Ryan_M's 1949 CJ3A

[Ryan_M]

You must have been fairly confident to tackle a harness replacement on your sole plow vehicle in the dead of winter.�

Also, are your chains snug enough that you don't even need rubber bungee cords to snug them up?� They look great.

I was pretty certain I could at least get it operational again, if not fully functional, in a short period of time. The Craftsman snowblower is ready to roll in a pinch though. Turn signals will have to wait as my attempt to salvage the switch from my 3B carcass has failed and I ordered a new switch last night. I also ordered a new gas tank. I should not find it surprising by now that a wiring project results in a fuel tank replacement. Makes perfect sense, right?

And chains do seems to be sliding around a little more than I'd like but they have not fallen off yet. I will be making some adjustments to them and bungeefication is a possibility. The added traction they provide is awesome.

[Jeff_M]

When you can't go with chains, you'd best stay to home and throw another junk of wood on the stove.

[1955CJ-5]

It seems to me that when we chained up in the mountains when hunting or at home when feeding cattle in the winter months, we chained up the front wheels on the 4wd vehicles, where all the weight was. I know the old FJ-40 would climb about anything with the front chained up.....but we never really compared front vs rear....

[athawk11]

I think I would make it the baddest machine in the hood by chaining them all up.  You might approach...Invincible.

Tim

[Ryan_M]

It seems to me that when we chained up in the mountains when hunting or at home when feeding cattle in the winter months, we chained up the front wheels on the 4wd vehicles, where all the weight was. I know the old FJ-40 would climb about anything with the front chained up.....but we never really compared front vs rear....

Interesting. If they weren't such a pain to swap I would do a front vs. rear comparison test. I still might.

I am more likely, however, to go Tim's route and make it invincible. That was my original plan until I saw the price tag for the chains and opted to start out with a pair of them instead of all four.

Better yet, I should just throw another junk of wood on the stove and hibernate until spring.

[1955CJ-5]

It seems to me that when we chained up in the mountains when hunting or at home when feeding cattle in the winter months, we chained up the front wheels on the 4wd vehicles, where all the weight was. I know the old FJ-40 would climb about anything with the front chained up.....but we never really compared front vs rear....

Interesting. If they weren't such a pain to swap I would do a front vs. rear comparison test. I still might.

I am more likely, however, to go Tim's route and make it invincible. That was my original plan until I saw the price tag for the chains and opted to start out with a pair of them instead of all four.

Better yet, I should just throw another junk of wood on the stove and hibernate until spring.

it might be easier to swap the wheels instead of the chains.....


does the plow blade get forced down hydraulically? Maybe it would lift the front enough to make chains useless on the front....


four chains or hibernation...tough choice

[Ryan_M]

No hydraulic down pressure on the blade - only gravity.

You've had me pondering this all day now. Is it better to chain the rear wheels as they are the "weaker" and less effective ones? Would the chains add more value there because of those wheels are severely lacking in weight and traction without them?

OR

Do you chain the front wheels, which are already more effective, and give them super powers?

I think a test will be inevitable. Now I have to formulate a series of experiments that can be consistently duplicated.

And yes, swapping wheels would be much easier than swapping chains. Duh. As you can see I am definitely not qualified to perform any sort of efficiency test on anything at all....

Edit: Keep in mind I am not doing any road driving and no high speed driving at all. Steering and braking are not key components here. If they were I'd say hands down the chains need to be on the front wheels. What I am looking for is maximum overall slow speed traction on flat surfaces and in and out of small ditches in both forward and reverse directions.

[1955CJ-5]

No hydraulic down pressure on the blade - only gravity.

You've had me pondering this all day now. Is it better to chain the rear wheels as they are the "weaker" and less effective ones? Would the chains add more value there because of those wheels are severely lacking in weight and traction without them?

OR

Do you chain the front wheels, which are already more effective, and give them super powers?

I think a test will be inevitable. Now I have to formulate a series of experiments that can be consistently duplicated.

And yes, swapping wheels would be much easier than swapping chains. Duh. As you can see I am definitely not qualified to perform any sort of efficiency test on anything at all....

Edit: Keep in mind I am not doing any road driving and no high speed driving at all. Steering and braking are not key components here. If they were I'd say hands down the chains need to be on the front wheels. What I am looking for is maximum overall slow speed traction on flat surfaces and in and out of small ditches in both forward and reverse directions.

Well, I wonder too.....the thing to do is just leave it alone and see if you get stuck....

or get another set of chains and cover all the bases.....

But best of all......get another
bombardier Tank

[Ryan_M]

I'm slowly picking away at prepping the MB motor for transplant. I dropped the oil pan tonight to have a look.

A little bit of sludge but not too bad.



The pick-up was squeaky clean. A pleasant change from the last one of these I saw....


Chain drive of course


I couldn't see very well but the cylinders looked smooth and clean






"W.O.CO" stamped pistons


#4 Connecting rod
[

Crank




I didn't see anything that really jumped out at me as "bad" but I don't exactly have a trained eye for inside a motor. Anything specific I should be looking for while it's on the engine stand?

[Ryan_M]

I've kicked myself for not hanging onto that little Trico vacuum fan that I had awhile back as I think it might have helped combat the foggy windshield problem when plowing.

Yesterday I found this "Little Wonder" 6V fan in an antique shop. I try to avoid buying things in antique shops because it gives me that horrible feeling of "paying full retail". I'd much rather buy something out of an old dusty barn than from the guy who bought it out of an old dusty barn.

So, against my own better judgement, I plunked down the sticker price (plus sales tax...) and the fan came home with me. The severely rotted cord was quickly replaced with one slightly less rotted.

I think this originally had multiple speeds but right now only one of them is working which should be fine anyways. Not sure if it'll waft enough of the warm air from the meager output of the tired Harrison Heater below it but based on the forecast it will likely see it's first real test this weekend. Neat little accessory either way though.





[media]https://youtu.be/4PUw3UM6Erg[/media]

[1955CJ-5]

You appear to be fully equipped to tackle Mother Nature...

That MB engine looks good to me...but I am no authority..

The pal nuts are there which to me means that bubba hasn't been it there and lost them...

The bore looks good from here..

One of the checks on a model A motor is to slide the rods back and forth on the crank journals..mostly for comparison..if one is noticeably loose then....well, on a model A you remove a shim....

I've bought a couple odd items at antique stores..tire irons once and that Aeronca altimeter.....

[garage gnome]

Ryan, the factory defroster duct works great at keeping the windshield fog free.

The engine look great inside, but then again, Ted's did too. How is the compression?

[Ryan_M]

Ryan, the factory defroster duct works great at keeping the windshield fog free.

The engine look great inside, but then again, Ted's did too. How is the compression?

I have perused the pics of your defroster ducts with envy for awhile now. I may end up going that route eventually.

And compression on the MB motor is 120-125 across all 4. The thing is a time capsule.

[garage gnome]

Ok, the engine should be fine then. Do you know what the oil pressure was?

[Ryan_M]

Ok, the engine should be fine then. Do you know what the oil pressure was?

Looks like 30 at 1800rpm.

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7TAJXMqw7Q[/media]