ok so we drove 15 hours to pick her up

my buddy and i couldn't resist unloading her and going wheeling in the rain on the return trip... don't forget she hadn't been driven for 35 years

first thing is a complete tune up and replacement of parts i think may fail. I'm not doing a historically accurate build, i want quality and reliability over all.

so thermostat, rad cap, upper and lower rad hoses, plugs, wires, cap, rotor, coil(12V with built in resistor), starter re-wound to 12v, replace generator with one wire alternator, battery, ignition switch, remove voltage reg., replace all wiring and i do mean ALL. belt, water pump and re-core the rad, new gauges and senders so I can actually keep tabs on the Willys workings. also oil and filter, air filter, fuel filter...

pulled the oil pan, straightened it, primed, painted and re-installed

old wiring

$80.00 for Painless harness from Summit, 4 switched circuits and 3 constant, also put in new started solenoid.


alt installed, i made a mount using part of the old generator brackets

in keeping with the budget theme i used a Safari top from a YJ i had laying around and the windshield channel and welded together 2 weight bench bars for the bow.




also used an old ARB air compressor i had from a previous build and she now has on board air so i can air down these rock hard tires for trail use

this is the rad and shroud this morning before dropping off rad at the shop, by the reading i've done the shrouds are often missing or damaged? this ones perfect, just needs cleaning and paint.



i've got a remanufactured water pump on the way and the rad should be back in a few days so once they are back installed that will be it for the engine and electrics, she should be reliable then.

i am also making front and rear bumpers and installing an M8000 winch and tow points. of course i still need to go back to original style seats and get some tires. I'm unsure on the tire plan, i am thinking a modern tall skinny agressive radial so i can air down for comfort offroad but you can't beat the look of the non-directional military tires...i'm torn. 

looks like over the years the steel around the wood has gone and someone tried to bondo it a long time ago. i guess i'll be doing some sheet metal work

got the rad back today, the only salvageable parts from the original rad were the side rails and the bottom tank. the shop had to replace the complete core and the top tank. they had asked if i wanted the top tank to look like the original curved upper (more money) but i told them i was happy with a squared top so thats what i got. the upper and lower hose mounts are in the exact same locations, the side mounts are the same and the original shroud fits. the overflow was completely blocked off, the lower part of the rad was almost totally closed off too. this should cool a lot better with the new water pump installed. will get pics of it in the jeep.

hopefully no more work under here for a while. i put some rubber sheeting between the rad and mount to try and eliminate any chafing. i also got some 3/16 thick reinforced rubber from a buddy i'll be cutting into new body mount bushings as the current ones are either missing or just junk. i think the rad looks pretty good in there, it may not be totally original but this isn't a Barret Jackson build;-) 

in the spirit of continuing to put off the floor repair, today i cleaned up and painted the t-case skid i had removed earlier and I also cleaned the fuel tank to bare metal, checked it for damage, went over all the seams with fuel safe seam sealer and then primed and rock guarded it. the PO had used some soft rubber lines in the fuel system so I also got new hard lines and bent and fitted it so when i re-instal the tank it will be much more reliable and safe.

i guess tomorrow i have to keep going on the floor fix.

well today was productive, got all the insert pieces bead rolled and flanged, installed drivers side pieces. still have a little welding to do on that side and then do the passenger side. i will clean up the welds a bit and then use some seam sealer to smooth it out and coat it with paint. that floor pan will be completely waterproof except the drain hole on the side of the tub and of course the two holes under the fuel tank for drain and fuel line.

the existing steel i ground to bare metal and then sprayed it with weld through primer. also ran some seam sealer around all edges before pressing in the new sheet metal. trying to keep it a bit waterproof.

passenger floor


driver floor

Wow that is really nice! If you want to whip up 10 or 12 of those and send them to me for spares that'd be great 

BMIC wrote on 12/02/15 at 13:49:15:


well the existing floors are so thin that something had to be done. the drivers has several holes but the "hat channel" was not terrible. yeah the best way would be to remove the floor pan and weld in the new sheet metal but in my mind this started out as a patch, it kind of got out of control with the sealer between the two layers of floor and the spray coating thats in there I'm hoping it won't be a problem. this is really a fair weather wheeler for me as it will never have a roof, doors or heater so not a lot of snow wheeling is going to happen, i don't see it getting wet often and it parks inside the heated shop.

i've only ever done one floor before in a 1973 Camaro and it didn't turn out anywhere near this nice so i think the idea of removing the existing floor and ending up with a Flintstone Jeep was always in the back of my mind so laying this one on the old sheet metal was a security blanket. now that i got the basics of the bead roller and flanging down next time i'll just cut out and replace the floor... i hope thats not too soon.

well i finished up the driver and passenger sides today. completed welding, seam sealed all edges, primered...waiting on paint until a few more fixes are done. tomorrow ill reinstall new body mount rubber bushings, gotta repair the body mounts that are in front of each rear tire in the wheel openings.

when i pulled the trans and T-case cover plates off to prep for paint there was 65 years of dirt and grease stuck in there mixed with some grass and i think some hay. must have taken an hour with a scraper to tidy that up.

if your wondering about the floor inside the tool box lets just say its less than perfect. i have limited time right nw and so i felt that getting the foot wells in was most important so it can get back to being drivable. i will have plenty more repairs to do in the future on other areas.

drivers side


passenger side

Nice work Trenton.

I was a little concerned with your choice to cover the floor with new sheet metal, but you did a really nice job.  And it's not the first time this approach has been used. (see photo below)

If you think about it, 65 years went by before the first floor needed some repairs.  This will work out fine.

Your bead roller work is top notch.  I wish I could do that.

ok so while I'm trying to decide what color to paint the Jeep i moved on to repair the body mounts. the two right in front of the rear wheels were completely gone, luckily the frame side of the mounts are fine its the tub side that has deteriorated.

as they started


the 1.5" x 1.5" x 1/8" angle i used cut to fit, who knew there was a drain for the tool box lid lip that comes out right above the body mount bolt.


i pre-drilled the body mount hole and made a few other holes in the angle to plug weld and secure it to the remaining steel on the bottom and then stitch welded it to the vertical.

Trenton,

Did you really post at 03:32 this morning? You are certainly dedicated my friend.

Remember to send video of your test drive..........

well today i knocked a bunch of small jobs off the list. installed antenna and power wires for VHF radio (it will go in an ammo can centre console i am planning), its great to be able to keep in touch with the rest of the group on the trail. drilled 4" holes in the rear of the tub and mounted LED brake/marker lights as well as the license plate light, finished the wiring by running whole new harness from the firewall to the rear for lights. installed the trans, T-case shifter covers in the tub that I had removed for painting, made new cork gaskets for those. found some rubber to use under the fuel tank to prevent chaffing the new steel and paint. bolted the body down on new rubber mounts that i doubled up to give the body about a 1/8" lift over stock.. this is just to ensure it stays off the chassis. i cleaned up and painted the rear crossmember and made the plan for a rear bumper.

so today was one of those days where you work all day on the Jeep but then at the end of the day it feels like you have accomplished very little.  i drained and filled new fluids in T-case and trans, installed skid plate, installed fuel tank and new hard lines, worked on the hand throttle but need to grab a new cable and then i decided that with the new paint on the back half of the tub I couldn't deal with there being some holes and bad damage where the original spare tire mount was. i cut it out and made up a template so tomorrow i can weld in the new sheet metal.

im not happy with the black rock guard on the fuel tank. it hasn't really gotten as hard as i would like. I'm wondering if in the heat of summer it will even be softer, not good. might have to strip it and paint it with the green... thats a bummer. and speaking of the fuel tank if your wondering about that spot that looks like a giant patch you'd be right. previous owner must have done it, its silver soldered on and was sealing when i pulled the tank so hopefully its all still good.

fuel gauge in, still need sender. also theres now a hole in the dash where i removed the "throttle lock" to use the carbeurator attachment location for a hand throttle thats located on the gear shift.


once i had installed the new LED markers they were connected to the original location on the headlight switch and came on at the first 'click' of the switch but when i pulled it out further to turn on headlights they went off... i didn't like that.


so i fixed it so they come on at first click and stay on when the switch is pulled out to headlights as well.

the best of intentions as they say... i got started at full speed this morning after being up WAY to late in the shop last night but ran out of steam quickly. so i made a little progress on the bumper but not as much as i should have. the plate the winch will sit on is 1/4" and will be bolted to both frame rails as well as welded to the back lower edge of the actual 4x2 box steel that makes up the bumper. the frame tie ins are 1/2" flat bar and they will of course be welded right through the bumper and become tow points on the front side. the winch rope will run through a slot in the centre of the 4x2, also going to have 2 x 3" holes through the bumper outside the frame rails for driving/fog lights... not that i plan a lot of highway or even night wheeling but i had them for a different project and didn't use them. hope to get this finished up tomorrow.

i've only got 2 days left at home then go away to work for several months so this has to get done NOW!!!


in this pic the 4x2 that makes up the bumper is actually sitting on top of the frame tie ins, i will be slotting the 4x2 to slide it over those pieces of 1/2"

well got the air conditioning fixed  worked on bumper a bit. still need to box in the ends and trim the tow points before fully welding it all together. i decided against mounting the driving lights in the bumper because i just don't want to do the work. today was last day working on the Willys for a while, I'm heading overseas for work. so progress comes to a screeching halt as of now.

So in my search for a beefier d-41 diff cover a good point was brought up, why beef this stuff up when ultimately I'd hope to change it out for a stronger axle. Well as I said in the beginning there's a plan here to build the best wheeler possible while staying under a set budget. It's a bit of a competition between a buddy and I who also plans the same kind of build under the same budget constraints when both are complete we will take them out and have a bit of a competition or just some fun really... But I'm gonna kick his butt. With some big expenses already on the Willys that yes I maybe could have got away without doing but I really want reliability so I did all the engine and electronics mods/replacements. All that being said I'm gonna run the existing drive train and axles. So I'm gonna replace the rear cover as mine has holes that have been welded up by the PO but it still leaks and I'd also like to run a rear locker.

So here's the plan, try to find a 32" x r16 bias tire for cheap. Clean up existing axles and add rear lock-right locker and beefy covers. I have a plan for steering as I'm not convinced of the longevity of the stock setup for harder wheelin but I'm keeping that to myself until I see how it works out. With all that in place hopefully ready for a Moab trip sept 2016 I'll go and see how she does.

So who has experience with the 41 lasting with a locker and stock engine and 32" tires?

Sorry I can be long winded but I'm away from home now and got a lot of time to plan and surf the net for parts.

Ive never seen an old one with actual fluid in it.  All the ones ive seen have had a grease fitting installed and packed with grease instead of heavy oil like its supposed to have.

so i am waiting for some steering parts to arrive before i move forward on the saginaw swap and i needed to do seats so i started that today. making a 60/40 split bench. the passenger side seat cushion will flip up to allow access to the tool box. going to make some kind of removable center console i think... I'm sure theres lots of opinions on bench vs original style seats but I've got a young son and his mom and i like the idea of the three of us sitting across the bench.

garage gnome wrote on 02/21/16 at 12:59:18:



i plan to stay sort of original with the cushions and covering. today i will finish the frame, use some 3/4" plywood for the back and bottom and then cut foam to shape and stretch some canvas over it and staple it to the plywood from the bottom. i have an idea to use a waterproof closed cell foam so when the seats get wet the foam doesn't soak up the water.

finally got the frame fully mounted and wood rough cut. gonna paint the frame same green as the tub. the passenger seat bottom cushion and frame is not hinged, it just pulls out completely for access to the tool box. I'm thinking about 2" of a medium density foam for butt comfort with 1" of a higher density foam on top of it to prevent just squishing the softer foam flat. and on the back maybe just 2" of medium density foam. i was going to stretch canvas over the foam myself but I'm thinking more and more about getting it professionally done but in keeping with the budget build I'm unsure about that option, need to price it out. one thing that i know i will be splashing out cash on is seat bottom and back rest heaters, hear in the great white north seat heaters are a definite must. 

seats finished! 3 layers of foam laminated together with slot between 1st and second layer for seat heating pad. 5/8 plywood, 2" medium density foam" for comfort, 1" high density foam for support, 3/8" closed cell blue foam for waterproof layer. its just a canvas tarpaulin cut up for cover.

finally got started on the steering. pulled the whole front off and apart, kinda needed it apart anyway so i can finish the half done paint job.  the rad support/cross member was severely cracked on each side where it was welded to the frame. to clear the new steering shaft i figured easier to just remove that cross member anyway and replace it with something different after i finish the steering setup. so i got a complete steering setup for free (still within budget) by trading some other jeep parts. its from a Jeep YJ 4 cylinder with power steering. yes i said power steering. just gonna give it a try, its been done before but to be honest not sure how well it will work on the little 65 year old 4 cylinder. so I'm boxing the front of the frame, mounting a yj steering box to the inside of drivers side frame right behind the bumper that I'm still building and will make a bracket for the pump that will mount on the engine. anyway enough talk...



i took a bunch of measurements before chopping this out so i can get it square and true again later

well i picked up the steering parts late in the day and couldn't wait until tomorrow to see how things fit. so i just went out to the shop and mocked it up.

this is the box as far forward as it can go and dead level.


in this position the front leaf hanger blocks one of the box mounting holes so will probably slide it rearward a bit.


with the current drop pitman arm the drag link is level with what will be the height of the tie rod but i see possible interference issues at full left turn with left side leaf compressed. so i plan to run a straight pitman arm to hopefully avoid that.

ok so today i started welding stuff up. theres a pic below for you experts...and i use that term loosely ... to review and give me some feedback please. so heres my concerns; i only stitch welded the boxing plate because the factory boxing plates that run from where i left off down under the motor and transmission are also just stitched. in a lot of the reading I've done the CJ's flexibility comes a lot from the frame. so by boxing it in and welding it fully i would be eliminating a lot of the frame flex and probably adding a rigid area that would or could induce future cracking. now my thoughts also are that the original steering bell crank came off the large cross member i removed (i will be replacing it with something equally as strong later) but that cross member was badly cracked at the welds where it met the frame rails. I'm figuring the reason for cracking is from stresses put on it from the bell crank during turning. i am now going to be mounting the steering box on drivers side frame rail so the steering stresses will be there. so should i not worry about losing possible flexibility and weld it fully because i need that piece of frame to be very rigid for steering box mounting? the box I'm using has 4 mounting bolts and i will be capturing all of them, 2 above the frame and 2 below. i may also run a steering box brace across to the passenger side frame rail. i do plan to use a doubler plate over the vertical seam where my boxing plate meets the factory one. i used 3/16 material for the boxing plates and will use 1/8 for the doubler plates.

long story short... should i fully weld these boxing plates in or leave as is?

your thoughts.

well after lots of reading and talking to guys who know more than me i decided to stay with the stitched welds. i also added doubler plates to the vertical joint between my new plate and the old. i cut and test fit the new crossmember. this new cross member is 1.5" DOM heavy wall tubing, should be plenty strong. it is in exactly the same place as the original CM but as it doesn't have the upward bend i will have to make brackets for the grill support. with the steering box in location the steering shaft clears the new CM just fine due to it's reduced size.

so todays progress was slow but worthwhile. i took a close look at tie rod and drag link setup and i plan to do as many others have and use heim joints. on the passenger side i'll have drag link on top and tie rod on the bottom both connected by one bolt. i'll do my best to be safe and overkill strong, ill be using chromoly heims with 3/4 shank on 3/4 bolt and DOM tube for the shafting with as little shank exposed as possible. ill use castle nuts and safety washers to ensure even if the helm comes apart it can't come off the bolt. the vertical separation with existing pitman arm is not enough so i went to local pick n' pull and grabbed a straight arm from a 1998 Astro Van so that will help. i then looked at the steering column and height of steering wheel. I'm gonna try and get it at a bit more comfortable position than it was, i am just waiting to finalize that until i make sure my steering shaft will work, the one i got doesn't seem to 'slip' in the middle and i don't like that so gonna source another one.

from passenger side showing horizontal separation of tie rod and drag link


from front showing vertical separation of tie rod and drag link


positioning steering column and wheel

i made up a steering shaft from the 3 i had. wanted 33.5" and 4" slip.



to be sure that the shaft doesn't drop off the column i drilled and tapped in a set screw and put a groove in the column.


and this flat side stops the column from turning inside the shaft

progress today, i replaced all the fuel lines and rerouted things to make room for the coming power steering pump, they were a mess of old copper lines anyway. i also re-ran the hard brake line to the front axle since i had to relocate the frame bracket that holds the brake lines. got the cross member welded back in and cleaned up and painted the frame. tomorrow is pump bracket and assembly. i also finally made the bracket to capture the 4th steering box mounting bolt.

fixed the upload problem, more pics.

this is what i cut out of the grill


view from front of engine

this shows the new shiny parts. 5/8 shank with 5/8 hole chromoly heims with 1.5" x 1/4" wall DOM tube. this should be beefy enough for a 2000lb Willys. i drilled out the pitman arm and knuckles for 5/8 hole, that was the size of the large end of the taper for tie rods so thats why the decision to go with 5/8 heims. tomorrow i'll weld the bungs into the tube and mount the rad and fire this thing up... i may actually have steering tomorrow

finished cleaning up and painting tie rod/drag link and got them installed permanently. did the re-engineering and re-fab work to the bumper, even got it painted and installed. i have decided to narrow the Warn M8000 winch I have instead of try to buy of find another one (budget build). also installed and wired up the lights in the grill. on with pics...

Moving right along... Dang looks good

Will the winch fit if you offset it?

Skip

today i didn't have alot of time but i started the hood. at first i was planning to just grind down the old repairs that are lead, brass and weld... and then re-do the welds and maybe smear on some bondo and hit it with paint but after I started the grinding i realized how far gone the hood was. so after some quick measurements and cutting heres what we have left. i had to go grab my bead roller from a buddies house this evening so tomorrow I'll flange both sides of the new piece and weld it in.

the old piece i cut out. you can see some of the brass. the lead on the centre seam was almost 1/4" thick


whats left of the original hood, i left the back end hat channel intact and the hinge.


and finally the new piece, i will also weld a solid 3/16 round bar across the front to replicate the rolled front edge.

everything worked out great, very happy with how it came out. i left some of the imperfections as the rest of the Willys is slightly less than perfect...just slightly

well i managed to paint the rest of the tub and a lot of small parts that i'll need for assembly.





i also found a used set of 5, 6.50 x 16 michelin bias ply tires. i like them and the price is right. need to organize a ride for the tires from a town about 500km away.

Wow, its looking really good!

its ALIVE!!!!

moved under its own power for the first time since november 2015. I'm not going to say finished but its a lot closer than it has been in a long while. couldn't resist 'flexing' her out on the front yard.

i have been doing a bit of painting lately... maybe u noticed. so i figured I'm not bad at masking stuff off, couldn't have been more wrong. yesterday i decided it was time to clean up and finish the narrowed winch. took it to a buddies who has a glass bead blaster. cleaned it all off and brought it home for paint. after paint and assembly i tried to turn the drum...no go. seams that no matter how well you think you masked off the gear box side of a winch the pressurized glass powder will get past the tape, mix with the grease and make an abrasive paste that will not allow the winch to turn. so complete disassembly and clean up ensued and re-paint and re-assemble. finally mounted it this evening.

cleaned, greased and awaiting final assembly


installed

it looks a lot deeper than the original but its only .5 inch deeper. it will hold a lot more fluid due to shape. still gotta add fill plug and do the final welding without warping that base flange.