parking lamps with a single filament. I'll make a detailed report on how I do this. That's the May update! Hope to post again soon![/size]
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July 16, 2017
I've made some headway on the re-wiring. With some books on car electrics and some internet research I came up with a fairly simple, modern system that is mostly hidden. Initially I was thinking of keeping it mostly stock, but I had converted to 12V already, and I thought if I did make this Jeep a snow plow rig, having a rugged electrical system would be best. Basically I'm adding fuses to everything, and using relays for the horn, lights, as well as one relay for an accessory only fuse panel for turn signals, and future stuff like a heater blower motor, etc. I did some shopping on Amazon and bought a pack of relays, some fuse blocks, and wire. I had some single row terminal blocks laying around, and I used them for now, but I'll convert to double row when I rip the Jeep apart for paint.
I used an aluminum plate to serve as the fuse "panel" with some feed through holes and locations for my terminal strips.
see pic of panel layout
There's not behind the dash as far as mounting locations, or wire routing space for the matter. So I got creative and made 4 bracket arms to spread out to various locations to mount the panel. I put it up underneath on the driver side, completely out of view, but easy to get to to inspect fuses or relays. I also made a small steel rod traversing from the middle of the firewall over to the panel to simply zip tie my new harness to and keep it from interfering with the parking brake, gauges and speedometer cable.
see Pic of panel with brackets
see Pic of panel installed.
I got a 7605 IC along with some capacitors, and made up a 5V supply for the gas gauge. The heat sink is simply through a standoff into the panel. The regulator is only for the gas gauge.
see pic of 5V regulator
And, with the inspiration from athawk11, I made up my own battery clamp. I cut strips of some 16 gauge steel and hammered and bent some shapes, drilled some spotweld holes and welded it up. It came out pretty good! And it looks old school. I even made a strap to connect to the passenger fender.
see pic of battery hold down...
I'll update when I get the turn signals and lighting done....
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[size=12]September 23, 2017
Hi folks. Busy summer, work has been sl-owwww.
However, my first cut at the complete wiring job is done. Happily, everything worked right off the bat. I'll touch upon a few things I didn't mention before, and then get to the basics of the re-wiring.
First thing I did for the hoot factor (pun intended) was to wire up the Autolite horn. A while ago I rebuilt the horn as a fun little side project. I made a monster 1 ohm resistor with some nichrome wire to drop the voltage down to about 7V or so. I put the nichrome "resistor" into the horn body and insulated the wire with ceramic beads to be safe with the resistor heat during use. Before bolting it all back together I cleaned the contacts with fine sandpaper, painted the external parts, tuned it, and it works pretty good!
I re-used the horn button and switch which were in fine shape. One thing I always wondered about is how the wire doesn't wear out from twisting around in the column when you turn the steering wheel, but it appears that the contact simply slips (rotates) as you turn the wheel keeping the wire from twisting. Seems to work.
And I've now got that classic "beep beep" sound.[/size]
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[size=12]After the fun part, I continued with the install/upgrade by filling my panel with relays for the horn, accessory fuse panel, and the high and low beams. There are two fuse blocks on the panel, one "always hot", and one for accessories. I used standard (ugly) 14 and 16 gauge pvc jacket wire. I regret not getting a proper pallette of colored jackets with tracers. Better yet would have been braided stuff, but plain wire will do for now.[/size]
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[size=12]I had to do some head scratching to figure out what I wanted to run as any later decisions would alter where all my wire routing would be. First thing I did do was decide about how to wire the starting circuit.
To ease the clash and harshness of the starter pinion gear on the flywheel (due to running it at 12V instead of the proper 6V), I decided to integrate a Ford style solenoid. Doing this allows me to jam the starter pinion into the flywheel ring gear via the foot pushrod without elecric power. Once jammed in there, I turn on the starter motor by turning my replacement ignition switch to "start"(new one has a "start" position) to power the solenoid which then powers the foot switch, which turns on the starter. Starter pinion clash and "stripping" seems to have ended with this mod.
The solenoid is mounted on the passenger fender and the input stud is the new tap-off point for power to the "always hot" fuse panel under the dash. In the first pic you can see where I attached the alternator charge wire, positive battery cable, and the 10 gauge wire that goes to the fuse panel. In the fuse panel picture above, you can see the other end of the 10 gauge wire is installed onto the right hand fuse block stud. On that "always hot" fuse block stud I also ran the "sense" wire for the Delco 10SI alternator. It's best to put the sense wire to where most of the power will be drawn from. Incidentally, I'm using the Delco 10SI in a 3 wire configuration so I fabbed in a "gen" light in a metal tab which I mounted to one of the steering column bolts (I didn't want to cut another hole in my steel dash panel). The "gen" light is simply a bulb in series in the field wire for the alternator.
With that done, the Jeep could now start, run, charge and shut off. [/size]
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[size=12]Next was to figure out how to add turn signals. I ran into the classic problem for these old rigs: how to add turn signals to a vehicle with single filament front parking lamps. The problem is that the 900 series Signal Stats don't allow using the same filament for parking lamp operation and turn signalling. The 800 series Signal Stats WOULD allow "dual function" on the front filaments, but single filament front parking lamp vehicles haven't been made for decades, and the old 800 series Signal Stats aren't made anymore.
One solution is to add dual filament housings to the grille but that generally involves drilling out the grille to fit a larger two filament housing. I didn't want to do this. Investigating the internals of the Signal Stat revealed that the old 800 series contacts and sliders design is still "baked in" to the newer 900 series and could be modified to have dual filament functionality for the front lamps.
The mechanical system in the Signal Stat has 2 sets of 2 sliders and contacts which are moved by the signal arm. The rear sliders have input contacts for both turn signal power (flasher) and brake lamp power, but the front section only has one input for turn signal power. You can see that one whole row of contacts is left out.
To add two inputs, I drilled out the terminal strips over the front lamp sliders and added turned down brass machine screws to fill in the missing contact sockets. The outermost terminal strip had to be cut in order to create a new "input" for the parking lamp. When at rest, the parking lamp input passes on through to each front lamp filament. When the one slider or the other is deployed by the signal arm, the flasher signal is directed to one side or the other.
(To be continued)[/size]
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[size=12]I made up a tube and welded it to a clamshell clamp. I ran all the wires to and from the signal stat through the tube to keep it neat. The clamshell simply screws together around the steering column. I grounded the Signal Stat through the slider mounting screw inside the case and ran that wire to a ground lug on the fuse panel. You need to ground the housing to get the indicator bulb to work!
The turn signals work great, and the single filament front parking lamps work like original when the light switch is pulled "one click" out, and get interrupted by the flasher when I use the Signal Stat!
I'm experimenting with LED's for the front lamps with a simple flat plate mount. I used LED "penny lites" made by Blazer. They are very bright and rated to have a very wide lighting pattern. I will also try a LED replacement #97 in the original sockets to see how they look. I know originally the parking lamps were clear, but I like the amber. I should say also that I bought a flasher unit that is meant for use with LED's. You can see it installed on the fuse panel in the pictures above.[/size]
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[size=12]Finally, I ran new wiring for the lighting. Here too I used modern PVC jacketed stuff, but most of it is covered by ashpalt loom material I sourced from a local NAPA. I used the loom clamps kindly sent to me by 1955CJ-5 a few months ago. These keep the loom in place as it runs to the back in the frame rail.
The original headlight socket terminals are easily re-usable. Willys used nice quality electrical bits (although the cloth covered wire was mostly missing the cloth!). I even re-used the flag terminal for the headlight bulb ground.
It was time to sandblast and clean all the headlight bucket housings and hardware, and also refurbish my used NACO tail lights. Everything was painted and put back together. The hardware for the headlights was also good quality stuff and cleaned up nice. I made up a piece of heavy steel wire into a hook to get the springs looped over the dished sockets.
The NACO tail lights look great. I'm happy I chanced upon these units with the chrome bezels and glass lenses.
So that's it for now. I'm at a stand at this point: I'm not sure if I should tear the Jeep apart now to prep for paint, or keep going and pull out the Koenig half cab and restore that over the winter. I'll post again soon I hope.
Dave[/size]
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I just read your entire thread, incredible workmanship. You've done a lot of I thought of doing but didn't dare, I don't know how many times I've tried shrinking sheet metal but can't get the hang of it. I thought of the pickup bed for a floor plan but haven't got there yet. My jeep is 47 & 48 CJ2, 52 M38 and a supersonic engine out of a 54 Henry J (so far). Once again great work.
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As Yoda would say, "Very clever, you are!"
Nice work.
Tim
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Thanks fellows for the nice comments.
I'm still kind of at a loss on what direction to take this winter....I'm wondering if I can beat the cold weather and get this thing painted.....or at least prepped and primed. Not sure what to do yet.
I did dig out my Koenig 355 "Supertop" and put it on to see how it fit with the massive tub rebuild, and it fits alright. I'm going to leave most of the mounting holes in the body so I can easily put the top on at a later time. It's in pretty rough shape though, so I put it back away...I think I'll leave that on the back burner for now.
Bad news though: I got some white exhaust, and I can smell coolant "burning". I think I'm going to have to pull the head and see what's going on. I read up on the head gasket knowledge floating around on internet land, and it seems I might have goofed by not re-torquing the head nuts. Bleah. Just for giggles I checked out Rockauto and they seem to have some screaming deals on valves and guides...I may think about doing something there at the same time....a winter project.
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[size=12]January 24, 2018
Progress kind of slowed down due to the cold winter this year. But, in December I finally had a go at registering the Jeep in my name. I was quite nervous about it since I had no paperwork or previous owner registrations which is normally required. A VIN search by the DMV showed it indeed has been been "off grid" for decades...so it was then a matter of filling out an affidavit, getting a VIN inspection, and making a visit to the DMV where I got a registration in my name. No titles are issued in CT for vehicles older than 1981. It's a big relief to get it legal in my name.
I kept the Jeep in one piece during all the inspection shenanigans but now that it's all set I'm still reluctant to take the Jeep apart. To stave off that moment, I decided to spend some time with the engine: there was some "white fog" issues from the tailpipe, and a check of the oil indicated a pint of green coolant in the oil pan. I obtained a new Best Gasket copper/graphite head gasket, performed a couple "tweaks" to optimize fit, and got it all back together. So far it's back to running smooth with no signs of coolant leaks.
In fact, during testing, for the first time, I took the Jeep for a spin out of my neighborhood despite my better judgement. (The tires have something like half inch deep cracks that probably render them dangerously deadly.) Also I have no windshield glass. I got a few hairy eyeball looks, but it sure was fun. (It ran great by the way.)
During the head gasket job, I took the opportunity to blast, clean and paint some more stuff like the air tube and carb air horn, as well as finally paint the head black. I had hoped to finish up by procurring a proper CJ3a Donaldson oil bath air cleaner, but those do seem to be as rare as hens teeth. I've given up finding one for now and simply purchased a super cheapo 12 dollar 3 inch air cleaner. I wanted to keep the air tube over the top of the engine, so I fabricated a mount for the paper filter to attach it to the oil bath air cleaner brackets on the firewall. I can easily swap in a stock oil bath cleaner when I find one. The custom dry element mount was fun to make though. I used exhaust tubing to adapt the 3 inch filter to a 2-1/8" upturned pipe from which a factory style air duct hose will attach. I could not, after extensive searching, locally find 2.125" air hose, so I will just get a piece of hose from Walcks; hopefully their supply is 2.125".
During a particularly low point in the winter lull, I made a "tag topper" which I have only just realized existed (from the old days). I think they're cool so I set about making my own "Willys Jeep Go Devil 4" topper. I found an old Willys ad touting the Go-Devil 4 and tried to duplicate the font as much as possible. I made it from 6061 aluminum. I'm not sure what color to paint it, but I like it alot.
So that's about it. I'm fixin' to take the Jeep apart because it's just about paint time now. I ordered a gallon of Summit Racing "Merlot" single stage paint (it is re-branded Kirker paint, which I've had good results with on other projects.) The Merlot color matches very close to the original Luzon Red color patch on my cowl (see last picture).[/size]
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Dig the tag topper!
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Haven't worked on the ol' Jeep since early January. But a few weeks ago I started work back up by tearing the Jeep apart to prepare for paint. My son and I lifted the tub off and the chassis was rolled out back. Preparing a punch list revealed that there was more metal work to be done than I initially reckoned: Finish all plug welding, loads of grinding all the butt welds, a rather involved repair to the cowl top which was riddled with thin spots and pin-holes where the windshield gasket had been. There was also a crack along the whole edge of the hood hinge area that needed to be sliced open and welded.
Three long thin patch pieces were necessary to fix the top of the cowl. The cowl sheet metal is thinner than 18 gauge I think and of course it got distorted from this major surgery. But I�ve banged it all out and the cowl is stiff (no oil canning) and solid again.
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The pedal hole positions were off a bit from the major tub reconstruction so I plugged them and re-positioned them. The steering column hole was moved slightly also. The whole toeboard was in rough shape and needed lots of TLC. Note the hole for the gas pedal rod�for some reason someone had welded a huge 1 pound gob of weldment near the edge. I cut it out and made a patch. So after much finicky cutting and welding and grinding, it�s looking much better.
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Looks really nice...!
My friend calls the side grinder the "welder's eraser"!
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Today I was able to carve out a wee bit of time to roll out the tub and take turns grinding with a right angle grinder, zip off the rest of the ancient colors with my 3 inch roloc discs, then attack with my electric 5" DA with 80 grit. When one tool got hot, I'd switch to another.
Tonight, I rolled it in and continued with some sandblasting. To minimize mess, I put a tarp over the work area, put on my hearing protection, a dust mask, a sandblast hood and climb underneath with a light and blast away. When the compressor gets hot I take a break. This is by far the worst part of the job....
But it's looking much better with the the rust and crusty old layers removal.
Note the firewall....I'm missing a couple of the nutserts, and it's been tough removing a gloppy layer of silver paint. But note the Luzon Red under the ID tag. I'm going to preserve this for future folks for original color reference.
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Ha! Welders eraser! I love it! I make extensive use of that tool! It's a Makita for me....hard to kill those.
Well, I'm off to the garage for another round of sandblasting. I'll have to go get another bag of media from Tractor Supply tomorrow.
Dave
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I'm still here but gosh it's going slow. Just regular summer life. After finally completing the paint stripping, I performed a few last minute welding tasks: I welded in my center bow pockets (along with the plates on the underside of the wheel wells,) as well as "weld-nuts" on the floors for the driver seat legs and gas tank clamp. I also (out of guilt) cut and flanged the overdrive/PTO hole next to the driver seat.
I've got the Jeep tub all primed with it's first coat of epoxy, and then skimmed the obvious hammer and dolly "tool" marks with filler. I'm making every attempt to leave the spot welds "un-skimmed". I still have to prime and do some bodywork to the hood and fender. I'm dreading those...they'll need lots of finesse!
I'm smoothing the filler now and hope to get this done in a couple of weeks. I'd love to have this painted by August.
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You do real nice work Dave. Good to see you plugging away.
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Well, unfortunately for Willys restoration, this summer has been low on the productivity scale. I'm building a screened porch which includes some extensive deck rehab. This has completely taken over my free time. Sigh.
However, I have been able to grab snippets of an hour here and there, every other night or so, and I'm actually enjoying some filler smoothing. Yep, I actually enjoy doing this bodywork stuff. I never EVER thought I'd be ggoing to this level of detail on this ol' Jeep a few years ago when I started this project. But here I am smoothing filler. I'm using filler where welded patch areas had required hammer and dolly work. The driver fender and tub are pretty much set filler-wise, and 2K primer (not applied yet) will take care of the rest.
It's been slow on the 3A site, so I thought I'd throw out this small bone.
Hope you all are having a good summer!
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It is a bit quiet at the 3A Page. I peak in everyday, but don't have much going on in the 3A world at present.
Sometimes things go in waves.
Even if rare, keep your updates coming as you have time. I enjoy them.
Tim
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August 24 2018
It's been so rainy this August that I've been able to thrash on the filler work and get it done. Everything was quite wavy and bumpy, so I concentrated on the panels that had patch and welding work; basically the fenders, hood and front tub sides. These had warping and grinding marks, so smoothed all these parts out. I filled the pits on the inside surfaces of the fenders that can be seen on an assembled Jeep. Note that I didn't smooth the undersides of the fender tops. I'm not that crazy. Smoothing the undersides was a pain but I just wouldn't have been happy seeing pits under new paint.
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I also smoothed the pits on the rear wheelwell brackets that reside behind the wheels (no pic of these.) On the wheel well tops, I smoothed pits, but didn't smooth dents and dings smaller than a dime from its utilitarian past. The first shots show the filler in the pits (over the first layer of black epoxy primer I laid down a month ago) and the next shots show after sanding and a last coat of epoxy primer. Epoxy primer has quite a range of sheen depending on what you're coating; shiny over bare steel and quite dull over filler.
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The windshield round tubing (framework) had severe pitting behind the round tubing and I realized that this would be quite visible also when sitting in the Jeep, so I cut up some tiny spreaders, and mixed tiny batches of filler and carefully filled the pits on the tubing. I sanded and primed with a big spray gun but it's hard to get paint into these crevice areas. I ended up priming the crevice areas with some spray bomb green etch primer just to get something on there. I'm quite pleased how well the windshield came out considering what it was like before resto.
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The trans cover was pretty rotted and needed patching on the flanges. It came out okay and I filled the pits on this thing too. This is one of the parts that will be painted gloss black so I have more detailing to go in order for it to look decent.
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The hood was pretty wonky and required many iterations of filler, sanding, filler, sanding, priming, filler, sanding...bleah. The filler work is thicker than I would have liked, but I don't own an english wheel to smooth wrinkles, so I just banged away as best I could with a dolly/hammer before going for the filler.� I also did smoothing work on the inside surface too. Wouldn't want ugly wrinkles visible there! I stayed away from the center seam with the filler. Like the other parts, it's a case of heaping my labor on a pretty beat up part. I am happy with it however.
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I spent time on the floors too since they also are very visible on the finished Jeep. Since this body is 70 percent reconstructed, I didn't worry too much about some details, but I did want to smooth all signs of patches. For the tunnel sheet metal transition to the flat floor pans, I simply used my finger to create a radiused fill. It was ugly, but after sanding it cleaned up really nice. I used a small tube with sandpaper to sand these spots.
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So with all this work done, I sprayed a final coat of epoxy primer on all the parts, and tub. I ran out of my older can of black epoxy, and when I attempted to purchase a new gallon, they would only sell me the low VOC stuff and it was only available in Gray. But it's actually quite dark gray, and it does seem like good stuff. I got it from Summit Racing (their "store" brand) but it's actually made by Kirker and I'm quite happy with it.
I did all my seam sealing this evening. i used SEM gray and it's a bear to use, but it's sandable so I should get it to look okay. I used 3M "Drip Chek" for the hood center seam, and rear tail panel seams. This stuff is meant to shrink significantly and show the seam. I also used it on the cowl to side panel seams.
So that's my update. Lots of pix I know, but I like seeing pictures on other threads, so I'm doing my best to do the same on my build thread!
Dave
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August 27, 2018.
I've been working on the wheels. They seem to be straight, with perfect lug holes, but they are pretty rusty with severe pitting in some spots. Rather than attack with wire wheels and sandblasting only, I figured I'd try some electrolysis. I filled a plastic tub with water and a third of a box of TSP (trisodium phosphate), then made an "electrode" with a piece of rebar and welded a steel plate to it to increase surface area. This is the anode and I connected the positive lead of my manual battery charger to it. The wheel is placed into the solution (not touching the anode!) and I clean a piece of the wheel and connect the negative lead of the charger to it. This is the cathode. I fired it up and let it go for hours at a time. I'd interrupt occasionally to pull out the anode and clean it off; it gets quite gunky. At the same time I'd rotate the wheel, turn it around, and generally try to get full coverage of the electrolysis action. It works pretty well. The wheels don't come out clean, and in fact they are rather gunky too. The remaining paint turns to mush and some rust rather than fall off turns to the black oxide stuff. But when the wheel is removed and wire wheeled, all this comes off really easy.
With the newly cleaned wheels, I found a date code of April 1950 and the Kelsey Hayes logo. I only have 4 original wheels so I picked up a 1955 wheel and found out it has a slightly different backspacing. I also think it's military since it's got the small hole near one of the lug holes. I"ll use this as my spare.
So I think the electrolysis saved me quite a bit of labor by loosening up the heavy rust.
Note the picture of the face of one of the wheels: notice how the extra layer of paint from the pinstripe prevented pitting. I did measure the pinstripe location before I stripped it (last photo).
Prepping, pit filling and primer is next for the wheels.
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Just read through this tread. May I say you do amazing work!
And thank you for saving an old crusty from the scrap heap.
On those rust pock marks there is a Devcon product that you can use as a bondo that when dry is hard as steel.
Carry on and great work.
toolman_ar
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Thanks Toolman_ar
I think what I liked most about this Jeep was that despite its decrepit condition, it was mostly complete and hadn't been bubbified much.
As for the devcon, I'll have to try it sometime. It happens that this past weekend I epoxied the wheels, then applied a couple coats of "2K" primer, and then used 3M 801 2 part spot/putty filler. It seems like good stuff and very easy to use. It sands easy. Note the picture of the "worst" wheel....it took an hour of filling and sanding, and looks much better.
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I got pretty far along on the wheels but not before making a rookie mistake of trying to do glaze work on epoxy primer. Epoxy primer is GUMMY stuff and not conducive to fine sanding work. It took forever to sand away some glaze/spot filling work I did (tons of clogged sandpaper). But I finally got through it, then waited a few days for the epoxy to harden up a bit more, then primed with 2K, tried again with glaze/spot putty and the work is 10 times easier to sand. Still a little bit more spot work, but I'm just about ready for color for the wheels.
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I started to do some body parts 2K priming last weekend, but it was super hot and humid, and like the previous thread I made another kind of rookie mistake as I only had "mid temp" hardener for the primer. With the high temps, the primer dried just about as soon as it hit the panels. Not pretty. I gave up and had another go today. The weather was cool, cloudy and perfect for priming. I primed everything I could and it sprayed out beautifully. It's kind of exciting to see one color on the Jeep, even if it's drab gray. I had some vexing times with yet more sand popping up from crevasses. (No matter how hard I try I can't get every last bit of sand and trash out of the tub before I paint....) But it's easy enough to "repair" these spots. I'll be sanding this all out and then I'll be out of town for almost a couple weeks so unfortunately I'll not get to paint color until probably October.
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Looks terrific. 8-)
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Splendid! 8-)
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Hi 3A folks,
As noted in previous thread, I sprayed out a first layer of sealer (epoxy primer), then 2K primer, and block sanded this all down. I applied 2 part spot glaze (3M 801...nice stuff) as necessary to fix all the pits and defects. I started to run out of film thickness so I sprayed another layer of 2K and repeated. This time I experienced an order-of-magnitude less defects and with some small glaze repairs, I got it good enough for paint. (No pictures of the blocking process of the primer....just a tedious process that pays off in the end)
This weekend I painted it.
I used urethane single stage. I had to use low VOC stuff, which is a new requirement in CT, and new to me. Dang I don't like it at all. The data sheet gave mixing instructions, and I had a go yesterday. The color was pretty, but the finish was not. But I slogged through painting the tub inside and out, as well as the undersides of the tailgate, hood, fenders and grille. Problems were horrible orange peel in complex areas. Flatter areas not as bad, but still difficult. I got enough on there so I can wet sand it all out.
Despite the trouble (at first) of finding the right paint mix formula, I was quite happy with the cleanliness (I painted outside of course)....I had very little dirt problems. My basic method was to vacuum the surfaces, then wipe off with a soft cloth, then blow it all off with an air gun, then wipe down with tack cloths. It worked well for me.
Today, I painted the topsides of the fenders, hood, tailgate and grille. This time I mixed in 15% urethane reducer. What an astonishing difference. The stuff flowed on so nice and smooth. No runs. What a joy to spray it. Live and learn...I'm writing this down for next time!
I may sand down the floors and wheel wells and respray. I'll see if I can get the orange peel out with wet sanding first.
Overall, I'm happy this part is almost done. The windshield is not done...I must weld on the cloth top channel first. The wheels are ready for paint, hopefully tomorrow I'll shoot those. Looking forward to seeing the cream color.
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Looking good!!
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Thanks!
Napa paint chip "Cream". I like it.
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Paint repairs: The paint job was bad enough that I have sanded the whole tub down. I first did the inside, and repainted it. Way better.
I am now sanding the outer panels, and I believe I can do a "cut and buff" on these panels as they're not as bad.
I made up a jig for my Beugler striping tool and pinstriped the wheels. I used my extra dana 25 to mount and spin the wheels. I made two passes with the narrow striping wheel to get the 3/16" width. I used the body paint and it worked fine in the Beugler tool. The stripes came out great. I had the tires mounted after a few more days of paint curing. The wheels got scratched up on the edges but I touched them up. The tires are Indian made Speedways 7.00 x 16's.
I've found that cameras have a really hard time with Reds and I can't get a good shot of the color, but the last picture shows it fairly close.
This paint job repair is taking loads of time dangit, but hopefully soon I'll be able to get the tub back onto the frame....at least I have wheels and tire again!
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I'm still hammering away at fixing my quite horrible paint job. Since the last post I've repainted the driver side, the inner front fenders, and the inner wheel well areas of the tub. Oh this is not the way to do a paint job. I maintain that painting a Jeep tub is probably one of the HARDEST automotive paint projects. There are so many nooks and crannies, hidden and obscured areas that can be seen but are near impossible to get a paint gun to with any control.
I've spent quite a few hours buffing paint too. Just about the whole vehicle will be sanded and buffed. I really didn't want to do that, but it does make some marginal areas look much better.
I got some helpers and dropped the tub back onto the frame. I dragged the Jeep from out back with my crusty Rubicon, and I'm happy with the nice stance with the new tires.
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For a diversion from my grueling paint repairs, I painted the logos and "4 wheel drive" on the tailgate and hood. For the "WILLYS" I approached it with the brute force method of masking them by hand with 3M tape, then masked everything around it with painter masking paper (I do have some good stuff...I'm not THAT cheap...haha)
For the 4 WHEEL DRIVE logo, I printed the pdf file that I created some years ago (I created a vector file with AutoCAD and made up a high resolution pdf file and sent it off to all the Jeep forum webmasters [CJ2A, CJ3A CJ3B] to include on their webpages so folks can download the file and print it off) and tacked it to some shelf liner material, then cut out the letters, stuck the shelf liner to my tailgate, masked everything else off, then shot my cream paint (extra wheel paint) with my cheapie Harbor freight detail spray gun. I shot it, waited a few minutes, peeled all the masking away, and had to do some careful cleanup of some edges, but it came out pretty nice! I was quite happy with it.
So I'm about done with the paint detailing, and now I'm starting to dig through boxes in order to assemble this rig.
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Nice work on the homemade stencils.
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I've been digging through my dozens of sorting bags and boxes and taken all the piece parts and hardware that are to be gloss black and finally gotten them painted. This includes the fan shroud and shifter cover. I used NAPA (Martin Senour) paint for these parts and I'm very happy how this stuff sprays. It does take HOURS to cure up enough to handle, but it looks so good I'm fine with this minor complaint.
I had intended to get a new dash data plate but found that the repro's seem to be simply screen printed, and the fonts don't match up to the originals. So, I made an attempt at a "refurb" of the plate I had. It was eroded, and had no paint left. It looked terrible. But since it's embossed, the highlights can be sanded...so I fogged it with satin black, then wet sanded the plate on a flat surface. Alot of the fresh paint came off unintentionally from sanding, but I touched it up with brush work, then coated it with matte clear. Sheesh, I like it...it looks old but pretty good.
By the way, I had a * of a time finding original type slotted fasteners. I scoured many hardware stores, yet still had to order a bunch of stuff from McMaster Carr. I should say I wanted to re-use as much original hardware as possible, but alot of it was very poor condition, so I made the decision to replace many bolts with new. It seems as though orginal hardware was mostly zinc plated, so that's what I replaced them with. I'm bummed it all has 'modern" initials on the bolt heads, but I suppose not many will scrutinize bolt head markings.
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I could not find some replacement fasteners so I ended up making up my own zinc plating rig. The recipes are all over the internet, and I found a fairly simple one. It's actually quite simple to do, and it does work fast. I deconstructed zinc batteries for the zinc, used vinegar, sugar and epsom salts, and a small power supply. My goals for the plating was more for utility and not for looks, so I didn't strive for shiny finishes. Since I had sandblasted my parts, any plating on this would also be very "matte" looking. However, brushing with a brass wire brush does bring out a nice lustre which was worked fine for me. I plated the windshield clamps and hardware, the front signal socket parts (to maintain electrical conductivity!) as well as some other stuff.
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I read the CJ2A boards almost every day and noticed they have a "grille welt rivet tool loan program" and the tool looks pretty simple. I made my own by fabbing up a piece of steel, and then welding it to some locking pliers. I used padding to avoid scratching paint, and it worked pretty good. Walcks doesn't give you any rivets to spare, or length of welt for that matter, but it does fit perfect!
So the Jeep is coming along. So much more to do, and it's been COLD in the garage but I do enjoy the assembly work. Keep on Jeepin'!
Dave
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Okay I'm still cheap. I wanted to get the radiator installed, but I had to finish installing the grille wiring for all the lighting before I covered up access for all the loom clamps. Initially I was going to go custom and fit "Blazer" style LED's into the parking lamp holes, but I really like the clever original style Ba9 bayonet sockets that came with the Jeep. I ended up restoring those: I zinc plating the parts and drilled out the original crimped mushroom terminal inside and soldered on a new wire. The socket assemblies fit from the back side and allow a #51 (6V) or #1895 (12V) bulb to fit from the front. But I wanted amber for these lamps since I'm going with directionals. You can buy BA9 bayonet style LED's, but the ones at the parts stores are priced crazy, and online they all seem to be real cheap quality (terrible reviews). I liked the well made Blazer LED's I bought a while back, but they're just pigtailed with wires. So I decided to make my own lamps by grafting the Blazers into BA9 bayonet bases. I popped out the globes of my old 6V bulbs, and milled out the potting glue in the Blazers until I hit the solder terminals inside, soldered new short leads onto the terminals, placed the socket over the short leads and soldered, then re-potted the Blazer lamp to capture the "new" sockets. They work great. The Blazer "lens" projects the light very nicely, and the original style CJ3A parking lamp bezels and lenses will fit over them. And they are only a few bucks. Well sure, I had to throw labor at it, but that's fun.
I also have one shot of the Jeep kind of thrown together for a picture my daughter wanted to take with our dogs in the back (we added another Golden this past February). No wiring, seats, gauges, etc. (Still lots of work to go.) But It was nice to push the Jeep out into the sun (rare to see this fall and early winter here in New England!) and see the nice colors in the open!
Merry Christmas folks!
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[size=12]Soooo...a few months have passed....but I've managed to work around the cold and get some decent work done in the dead of winter. I filled in the huge steering wheel cracks with JB weld and then used primers and glaze to smooth it, filled in all the heavy pits of the seat frames, and also obtained a 1952 Donaldson oil bath air cleaner to finish off the engine compartment. The air cleaner had no rust but was super filthy and had some dents. But that got all smoothed too. All these things were shot with the Napa paint, which I've been very happy with. I zinc plated the oil bath threaded bolt too![/size]
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I've tried to reclaim all the electrical bits and pieces from the dash and I've had some success. I had to sandblast the high beam indicator and found some rather large rust through areas, but it won't impact performance. I also re-furbed the instrument cluster light. All this was zinc plated too.
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Lots of time installing the electrical system particularly because all my easy grounding points have been covered up with paints and coatings. In order to ensure good grounds, I made up a brass block and fastened it to the front of the battery box (where the negative battery cable should bolt to) and fastened the battery cable to it (in the picture you can see the top of the battery cable, and juuust where the other end of the battery cable bolts to the brass block...). The top of the brass block provides taps to run 10 gauge ground leads to the fenders and grille, and one lead to the tub gusset under the dash. I think this will keep grounding gremlins at bay.
For the tail lights, I came up with a scheme to protect the measly grommets from collecting water as well as provide a good point for star washers to dig into the tub to provide good grounding for the tail lamps:
I made up a cover plate that slips over the housing studs inside the wheelwell. The plate is a piece of sheet metal with a short stub of 3/8 copper tubing to pass the wires through. I used copper because that's what I had, plus it's solderable to the steel plate. The wires pass through the tube, and then into asphalt loom material. The loom end is slipped over the tube end and a spring clamp locks it in place. I used rubber sheeting as gasket material between the lamp housing to body, and cover plate/tube to body. The rubber gasket on the inside of the body was trimmed to allow a star washer to make good contact with the tub to make good earth ground contact between the nut/stud/star washer/tub. I gooped it up with dielectric grease to keep corrosion at bay. The looms run to the inner side of the driver side frame where I used bullet connectors to connect to a harness that runs to the inside of the Jeep through the firewall. Subsequent to this picture I repainted the tail lamp housings with that gloss black paint! (I've got a napa paint hangup now)
I've wrapped my wiring with non-sticky harness tape and I really like the way it looks. In the picture you can see an example of it as it exits the firewall in front of the driver. Also note I was able to re-claim the original oil lines...both the rubber and hard line. A new grommet kit was handy for all these dash holes!
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I refurbished the speedometer and fuel gauge a while back but I still had three holes in the dash to fill. My oil gauge still worked but the face paint was worn away. I was going to take it apart and re-silkscreen it, but the OMIX ADA replacement is so dang cheap I thought I'd take a chance with that. My temp gauge was AWOL so I got an Omix ada replacement there too. I didn't want an Ammeter so I bought a new-old "Champion" Voltmeter to use. The orange needle and chrome bezel had to go so I took the gauge apart and painted the needle white, then I scuffed up the bezel and painted it semi gloss black. The dash picture shows what I've ended up with. As noted in another thread, I tried fiddling with a regular control cable for the hand throttle control, but it pulls back from the throttle spring. So purchased a military surplus throttle cable control from ebay and it fits in the same hole as the original. I've since detailed that handle with black paint and repainted the "throttle". It has a ratchet mechanism which holds the throttle position until you twist the control 90 degrees to return to idle. Not stock but looks cool!
The choke cable doesn't look original...I may buy a repro....but that one works for now.
Note too I have a repro gauge light there, but I'm not sure it's right...it throws light onto the gauges, but it also floods the floor with light too, which is completely distracting...I must try the original light to see if it's masked better to prevent this. Anyone know?
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Hey Dave, that looks great, I really like the led front parking lights, I think I will try to do the same.� Just wondering what you are planning to use for a turn signal switch?� A Signalstat 800 signalflare ( what I have) will work directly with the single filament front parking lights you only need to add a couple of wires.� Pretty cool, they have a 4 way flasher function too.� They show up on eBay all the time.
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Hey Stony,
I bought a signal stat 900 some years ago before I knew there was a difference from the 800. So yes, the 900 won't work with single filament front parking lamps whereas the 800 does work. But, in taking the 900 apart, I found that it could be modified to indeed accommodate single filament lamps in the front. It involves cutting a couple traces, and adding brass screws for contacts. The work I did is on page 6 (I think) of this thread. Also, another member did the same mod to his signal stat 900 and he was considering offering modified units for sale....I forget which forum section that's in.
So yep, I've got the signal stat 900 bolted to the column, and it works fine, and it does have the hazards feature. I made a tube to carry the wires from the unit to down under the dash. I hope do a final picture set and post it when the Jeep is "done".
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Wow! What color did you use for the wheels?
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67galaxie� �� It's a universal color offered by my local NAPA paint jobber.
Cheap because it's not a custom mix. I chose it because of that and I got lucky it matches pretty well to the original (albiet aged) color I found on the wheels.
It is "Universal Colors/34045/Cream" And I used the single stage urethane.
Photo attached of label....
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As noted in earlier posts, I had rushed the paint job last fall because I was pretty busy; I had house projects, had a big trip and the winter was coming. I choked and rushed it and it ended up more work. Haste makes waste. I would love to just strip it and repaint, but that's nuts. I said that on my last project....never happened. Anyway, the last paint repair was to repaint the windshield frame. I took the opportunity to fix some flaws that I missed the first go around. It's much nicer and I'm very happy with it. And I finally found a good recipe (mix, gun settings) to paint with the Kirker Low VOC stuff. I called around for getting a windshield glass, and I believe they all were going to cut flat glass to fit, and pricing started in the mid 100 range and up. I felt that this was kind of too much, so I took a chance on a new seller on eBay from Montana. I was pleased to receive a nice windshield glass to my door for $115. Nicely smoothed edges too. I got a gasket from amazon along with the tool and fitted the glass in last week. It went fast and easy and looks great.
I've also started my seat upholstery. I got the upholstery from Walcks and they look really good. I am going to use foam since my springs are too grungy and broken, although I may use the springs for the seat backs. I bought long life foam from a place online called foambymail.com. Reasonable and nice stuff. I cut out "pans" from 1/2 inch plywood and I'm ready to cut foam. I'll post the results soon!
I took my first ride in the Jeep this past weekend. For the most part fun, except I have this very odd heating event the lasts for a minute and proceeds to burp coolant all over the engine compartment. This causes me to hose it all off, wipe it down, and then it happens again because I assure myself that that was the last air bubble. But it's happened three times. Some detective work is necessary. I'll report back on that too. But here she is sans seat upholstery (slippery and dodgy moving blankets not cool for upholstery while motoring)
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Beautiful work!! 8-)
One trick I've learned from the Willys world is to drill an 1/8" hole in disc face of the thermostat. This eliminates the burps and doesn't affect the thermostat performance. Although, generally the burp is over after the first air bubble is expelled. Where does the antifreeze come out?
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Looks nice and straight with a beautiful paint job. Good work!
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64CJ5, Thanks!
athawk11,
The coolant squirts out of the nipple at the radiator filler neck. I don't have a tube to direct it down to the ground (it's on the list!), so it makes a mess which I dutifully clean every time. I keep assuring myself it's the last "burp", and then it spits out coolant again! All in all, I'm wondering if I just need to let it find it's happy medium (and keep in mind these old coolant systems do that....keep air in the top tank and burp out excess coolant until the system stabilizes the ratio of coolant to air)
As for the Jeep, it's weird to finally take a few test drives after having it for over 12 years. My few rides so far were good....It tracks nice, has no vibrations at all (I didn't have the wheels balanced), has no transfer case noise, and the trans stays in gear at all times.
But, having never driven or ridden in an old universal Jeep, I notice it definitely doesn't like speeds much above the low 40's mph range! It bucks a bit on bumps (I'm thinking of lowering air pressure in the very HD Speedways tires) and the brakes are pretty decent. The solex carb is great so far I think...it starts up immediately, the idle enrichment (choke) works perfectly, it idles perfectly from startup to full hot, smooth power too. No complaints with it.
I've got more de-bugging, and more details to tend to so I'll post my progress soon.
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Well at least it exits where it should. Don't be afraid to drill that hole. It does eliminate the burp. May be helpful on the next radiator flush, etc.
Losing a little air in the tires will help the ride, but old straight axle suspensions are what they are. Rough riders. Until it's time to go off road, I'm generally happy with around 24psi. On the trails, I get nervous with anything below 17psi.
I'm glad you're able to finally enjoy the rides.
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Hey Dave, there is no reason (that I can see) not to add a small coolant expansion tank to catch the coolant. All it takes is a bottle with an inlet in the bottom and a top vent. Attach a hose to the nipple and the bottom of the tank, fill the radiator and fill the bottle about 1/3. When hot, the coolant will expand into the bottle, and be sucked back into the radiator when it cools. No mess, or toxic stuff the dog can get into. Will probably do that with mine.
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Stony,
Yes I think I may do the expansion tank. There is a little room in front of the battery under the headlight bucket....My Jeep has some deviations from pure stock, so this wouldn't be much of a stretch.
There is a pretty cool short blurb article about different types of radiator caps (cooling systems) on Allpar. https://www.allpar.com/fix/engines/cooling-caps.html
They describe 4 main types:
Partial pressure open
Partial pressure recovery
Full pressure open
Full pressure recovery.
Chrysler used partial pressure for decades. It's described as easiest on the engine system (gaskets and seals of the cooling system). I wonder what Willys used. I think you can use just about any cap for a recovery type system but you must make a recovery tank that places the filler neck tube end always below the recovery tank coolant level. And like you said stony, the tank must be vented to atmoshpere. The engine coolant system will always remain full for that wee bit of extra cooling capacity too as a bonus.
It's supposed to hit 70F this coming Saturday...hopefully more testing!
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Thanks Dave, I looked it up in the manual #3 full pressure open, so it looks like we would need a full pressure recovery cap to make the tank work, otherwise just tape a pop bottle to the end of the tube LOL!
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Update:
I put in a new thermostat. The one I removed is a Robertshaw Controls unit (note the pic). Never heard of them. I looks old and alright, but I replaced it anyway with a NAPA unit. I did drill a couple holes in the flange to bleed air. I fired up the Jeep after replacement, it heated up to 180F, stayed there and the Jeep purred away. No more burping and eruptions. The top hose is hot, and the lower hose is quite cooler; I think this aluminum radiator is working awesome. I have the fan half in and out of the shroud too. The '3A shrouds seem like an nice improvement over the 2A style.
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I got my seats done. I was going to make my own seat upholstery, but my wife convinced me to just buy a set. I got them from Walcks. They are very very nice. I had hoped to use my original seat springs, but I found that one was not original, and the one original was not good enough to use. So I bought a piece of 36 lb foam. I found that was not firm enough, so I bought another piece of 44lb stuff. That too was not firm enough, but I decided to put it in and just try it for a while. I used 2" stuff and stacked two pieces together for the seat bottoms, and used a single piece for the seat back. I also purchased a big piece of "fiberfill" which is a polyester material which helps keep cushions from appearing wrinkly, as well as keep the foam and vinyl from rubbing together too much. The fiberfill was nominally 3/4 thick I think, but compresses right down.
I had no idea for the best strategy to place the seams of the fiberfill, so I just grit my teeth and cut everything out. I glued the two pieces of seat bottom foam together with 3M #77 spray adhesive. I tried to cut to size with a razor, but that was super messy and ugly. I then tried a bandsaw, and the cushions looked beautiful. I proceed to wrap the cut fiberfill around the cushions and stuff them into the seat covers. I made up plywood bases for the bottoms and simply placed the plywood over the foam, pulled the drawstring of the seat cover, and then used oval head screws and finishing washers to help fasten down the seat upholstery edges to the underside of the base. It worked out fantastic.
I had put in "T" nuts into the plywood so I could screw them to the seat frames.
The seat backs had one piece of foam along with the 3/4 fiberfill, and I re-used the original slotted oval head retaining screws to fasten the upholstery to the seat frame sides. Those also went on pretty easy. I used an x-acto knife to poke a hole in the upholstery and then simply screwed each screw/finishing washer down. I was careful to keep things aligned and it wasn't too hard to do.
It turns out they're quite comfortable, and it kinda transforms the driving experience. I don't feel like I'm going to slide out around corners!
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One thing drove me crazy: When I took a ride, the windshield was rattling. I had purchased new pivot shoulder bolts, but it turns out the shoulder is waaay undersized. So the windshield just rattles when you hit a bump. I got some brass shim and wrapped it around the shoulder....about 35 thousands worth. Now there's no more rattling. Ahhh.
By the way, I think these are supposed to be zinc plated, but I painted them black. Eh, I'll leave them this way for now. The tape was to protect the bolt head during removal and installation.
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One last question:
I installed my transfer case knobs....these are worn out...are they supposed to be painted black? They are some odd material....
Still working on wipers....almost done.....pictures soon!
Dave
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Nice job on the seats!
The transfer case knobs are black in photographs of original CJ-3As.
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One last question:
I installed my transfer case knobs....these are worn out...are they supposed to be painted black? They are some odd material....
Still working on wipers....almost done.....pictures soon!
Dave
The ones I have are black. Also, what is the red light in the picture next to the steering column?
Great work by the way. I hope mine comes out looking half as good as yours!
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Hi Brad,
Sorry I didn't notice your post....(actually I was out of town when you posted).
The wee red light is my "idiot" light for the 3 wire alternator. I may move it to the hole in the dash where the governor handle should go because someone long ago punched out the slug that was there. However, I can't for the life of me find a small incandescent light socket to fit in there. Nobody sells tiny incandescent lamp assemblies anymore. They're all LED which won't work for the alternator field. I refuse to drill the hole bigger to fit that big lamp. So for now, the lamp sits on a little tab in the crook of the steering column mount.
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Wow it's September of 2019!
I believe I have crossed the fuzzy line where I can say I'm finished. Of course that is never really true, but I've driven my wee little CJ3A for a couple months and I have ironed out all the bugs to where I can hop into it and take a drive with no worries. Here's some details of my fiddling over the past couple months.
Starter. This wasn't really a big problem, but I stumbled upon a replacement candidate, and it worked out well. I had an autolite 6V starter unit that did work, but I had to baby it to get it to mesh with my flywheel. This involved me modifying the set up by putting a key switch in series with the button switch on top of the starter. This allowed me to mesh the starter pinion (with the foot pushrod of course) with no electrical power, then apply power by turning the key. But it was tricky to coordinate the sequence. So I found a 20 dollar swap meet aftermarket Ford small block Denso type starter and adapted it to my Go Devil. I made up my own aluminum adapter (I have an ancient CNC machine) and sourced a 9 tooth pinion to make it work. I use a standard key switch on the dash with a ford solenoid under the hood. (The crummy NAPA solenoid is malfuntioning hence the disconnected "I" terminal of the harness...it stays "hot" even when the ignition switch is off. I have to investigate) I do miss the floor starter switch, but it's so darn convenient to have key start. It works perfectly....I don't think I can go back!
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Low oil pressure. After long drives I found I had almost zero oil pressure at idle. This engine still has it's original bores and maybe even original bearings and rings. I think it is an industrial type engine due to the strange springs on the intake valves under the "tulip" head. Anyway, I do NOT want to rebuild this thing. It runs great, has good power, and low smoke. I run 10-40 weigh oil which some say is not the best idea. I will probably change to 15-40 Motorcraft diesel type oil (as recommended by a nerd friend who did copious research on this) for zinc content as well as slightly higher viscosity (all good things for old loose motors).
I still wanted to improve my low oil pressure and I can't help but tinker so I pulled the oil pan and timing cover off in order to get to the timing gear oil jet. (As often happens I encountered a problem: I couldn't loosen the pulley nut...it took a week of head scratching and it escalated into cutting the nut off....the job went well after that) I found the timing gear jet had a 0.070" hole which Willys specified in the early years. Sometime in the mid 1950's Willys stated that this large oil jet output would possibly reduce oil pressure at some bearing surface areas, and recommended a jet size change to 0.040" for all engines. My solution was to drill and tap the part for an 8-32 set *, mill it flat and stake it, then drill a 0.035" jet hole. I cleaned up the pan, oil pickup and painted up all the parts so things look a little better under there. Result was actually a little bit more oil pressure at hot idle speed...about 3 or 4 PSI. That's good enough for me. I think thicker oil will put me over 5 PSI. I'm not in a rush.
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Hot engine fuel flooding. I found after being fully warmed up the Jeep would be difficult to restart. It required a long crank with the pedal to the floor and it would cough and smoke black for a minute until it cleared up. Then it ran fine. I noticed the fuel pressure would rise to over 5 PSI after a hot shut off. I have the fuel pressure regulator set for 1.5 PSI and SOLEX carbs can't handle much higher pressure than that. This is a "dead head" fuel system and the fuel had nowhere to go after a shut off, and with heat it would expand and pressure would go up and I presume fuel would get by the needle and seat and flooding would occur. I solved the problem by putting in a fuel line bypass; essentially the addition of a fuel line from near the carburetor input, through a 0.032" orifice and back to the fuel tank. It bleeds off all pressure when the engine (fuel pump) is off. It worked perfectly and gave me a chance to re do all my vacuum lines and put in a new fuel line too. The bypass is still rubber so I may update that sometime soon to metal line.
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After these repairs and tweeks, I've been enjoying the heck out of this old Willys. I've never been in, or driven any other Willys Jeep so I have nothing to compare my experiences with, but as far as this little Jeep goes, the engine power is not too bad. It can pull hills alright. And off the line, it's fun!. I have hit almost 50mph for some stretches and it just hums along with more pedal available, but I don't want to push it. It tracks very nicely and there are no vibes even despite no wheel balancing. There are no clunks or noises either. It's a neat little machine. It is definitely happiest at 35mph. I've gotten braver about driving it on bigger and faster roads, and I even made a 60 mile round trip to work this week to show it off to some coworkers. I had a blast darting around commuter traffic. It definitely gets way more attention than my convertible GTO. Folks love old Jeeps.
So I'll include a few shots of my Jeep as it stands now, and I'd like to say THANKYOU to all the folks on the CJ3A forum who have helped me along the way. I appreciate all who contribute here!
I'll post up some more detail pictures when the weather is better....
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She's a beauty! Will this work? 1/2" hole required. https://www.ebay.com/itm/VTG-6V-Red-Electric-Incandescent-Indicator-Pilot-Light-1-2-Flush-Mount-NOS/323893522772?hash=item4b698ef154:g:EGoAAOSwPGpbCIDr
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Ha YES that would work. Looks like an antique! I've got my Radio Shack lamp in there now....Radio shack (online) carries at least one incandescent!
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WOW! . . . the end result on "Nuthin' Fancy" looks REALLY fancy. :D
I have been away from '3A page for a while, busy with life, and my '2A (Wilson), but started spending some time recently working on Hoover, and checking out the page.
I feel a kindred spirit with your project because ours have such similar beginnings. Our '3A's could be twins to start out. . . Hoover will not look nearly as refined though in the end. My goal is for it to look like a survivor, flat paint, dents and all.
Enough about mine . . I skimmed thru your entire thread, and I am impressed with the workmanship. I hope to go back soon to study in more detail
VERY NICE !!
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JeepFever,
Thanks for the comments! It's hard to believe it's 2019. It is amazing how similar our Jeeps looked when we started our threads.
For me, it was fun to fix up a really cool old Jeep that I just don't see around here very often. I ended up going for a stock looking resto because I like that the best. But I did keep the dinged up tail gate and wheel well tops! I like the "patina", and I'm proud I saved big sections of the tub. Good luck on "Hoover"!
Dave
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Hi Jeepers
Well, despite the winter, I'm still enjoying a drive in this Jeep just about every weekend. Even in the 20's, I just bundle up with a hat and gloves and take a nice drive around town. It's an absolute ball to drive. The big CJ3A windshield does a pretty good job of keeping the cold wind down! Anyway, I plan on taking some video soon and detail pictures for my website (just a hobby page with details on this build) so perhaps I'll finish this thread up with some better pictures of the Jeep.
Happy New Year!
Dave
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I just finally read through your entire thread. Coming from yet another guy with a huge pile of parts in the garage and a chassis and rusting tub sitting out in the yard I can say that this was very inspiring! Good work!
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OnlyOneDR,
Thanks!
Good luck on your rig...you can do it!
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I've been lucky enough to keep working through these times, but even being so busy with work I miss having some "Willys" tinkering time. I did manage to carve out an evening and make an interior rear view mirror mount.
A year ago or so, I was at a swap meet and saw a cruddy old rear view mirror. I asked how much and the guy said "I'll give you two of 'em for 5 bucks. Sold. They had a Ford number on the mount and it turns out they're 1965 Ford Mustang and/or Falcon mirrors (can't remember now). I unscrewed them from their mounts and tossed those, then bought a steel bushing with an appropriate sized ID for the mirror stud, tapped it for a 6-32 setscrew, and then folded up a piece of sheet metal and welded it all up. I made a tab at the top so I could screw it to the underside of the winshield frame rather than pierce the front face like an original mount would do.
I scratched up the rusty chrome and painted it black, and fastened it to the frame with two slotted #10 sheet metal screws. It's a basic mirror with no "tilt" feature for night use, but I like it.
I took a ride and it's got a really funny, pure single axis rotation resonance that makes stuff appear wiiiiiide when looking into it at a very certain RPM. After that it very stable and gives smooth viewing.
I've been itching to do some projects but I can only waste time taking pictures and writing posts, hence this update!
Hope all is well for everyone in the 3A community.
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Nice work on the bracket. I might have to try that myself :D
Notice any vibration problems at all?
I only have a driver's side mirror and seeing clear reflection either requires a light finger press, or creative timing with the bumps in the road :)
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This is an update to this thread about "Nuthin' Fancy".
I was driving the Jeep one day in early May and I started to detect a soft, rapid sounding knocking. I worried it was rod or main bearings so I dropped the pan and took off caps to inspect. I found clearances were not terrible although worn to just about the limits. The bearings had date codes of 1965, so I think it was refreshed then although they kept standard bore pistons. I thought I'd just replace the bearings and rings so I pulled the motor. When I pulled the pistons out I found every piston had shattered top rings. All of them. Some were in broken in a dozen pieces or more. I believe that was the source of my light tapping. Soooooo, I was still going to just re-ring it but I found one piston had wedged two pieces of ring one on top of another in the land. The land was destroyed, so I need new pistons. Okay, then new standard bore pistons. But then, I noticed a long crack in cylinder 4 going from the bore, over the top into the combustion chamber (deck). Ugh.
I contacted Brian Hainer, otherwise known as "Metalshaper" on youtube and asked him if repair was feasible. He had me bring it in and said he could fix it. He did, and made some videos of the process.
Here's a link the first of several he made of the repairs:
https://youtu.be/CL3Rl911900 (https://youtu.be/CL3Rl911900)
Brian fixed the crack with lock and stitch pinning, and decided it didn't need a sleeve. Since the crack was above where the top ring will travel, I think pinning will be okay there. He pressure tested it along the way and I'm happy with the repair. So, Brian bored and honed the cylinders, and decked the block and resurfaced the head. I sent new 0.040" pistons to Brian to fit to the cylinders, and then scrounged rings, valves, valve guides, bearings (main and rod).
I got it back late last week and I'm starting the assembly.
This weekend I pulled all the valve guides and sheesh what a task that was. I couldn't find my driver tool, and I couldn't find strong grade threaded rod in any local stores, so I resorted to a grade 8 3/8ths x 6 inch bolt to pull some of the guides. I used my 12 ton press on some too, but this broke the tops of a couple of the exhaust guides so I stayed with the threaded rod technique.
I did use the press to install all the new guides. Once installed, I've cleaned up the guides with a .374 reamer. I used a .374 just to clean up the burrs from the installation (primarily on the ends). All the valves fit no problem with acceptable clearance. I'm waiting on some Neway cutters to finish the valve seats in the block and I think the standard Neway .375" pilot will fit these guides fine.
I've attached images of the lock and stitch repair to cylinder 4 and the repair to the large central coolant passage...there were cracks from the passage to the head studs on each end. Brian "nutserted" those threaded holes (for those two studs). I"ll update as I go.
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I'm finally making some headway on Go Devil assembly. As I mentioned in another thread, I got nervous about my no name valve guide replacements, so I went through days of searching and managed to find Sealed Power exhaust guides to replace the no-namers I had installed. A picture is included below of the inner diameters as a comparison side by side ( the smooth one is the Sealed Power). The Sealed Power are definitely higher quality. I got the new guides in, re-cut the valve seats with my new set of Neway cutters, and touched them up with a quick valve compound grinding. I'm pleased with the fit.
I put in new "King" brand main bearings (I didn't have my crank machined) and checked clearances with plastigage and all looks within spec.
I got the tappets and cam installed (a new Cleavite cam bearing too) also. I am reusing the cam. I never took off the cam gear; I was able to remove and replace the cam/cam gear assembly by putting a socket through the cam gear hole(s) to access the mounting bolts.
I was ready to put in the crank for good but came to a screeching halt when I tried putting in the rear main rope seal. This "rope" seal came with the Fel-pro gasket kit. I was super diligent and squashed the rope into the bottom of the grooves, and used a zillion razor blades to trim the rope in the block and in the cap. I installed everything and torqued down the caps and the crank was stuck solid (I had installed the crank sans rear seal earlier as a test and it spun beautifully). The rope is way too big. There is no way it will squash down. It seems to be kevlar or something; not traditional rope. The thin coating of I presume graphite paste wore off when I formed it too. It's white and not very flexible or pliable. Very disappointed.
I went online and bought a "Best Gasket" 6485 graphite rope seal. (I used the same type on my Pontiac and it has never leaked.) I hope it fits. I remember the graphite rope was easy to form, and cut easily. I want rope because my seal surface on the crank has minor pitting. It's 2.309" by the way. I half wonder if the groove cutting in the block and cap were all over the map in those days?
I'm still waiting for the seal so in the meantime I've fit the pistons to the rods, and installed the new OMIX ADA bearings (the only bearings I could find that were in stock, anywhere). I installed the rod big ends onto the crank (out of the engine) to check clearances this evening and everything is in spec. So I'm happy about that!
The pistons are 0.040 over Keith Blacks and I found a set of NOS Kromex rings on ebay to install.
I'll keep detailing peripheral stuff (coat exhaust manifold with high temp coating, paint engine plate, refurb distributor, etc) and hopefully get rear main seal at the end of this week.
I missed the whole summer for Willys cruising....I hope I can get a piece of the fall.
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Got the "Best Gasket" rear main seal. The gasket is made with graphite impregnated teflon strands that are woven into a "rope". Best Gasket Co. recommends installing a 1/16" dowel pin in the bottom of the groove of the cap to keep the rope from turning (which I did). To install, the rope is set on the bench top and flattened (I used a hammer lightly) to thin out an edge which made it easier to squash it into the grooves. It still was pretty tricky to get it squashed all the way down. I used a large socket on it's side to keep forcing the rope into the groove(s). After installing, the ends are trimmed with a specific "stickout" of the ends with a spacer (per instructions) and then dress the ends by folding the strands to the center of the cut ends so nothing gets caught between the block and the cap. After torquing the cap down I measured about 5 ft/lbs (beam torque wrench) to turn the crank. Seems good.
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Got the crank fully installed after checking clearances with plastigage. All mains came in between 0.0015 and 0.002. I'm happy with this as I did not have the crank machined. These are "King" brand bearings by the way. Some of the bearing shell dowel pin holes had to be massaged with a file to fit in the saddles correctly. The pictures attached show the hole being offset from the dowel in the block, and the following picture shows how I filed the hole a bit to fit over the dowel step.
Also I noticed (not until assembly time) that the original center cap is numbered...note the "2" at the bolt head seat, and the front and center caps have notches on the tops that face forward.
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I forgot to mention that before I installed the crank I installed all the rods onto the crank pins to measure those clearances. I used "CROWN" bearings. These all came in around 0.0015".
The caps were all numbered which I thought was done by a rebuilder in the past, but some reading I've done indicates the factory stamped the rods and caps with numbers....which was nice.
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As mentioned before, I cut the valve seats with Neway cutters, and these worked well. I lightly dressed the seats with compound, and then installed the valves and springs. I set the lash to 0.016". I measured about 8-10 ft/lbs to turn the crank with cam and valvetrain parts.
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I assembled the rod/piston/ring assemblies. The pistons were numbered by Brian (metalshaper) so I of course fit them to the corresponding rods. I fit Sealed Power Kromex rings which have a chromed top ring and chromed oil rings...(the box is old...I don't think these are made anymore). I measured the end gaps of the rings and while I could have left them as they were, I learned that the latest practice in engine building is to gap the second rings a little on the bigger side; this allows the top ring to seal better. Yes, it's absurd to care about this for a Go Devil, but I filed the second rings anyway to achieve 0.017" gaps (from the as-supplied gap of 0.011"). The top ring gaps are about 0.014". So I'll bet I'll gain a good half a horsepower...haha.
The pistons installed easily and I got the caps torqued down. I did not bother with new "pal nuts" on the rod nuts.
I measure about 10-11 ft/lbs to about 30 ft/lbs to rotate the crank/valvetrain/pistons. The 10-11 ft/lbs is when the pistons are all at the top/bottom of travel (no piston movement) and about 30 ft/lbs when the pistons are in the middle of the cylinders (maximum piston speed as a function of crank rotation).
I'm thinking while this is a lot of torque, I think it should loosen up with break in.
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I thought I'd try to put an o-ring in the oil pickup joint. There is not supposed to be anything there, but it seems like a decent idea. I could not find a conventional "english" size Buna o-ring size that would fit. In metric sizes, a 14mm x 16mm would be ideal, but couldn't find anything locally. I then remembered I have some A/C HNBR o-rings laying around in my A/C stuff and it so happens one seems to fit okay. I'm thinking this might just keep some tiny bit of extra sealing when the engine is out of level.....maybe. Eh, I don't think it could hurt.
I bolted down the oil pan, which felt good after all these months of engine parts laying around!
I installed new studs sealed with Permatex 51813 sealant as recommended by metalshaper. I got the head installed and torqued down today. Wow that feels even better!
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Love the detailed pictures and steps. You are making good progress!
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I had taken apart my (presumably) original oil pump and all the clearances were in spec, but I decided to really clean it out and took off the bypass plug. I found the spring was broken and someone had stuffed an old set screw in there to (I guess) try to compress the spring to increase oil pressure, or perhaps overcome the problem of a broken spring coil. This was enough of a mess that I decided to just buy a new oil pump. I got a Sealed Power unit from RockAuto, and the box indicated it was manufactured in USA in 2001. I crossed my fingers (hoping that it isn't one of the poorly made ones that seize) and bolted it on.
I took some time to "rebuild" the distributor also. I knocked out the lower retaining ring pin and then installed new bushings (can still find bushings at the hardware store) adjusted the centrifugal weight springs, and reset the spacer to be sure the shaft floats in between the upper centrifugal bracket and lower retainer. There was a precision washer that was too thick which moved the distributor body too high, which made contact with the upper thrust washer and there was alot of wear. I believe the shaft should bottom out in the oil pump and the distributor shaft should "float" with equal distance between the upper and lower thrust washers. I made a thinner washer and got it centered.
I installed the distributor statically, using a multimeter to check when the points open. I wasn't sure where the distributor body orientation is to be, so I made the oil filler go to the 10 o'clock postion. I may re-do this as I think I'd prefer the oil filler in the 2 o'clock position.
The engine went together fine and fairly quickly. A close inspection of the clutch disc revealed it was very worn out, so I bought a new clutch. While waiting for that, I decided to make a double bolt bracket for the top two engine to bellhousing fasteners. I had a whizbang of a time trying to loosen them since you need two wrenches and it's so tight there on the driver side. I realized what that hacked out big hole was for next to the gas pedal (that I welded up during body resto) on the firewall....access to that driver side engine bolt! So I made a template and cut up a piece of 1/8" steel plate, made a jig, and welded the bolts and metal together. Now I need only one wrench to tighten down the top bolts. It worked nicely!
Finally, shockingly, I was able to adjust the exhaust flap weight and got it adjusted as it should be for cold starts. I was even able to reuse the sheet metal tab used as a stop for the end of the bimetallic spring. It's odd what survives and doesn't in these old Jeeps.
I painted the engine, and it looks better than it did.
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Greetings.
It runs.
I finished installation of the engine into the Jeep. I waited for a nice weekend day and started it with not too much fanfare. I had a silly gas leak, and after I got it running, I experienced a coolant leak at the manifold stud at the front. It took three tries to seal that up. I ended up useing "high performance" Permatex stuff for that.
After that I have seen no leaks. The rear main seal is also dry.
I ran the engine at about 2K rpms for about 10 minutes and then took it for a spin. I noticed it has a bit more power. I reset the valve lash when I took the manifolds off to re-seal the leaky stud, but I still have one ticking noise. Not a big deal and I will investigate that soon. I've put about 50 miles on it and all seems very well.
While I know there are scads of Willys videos out there of engines running, I'm adding one more just to show that a cracked block can live for another day.
I posted it up on youtube:
https://youtu.be/5PjGPQ6Z7ZE (https://youtu.be/5PjGPQ6Z7ZE)
I've started a somewhat major suspension refurb on my 2003 Rubicon, so that might keep me busy for a while keeping the half cab resto on a back burner for the Willys. But I"ll post updates when I get to that!
Thanks,
Dave
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The smile on the driver's face says it was worth it. Congrats!
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Looks and sounds terrific!
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How sweet it is! Great documentation!
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The driver at the end of the video is my daughter...She LOVES Jeeps. She used my Rubicon during her teenager years. A month ago, she ordered for herself a 2021 Wrangler Willys Jeep. She had to order it because she wanted a 2 door with manual transmission. Dealers don't stock that sort of thing anymore. I'll take a side by side picture when she gets it!
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Well you raised her right. She likes Jeeps and manual transmissions. You go girl.
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She got her Jeep.
She came home for the holidays, and I took a nice drive in her new Willys! She hadn't even tried 4WD yet, so I had some fun showing her how to shift with some tricks on how to coax it in (slight roll, wheels straight ahead, etc).
It's a Cadillac compared to my TJ Jeep. So nice. It's the gas V6, and it's pretty peppy, more HP, but not as torquey at idle as the 4.0. It's easy to stall unlike the ol' straight 6 Jeep engines.
Manual trans shifts nice, but I didn't drive it enough to figure out if the last two speeds are overdrive. (it's a 6 speed)
Anyway, I like it. It's huge, but I like it.
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Hi folks,
I've started on another chapter for this Jeep.
In the beginning of this thread you might have noticed my Jeep came with a half hard cab. Lots of Jeeps in the northeast were plow Jeeps, and it seems many were fitted with aftermarket hard tops. The one I found on this Jeep is a Koenig Iron Works #355 "Supertop". Compared to the Koenig "Jiffy" tops, it's got larger windows all around and full roll up door glass. Honestly, the Supertop is a little bit ugly, and/or clunky as the bigger side glass requires bigger doors with quirky little cutouts in the corners. (I'm debating changing this odd cutout.) But I've always liked the half cab look on Jeeps (going back to my Scrambler days) so I've begun "restoring" the top to install onto my Jeep. I think it might make for a fun addition in the winter months. I'll post my progress as I go.
The pictures are from November 2006 when I dragged this Jeep home.
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I went out of my way in 1983 to find a Koenig deluxe half cab.
I absolutely loved the visibility and solid feel of that cab.
Doors are easily removable for summer use.
This same Jeep has currently been fully rebuilt yet again with many additional upgrades but not sure yet if the .cab will be re-installed.
(https://www.mywillyspics.com/images/2021/04/09/D6CC62CC-8FB6-46F2-99CF-DD10D590B31E.jpg)
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Oldtime, Thanks so much for that picture! The top looks great! I think I'd like to duplicate that door notch that you had...it just looks better with an angular shape. There are NOT many pictures of the Koenig supertops out there on internet land.
I love the roof rack rig.
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You are observant. Yes I reshaped the bottom corners of the doors.
I think one of the doors was rusted down there and I like the modified shape better.
IMHO The rebuild version of this Jeep is way cooler than it was before.
I’d take a pic of the jeeps current state but it’s raining today.
The cab has not been re-installed because I sold it.
But I may be getting that same cab back and will I definately will put it back on if I do get it.
It will be perfect for the “garage”, “gas station”, “service Jeep” look.
In the meantime I bought a NOS Kelly deluxe half cab but realized I have many great memories with that deluxe Koenig.
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Can I get a cab fitment dimension from you ?
Middle of Jeep back.
Exactly how far from rear of cab to rear edge of bed ?
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Yes. I'll try to get this dimension tomorrow. The top is now blown apart for repairs, but I was going to test fit the sides, rear panel and top piece tomorrow I hope. I have the Koenig installation directions from ewillys for this top so I'm going to do something crazy and install the top per the instructions.
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I've got a few shots of what this top looks like now and the repairs I'm doing. Koenig design was pretty simple using mostly flat sheet metal with simple folds. Lap joints were most common. I've started with the "sides". They are quite simple and well made. The folds are crisp and the metal is flat with no distortions. But all the bottoms have "L" braces and gussets and it's all rusted. I cut all the rust out and pieced in new sections. I duplicated the construction as close as I could. I don't have a spot welder so I did plug welds.
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The doors are hung on "jambs". These jambs are in two pieces: an upper jamb that attaches to the windshield, then lower jambs that connect to the upper jamb and also the tub. The two get screwed together when the top is installed. It can fit a '3A or a '3B as the jambs can adjust in height during installation.
The lower jambs are complex because they have to fill in the angled shape the tub makes in the middle of the tub toward the front. The lower jambs came with permanently welded piano hinges. (The doors are bolted to the non-welded side of each hinge.) I cut my hinges off the jambs because they were rusted and almost unmovable. I purchased some stainless steel piano hinges from McMaster Carr to replace the originals. But first I've started repairs to the jambs themselves. First shot is the finished repairs followed by a shot of the rusted section. Note all the pieces welded together.
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Oldtime,
I installed the top loosely. I measure 26 inches from the rear face of the rear panel to the rear edge of the bed (tailgate down to take this measurement). While I did happen to measure exactly 26 inches, keep in mind that I think there is some rather large tolerance built into the design on how the koenig top is installed, so I'd say for other installations it might vary plus/minus 3/8" or so?
The Koenig instructions say the forward edge of the sides should be 30.5 inches from the face of the dash, but in my case I can't get them closer than 31 inches; the rear of the side panels would hit the seat backs else. So, I installed it as best I could, plopped the top on, and it all sort of fits. I will have to do some tweaking here and there and I wouldn't be surprised if that 26" measurement changes a bit.
Picture of the side, rear panel and top loosely fitted, picture of back view, then picture of measurement (end of measure tape against rear panel)
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Thanks Dave, now that you mention it 26” sounds about dead on as best I can recall.
Yeah windshield tilt and such as that could make slight differences.
I now have a winch boom mounted in my bed right near the back wall and hoping it will clear the back wall of the Koenig half cab.
I’ll go out and measure it now.
Looks like I’d have to put about a 2” deep x 3” high x 3” wide notch in the middle of the Koenig rear wall to clear the boom.
So now I know for sure a slight mod to the cab rear wall will be needed.
Looks like you have a few repairs that you will need to address on your cab.
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I'm finishing up the rust repair for the doors. These also utilized basic sheet metal construction with flat sheet parts folded into all the necessary shapes. It's actually quite impressive how they came up with the origami type design for these doors. There are subtle angles throughout in order to deal with the Jeep body necking down toward the windshield.
The door panel is a flat sheet with flanged pieces welded around the perimeter with a completed assembly that is about 1 5/8" thick. I had to replace about half the flange pieces at the bottom of each door. There are flanged standoffs as well to space out the masonite "door cards". So I fabbed all the replacement parts using my vise and wood pieces to pound in folds in the patches. I sure wish I had a sheet metal brake. Before welding I painted all the joints with masterseries primer. It's the silver stuff.
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The bottom edge of the window opening had an upside down "J" piece to stiffen that section of sheet metal as well as prevent slicing your hands or arm when sticking your arm out the window. These were rotted (see first picture). I drilled the spot welds holding them on and then pondered on how to make new ones with a nice smooth "J" profile. I gave up on that idea and simply used 0.5 x 0.5" square tubing. I sliced the tube so that it can slip over the door edge. The slice is biased to a side so it doesn't hang into the window slot opening. Holes drilled into the "flap" on the inside of the door will be plug welded to the door panel. Then ends of the tube were folded to a curved shape and welded up as a nice detail. The holes in the door panel (drilled out when removing the old "J" piece) will be welded closed.
I think it looks pretty good.
In the last picture you can see I've drawn out the new corner shape I want to cut like oldtime did in his Jeep pictured above.
I think it's hilarious that this corner is the ONLY design flair in the whole top assembly. The whole thing from top to bottom was designed and constructed in a utilitarian style, except for the strange curved lower door corner. It's the one and only part that the Koenig designers whipped out their french curve!
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I'm still at it on the Koenig top "resto". This is taking quite a bit of work; the top was in pretty poor condition. I started in on the top section itself for repairs. I was surprised to find some heavy pitting to the point of getting tons of pinholes between a flange over the door opening. i had to cut the flange off and weld a whole line of the side of the top to fill in all the holes and pits. There are 4 flanges: two over the doors and two over the corner panels. All the rust is repaired and it's all welded back together awaiting final bodywork (which will happen when all the rust repairs are done).
The first picture is of the top sitting on the rear edge. Note the rust under the removed flange. Holes and pits.
The next shot shows the holes and pits after sandblasting...
The final shot shows the ground down welds with a coating of primer and awaiting the reinstallation of the right angle flange. The flange at the bottom of the image is there to mount a "headliner" of masonite (which was missing on this top.)
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Next was the rear panel. This is a flat sheet with right angle flanges welded to the sides. The top and bottom flanges are folded into the main sheet. The bottom was rusted away (hard to tell in the picture).
There was plenty of rust between the sheet and the side flanges too so I drilled out all the spot welds and blasted and cleaned it all up and plug welded them back on. I folded up some scrap to make a new bottom fold and stitch welded that on.
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These "supertops" used upper and lower door posts. The upper door posts screw to the windshield sides. They are made from two folded pieces of sheet metal. I was going to use them as-is, but there was swelling between the two pieces, so I drilled those out too, blasted the pieces, primed and plug welded them back together. I hammered the distorted pieces (from rust swelling between the pieces) back flat. It's all plugwelded back together. First shot is the posts taken apart...note the orange nasty rust I had to sandblast away. Next shot is the upper door post held in place on the Jeep....the holes in the left side allow slotted sheet metal screws to hold the pieces onto the windshield.
This is a pretty boring part of the job...but I thought I'd post this anyway. Just to show that a little work every day does get you to the goal eventually!
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Springtime means less Willys time due to flowerbeds, garden, grass, etc. But I've gotten over a hurdle or two. I dry fit the top again after some more fiddling, then, following the Koenig instructions (that I found on Dave Elliers eWillys site) I screwed the top into the windshield. That was a bit of a "gulp" to drill the holes. The top and upper side jambs are held on with #10 sheet metal screws. I got new slotted screws from McMaster Carr to maintain the vintage look.
Next was the lower jambs. These require holes in the side panels of the Jeep. That was another big "gulp", but once the first hole was in, the rest were easier. There are 4 holes per side. I figure when the top is off, I can put screws back into the holes, maybe even paint them to match and they'll be fairly invisible. But what is an old CJ if it doesn't have extra holes in the body.
I used blue tape as a guide during all the fitting and adjusting.
It IS an anxious time...fitting the parts so that you get the best fit. It doesn't just fall together.
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I ground off the old rusted piano hinges on the jambs, and welded in new stainless steel hinges. These were sourced from McMaster also, and a tad pricey. But I can't imagine the inevitable rust streaks that would come with steel units.
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The doors skins are rather floppy and the driver side had slight "oil can" issues. It looked fine but you could "boink" the door panel outward and it wouldn't lay flat against the body of the Jeep. I fashioned 1/8" steel strap, bent the pieces to have a "crown", then forced them into place on the inside of the door panel. They'll be welded top and bottom and glued in the middle with metal construction adhesive. A test fit indicates they work great...you can't "boink the oil can" with these in place.
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The doors are fit into the openings, adjusted, then using the hinge holes as a guide, drill holes into the door skin, and fasten with #10 machine screws. They feel solid and open really nicely.
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I need new handles as only a small piece of the driver side handle was left (destroyed before I got the Jeep.) I can't find a similar vintage one like my surviving handle, so I may need to buy new "RV" handles which don't look "vintage", or as nice. I think the "supertop" used a handle with a key tumbler on the driver side, and for the passenger side you flip a tab on the "slam latch" on the inside. A.L. Hanson still makes the inside slam latches (mostly for RV applications), but not the exterior handles anymore like I have. I'll have to scan the swap meets.
So I've begun to drill the rest of the holes required for the sides and rear panel. More holes. All told I had to drill 27 holes in the body so far. Oh boy. But I think it's going to be worth it.
I"ll post pix when I get the Jeep out in the sun with the new "patina'd" top. (Yes it will eventually get painted.)
Happy summer!
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Maybe this guy can help you find what you want...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1950-Willys-Jeepster-Original-Outside-Door-Handles-/392818181045
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Nice work! Those holes in my jeep was the main reason I didn't like my hard top. If the PO that put it on would have taken care about where the screws were actually placed, I'd no doubt have better feelings towards it.
I will say the hard top allowed for stacking cargo in the back an easier thing - didn't need to worry about puncturing the vinyl/canvas soft top.
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Steve Kfl,
wow, thanks, those handles look quite close. That's a good "datapoint" to consider as I get closer to needing handles.
Rus,
Thanks for the comments. I think it took a week before I got up the nerve to drill the first holes. But it got easier as I went. It's a drag for sure to put holes in the windshield frame and body, but I'm trying to be neat, and so far I think they'll blend in ok.
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I just received a "reduced offer" just from my viewing the item. Maybe you should contact the seller for what you really want.
Review offer
You received an offer
Other buyers may have received this offer. The first to accept, gets the deal.
1950 Willy's Jeepster Original, Outside Door Handles
Previous price was $50.00$50.00
Seller's Offer
$42.50 (15.00% off)
Expires in
47h 33m
Message
Here's your chance to get this item at a great price!
Seller
jeepsterjim (4718)
Shipping
$7.95
Economy Shipping
Estimated total
$50.45
Accept offer
Decline offer
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Hmm, that's new to me.
I looked at it...I wonder if I'll get an email with an "offer" too.
I would really like to hit some of the tables I've seen at swap meets...I know I've seen vintage stuff like this there. But it's tempting to just hit "buy it now" online.
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Work is slow...busy summer as usual!
I bought a quart of the wake ivory (well, at least it's an equivalent color that I found at my paint supplier: Napa paints in Windsor Locks CT) and I'm getting ready for color on the hardtop.
But, it's been a slog to finish up the metal work. Sheesh this hardtop project has been going on for me since March or so.
I got the top fit to the body, drilled all the holes, put hardware through all the holes (there are lots of holes, and man, oh man, it's a task to line them up, put nuts on bolts, fiddle with tightening, try to reach each one, etc, etc). I experimented with seals and gaskets. I can get by with some stuff sold at home depot, and I got a roll of epdm rubber from amazon that's 0.062" thick. Seems good.
I fit the doors and drilled new holes and finally they were hanging by themselves on the Jeep. The Jeep combined with the top is not the easiest thing to climb in and out of! I hit my head several times exiting the Jeep and jeez that hurts. Safety and comfort were not on the top of the list with razor sharp edges and corners.
It looks funky, but it's growing on me. I think the "look" will get transformed when the thing is cleaned up and painted. The patina is sorta cool, but ahhhhm, I'm ready for it to match the Jeep in the "finished" look.
I've started grinding off the old layers of paint. I'm going as far as the red oxide. I'll leave that stuff...it's rock solid.
I need to find some window track guide sfuff. Not sure what size to get. It's a bit pricey too. I need all new flat glass. Not sure what I'll do there....I'm always on a low budget and glass around here is expensive too...I think most shops don't want to mess with custom flat safety glass.
Finally, in a few spare evenings, I made an attempt to make some new Koenig data tags. The original was aluminum but it's beat. I made new "artwork" and actually bought some toner transfer paper and made some masks, then ironed them onto some aluminum sheet stock, and etched it with hydrogen peroxide and muriatic acid. I made two: one I already filled with red paint but I embedded the aluminum sanding dust into the paint when I polished it to highlight the letters. I'll be more careful with the next one. I intend to buy a 10 dollar set of harbor freight letter punches to put the model number in the empty field of the tag.
Happy CJ3A-ing.
dave
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In the past two months I've refreshed my bodyworking skills: Scuffing, epoxying, filler work, sanding, epoxying, 2k primering, sanding, glazing, 2K primering, 400 grit final sand. Repeat for the 14 pieces that comprise the top.
This job seemed huge to me, probably because I have no room in my garage...(two pesky hobby cars), and a half top, when disassembled, takes up a huge amount of room!
Here's a couple of the doors after epoxy, then some filler and sanding work. I filled all overlaps with 3M dripchek. Just a bit of effort to reduce water leaks, and protect the overlap weld joints.
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Once the filler work was done, I was ready for 2K primer. I used U-pol 2k primer. I like it.
Had to figure out the logistics of painting these big pieces both inside and out. I basically hung all the parts (except for the top and rear panel pieces) from wires out in my side yard.
The top is quite heavy, and hard to move around. I keep it on sawhorses. It ain't fun moving it around. But I got it coated and went to town doing pit filling and final smoothing with glaze.
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I got some color finally this weekend. Still not done...the outside of the doors and the inside of the back panel are next. I hung the jambs, and side panels, and coated them at one go. Hung a couple runs, but not too bad. I did the top too, and it looks pretty good.
All the parts have to be coated on all sides. It meant painting undersides one day, and two days later flipping it to paint the other.
And warning: yellow paint attracts bugs. Well, that's what buffing is for.
I'm STILL not sure I want to paint the doors Cream, I am thinking of painting the front jambs and doors the maroon red body color. Oh dear oh dear.
Still thinking. But I'm tired of this chapter, and I want to finish up. The top has blocked the Willys from getting it out of the garage easily. I miss driving it, but I told myself I'm not allowed to drive til I finish painting!
Assembly will begin soon!
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Koenig Supertop update:
I've got the top painted, and I decided to paint the doors body color. I re-painted the side jambs Luzon red (after already painting them ivory). I like them better red. I left the sides and rear panels ivory, and I'm going to take some time to decide if I'll leave it this way....I may still paint the rest of the panels Luzon red.
Assembly: First, a word about weatherseals. These tops were engineered strictly for the most crude protection...there is no way these things came close to sealing water out. I suppose one would have to caulk everything to have any hope of keeping dry. I don't want to do this however as I'd like to take the top off in the summer. So, I did my best to practically get some higher level of sealing. Some sections simply bolt together with no seal at all. In these cases I used strips of gaffer tape...it serves more as an "anti-squeak" and maybe will keep the water from pouring in. Most everywhere else I used 1 inch wide 0.060" thick EPDM sponge rubber.
The doors use some hollow FrostKing seals for the outer edges (against the body).
I drilled out the rusty "slam latches" (a misnomer by the way; you can't "slam" the doors...you have to half actuate the latches to slide over the side panels to close the doors) then blasted, cleaned, re-lubed and re-welded them back together. Very crude, but they do work.
The tops of the jambs have open gaps around the whole top under the wide "gutter panels"(used on the Supertop models only). I made them out of scrap sheet metal, welded them up and painted them. These at least will shed some water, and serve as a base for some non-hardening "dum-dum" caulk.
I got a little more "freestyle" with the interior bits. I made new "door cards" with masonite...they're retained with "L" aluminum at the top edges. The forward vertical edges used screws with finishing washers, but I made "L" channels here too. It looks better. I may paint the door cards gray to match the seats, or maybe "wrap" them with some vinyl shelf liner with a vintage pattern? Maybe just polyurethane them?
Also made a headliner with masonite. That is retained with screws/finishing washers.
I still have no glass. Not sure what I'm going to do...new laminated glass, or plexiglass?
For now, I'm shifting to a new project: rebuilding the Harrison heater. The housing has lots of rot. I'll be doing some big patching. Not sure if the "core" is okay, but I'm making a rig to pressurize it for testing.
First picture shows gaps at top of "jambs"
Second picture is fabricated jamb caps
Third is new cap in place without gutter panel installed yet
Fourth is cap with gutter with paint
Fifth is new door card
Sixth is headliner
Seventh picture is dash and doors interior view
Eighth is the exterior
Happy Jeeping!
Dave
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December 22, 2021
Metal work for Harrison heater is complete. The housing was really rusted out and required extensive repairs. I formed new outer case corners (challenging compound curves), a new "air deflector" for the driver side, big chunks of the back panel, as well as a piece of sheet steel to strengthen the elevator bolt mounting screw.
I added more screws to hold the assembly together too.
A pressure test of the heater core revealed a couple leaks. One leak was a pinhole in the middle of the core which required ripping out the exchanger fins to get to it (see blue arrow pointing to pinhole!). A light sandblasting cleaned the spot to prep for soldering. I didn't want to use a torch on this job, so I made a 200 watt "solder iron" using a cartridge heater embedded in a copper block. It is controlled with a heater controller I scavenged years ago. I set it to about 650F for the job.
To solder it, I first wiped with muriatic acid, then some plain old "No Korode" plumbers flux, then some lead tin solder. I loaded up the iron and then daubed it onto the pinholed surface to "tin" the area. I gobbed on a thicker layer and it seems well wetted. I also soldered up a crack in an end tank, and soldered on a new steel mounting tab (the original rusted away) on the driver side brass tank.
Pressure testing revealed no more air leaks, but I'm prepared to replace it as I wouldn't be surprised if operating heat and pressure will reveal more leaks.
I put it all together and it would not fit up under the dash. I don't remember any trouble taking it out, but then again most of the floor was gone when I did that. I trimmed 1/4 inch off of each tube and it fits in place beautifully. There's still over an inch of each tube protruding out of the firewall for the hose.
I am waiting for a new motor, switch, fan blade, 45 degree hose barb, and heater valve fitting. I'm having a hard time finding "Hammer" paint too. Most stores I visit are missing half of their rattle can spray paint stock. Sigh.
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January 2, 2022
I finished the "bodywork" of the heater housing. Primed with Master Series silver, then Napa 2K primer, 2 part glaze smoothing, then rustoleum gray "hammer" paint.
I got a new 12V bower motor (Continental PM354) and universal resistor switch from Rockauto. McMaster Carr supplied a new 5 blade 7" fan...(the old one was fused to the 6v motor.) The blower motor fits right onto the housing with no mods necessary, and the motor can be configured to run CW or CCW depending on application. It's a good thing because the fanblades on the new fan I bought are opposite from the original fan.
The switch is a simple universal with nichrome resistor wire to cut voltage for lower fan speeds. It has a bulb inside that lights up the front of the knob. I had to run a ground wire to the switch case for it to work.
The blower housing was lined with gaffer tape so the heater core would at least not sit against metal. The assembly was put into the Jeep and screwed onto the firewall. I had included a blower motor circuit in my fuse panel so I simply wired my new switch and blower motor to the terminal on the panel. I used a 20 amp fuse.
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In the engine compartment, I installed a 45 degree fitting into the passenger side of the water pump, and a heater hose valve at the back of the head. Plumbed with 5/8" heater hose. I still need to make a heater hose bracket to support the hoses at the passenger fender. I'll think of something. (And also eliminate the temporary zip ties.)
While not necessary, I also thought I'd try a bypass hose from the driver side of the pump to the front of the head (recommended by MetalShaper on one of his youtube videos). I refilled the coolant system and fired her up. No leaks after a road-test yesterday. I have no windows yet, and it was about 25 degrees F, but I still felt the heat!
I'm working on windows now....updates coming.
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The windows are done.
I decided to go with plexiglass.
I used 0.23" stuff, and cut all the pieces with a cheapie track saw for straights, and a coping saw for curved corners. The edges were smoothed with a belt sander, and jitterbug sander. I installed the stationary "glass" with two piece window gasket.
For the door windows, I fastened the windows with two machine screws to the regulator "U" channel. I had to dissolve ancient grease in the regulators and replenish with white grease. They now work again! I used METRO WC1172 which is a nicer window channel that has stainless steel beads just like the old stuff.
I don't think there were ever window-opening sweepers in these doors, but I decided to install some on the insides at least. I had to fabricate "L" channel to attach the sweeper fuzzy strips. One leg of the "L" is slipped under the aluminum door card channel, and the other "L" serves to mount the sweeper (fuzzy strip). In the picture, you can see the fuzzy strip, and a sliver of the "L" channel....it's hard to tell, but it does fill up a big void that was there.
I did the insides only at this time because there isn't much room for an outer fuzzy (sweeper). I'm still thinking how to fit something.
For door handles, I got a pair of universal handles at this time, from NAPA, for expediency. The originals look much nicer, but I was missing one, and while Jeepster handles are the same, they don't have a lock cylinder....
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Here's a shot of my heater. I made up a panel for the switch, had a go with some "engine turning" finish, and put in a 12V power socket. I'm putting the alternator "GEN" light on the left of the panel, and maybe something else (plug in there now).
Everything works, and no leaks!
Then a few exterior shots (taken in the super hard crusty ice field across the street from my house)
Happy winter!
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I think you need to rename your project/jeep, she's a stunner!
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Jon,
THANKS for the comment!
I would not have believed in the beginning I would have taken it to this point.
Sounds corny, but I feel like I saved a Jeep from oblivion, and it feels good!
(I love your project thread so far by the way...Marla Hooch....ba hahahaha!)
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Hi folks.
Update post.
I started a topic a year ago on what color combo to paint the half hard top. I decided to paint the top "ivory", except the doors and door jambs. Well, I thought all along I might like the rear panel and corners to be body color ("luzon" red). A few weeks ago, I took the panels off the Jeep and scuffed them down and painted them. It was alot of work because I don't have alot of room, I had to remove the windows out of their gaskets, and it's getting cold. But I got it done and it's all back together. I have to admit I'm not quite sure I like it better or not. But I'm stuck with it now!
It's fine. I still want to run no top at all in the summer, but the top is NOT that much fun to remove. And it's heavy. And I have no room. BUT, the heat sure feels good toolin' around town when it's cold out! I did a bunch of errands today and got quite a few dudes stopping to chat about the Jeep. One guy had just bought a CJ2A a few weeks ago and I think he appreciated seeing something somewhat "complete".
I took a few shots today so here's what it looks like:
I'm enjoying it. Hope to get some good drives before the salt trucks come out.
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Very nice looking Jeep! You did good.
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Personal opinion: I like the red quarters so much better. Looks GREAT! Enjoy those drives!
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Thanks!
Now I have to stew on painting the top Luzon Red....
Probably won't do it....the ivory on the top came out super nice and I don't want to scuff it down!
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IMO that ivory top really looks great, I'd leave it