1948 CJ2A Build

Starting a dedicated thread for my build

Traded a rifle for a 1948 CJ2a.


I was surprised how un-bubba'd the jeep was. The last time is was registered was 1992.









Worse thing besides rust on it was the white marine upholstery on the seat frames, but they are in the garbage now.

My daughter has claimed it as hers



I believe the Jeep was restored or attempted to be restored in the late 80's. The original color is Harvard Red, but it was plastered with green, on the body, tubs, frame and rims. And a generous job of rubber truck bed coating was applied over the frame, and body. It is now flaking away but it did seem to help some in the rust area. The rear bed has zero Rust holes in it. Front floors not so much. The passenger side was repaired at some pioint but poorly done. The floor under the gas tank was repaired with a piece of sheetmetal and an floor drip pan screwed to the remnants of a floor.

My plans are to keep it mostly original with the exception of putting disc brakes up front and add a dual resovior Master cylinder. The rear brakes are going to stay the original 9 inchers.

 

First things first, took apart the jeep and removed the tub. I am going to do the mechanicals first, then do body work.

 

I went through the rear Dana 41. Took the cover off and was extremely happy to find out there was no water or rust inside. Oil poured out but there was thick old mush on the bottom, but it cleaned out. The Dana 41 has one small ring gear. The original tag was still on the cover 43/8... so it has 5.38 gears, which pretty much was a given for the year.


The previous owner said the lug nuts were rusted on the one wheel, but it turned out he just was trying to remove the lug nuts the wrong way. They were the original "L" marked studs. All the rims came off and the hubs came off just fine. Lots of spider webs and mud daubers in the brakes, but they were realtively clean. The brake shoes looked to have been new, and i replaced the wheel cylinders cause i had new ones included with the jeep. I put the larger front ones in the rear, so i am hoping for a little more brakeing, because the front will be discs.

Old


New and cleaned.


I did not sand blast or anything. I scraped off the mud and dirt and rubbed it down. And will assemble it. The axle housing will get a coat of paint, just not caring much about the inside.

 

i will be buying the floors and channels, i am trying to save the tool box but i may need to buy that also. I do have rust on the crossmember, but i can fix that.
I have done a few disc brake swaps, this is the first one i am going to mount a newer MC at the frame rail to keep the jeep stockish looking

 

Got a little more done today.

I took the cover off of the Transmission. Not bad, the oil is thick and older, but no signs of water. A little rust on the splines but nothing i am worried about



I took the inspection cover off the bellhousing to see if anything was living in there but it is also real clean.


I also looked at the dana 18 and noticed that it maybe a large intermediate shaft version. I wont know until i take a tape measure to it. I am soaking the bolts holding skidplate off before i can drain all the gear boxes

I got into the front axle. The passenger side was relatively clean on the inside, but that also means there wasnt much lube in there. The Bendix and axle shaft was dirty with axle shaft had old sticky oil/grease covering it.


The driver side had a bit more "muck" inside the knuckle.


I went through and cleaned up the bearings, spindle, axle shafts and locking hubs. I ended up chasing all the bearings from the bendix ujoint since they fell out of the axle. I pressed out the old lug studs to remove the brake drums. I decided that i am going to order a set of 11" brakes from Herm, because the price just wasnt bad at all.



I tried to get inside the differential to start cleaning but i had to stop because of a stripped bolt. i didnt have an oxygen for my torch and i just could get it to heat with just the acetylin.


I will order the brakes this week and hopefully get the front axle done and the brake system together. Then i will order a new radiator and the mechanical side of the vehicle will be done. On to the body.

 

Interesting is the front brake drums look to be original style 2 piece welded drums. i didnt know they existed.

 

I will see, i will pull them and see if they are in one piece. I have had them break off in pieces on other axles

 

Got the knuckles cleaned up and got the last stripped bolt to come free from the differential cover.



No water came out of the diff, just some old gear oil. I need to get some cleaner tommorrow and give it a bath


Now i have to wait till i get some funds from side projects and i can get the 11" brakes and master cylinder and get that front axle buttoned up and do the brake plumbing.

 

I patched a few spots on the frame, mainly about the passenger side spring mount, round crossmember and battery tray. I primered and paint the frame and gave a little dusting of the gear boxes and such to clean it up. Added new knuckle seals. Installed a new fuel pump. This week i ordered a new aluminum radiator, rubber hoses, brake parts and new floor pans.










Yeah the exhaust looks like crap, but it is not broken, so it stays for now.

 

You have to loosen the bolt for the front cover to get to the inside one on the pump.
i had the problem, but fortunately since it was exposed i could see the bolt was not letting the socket get to the fuel pump bolt