Great Pumpkin Rebuild

[Comanche_County]

Thanks for the tips guys, I've got the Hi-lift on it now and in the morning I'll give your recommendations a try. �I'm not only a Jeep nut, but a Coral Castle buff so when there's talk of arranging molecules or moving very heavy objects, I can't help but to think to myself, "now what would Ed Leedskalnin do?" �If you don't know who he is, he's the guy that built Coral Castle clearly using his magical powers, most likely obtained from extra terrestrials. �;) �I bet he could straighten my frame for me!

In this one I guess we are heating it the wrong place.  Just a side note, I got the frame down to bare metal then primered and coated it with several coats of Rustoleum.  I did not realize how hard that stuff is.  It practically won't burn off, it will eventually bubble up but that's it, it can take a lot of heat and its got great adhesion.


Got it fairly close to straight, still slightly warped overall...the odyssey continues.

[Gunslinger]

CC,
You've come a long way, and its looking good, at some point the Hi lift will be overkill, at that point you may want to use the 10lb hammer and a backer to work out the little spots that need correction.  I think you will find a key point that is out of alignment at some point, I usually do, then you have to go to small spot work and pound them out.  Keep at it, its looking good and I think you'll get it darn straight if your patient.
Todd

[Comanche_County]

Thanks for the reply, I got it pretty close with the hi-lift. �I'll try the hammer next. �Should I use heat or bang it cold? �Some of those top ripples I'll be able to bend back in shape with a large crescent wrench. ��Here's some pics of today's progress...





"Re-prepping" for new motor mounts.






Bellhousing done!


Working on the transfer case Ebrake.

[Gunslinger]

Here's what I think I'd do, try to get a big piece of steel that will fit inside the frame rail, use that as the backer, I made one out of a piece of heavy rail and the shape seems to work well.  I'd try to cold form the sharp bends out of it, by the looks of it if you take the really sharp bends out of the flanges of the frame it will push the web back out closer  to straight.  Once those are good and flat, I'd measure it again and see if you can use the high lift to push on a really long section of the frame at the same time, say 3-4' long section. I think your going to get it pretty close.

[Comanche_County]

Good advice Gunslinger, thanks. �I've got to head off to Houston for several days and I'll get back at it when I return. �Until then....

Here's the updates from today...

Went down to Durtschi's and tested my rebuilt (by me) starter, we bolted it to a loose bellhousing and luckily it spun strong with 6V on it....I was real happy about that. �I also dropped off my 6v generator at a local alternator/starter shop to get tested and rebuilt if necessary. �

Then while at Durtschi's and rummaging through his parts I found a PTO winch fairlead for the PTO winch which I have no PTO for (say that 3 times fast). �A good water pump, gas can holder, and a fuel level sending unit. �Still need to weld up the holes in the original gas tank.



I also picked up my three windshields....yes FBill, it was Brownwood Glass that did them,,,,great price, evidently I got the "Durtschi special". �Not for walk ins, they love the guy, Durtschi price only....and yes, my center vent door is bent to hell and back.....I'm not a sheet metal guy.  I pray that the Lord Almighty will send a lighting bolt down and straighten all my bent sheet metal, else I'm going to have a Jeep with more dimples than a fat girl's you know what.


Now, also you doubters may think this build looks like a Jed Clampett special, but I'll have you know I've hired the very best 5S and SMED advisers straight from Toyota's Tokyo Corporate Headquarters. �For those of you who don't don't know what 5S and SMED are, they're:
"1 Sorting (Seiri), 2 Straightening or setting in order / stabilize (Seiton), 3 Sweeping or shining or cleanliness / systematic cleaning (Seiso), 4 Standardizing (Seiketsu), and 5 Sustaining the discipline or self-discipline *crap)". �SMED stand for "Single Minute Exchange of Dies"....

You guys may doubt the quality of this build but I am following the most stringent of modern manufacturing guidelines and I promise my firstborn that this Jeep will run. �Here's pics to prove what I'm talking about.

Everything is sorted, straightened out, stabilized, and constantly swept (or blown off with compressed air or a B12 can) for cleanliness. �Every space has a specific purpose and if any space or procedure cannot meet/advance the overall goal of a clean and dependable running CJ3A then it is promptly eliminated.

This is the parts storage and prep area: �Disregard my "No Good" cousins idea of a joke by painting two shocks yellow, there will be no dagblame hornswagillin sidewinding crackercroakin yellow parts on this Jeep!


The metal and fabrication shop,,,although my "no-good" cousin is building a chicken roost in this picture which is a gross mis-allocation of resources and I may have him eliminated and his body dumped in the Rio Grande.


This is the official Jeep parts preparatory and testing station:


This is the DOE(Energy), FCC, DOL, and DOD compliant cleaning product, paint and POL storage station:


This is the body shop where all kinds of magic metal wondorous majestry happens:


This is the frame shop where long abused Jeep spines are carefully massaged back to their former teen aged football lettering glory days occurs:


Now to protect all this backwoods southern automotive majesty we've undergone a very lengthy and careful hiring process to bring on a dependable and worthy security force to ensure our work is protected. �Here he is....but honestly we're about to let him go. �He seems to have no sense of responsibility to guard the nearby invaluable Jeep parts. �It seems all he wants to do is tend to the 24 Barred Plymouth Rock and Wyandotte hens, then spend his afternoons kicking the crap out of the only other (significantly smaller) rooster we have. � I really need to fire this guy, his head is not in the game, all he does is think about girls. �That's a Game Rooster for you, worthless except for fighting up in Oklahoma or making baby chickens! �;D

[Gunslinger]

CC you rock, I love Blazing Saddles, now Someone go back and get a crap load of dimes !!

[Comanche_County]

Yup, I went back and got my dimes, haha,,,,

Onto the shackles...

I should have the springs and at least the rear axle on soon. �Just got my ubolts and new brackets from Walcks. �I'm getting them on now.



More stinking rust under the old brackets.








Also I found the right bushings for my springs. �I think these are the later "silent ride" type or something like that. �Most of my leaf packs are mismatched. �Three of the spring eyes take these rubber bushings and one takes the bronze type. �I'd like a brand new set of springs but,,,,no money for new springs right now, and Durtschi gave me these bushings I needed so these will have to work for now.



Edit:  Also late today, I received my e-brake shoes, e-brake cable, D18 seal kit, and extra clutch lever rod (for the 50').  With a little luck I'll have the TC and transmission back together in a day or so.  But as you can already tell by my first prediction upon day of purchase that this entire project would be approximately a two week venture, it may take a week to do what I just said...glad I'm not a stock or currency speculator, all my clients would be broke, "yeah, we'll have all your money doubled in a week, trust me".......dang it.

[Comanche_County]

I just bought 16G reminents at a sheetmetal shop for the floors and I also had them bend hats for me out of the same. �All for $60.

I forgot, right before you posted, I had ordered a set of hat channels from Classic Enterprises.  I should've done what you did, it would have been cheaper but I'm very happy with the quality of the Classic hat channels, they're very well made.  Got em primered and on stand by for when I get back on the tub.

[Comanche_County]

Finally, about a month after my prediction of having a rolling frame in a few days, here's where we are....




Also, this is my electrolysis experiment. �I've got my exhaust manifold in it now and it should be done by morning. �This is something I should have done a long time ago and it would have saved about $75 bucks worth of wire wheels and a lot of time. �I see no downside to electrolysis at all and I'm thinking of digging a hole, lining it with plastic and doing the entire tub.



After an hour, we were cooking with Crisco! �The rust is bubbling off nicely. �We'll see what it looks like tomorrow morning.

[Comanche_County]

We had some rain last night so I unhooked the charger and let it go on the battery which was drained from 12V to 4V overnight.  Didn't work as well as I hoped, got it cooking again now and I'll let it go all day and check again.

[Comanche_County]

Had the cables on wrong.... :-? �Negative goes to the object, pos to the electrodes....much better results but the heat riser still won't move so its going back in. �Its wet in the picture but almost all the rust is gone.

[Patos]

thanks for the info!  
keep posting, i love it!!

[Comanche_County]

thanks for the info! �:D
keep posting, i love it!!

Thanks!  All these little issues I keep discovering make it hard to keep my motivation batteries charged.

[Patos]

+pos on right ear - neg on left big toes  

[bretto]

I'm a firm believer in the electrolytic process.
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