1950 CJ-3A with a bit of M38 in it's blood

[Dre]

casting on mine is 804380 and yeah... tranny's shot. I guess the entire combo (engine/tranny/T-case) is shot.

[Dre]

Moving along... it's a slow process as I've been busy with work lately. Last night I decided to remove the front bumper that was welded shut to the frame including some extra braces - not sure what for? anyway, after quite a bit of cutting and cursing I was able to get at least one side off - now I'm facing a little dilemma. Front frame horns were cut then welded and braced and cut again - bumper was welded rather than bolted to the frame - is there a patch available for these CJ3A frames front section? I might have to replace leaf spring pivot brackets too... those are available. or perhaps will the CJ2A front frame horns fit the 3A frame?

thanks,

[athawk11]

A CJ2A frame horn is substantially different than the 3A.  The toughest part is in the splice zone.  Dimensionally, the 3A horn is larger and made of heavier steel.  It may be difficult to get this area to look good.

I�ve never found anyone who makes a 3A horn replacement.  Probably because they hold up better than the 2A.

Most of your original frame horn is still there...and in fairly decent condition. Some effort with a grinder and a small amount of welding, and you can probably save your originals.  You are missing the front tab, but other than that, it�s all there�hidden under some additional plating and welds.

The original 3A bumper was riveted in place.  The M38 was bolted.

Here is a photo showing the shape.  On this project, mine looked as rough as yours.





I had a lot of stuff to cut off�

[Dre]

I still have to remove the tub (which is free from the frame) and start separating steering and suspension components... engine's gotta go too. I will send frame to sandblasting - I have no problem cleaning it myself it's just that I don't have room to do it. I will get a new bumper and try fitting it - I'm not even sure yet if the frame is straight - it is solid, that's all I know which is good. Will keep going - got some time today.

[Dre]

Tub is coming off tomorrow... finally, after many weeks of delays.

Question - before I send smaller pieces out for blasting - how do I take the steering shaft apart? Basically how do I remove top bearing which, IMO is holding the whole thing. I had a hard time taking it off - had to get steering box apart and off the frame in order to remove steering shaft in preparation for tub removal.

thanks,

[PaulS]

The only time this isn't true is if you have a L-134 with a block casting # 638632� or GPW 6015.� These are chain drive blocks.� Most everything can be interchanged with this block too...with some exceptions.

Not quite true.  I've got a 638632 block that is gear driven...

-Paul

[Dre]

I'll see what I've got - right now the engine is out and just sitting idle... I'm dealing with the frame in preparation for sand blast - I want to cut off and remove every splice and patch and hack that was done in it's previous life. Have to replace spliced pieces of the frame where spring mounts bolt to the frame - someone did some hacking here - instead of removing spring mounts they cut piece of the frame with it and then welded a patch on top or under... really *crap job. I don't know - I might pick up a butchered frame just to cut and paste missing pieces - want to keep my original frame as it is in near perfect condition other than these hacks... oh and left side engine mount had been mangled so now I'm really stuck - they don't make these pieces... rear axle is something of an enigma to me - it's got two sets of perches and from scribbling on it I can only guess that it came from a junk yard and was used in something else before. Well, and the story continues.

[athawk11]

Not quite true.� I've got a 638632 block that is gear driven...

-Paul

Yes Paul, you're absolutely correct.  Details like this get clouded in my head at times.  How about...The majority of engines with casting # 638632 were chain drives.

Tim

[Dre]

Frame is finally ready. Just a few more cuts, a few welds and it goes to the sandblaster. In the meantime I can work on getting all the parts cleaned. There is lots and lots of crud on tranny and t-case - might want to dip these parts in something to loosen everything up a bit.

[Dre]

Frame has been flipped and I'm working in the underside cutting off all spring perches and body mount brackets... I will have to fix frame where Bubba had his 5 minutes of fame by cutting the frame with spring perch and welding instead of cutting just the spring perch to replace and will have to do something about the front gussets as both sides are pretty beat up... Do have a question for you though - does anyone have any dimensions for the frame around the engine area - IMHO frame is a bit out of wack there - bows outwards - just want to make sure what the dimensions are suppose to be - perhaps frame bows out a bit where the engine mounts are located??? I just might take it to my friends body shop and put it on a frame machine to make sure it's straight before continuing further.

[Dre]

Frame goes for some welding in a few days and then to the blaster. I'm gonna need a 3A engine mounting plate - I want to make sure everything lines up before we weld driver side engine mount bracket onto the frame. Gonna install engine mounts and plate. Found a guy on ebay that reproduces engine mount brackets (frame brackets) and hope to get a new bracket for driver side. We shall see...

I'm modifying the front end of the frame as it was mangled a bit to accept gussets and MB front bumper - going for an MB look after all - might need this thread moved to modified section...

[Dre]

It's a shame that I was not able to pick up the pace with this resto but I got sidetracked with building an XJ for my brother-in-law... time to readdress the issues at hand. I have not been able to find anyone to put a few welds on the frame and therefore I might attempt to do it myself - any points from you guys would be appreciated.

[Dre]

Did manage to take apart front differential and get it ready for media blast. I didn't want to end up with unknown diffs so I decided to take em apart completely and go with new bearings and races as well as new king pin bearings and races. Most of smaller parts I did put in the bucket and mixed some brew to take off all the caked on combination of dirt and grease - 66 years of it to be exact. I did come out pretty nice. Rear differential is in the midst of coming apart as well. Ring gear is chipped, carrier is "dented" -  not really sure why it looks like this - looks like pinion might of gotten loose perhaps at some point? I might just go with a new set-up (used complete set would be nice). All new bearings and races as well after media blast. Transmission went into the bucket today - will see how it looks and if there is a way that I can save at least the case.

I might have a problem with front half shafts - look at photos - surface has gouges right where seals sit. Might have a problem with keeping front diff dry.

More to come. Shopping for a welder now.