The Jeep Heap - '49 CJ3a

[DaveW]

I've wanted a jeep for quite some time and after having a CJ7 last summer for a bit, I decided my next jeep was going to be a flat fender. This summer while casually browsing a few facebook groups this one popped up for sale in Indiana. I short road trip later and I was hauling it home.

While pretty ugly, the frame was in excellent shape, all the major mechanicals were there, it ran and stopped, and the body was pretty intact.

Some details
Serial No - 33287
Engine - 3J33691
Trans - T-90
t-case - Dana 18
Axles - Dana 41 rear / Dana 25 Front
PTO - Ramsey RHC
Winch - unknown

[DaveW]

After getting it home the first order of business was taking it for spin around the neighborhood to see what major issues it had.

And of course, it left me for dead.


After it died, I attempted to push start it and jump start it to no avail. I had to use the winch cable on the front to get towed the 3 blocks home.





After getting it back home I figured the start issues was related to the starter since the battery seemed to be fully charged. Turned out to be nothing wrong with the starter, just a bad solenoid (insulation was gone causing it to short) and a bad connection at the positive battery terminal.





It was also very apparent after driving it that the transmission needed rebuilt because it kept popping out of second gear. So after sorting the starting issue, I started to disassemble everything to pull out the transmission.

[stony]

Looks like we are on the same road, at least it kinda runs!� What is your serial # and engine number?  Same starter as mine.  The �solenoid� is your foot, just has a lever to engage the gear and a switch for the motor.

[DaveW]

Looks like we are on the same road, at least it kinda runs!� What is your serial # and engine number?� Same starter as mine.� The �solenoid� is your foot, just has a lever to engage the gear and a switch for the motor.

Serial No - 33287
Engine - 3J33691

So it would be later in the '49 production year, but it does have an early frame judging by the radiator mounts on the front cross member which contradicts the information here - http://www.cj3a.info/cj3a/date3a.htm

[stony]

Yeah, I think the numbers went up to 37xxx in 49.  Looks like you have the original engine, the numbers are pretty close.  Looks like a good start on a project. 

[DaveW]

Since the transmission needed rebuilt, I got to work getting it torn out. In retrospect I should have done a little more research prior, but I�ll go into that in more detail later.

First up was to drain the fluids. Surprisingly the axles and engine looked fine, but he transmission and transfer case were a different story.






Next was pulling the skid plate and driveshafts. There was tons of grime above the skid plate, so lots of scraping was involved to get at the four bolts.





At some point in its life the parking brake cable was cut or broke. So I�ll have to piece back together the parking brake system from the lever foward.


The Jeep does have a pto winch, though I can�t identify the winch, it does have a Ramsey Pto, though it appears the rear section was broken at some point and they substituted a piece of angle iron to hold the two sprockets apart.


The speedometer cable is broken and explains why the speedometer doesn�t work.


Hopefully I can find some parts to piece back together the pto into its correct configuration.

[DaveW]

To further my previous comment about removing the transfer case, I should have read more about the process as I didn�t realize there was a nut that needed removed from the end of the main shaft in the transmission to pull the transfer case. So after a few hours of wrestling it, the mainshaft of the transmission case out with the transfer case. I will say that it was somewhat heavy to wrestle out myself, but I managed.

Other than being really caked in dirt and grease, the transfer case did seem to work and shift fine. I plan to put new seals, new shifters (Previous owner bubba�d all four shifters), and new bearings in it.

[athawk11]

Another cool project to follow.  Thanks for showing us.

[DaveW]

After tearing into the transfer case, all the gears looked pretty good.





Ran all the parts through the parts washer to get it cleaned up prior to re-assembly.

[DaveW]

It seems at some point in it's life, the PTO housing was broken and they scabbed together a piece of angle iron to hold the two sprockets apart. I'll hopefully be able to track down the parts to make it whole again.



While waiting for the parts for the transfer case and doing research on how to rebuild the transmission and correct the 2nd gear issue, I am trying to learn more about the PTO winch that's currently on it. I can't seem to find much info or markings on it though.





I was also able to track down the correct Carter WO 636S for $35. It currently wears a Solex and electric fuel pump. So down the road, I'll get everything swapped back to the correct carb and glass top fuel pump.

[DaveW]

After the debacle with removing the transfer case, I was able to get the transmission tore out, torn apart, and inspected.

I knew I had a second gear issue, luckily Rick's video does an excellent job explaining explaining what are common wear items and how to identify what's wrong and how to fix it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwbhR0aFzIs

After getting everything inspected, I determined that my second gear was shot (loose on the shaft and worn teeth), the front and rear bearings were worn (pitting and play), and the pins on the shift forks were lose and needed replaced. With that said, I followed the recommendations of many and ordered the rebuild kit from Novak. While I waited for the kit to arrive, I start to get all the parts cleaned and ready to re-assemble.







The main cluster, while worn, didn't cause much concern from what I've read, so it will be re-used.



Second gear though, had a worn bushing and it came in the Novak kit, so it will be replaced.

[DaveW]

While waiting on the parts to come in for the transmission and transfer case, I decided to look at the brakes since they didn't seem to be working that well. After closer inspection, the shoes looked newer, but needed adjusted judging by the wear pattern on them.

After a quick adjustment per the manual and bleeding, I felt they should be good.

[DaveW]

The parking brake forward of the transfer case was missing everything. Luckily with the diagrams from Kaiser Willys, I was able to figure out what was missing and ordered, the handle, clips, and cable to get it working again.

At first, I was a little confused about this mystery bracket on the cross member, I thought at first it might have been a remnant of the parking brake system because at first glance the cross member seemed to be missing the second hole for the cable clip.




After a couple minutes of scraping and wire brushing though, the second hole emerged from being filled with crud for the last 70 years.

[DaveW]

Unfortunately I didn't take any assembly pictures, but the transfer case went together pretty smoothly. I installed new shifters (bubba got a hold of the old ones), new seals, new thrust bearings, and new needle bearings on the intermediate shaft. Otherwise everything looked in good shape and was reused.






Since the original bolts were safety wired and I had never done it before, I decided it would be fun to learn and do it.


After talking this picture, I realized the center bolt wasn't done properly, so the wire was re-done.

[DaveW]

Here's an example of what someone did to all four shifters (trans, t-case, and PTO).