My 1963 CJ3B Build Thread

[Doug_3B]

Yes......   A decades long rebuild....  I know it well.

Keep it up!!

Thanks Rus!  15 years and I'm still spending money on her hand over fist!   

[SteveKfl]

Remember, JEEP stands for ... J ust E mpty E very P ocket... no matter how long it takes. lol  Mine is on 10 years already, stagnant the last 4 years.  Life keeps getting in the way of progress... or "lack of funds"... lol.

[OlDaz]

A lot of work, but will be nice when it's done.

[Doug_3B]

Remember, JEEP stands for ... J ust E mpty E very P ocket... no matter how long it takes. lol  Mine is on 10 years already, stagnant the last 4 years.  Life keeps getting in the way of progress... or "lack of funds"... lol.

I know what you mean!  I've had mine on the road since about 2008, but the past 2-3 years, I hardly even touched it.  I try to start it up once ever couple week and drive it around the block, but sometimes by the time I do, she gives me an awful time starting and when I drive it around, it has flat spots on the tires from sitting!  We finally got it out for a trip in the mountains this year for the first time in a couple years and I had some issues. 

That's why I'm transferring my build thread over here from the old forum because I have a feeling a lot of things will be redone. 

A lot of work, but will be nice when it's done.

Thank you!  It is a lot of work and just when you think you're done, more work! 

[Doug_3B]

I think the pictures are starting to get slightly ahead of the story.  The body work I did in the previous post was done in August, 2007.  I had known for 4-5 months already that I was heading back to Iraq in September for another 4 months.  My goal was to drive the Jeep down the block and back before I left.  The race was on!

I painted the underside of the tub with POR-15 as shown above because the plan was once the tub was on the frame, it was not coming back off for a long time.  The day finally arrived.  My buddy came over and we set the tub onto the frame.

What a day that was!  It was starting to look like those other CJ3Bs that I had spent so many hours looking at on the CJ3B Page!  It did start and run, but did not yet drive. 











I ended up swapping out the original axles for the axles from the donor Jeep.  The original axles that came with my Jeep had 11" brakes installed, but probably not correctly. between the backing plate and the drum were these spacers:



This caused the lug nuts to not thread on far enough, and it didn't seem safe to me.  Rather than fool around with it, I decided to swap out the axles and go with original equipment for now.  The 11" brake hardware was set aside and saved.  Here is a picture of a Frankenstein that I had sitting behind the house with all the spare parts.  Not a great pic, but if you look close, you can see the lug nuts do not thread all the way on. 



I knew the Jeep would sit all winter, and even in the dry climate of South West Idaho, I figured the bare metal on the tub might rust.  I rattle canned some primer over the whole Jeep to help protect it.  I also had the seat frames in it, because I still wanted to drive it before I left.





I ran a good race, but alas, I was out of time.  When I tried to move the Jeep out of the garage under its own power, I found that the clutch was not disengaging.  I had made a terrible error when I failed to ensure everything worked properly before I put the tub on.  It would have to wait; I only had days before I left.  The Jeep sat in the garage holding tools and parts, awaiting my return.

[Doug_3B]

I finished my second tour in Iraq and returned in January 2008.  I didn't waste much time getting back to work.  First up:  figure out the clutch issue. 

I dropped the transmission/transfer case and pulled the bell housing



I bought a new clutch and pressure plate and made sure the pressure plate was properly adjusted.  What a bone headed move not doing that in the first place!  I also took the opportunity to have the flywheel resurfaced.





Upon reassembly, it worked like a champ!!

Here's a video of the first time I drove my Jeep after I rebuilt it.  This was March 2008.
https://youtu.be/WENtBTw2S6M

I had two sets of tires, and neither was road worthy.  I did some comparisons on how they both fit and looked.





And then I went and bought a new set of shoes for the old girl





They're still on the Jeep 12 years later.  They've worked well, but I'm going to swap to a radial one of these days, and hopefully go with 16" rims.

That summer, with the Jeep registered, insured, and road worthy, I drove the wheels off of it!  Had so much fun.  My Ex even took a ride in the Jeep; I think the only time she ever got in it LOL



And what's there to do in Mountain Home, ID?  Drive out to the desert and go shooting!  So we did!





This is my buddy Rick, whos truck and trailer we used to pick up the original Jeep near Denver and the donor Jeep in Cody WY. 



The summer; however, was coming to an end.  And I started to think about paint before winter set in....

[Doug_3B]

One little story before we move on to paint prep.  My friend Rick and I were rocketing (as far as CJ3Bs go) up a little two track 5 or 6 miles north of Mountain Home, ID called "Immigrant Road."  Out here in this dry climate we get a phenomenon called "washboard roads."  It is my most hated of all phenomena.  I'm sure some of you can relate if you've driven much on washboard roads.  Suddenly, the Jeep sputters and died.  I coasted to a stop along the side.  We opened the hood and there is the side post battery terminal welded to the metal radiator shroud.  I guess I didn't think the battery hold down, that I had sitting in the garage for months, was important.  We sat the battery back down on the battery box and the positive post came right out and stayed attached to the radiator shroud. 

About this time, a beat up old truck comes along and stops.  This old boy chats with us for a couple minutes about Willys Jeeps and how good they are, meanwhile, we're sitting there along the road with the hood up.  "Well, you boy have a good day," and he was off.  Well, I guess if we couldn't get it running, we were walking back into town.  I rummaged through the stuff I had along in the tool box and found duct tape.  We knocked the battery terminal and cable loose from the radiator shroud, stuffed it back into the hole in the battery and duct taped the hell out of it. 

I'm sure my mouth was agape when the Jeep actually fired up; I flipped it around and carefully headed back for town.  The following day, I bought a new battery and installed it along with the battery hold down clamp.

Well, on to paint prep.  As much as I hated to, I began to tear the Jeep back apart.  Of the body, only the tub would stay on the frame. 













If you look closely on the radiator shroud, you can see the remnants of the battery terminal welding itself to the shroud from the story at the beginning of this post.











My makeshift paint booth.  Little light, less ventilation, what could possibly go wrong?



Here we are, just about ready for etching primer

[Doug_3B]

OK!  First up:  Etch Primer:

[Doug_3B]

Then on to Fill Primer.  From what I understood, fill primer was supposed to fill in some imperfections.  Evidently, my definition of an imperfection is VASTLY different than that of a professional.  That stuff didn't hide anything 









Each step, after I'd spray the tub, I'd let it dry and then move it out of the garage and spray the rest of the parts.





And even though it still wasn't it's final color, it was nice to see it all one color

[Doug_3B]

Step by step, we were getting there!

Here is a much younger me, looking all gangsta, but really not doing anything productive; just posing.



It was finally time to spray color.  I went with blue because there was one on the CJ3B Page Owners section that I really liked.  The blue that I ended up with is several shades lighter than I really wanted.  It's now been 12 years since I sprayed this Jeep and I've been considering doing it again, either some sort of dark forest green or a desert tan, not sure yet.  According to the original paint/trim code tag, which miraculously was still on the firewall, paint code was "228" which appears to be "Parade Blue."  That color is MUCH darker than what I sprayed.  Also had a trim code of "200"

I still remember how I marveled when that blue paint came out of the sprayer and started laying on that light gray primer.  Finally!

[Doug_3B]

I could barely contain my excitement while I let all the parts dry.  It was finally time to put it all back together and see what it looked like!















Well, it was done! 

LOL, no it wasn't.  Although it ran and drove, and now looked good on the outside, I hadn't been inside the engine, transmission or transfer case.  I hadn't looked at the axles past the brakes.  And it still needed a million little odds and ends, like seat back cushions!

So, stay tuned, there's plenty more!

[Rus Curtis]

That's looking good!

I see you went with the small backup light.....

[Doug_3B]

That's looking good!

I see you went with the small backup light.....

Thanks Rus!  I was sure excited to get it to this point.

Yeah, picked that light up at the local feed store.  I'm sure its for a tractor, but I figured:  close enough!!  The thought was I could turn it on if I ever had to back up at night, I'd be able to see.  It does work in the handful of times I've used it in 12 years, but I'm thinking of swapping most all lights over to LED, so I'm going to be looking for something a little different for backup lights!

[tow hook]

that's the day we all hope for, painted and drives

[Rus Curtis]

I came very close to using a tractor light.  Lawrence Wade used a similar light on his for years as a back up and I was leaning that direction (incl. LED versions). 








But I found this on the auction site and the price was too good to pass (see attached below).