2X4 frame for my CJ2A

Please forgive my ignorance. I was under the impression that a fully sealed shroud will cause air to be pulled through the entire radiator surface. At least that seems to make sense to me. A fan mounted sans shroud or a smaller diameter fan would only pull through the area matching the fan's mounting surface. Am I wrong? Or is the issue Chris' plate is mounted against the fins vs a small stand off? I will be at the "fabricating radiator mounting phase" of my build soon and would like to avoid pitfalls in the design phase, rather than re-do it 6 times....

 

Yeah, I thought about that. I had this same setup, same parts with the old frame, but with a tilt column and never had issue. I have a heim joint that will probably work, but it hasnt bound up before. I think it shouldn't work right, but it has so far.

 

Well the plate is not actually touching the fins and the idea to pull air across all the fins through the fan is the premise. It seems to me the same or similar set up all over the internet of companies selling this similar idea where the mechanical fan won't work for whatever reason. I shall see how well or poorly this works or does not and adjust accordingly. I will of course post my updates.

 

The birds must be making a wire nest in my engine compartment.


fan is wired. alternator and regulator is wired. nothing wired in the dash.

Wanted to work on brakes and make a clutch line, but the tube nut fittings are 7/16-24 and 1/2-20 for 3/16 tube and none has then round here. Not autobone not napa, I gave up and ordered it from summit and amazon. Summit order said out of stock so I just ordered it from amazon too.

 

Man, that thing is looking shiny.... good work! Can't wait to see trail pics.

 

Thanks. Paint is a pretty good 10 footer. I can do some urban trail riding where I drive up stairs and get some pics of that for you maybe?

 

hahaha, I'd like to see that

 

I've done some urban wheeling, sorry ma'am didn't know I was coming out in your yard. Didn't mean to wake you.

 

Got the starter switch wired, oil pressure and temp gauge temporarily installed, battery and it turns over. Couldn't get oil pressure with the starter, so i ripped apart an old distributor, pulled mine and made an oil pump primer. Gets 30lbs, no more. I guess thats where the relief valve opens. squirted some gas into the primary bowl vent and proceeded to try and get it running.

Runs for a second, sputters and dies. Did this for a bit, checked for fuel at the carb, nada.

Checked for fuel to the pump and got a mouthful of gas, love that. I was expecting it so theres that. Unhooked the fuel pump and pulled it. Stuck a hose into a gas can connected to the fuel pump and cycled the arm real fast. Nothing at all comes out. Covered the inlet with my finger and cycled the arm again. No suction at all.

I guess its dead.


I paid less than 10 bucks for this Bosch fuel pump and it has about 1000 miles on it. Its also for a 231. Other fuel pumps don't have a return line provision.

 

Fuel pump was dead. I installed one from a 1970 cj5 in place of the one that was from a 231 of some year. It didn't start right up. It didn't want to run. I had to finagle with the idle setting and enrich the choke a bit. I cussed it for a while, well the whole time and got my wife to turn the key while I played with the throttle and timing.

Finally got it to run. Surges a bit, may have a vacuum leak somewhere. Timing is something like 10 BTC.

Bought all new Stewart Warner gauges. Didn't plumb in the new oil pressure gauge yet, still using the old POS. Has 20 lbs at about 1000rpm or less. That is with the coolant at 200 degrees.

The fan, yes the fan. I got it up to operating temp, the thermostat opened an dropped the temp to 175. It then rose to 200~205 and the 190 degree tempswitch did not cycle the relay. I wired in the override switch and flipped the fan on. The temp went to 200 then stabilized at 195. I turned the over ride off and the fan switch stayed closed, fan running. I then turned off the engine and started it back up and the fan turned on as it was supposed to. Maybe there was an air bubble in the temp sender area.

its 80 degrees today, the jeep is in full sun sitting here in my yard. I think if i tweak the fan shroud a bit, I should have a working coolant system.

The lack of headers makes the engine sound different. It is quieter, but not by much. The distinctive odd fire sound is more pronounced.

I wired everything correct the first time. Gauges, starter switch, regulator, distributor, alternator.. its all done right the first time, that is also a first time. Even the fuel gauge works right......

 

Urban jeepin in no time.

 

Congrats on a running engine !!!!!!!!!!

 

Thanks guys.
I let the engine cool to 135 started it back up again, no problem, and let the temp go to 190. Temp dropped again to 175 then went to 200~205. Fan turned on by itself, temp dropped right away to 200 then stabilized at 195. I have a 190 degree temp fan switch installed.

Its still early, but the engine might run better. Runs hotter and that makes for better combustion. No longer runs so rich. Exhaust is NOT flu of hydrocarbons. Rings aren't letting any noticeable oil past either. Cant imagine they seat that fast.

ghetto rebuild seems to work for today.

I need to make and bleed a clutch line and the master/slave. I also need to finish front brake lines and then bleed the system.

 

Great job, keep up the good work!

 

Impressive!

 

Tried to use that steering column from a 70 or so cj5. Nothing doing. The tube would not stay in one place and the bearings were very rusty, so I tried to take it apart to rebuild it. Some of you know how hard it is to take off a steering wheel without wrecking something. Its all destroyed and i gave up. Steering wheel came cracked and bent anyway, bearings were rusty and the bottom bushing was wore out plus the horn switch was missing. When the steering shaft got mushroomed from the puller, I threw in the towel.

I bought a retro steering 1.75 OD straight column from speedway. Nostalgia Steel Steering Column 97 bucks shipped. Comes with a grant style 3 hole quick release hub. I have 2 options for a steering wheel. 1, my preferred route, mill the back side of my cj2a steering wheel flat and drill 3 holes to mount it to the new column hub or 2, use an old wrangler steering wheel.

I have a working tilt column with key that I just dont want to use. i want the retro look and a spartan style turn signal switch.

I am really done trying to use old rusted junk. I really like the idea of taking the steering wheel off when it sits out front of my house too.

 

I've heard this before somewhere.

I also agree with the security advantage of the removable wheel.

Given the 2 options you present, old wheel or Wrangler wheel, I'd opt for the old Sheller wheel to keep the retro look. More work, perhaps but, worth it in the end.

 

Yeah, When I get the column and hub in, I will try and make that happen for sure. The CJ2A steering wheel I have is far from perfect. It might work out perfect..

Shipping says friday. I am itching to get this thing on the road real bad. By then I hope to have just about everything done.

 

Alright, You all know my heap runs. Today I have plumbed and bled my hydraulic clutch assembly.

This is a master from a 90 or so wrangler. Whatever the year is that doesn't have the special clutch line. Its 3/16 tube nut that has 7/16 -24 threads.

Bleeding the thing isn't too difficult and even with air in the line it works as it should. First I bled the master then ran the line to the slave, pushed some brake fluid through and just cracked the bleeder and let gravity do its job. I then pulled the push rod all the way out to suck in more fluid and pushed it back as far as it would go and watched the bubbles come out the master reservoir. Might not be the right way to do this, but the bleeder wasn't doing its job right.

This is the Novak slave.


I was pretty confident after messing around with this thing in gear and the rear lockouts on the full float axle engaged to know that it was disengaging the transmission from the engine by pushing my jeep with clutch pedal in, then out to know it was working correct....

The real test.

Start it up and cycle through the gears without dying. No brakes, no steering, just a clutch that probably works and an ignition switch. In front of me is the basement and death and behind me is pain. Guess what? Works exactly like its supposed to. Jeep moved under its own power, stopped and did everything it is supposed to in the yard.

Transmission 1st and reverse gear clutch or whatever its called does drag. What I mean is that I cannot push the jeep in 1st or reverse with the clutch pedal pushed in like all the other gears. It shifts into those gears under power with NO problem and moves fine, but when the clutch is pushed in there is enough friction to stop the vehicle. I do recall this happening before I rebuilt the transmission, but not this pronounced. That concerns me, but not enough to do anything about it and probably won't be able to anyway.