CJ6B - Family Sizing a CJ3B

I got the raised floor over the tank roughed in. I just need to finish weld and add some sheet metal.



I think I'll make an access panel over the sender so I can change it or adjust it without dropping the tank. The 1"x2" rectangular tube on each side is where the back two tabs for the rear seat will be welded. The rear piece is 2"x3" angle iron, so the floor has been raised 3".

I also got the homebrew fuel filler installed. The fuel hose needs to be rotated to work with the side fill location so I'm going to cut the hose, insert a piece of muffler pipe connecter, rotate it, and hose clamp it back together.



I have a vented cap and a non-vented cap to choose from depending on what I do with the other hose connections on the gas tank. I'd prefer to just cap off the 3/4" vent hose portion, but I don't know what to cap it with that would be rated to hold up to the gas and fumes.

 

So I cut off the new rear cross member that I had welded to the frame and took 1.5" off the frame as well. Now the bumper is going to be welded to the frame instead of bolted to a cross member. I tacked it in place and with the frame shave I got it as close to the tailgate as I could and still clear the swing out tire carrier I have.

I knew this tub had some damage on the driver's side, but I didn't realize how far off the rear corner was until yesterday. Now with the bumper on it's pretty easy to see where the rear corner is shoved in. It's low on the list, but I'm going to try make a repair on it. At a minimum, it needs a body mount there, which right now is miles away from the bumper.




I was thinking of slicing the tub vertically on the side, just in front of where the corner starts and pull/push it out to the right location. Then welding in a sheet metal spacer, so to speak. If you have some ideas on it, let me know. It's not too bad at the top of the tub, only about 1/4" in when I lay a straight edge all the way across the back. It's just a trail rig, but this gap will bug me. I guess I could add some after market corner guards if the repair looks too hack, but I'd rather not spend the money.

I also need to move the next cross member forward because now there's not enough room for the gas tank. You know the one..... the one I just welded to the frame boxing.

 

Can you get in behind it and bang it back into place?

 

if you have access to a porta power use it to push the corner out at least that way you are able to control how far you are moving the corner out.

 

No power rams in my neighborhood that I'm aware of. Beating on it with a hammer is certainly worth a try, but it needs to move 1.25" and I don't think there will be near that much give without a little cut-off wheel surgery. I knew there was some damage there, but I hadn't laid a straight edge across it to measure it. I really jumps out at me now that the bumper is there.

I could wedge in some blocks of wood and use a bottle jack to see what I can get out of it before cutting.

 

Ha, yeah that's one way to fix it Steve. I just did a quick test with the blocks and bottle jack. It pushes out most of the way, but it doesn't stay. As soon as the pressure is released it goes back to exactly where it was. I think it will need the cut and paste. I'll put it off until I'm waiting on parts or have some other hang up elsewhere on the Jeep. I have bigger fish to fry right now.

 

you need to push it PAST where you want it , then use Ox /act, to heat the stressed points and quinsh with water to set the metal where you want .

 

I don't think it will go any farther. It's already starting to split the seam between the side and the rear. Also, the more it gets pushed out the more distorted it gets on the side. I don't have a torch.

 

Well, I know this will sound sour, but at this point it sounds like the best thing to do is slice the tub just round the bend (just behind the wheelwell) pull it into place and then add some sheetmetal. For a wheeler, it wouldn't bother me that much but i know how little things like this can really start bugging you especially once you notice it.

 

Never seises to amaze me.....

 

Doesn't sound sour to me at all. I may not even get to it until after I'm back on the trail with the Jeep. I'd like to make it look a little bit better than it does now though, just like Steve is doing here, but to a different degree. Steve's before:


This is why I put a bumper on mine.

 

Yikes ,
THAT was a bad line that day huh mike .

 

Dang it, i was just bout to take my rear bumper off the jeep so my spare tire would fit....guess im not doing it now!!!

 

I haven't had time to do anything major lately, but I crossed some small items off the list. I saved this swing out tire carrier (and the bumper) from a Jeep I used to have.



I made a removable post for the rear license plate. I can replace the bolt with a paddle lock and it will act the lock for my spare tire.



To keep it legal while driving at night I added this trailer light from the old spare parts milk crate. I trimmed out the bottom and glued in some clear plastic. It will also be a third brake light.



My son grabbed another light from the crate and said "Here, put this on there too". Duh, great idea. Why didn't I think of that? Now I'll have a back up light that is up and out of the way.

 

Thats a cool old license plate.

 

That's not the plate for this Jeep. I can't remember when or where I got it, but it was formerly covering up a hole in the floor of my MB.
I do have some black and yellow plates for this Jeep though that came with it. I'll probably tack weld the nuts on the back side of of the plate base to keep the license plate from walking away when I'm not looking.

 

I got the power steering bracket in place. I'm using McRuff's kit and it worked out well. With my limited tools this was a big time saver.



The 1/4" plate is the base for the outboarding of the front leaf springs. It will get gussets on top once I'm sure the hanger locations are not going to shift. I flipped the frame over for all the welding I needed to do on the bottom. Much easier for me this way and a lot better welds than I can do upside down. I'm reusing the front bumper off the MB.

 

I removed my Dana 20 transfer case to replace the gasket. I had an RTV band aid fix for a leak at this area. It turns out that the two bottom bolts for the adapter plate are spinning freely. It looks like they each have a helicoil insert that has stripped out. The bolts look good (7/16").



I could drill out the helicoils and put in knew ones. A search here also turned up Keenserts. I've never used them, but that's an option too.

I don't have a lot of depth to play with for the one on the driver's side. If I go too deep I'll be into the tranny gears. The passenger side is an ear tab. Unfortunately there's not quite enough room on the backside to put a nut on it and there's not enough meat on ear to drill out and tap for the next size bolt.
Recommendations and/or special instructions for installing the helicoils or Keenserts? Thanks.