project: crunchy roll (53 cj3a)

[Squishymonster]

Thanks! I like how scrappy it looks. Especially with it's "black eye". It's like when the shuttle or a capsule comes back to Earth with the burn marks all over it - you know it's been places

I'm thinking that I'd be perfectly happy keeping the paint in its current condition and having everything underneath mechanically sound. The only issue is that I have some areas with split metal that need repair, and that hood needs a good bit of shrinking. I'll try to shrink from the underside, but there will probably be heat discoloration afterward

[Squishymonster]

I've been making progress on the carburetor operation, and made a video of the engine running for Scoutpilot to evaluate. I'll post it here as well. (Thanks Scoutpilot!)

All previous rides mentioned in this thread were with almost full choke due to various carburetor issues, so my insecurity in my own ability to eventually address those issues has weighed on me a bit the whole time. Now it feels great to have made it past that obstacle.

As for an update, after I drilled the aftermarket idle jet and had a good idle, I found out the next day that it revealed a new issue with the accelerator pump circuit, which was also being masked by the choke. This turned out to be much easier to track down. The pump could not take its full stroke due to a couple internal restrictions, so on acceleration and deceleration its movement was significantly delayed and shortened. I got that fixed up, and then took the video. It's a bit long. only jeep geeks might find it interesting.

Right after the video I went for the longest test drive yet. Still plenty of other issues to work through, but at least for now, none of them are engine related. I am starting to think about suspension so the jeep doesn't sound like a truck full of scrap metal when I drive over the bumps in our farm roads. I also have some aftermarket floor seals and covers to install to try to isolate some of the noise to the underside.

I also have my 48 CJ2a "pile" up in WI at my parents. I am starting to think more and more about just turning it into spare parts for the 53 since there is no title or frame, but we will see. I'm planning a trip in a couple of weeks to snag a bunch of it. At very least, the transfer case is going to get rebuilt and will make a temporary home in the 53 later this year (?)

Now maybe I can get back to installing that new sender and gas gauge

https://youtu.be/JWnSThHfhF4

[Squishymonster]

Brought my analog wheel wobble checker for a ride today. It looks like just the rear left has wobble. I have it up on jack stands now, checking things out, but a storm rolled in.

Now that I have bumpers (did I ever post that?..) I can get the wheels off the ground a whole heck of a lot faster with the high-lift. It's a real treat. And I can fit the jack stands where I'd otherwise have to lift with the bottle jacks.

[Squishymonster]

I'm trying out JB Weld steering wheel repair.

After this cures tomorrow, I will start sanding and see how it works out. It was in pretty rough shape.

After patching with putty, I spread the liquid version over all of the exposed plastic since most of it is delaminated and rough to the touch.

[SteveKfl]

Wow, that's a lot of JB Weld.  If not "quick set", it must have taken forever to fill in those spaces.  I think I would have used the Marine resin based body filler with fiberglass strands for the gaps and JB for the cracks.  Great JB W commercial if it holds up.  I hope you'll share the final product.

[Squishymonster]

Just finished a custom receiver.

[Squishymonster]

I'm at my parents for the week and finally brought my trailer up to scoop up the 48 CJ2A engine/trans/transfer. The plan is to rebuild these one by one and swap them in.

In other news, my custom reciever bent my bumper a bit due to the weight of the hay on my trailer. I'm going to plug in a heavy piece of channel to beef it up a bit.

[Squishymonster]

Long break due to lack of funds for transmission / xfer gear sets.

Finally decided I don't need much cash to do body work.

Rear Lower "skirt" was all smashed upward. Rear right quarter panel was half ripped and twisted off from tire carrier related stress, and a PO crap welded it back against the bed flange two inches low and lopsided. Finally decided to cut the welds and tackle it. It's almost in the right spot now. Bodywork is still lumpy but it's structurally sound.

Next step: flatten the bed enough to line up the flanges properly and plug weld.

Also hand fabbed a Rear body mount bracket (and killed another vice)

As usual I'm having a hard time posting the photos. I'll try again tomorrow.

Really having fun with the body work and light fab. Trying to figure out how to undo this mess is a fun puzzle.

Now that things are a bit straighter, the rear body is 1/2 inch off the cross member. Trying to make sense of that considering the bed is sagging a solid inch...

This is somehow related to the body lean.

[Squishymonster]

Oh yeah. I realized why I can't remove my tailgate without removing the hinge bolts: the hinges are strap steel someone twisted around some rod and then sawed in half :p. Cast iron eplacements are waiting in the parts pile.

[Squishymonster]

This is a nice milestone. Finished prepping and patching this inner corner on the rear right bed opening. Lifted and twisted it into place and welded the split framing back together. It's holding the angle on its own, but I still need to put on the body to cross member mounts, and weld about half the right side bed to fender flange - after straightening.

This is all working toward a straight corner to mount my Bestop too.

[Squishymonster]

It took two or so weeks of prep but I finally unwound the various body damage enough to fix the main problem - the rearear right fender being welded on at the wrong angle and height.

My bed is still pushed down, but I was able to get the flanges very straight amd plug welded from inside the wheel well.

I did some shoving of the bed to get it "more flat" but it is way off still.

I also discovered the extent of a poor repair to the left frame  towing bracket - its welded on just in the totally wrong spot and angle. But it's going to be pretty hard to solve with the body on, so I think it will wait for now.

Next steps are to bolt everything back together, and probably take a shot at a more elaborate rear seat bracket that can be taken out without tools.

[Rus Curtis]

Looks like you've got plenty to keep you busy!  I can see where some reinforcement on the new hitch would be good (maybe even spread it out to the frame rails).

Keep up the good work!

[squidtone]

Lookin good!

[Squishymonster]

This is sort of a non-update...

When I bought the 53, I put the purchase, transportation, and the full round of initial parts on a credit card. I gave myself a 4500 budget - close to what I thought I could get by selling my 2011 KLR650. It's been two years. I've been carrying the CC balance since. I finally just followed through with selling the KLR yesterday evening - a sad day for sure   But it does feel good to have one less set of wheels cluttering up the brain, and having a little more mental focus on the CJ.

I had not registered the KLR since 2018, and only put a few miles on it since to keep fuel moving through it and make sure it stays operating well. I decided to sell it and switch to a CJ when our daughter arrived - knowing that my days of taking the wife out for back road cruises were over for a while, and we'd need a 3rd seat in the near future!

Speaking of seat - I need to bend up a new rear seat frame and I FINALLY found a not too expensive tubing bender that works. I tried the Harbor Freight pipe bender and hate it for this task (which it was not designed for). It had been very hit or miss, and I'm not a big fan of wasting material until one happens to come out right.

So next steps are to design a new frame, bend and weld it. I am considering the idea of making the rear seat reversible. The main thing is when I had to unbolt the previous custom seat frame it was a little too much of a PITA to get to the bolts - so this time I want to make it easy to pop in and out - closer to stock, but still with a reinforced seat belt bar, and of course with the belts, it needs to be mounted to the floor strong enough to actually hold together if there was an accident.

I got the body straight now, which means the tiger top can go on, which means I can figure out dimensions for a roll cage. But I can't bend a roll cage myself, so I think I'm most likely going to get a pre-formed kit that just needs welding.

[SteveKfl]

I too tried a couple of times for my roll bar with a HF bender.  First bend perfect, but twice the opposite bend would flatten some.  Same with a different size pipe.  The smaller top bar pipes, I ended up cutting the two errors off and welding together the good sections to make one, and to not waste everything.  I could never figure out what made the difference, and finally had a 'pro' (?) bend a desired one-piece roll bar, an expensive-one for me.  He made it too wide, so it had to be "cut and spliced" and there went my desire for a one-piece roll bar.  When I got it home to paint, I found that even the "splice ended up sliding back and forth in the tube and useless.  I had to cut and drill and locate the splice tube and re-weld it all up myself.  I wish I had gone the "kit" route... cheaper and for tighter corner turns too.  Live and Learn...