My 67 CJ5 build

New rear crossmember from Walcks



Springs back from spring shop. Need to do some painting now. Almost ready to build a Jeep

 

I am really trying to keep the factory look of my Jeep during the restoration. I like the look of the flat rivets on the rear crossmember.



Since I dont have the means to do the rivets right I was thinking why not just thread the rivets ?



Next question, how do I keep the heads from spinning ? so I am thinking of a few options, ( keeping in mind the crossmember will be welded on the chassis anyway ) I can tack weld the rivet on the back side of the crossmember, or I can put a " knob " of weld on the stem right behind the rivet head, then just put a little notch in the hole on the crossmember with a dremel so the weld keeps the rivet from turning, or I can just weld the crossmember on and weld the back of the rivets to the chassis ? Decisions decisions

 

Could you cut a slot in the threaded end of the rivet? Then you could hold the rivet with a flat screwdriver and tighten the nut with a wrench...

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If you used either a star or split lock washer on the backside and a dab of lock-tite........and ran them down with a 1/2" air gun more times than not......the head will not spin. but you will play hell getting them off.

 

When I did rivets on my build, put a clamp to hold them in place and welded the back

 

Leaf springs painted with POR -15, starting to assemble the chassis this weekend

 

John, awesome work and an inspiration! Thanks for taking the time with all of the pictures.

Can you share your best practice for the por 15? What gun/tip, how you thin it, etc.

 

I brush the smaller parts then use the chassis coat black spray can for the top coat. When I do spray it for the larger pc's I use a gravity feed gun with the pps system with a 1.8 mm tip. You can thin with their thinner or I have used lacquer thinner too, which works fine. A couple of things to remember, follow their instructions for rusted products or bare metal to a tee. If you dont it won't stick. I try to sand blast everything, even the bare metal then no worries. And if you get any on you get it off quick or you will have it on you for 2 weeks. When I did my truck resto I sprayed the frame and had overspray on my face and didnt notice right away. You know what scrubbing your face with lacquer thinner is like ? :-(

I did my truck 4 years ago and there is no rust on any of the metal parts or the frame.

 

Put the springs on the rear axle today. Took me an hr of cursing before realizing it's easier upside down.

 

First time in 2 years my frame sees the sun. All the goop washed off and ready to play.



First thing was mounting the rear cross member. The threaded rivets I made worked great, just used a vice grip on the heads to keep from turning. Tightened right up. Then I welded it to the frame.

 

Front bumper mounted with button head bolts. Will fill allen heads with bondo to make them look like rivets.



Got the rear axle mounted. went in easy.



Skid plate and cross member mounted

 

Then things went south quick !

Saw I got the wrong transmission mount. Might just sand blast the old one and reuse it now





Biggest brain fart so far !! after getting the front springs reworked at a spring shop, painting to look like new and putting bushing in the darn things are 3" too short !



Since I didn't have originals to match to the donors, It appears these are off a CJ2a or 3A which uses a 36 1/4" long spring. The CJ5 uses a 39 1/4" spring. These will be going up for sale. Just biting the bullet and buying new ones.



So this is how far I got today. Going to get the draw bar painted while waiting for springs.

 

Great work. Bummer about the springs. But that's part of working on these old Jeeps. Like Forrest Gump and his box of chocolates.

 

Rear draw bar blasted and painted



Button head bolts made to look like factory rivets

 

Painted the Ross box as close to the original Glyptal red as I can find

 

So I decided to bring the springs back to the spring shop and see if they can put a longer top spring on them to meet spec.

 

Spring shop said no can do :-( going on eBay

 

New shock mounts came, of course holes not even close to lining up with the frame holes



Went for a new transmission mount, $ 8.99 free shipping...no brainer

 

Had some time today after work so I got the draw bar on




Also put the U joints in the rear shaft, what a pain in the butt. The new ones were almost 1/16" wider than originals so the snap rings wouldn't fit. I just took a file and took 1/32" off each end, that did the trick

 

Got the E-brake together



Other than making my shop smell like a septic tank this stuff is great at removing rust. At $1.00 a qt you can't beat it. I actually poured some on part of an old frame I have and kept it wet for a few minutes and it was bare steel when I hosed it off.