Back at it Again -- '72 CJ5

Well I took one step forward and promptly took another step backwards today. I took the 304 to the body shop to get its paint baked on a couple days ago. I got it back and the AMC blue has more green in its tint now. I thought it was just me but my neighbor agreed. Not that it's a bad thing, I think it looks good. I don't know if you will be able to tell in this picture, I took it close to dusk. Also I dinged the paint enough to make me wonder if it was even worth taking it.


So on and off yesterday and today I've been reassembling it until I came to a total halt this morning. I was tightening the connecting rod bolts and as I was rotating the crank so I could get to the next set of bolts, it completely froze on me. I can't move it forward or backwards. The crank isn't binding with anything so I have no idea why it won't rotate. I'm going to have to take it back apart and start over again. That was my step backwards.

After that I decided to switch to something else before I broke anything and moved on to getting the front wheels on.


When I was putting on my new Warn premium locking hubs, I noticed in the instructions that they come with the correct amount of grease, which aint much at all, especially compared to every other hub I've ever opened up


Maybe I'm reading it wrong??


I also read on the internet that it is possible to put too much grease in the hub too. What do y'all usually do?

 

Like you said, every time i have opened a hub whether it be a chevy, ford, my yota axle or the jeeps old D30, there has been a lot of grease in there. I would think that as long as all the splines and springs and such have a good coat on them, then you would be good to go but Im no expert.

 

I'm going to throw in a little extra for safe measure but I'm not going to pack it full. The motor is almost finished, I'll get a picture up tonight or tomorrow.

 

I got the engine and transmission in the frame the other day, now I'm working on getting the t176 mounted to the crossmember. The PO of the tranny I pulled apparently thought the stabilizer was gay so he cut the mounting bracket in half. So I made another one.


On a side note, I was getting really tired of going to Lowes for hardware so I took a different approach. Good investment.


Here's how it's currently sitting:


I started a new job at a steel fabrication shop so I don't have as much time as I did to work on it, but I am learning a skill that I can apply to the the CJ so its a good trade off. Once I get the transmission and crossmember lined up properly I'll get the d300 behind it and move on to the brake lines, then steering, then fuel lines. Then I'll get the radiator cleaned up and after that I think I'll be about ready to start the body work. I'm leaning towards Willy's 1953 Swan Gray (DQE-31046-DAL) . What do you think?

 

do you have a neighbor into jeeps? I could never be so lucky

 

Haha yea he's got a '79 cj7 and a '73 cj5. He's doing a trail-toy resto on the 5.

 

I made a little progress today, not as much as I was planning on. It started down pouring on me out of nowhere so I had to roll it back in the garage for today. I got the transmission torque arm that I built mounted up and so now the whole drivetrain is sitting properly.


I actually had to make another torque arm because my first one was a little too short and the holes I punched didn't line up properly. But with the access to the machines I have at work I made short work of it.


I also got the majority of my brake lines run with the exception of the main line from the MC to the rear. I bought the pre-bent lines from Inline Tube and the rear hose is a Crown repro. the hose fitting is 3/8" and the fitting on the steel line is 7/8". That was frustrating. I'm going to see if I can find a step-down fitting for the steel line to replace it with. Overall I'm not really impressed with the pre-bent lines. They didn't come out as clean as I probably could have bent myself. Not to mention saving $100 or so.

My stock rear driveshaft I found out is about 1 1/2" too long. I didn't figure it would line up but when I started measuring I got my hopes up. I'm just going to take it to work and shorten it. Also my pinion angle is pretty out of line. I'm going to have to make some shims.

I couldn't really get a good picture. Single car garage makes it difficult to move around.

The front driveshaft actually looks like it'll fit without modification. The measurements looked pretty spot-on.

And I put my clutch slave cylinder on. I'm going to have to make a bracket for the return spring.



Seeing a whole drivetrain in the frame is a really good feeling. I'm pretty amazed at how fast it's going now that I've started putting stuff together instead of the clean/rebuild/paint routine I've been in for so long. It kind of sucks seeing things start to rust again, like u-bolts and spots between welds on the frame that you can't really get paint in, but it's just something I've got to accept, especially when I get it on (or rather, off) the road.

 

I started mapping out my fuel lines today. Here is where I am thinking about putting the fuel pump



The only problem is, it looks pretty vulnerable.



That's about as low as I can go and still be within a couple feet of the fuel tank. It's still slightly higher than the bottom of the tank too.

I know nobody really reads this thread, but maybe someone will throw their thoughts out there.

 

Check posimotos build thread "posi's do over". In there he build his own skid plate for his fuel pump which is in the same position as yours and it turned out slick as a whistle. Something to check into. Build is looking great.

 

That was actually the first resource I went to when I started on the fuel lines. His skid plate was for a solenoid that hung down. The pump is tucked inside the frame. My biggest issue about where my pump is at is the fuel line that will be exposed. I think I'm going to have to stick it up just a little higher and hope I don't have any issues. I don't drive on less than a 1/4 tank anyways of I can help it.

 

I spent about 4 hours this weekend trying to get my DUI distributor to line up with the oil pump. Still not in. Had to stop before I threw something.

 

You are doing a great job. Keep at it. [ words of encouragement ]

 

Hey Brett. I was looking at your spring U-bolts and spring shackle bolts. Did you go with new for each of those and if so where did you source things (any chance you have some part numbers). I am trying to match up U-bolts and finding the web sites to be less than clear. Also wanting to go with new hardware on the spring to shackle mounts too. Thanks for any info you might have.

 

I know that I have at least 2 of the PN's in my shed, I'll look for you tomorrow. I got them from 4wd.com and remember having issues with getting the proper sizes shipped to me as well.

 

Just got this in the mail today



Whitco swing-out tire carrier. It took me the better part of a year to find one.

And the two fittings for the Projection that I've been waiting on for a month came in from Holley today. But the fuel lines are finished now. I decided to just stick the fuel pump inside the frame rail. It's not entirely lower than the tank, but I'm going to try it. It's in a spot that's easy enough to fix if I need to.



I started working on the tub this past weekend. I've been waiting a good long while to start all that fun. So far I've removed the tool box and cut out the passenger floor pan. The driver side doesn't even have so much as a pin hole in it.



Goes to show how much of a moisture trap the tool box can be. The hat channels on both side are going to be replaced with a combination of 3 x 1 x 11ga. and 2 x 1 x 11ga. rectangular tubing (let me know if that's a good plan). Other than that, It'll just be a few dents to pop out and I'll be ready to strip, prime,and paint it.

I still haven't made up my mind on how far I want to go with the body work on it. I don't know if I really want to make it look perfect and then take it out on trails or if I want it to look like a nice old jeep with character and not have to worry about it getting a little beat up.

 

Nice looking build good work.

 

I dragged the tub into the garage to start all the repairs it needs. The majority of the tub is in good shape, but where there is rust, it's bad. I've already removed the hat channels from both sides. Neither set has much worth saving so I'm making new ones.

My focus starts on the passenger side floorboard. I began by cutting out all the sections along the rocker that need to be replaced.


Next I made a couple replacement feet for the cowl supports.


I am learning hammer on dolly work as I go along. Here's a crack/dent that I hammered smooth. I still have to drill out the ends of the crack and weld it.


The gusset for the front is missing, I have to come up with something to replace it with.


The riser was all rotted out where the toolbox is, so I made a new one.

pretty straight cut for a cut-off wheel


the old riser is on the right



There is a section where the riser is spot welded to the rear floor that needed replacing

after polishing


The body mount on the driver side is mostly in tact, but I'd like to reinforce it with a thicker backer plate and a piece of angle iron cut and bent for the mount.


I'd like for my work to be a little cleaner looking, but my range of tools consist of hammers, a vise, and a couple angle grinders.

 

A little but more progress today. I finished putting the floor riser in.



After all the hammering it started warping on me, so I had to flatten it back out.


I started laying out the repair piece for the front support triangle gusset (4th pic in my last post), I should finish that up in a couple days.

I also put the replacement floor pan on to see how well it fit. It's considerably larger than what it needs to be but I might be able to use that to my advantage.


Right where the floor pan starts to raise for the transmission tunnel I have about 4 inches of overhang. I'll bend the floor pan up so I can use it to replace that rotted out metal instead of having to try and make another piece to go in between.

 

After welding in some patches in the driver side floorboard, I wound up with some pretty serious warpage.



I was going slow with it and alternating between working on 3 different patches, but it still wound up warping. I'm thinking either because I was working on 3 different areas across the whole floorboard or because I'm using .030 wire. Anyways, does this look salvageable? Are there any recommendations on shrinking it back to size or do I have to make a new floorboard?