CJ-3B 57348 69050

[Rus Curtis]

fingers crossed! 

[Zach S]

Hey folks! It's been a big week at the shop, I haven't accomplished as much as I'd hoped, but I'm making progress on the new-to-me engine.

Last Saturday morning I got it out of the truck, onto the engine stand and started taking it apart.



After pulling the head off of it, I was greeted with that. I guess the engine is stuck for a reason. Apart from the cylinder with water in it, the block looks great. The crank looked way better than the crank on the other engine and all of the accessories were in good shape. The pistons are also standard size, so now the plan right now is just to swap all of the internals from the broken block to the new one and go for it.



So, after a few beers and discussing ways we can go about dealign with that one bad cylinder, we decided to keep the tradition of farmer fixes going and just hone out the cylinder and see how much oil it burns. We only have about 2 more months of good weather before it gets cold and I'd like to drive this thing at least once this year.

This weekend's plans include pulling the old engine, taking that apart and swapping a bunch of parts around.

[Zach S]

Hey folks! I know it's been a while since I've updated and I plan to write something this week. It's been a busy few weeks and I'm still making progress on the engine.

[Zach S]

Okay folks! It's been a big weekend for the 3B. Here's a quick rundown of what happened.

First, the engine is back together, sealed up and the gears are joined to the engine. Everything spins nicely and the clutch seems to work. I've finished building the alternator bracket and that's all setup.

Second, the engine is back in the jeep. The head is torqued and the oil system is installed. I filled the crankcase full of oil before I left the shop last night and hopefully it is still holding it. I'm waiting on a PTO cover from Walcks and a gasket, so the gears should have oil in them as soon as that happens.

We did manage to crush a brake line that one of the previous owners routed in when they replaced the brake system. We'll have to deal with that if it leaks and replacing all of the old lines is one of my winter projects.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to try to turn it over tonight and make sure the oil system isn't leaking that much. Maybe start it up later in the week and drive around a bit. I still have a bit of welding to do on the body to fix a few things before we can get it on the road.

I'm so close to driving this thing.

[Rus Curtis]

Looking forward to your next post!  Hopefully, you can get it running!

[Zach S]

Folks! We're getting even closer, last night I got the exhaust manifold on, choke cable, fuel lines, wired in the starter switch and it rolled over!

I haven't figured out how to post videos on the new forum, but here's a quick video from last night: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_MMVatBWg8.

Hopefully I'll get the last few transfer case parts I need and get this thing on the road very soon.

[Rus Curtis]

The link you posted worked just fine for me.

[Zach S]

The link you posted worked just fine for me.

Yep. I'm still trying to figure out how to embed the video.

[Zach S]

Good news everyone! The new-to-me engine tried to start yesterday! Turns out the distributor was timed wrong, it is 180° out. I just need a stronger battery.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smDbcSFfV5w



This weekend, I finished wiring the coil, starter and alternator in.




The gauges on the dash are working.



I should have it actually running tonight and hopefully driving by the end of the week.

[Zach S]

Fellas, I have more good news, the engine runs! After finding a new battery, about 10 minutes of fooling around with the accelerator linkage and mixing up the plug wires for #2 and #3, it fired right up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaoFDwTVfiQ

I still have a pretty long list of things todo before we drive this Thursday. I have to fix the grill, setup the cooling system, run the fuel lines, put the seats in and a few other random things that I need to take care of.

[Zach S]

I've made a lot more progress, last night I fixed the grill, got the cooling system put together and filled it with distilled water. I managed to find a few leaks and fix them and get the jeep up to operating temperature for about 30 minutes. It stayed at 160F, but idles really high.

I should get the rest of the body work done tonight, wiring in the lights, put the drive shafts on it and drive it tomorrow.

[Rus Curtis]

Coming along!  Engine sound from first crank is always good!

[Zach S]

We had another big night at the shop! Here's the list of things we've accomplished:

• Fenders are installed
• Gas tank is in
• Drive shafts are on
• Idle is set
• Removed the top

This was the first time I attempted to move it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiWssLTQhv4

This is after we actually removed the wheel chock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NKCkoEOHNc

We're trying to take it for a quick drive tonight, we'll see what happens.

[Zach S]

Fellas, we had another big night last night. Crossed everything off of the list and took the 3B for a spin down the street.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3sigzSM4ig

It felt amazing to get it on the road and drive it a bit. I've got a few little things to fix and I plan on taking it for another drive today or early tomorrow morning.

[Zach S]

I found another video from last night, enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XklWZI1tk80