Rolling Chassis pictures (and questions)

[PaulS]

Below are a bunch of pictures now that I've pulled the whole body (the grill was the last part, tonight).

Some comments and a question or two:

1. The blue glove is covering the air intake--it is configured to have a round paper filter/canister on top of it.  The glove is supposed to stop junk getting in while I'm working.  When I was in Grade 10, I toured the Darlington nuclear plant near Toronto while it was under construction.  Each reactor tube (mounted horizontally in Canadian reactors) had a yellow dishwashing glove covering it to keep construction dust out.  If it's good enough for a nuclear plant, it should be good enough for a Jeep.

2.  I wonder why the brakes don't work.  (That's rhetorical, as should be obvious in the pictures!)

3.  The frame looks to be in decent shape.  The only damage I can see is on the rear cross piece. And even that's not bad.

4.  What do you think of the springs--especially the front ones?  Not a lot of arch there.  The rear ones have more arch, but they are "assisted" by those sprung shocks.

5.  Do you see anything that looks out of place on a CJ3A, other than the power steering, air filter, and spin-on oil filter?  The engine is from a 2A, but I don't know what to look for in that.  (I know there's a chrome cover on the front diff, but I think I have the original in the pile of "spare parts" that came with the Jeep.)




















-Paul

[garage gnome]

I would go with new springs. They can be re-arched, but I've heard they will settle back to where they used to be fairly quickly.

Looks like an MB or very early 2A engine. The head doesn't have the ribs. Check the oval pad just above the alternator for the engine serial number. If it isn't there, then check the top of the water pump boss. Sand the ares with sand paper to make it readable.

Other things I see are the exhaust system is funky, non-original shackles, the alternator (unless you want to keep it at 12V), the radiator is funky, and your drawbar is missing.

[athawk11]

Nate is right.  Some additional items...

The head is military or VEC 2A.  I can't see enough of the timing cover to tell if it's chain or gear drive.  We will need to see the serial number and or the casting numbers to date the engine block.

That is a 3A frame.

The spring shackles are not correct, but that's an easy fix.  It doesn't look like the brackets got butchered.

Looks like a winner overall.

Tim

[PaulS]

The engine has a 2A serial number on it--above the water pump.  Would this affect the location of the drain petcock that I was asking about in my other posting?

I have a memory of the PO telling me that it was a gear drive--unfortunately, I couldn't find that email in my records.  I seem to recall him commenting on the non-steel gear.  (He may have replaced it with steel, but I don't remember for sure.)

-Paul

[Macgraham]

Is it possible the long front spring shackles are necessary for alignment of the steering assembly?

[PaulS]

Is it possible the long front spring shackles are necessary for alignment of the steering assembly?

I don't think so.  For that matter, the steering components you see--everything between the pitman arm and the knuckles--wasn't there when I bought it.  What was there was much worse! (And part of it was held together with baling wire...)

I wonder if someone put longer shackles on to compensate for the sagging springs.  The length may affect the caster angle, though.  That may be part of the reason the Jeep is scary at anything above 15 mph.  (Or that could be because I never checked the toe-in when I replaced all the steering components.)  Anyway, my plan (currently) is to revert to original Willys steering (Ross steering box), and replace the springs and shackles.

-Paul

[garage gnome]

The cam uses a fiber gear, which it should have. That takes the noise out of the timing system.

[athawk11]

Paul,

One easy, and fairly accurate ways to tell if the engine block is a gear or chain drive is to look at the timing chain cover. �This isn't a very good photo, but look at the timing cover. �See the horizontal rib and the 'button' in the center of the cover? �This is a chain drive...



A gear drive will not have the 'button' and will only have the long vertical rib. �No horizontal rib.

Old Willys flat fenders are so fun. 8-) �60+ years of interchangeable parts have made them all time capsules. �I wish they all could talk. �That way we could put the puzzle of their existence back together.

Tim

[PaulS]

I started scraping away some grime from the transfer case, and there was a nice S/N plate in very good condition:  S/N 260420.  The transmission is casting T-90A-1, with date 2-23-49 (date applied upside down).  Are these consistent with CJ3A # 23833?  (Are you out there, BobW?)

-Paul

[Bob W]

Paul,

That transmission casting date looks correct for your CJ-3A. There are more dates on the transmission and transfer case, check out this webpage for some locations...
http://www.cj3a.info/tech/datecode.html

[PaulS]

The cam uses a fiber gear, which it should have. That takes the noise out of the timing system.

Actually, I just got a note from the friend I bought it from, who's following my progress with interest.  Totally unprompted (I didn't ask about the gears) he suggested I might think about replacing the fibrous gear, as it might be getting old, having last been replaced 25 years ago (apparently it failed on him then).

So he did replace it, but with another fiber gear.

-Paul

[Comanche_County]

I started scraping away some grime from the transfer case, and there was a nice S/N plate in very good condition: �S/N 260420. �The transmission is casting T-90A-1, with date 2-23-49 (date applied upside down). �Are these consistent with CJ3A # 23833? �(Are you out there, BobW?)

-Paul

Big mistake, now you'll have leaks...