1973 CJ 5 Trail Rig

Plan on it in the future but for now I'll be dealing with the stock setup

 

Another good update for the weekend. Trans and transfer case are dropped and boy are they disgusting





Getting everything drained, mainly water in both





Old clutch out



New vs old (the throwout bearing difference is great)




New clutch and pressure plate installed




Can't get the trans and transfer case reassembled until my gaskets and seals arrive so I'll be thoroughly cleaning and painting them. New u joints and u joint clamps showed up yesterday, along with a new fuel filler neck and some other miscellaneous parts. Ordered the rest of my cage tubing Friday, next weekend should be a big one with tons to do!

 

Hi Kyle,

From the looks of that flywheel........I would get that surfaced before you put that with your new clutch looks to have seen better days.......also that pilot bushing should be replaced in the back of the crankshaft while your there......if you can't get it out let me know I have some pullers.

 

:iagree:

Also, if that new throwout bearing is shorter than the old one don't expect it to release and you'll be pulling the tranny back out to change it. This is an issue with a lot of clutch kits for Jeeps. Sometimes you can press the bearing off the collar and put the new bearing on the old collar. A lot of people have had to deal with this, including me.

To get the pilot bushing out, pack the hole with heavy wheel bearing grease then take a bolt that just fits in the center hole and punch it in with a hammer. Hydraulic pressure with usually drive the pilot out. I've heard of people using wet toilet paper also, but I've used the grease method many times and it works well. If you drive the bolt in and the pilot doesn't come out, pack more grease in and repeat.

 

The pilot bushing was already swapped before I put on the new pressure plate. The throwout bearing is also larger, not smaller so there should be no issues there.

The flywheel was mainly dirty, I hit it with some 1500 grit sand paper to get the crap off and it's smooth as hell now. Luckily, there were no divots in it. Should be fine for now. I'm driving this motor until it goes them I'll be swapping something better anyways.

 

The good ole money pit...

 

Kyle..........OK on the flywheel.........but what "POSI" was referring to is not the diameter of the bearing although Important! but the length of the housing & bearing in respect to it when it is on the candlestick that it rides on............If the length from where the fork grabs it to the face of the bearing that pushes on the Pressure Plate is longer / shorter on the new versus the old there is a chance you will not even get it to work..............the correct length allows room on the bearing collar for the throw-out bearing to slide forward ....apply release to the plate and retreat enough to have free play............as "POSI" mentioned a common problem inside a tight area..................in fact so common that Eric at Novak developed and adjustable bearing collar that is two piece and fine threaded with a set screw.........neat piece I have one here if you want to see it............

 

I understood what he was talking about. I'll double check the length tonight but I'm pretty sure it is the same length.

 

Got a little more done today

Finally have a working fuel filler neck









Working on emptying the transfer case some more, luckily everything inside looks great



Rear output shaft assembly



Very old oil buildup in the bottom of the case



Intermediate gear and shaft assembly. Those needle bearings are going to suck. Anyone have some suggestions for getting this part back together again?

 

Cold, tacky petroleum jelly and patience for needle bearings.

Edit!!!

Don't use grease! As nickmil said after me, use Petroleum Jelly!

Commenting through too many posts at once. I thought I was posting on a different forum on ujoints....

 

DO NOT USE GREASE!!!!!
Use petroleum jelly. Grease will not melt away and mix with the oil. It can actually plug oiling passages. Seen it more times than I can count. I've seen the remnants if grease in transmissions literally years after a "rebuild". Petroleum jelly will immediately melt away and mix with the oil. If it's too warm and the petroleum jelly won't hold the needles in place make a dummy shaft out of PVC pipe, conduit, whatever to hold them in place.


Sent from my iPhone

 

1" copper tube makes a good dummy shaft.

 

Getting some work done. Little bit at a time. Transmission and transfer case are back in and have a new friend to go along with them. A twin stick conversion kit








Started the fab work on the rest of the cage finally











Fully mocked up








Sealing some of the welds








All in all, it's finally starting to look like a real jeep again. Waiting on my driveshafts to come back from the shop and then it's driveable again. I also have a stinger on the way for me to finish up my front bumper fabrication. Only small issue I have is the throwout bearing lever fell off during the trans installation and I can't get it in the right position with the trans and bellhousing installed. I might have to pull the whole thing to get it situated correctly. Getting closer to trail ready though!

 

I like the design of the rear of the cage. Bummer about the throw out lever. BTDT myself.

 

So what's your suggestion? Is it easiest to pull the whole trans again?

 

Hum, i'll give a try in place, but the best is to pull it to make sure everything is a the right place, better do it in the garage than on a trail.

P.S. I like the roll cage but why did you come to bolt it to the dash?

 

Leg room mainly.

 

If you pull it, take the bellhousing off too. Then put it back together with the bell attached. That way you don't run the risk of knocking the lever off again. I think it's a little easier to re-install with the bell on the tranny anyway.

 

It was actually more difficult for me for some reason. It didn't want to go in with the bellhousing on. I also think if I'm simply dropping it a few inches and pulling it out just a few inches, it should slide back in fairly easy

 

Fixed the clutch issue last night. Unbolted the bellhousing, dropped the trans about 2 inches and pulled it out about a half an inch. Attached the throwout lever and spring, slid the ball in and then reattached the bellhousing and everything was good to go. Replaced the trans/transfercase crossmember bolts with longer ones so I can attach a skid plate to them in the future.

It has been sitting for almost 2 months without being fired and it started up on the first try after I fixed the clutch issue. The only thing I need to do is re-weld the passenger exhaust to re-attach the muffler. I had to cut it to get it back in position and attached to the manifold.

Just waiting on my driveshafts to come back from the shop and she's trail ready!