What Did You Do To Your Jeep Today?

I stopped by my old High school shop to see the instructor last friday and he gave me a "gift" aka project I don't want to work on.
80's CJ7
Replaced the battery, battery cables, some minor brake work, replaced turn signal bulbs, rewired the ignition, replaced a belt, etc.

The hardest part was when the pivot ball fell out and I had to root around in the bellhousing with a screwdriver. Because of the insane body lift, the clutch geometry was off the charts so the stock adjustment was at its limit; I drove 3 hours for some 3/8x24 all thread rod to replace the factory clutch rod. Clutch is good now. Got the carb adjusted (carter BBD) and the t case shifter pops out going down the road so I massaged the shift cover to hold it in place. Then the heater core starts leaking so I reroute the cooling hoses and refill the radiator. All for a lousy $50.....

 

Ran some errands today. It’s been running pretty well lately... but there I went and jinxed it.

 

Where's the snow?

 

Well its all back together, floor buttoned up, Clutch adjusted. Wow it is so much more quiet with everything rebuilt! I didn't really realized how noisy it had become until I drove it today, I can actually hear the wind again while i I'm driving!

 

My 2a has a spring over lift and the front always sat a little high. I decided to pull out 3 leafs. Did one side today and I think its going to be much nicer. Sits a little lower and also a bit softer. I greased between the leafs aswell. And I did an oil change and checked the timing. I want to put a vacuum advance dizzy on it that I have but the pertronix from the non vacuum unit doesnt swap between them

 

My '76 CJ (the yellow one in my avatar) has a chevy 350. After sitting more than a day or so, it's hard to start because all of the fuel drains out of the fuel line above the fuel pump back into the tank. ITLKSEZ suggested replacing the mechanical fuel pump with an electric pump. I performed the transplant today.



What made this more difficult than it needed to be was I was working outside in N. Idaho's 27 degrees. The soldering iron I normally use was ineffective in warming up the wire joints at this temp. I tried a 100w soldering gun and it couldn't overcome the cold, either. I went to the local hardware store to buy a 200w gun, but it was 67 bucks and I couldn't go for it. Then I remembered I had purchased, years earlier, a heavy duty soldering gun at a flea market. I found the gun. It had the $3 price tag still on it. This soldering gun worked great. Old stuff for the win.

 

Started and drove the 78 around my SIL's property. It hasn't been started since May and it acted like I was interrupting a big nap. But it warmed up, the heater worked and .

 

ITLKSEZ suggested replacing the mechanical fuel pump with an electric pump. I performed the transplant today.

That’s an interesting looking electric fuel pump what brand is it?

 

It's an Autobest pump. After reading the reviews, I better get a second one as a spare.

 

Professional idiot here, don't try this at home kids.

Needed some power, donated by the work truck. Happy to report electrical done, checks out 100%.Sans a fussy connector at the gm column that needs tinkering so the turn signals are reliable, it's onward and upward. Stoked that my two speed cooling fans worked ! Exhaust next and a call to Tom Woods for a driveshaft and I'm back in the saddle!

 

Wouldn't you want to put that hunk of 2x4 UNDER the vice grip to keep it from arcing out on your fender?

 

The upsides of fiberglass

 

Last week I had to change out the flex hose feeding the RF wheel cylinder when it blew out. Then on Friday I realized I was smelling burning oil. So on the way in to work Saturday I discovered the ol' 4.3L was leaking really good when running. Turns out the copper oil line to the gauge had cracked right at the fitting out of the block. Simple fix at least. All seems back to normal (for now)!

 

I bought a power steering pump, and dug my power steering box from the shed. I will be calling AA for the proper Spud shaft shortly, and hopefully getting a chance to hit the local junkyard for some pulley action. Other than that I just washed Farm Jeep Willy, as it was covered in dust from sitting in the garage, waiting for the salt to go away

 

Copper tube is notorious for work-hardening and breaking due to vibration. One old-time solution was to incorporate coils or loops near the fittings, to distribute the stresses.

 

Working on my Saginaw power project while I'm waiting on parts for the motor, trans setup.

making bolt spacers, tubes

Got it roughed in. not permanent yet got well over an inch between(short) pitman and tie rod

Will add another 1/4 in plate on the outside also

when the motor and trans is nailed down, I will make it more permanent

 

I had some time in the shop while glue was drying to pull the front clip off the 3a to plan my next move.

Next move is planned.

 

I'm on the home stretch on my '68 tub. At least I thought I was. I noticed another rusted through area on the driver's side:



I cut out the rust and welded in a 16 gauge patch (the black stuff is rust converter I sprayed into the cut-out hole):



...and ground it smooth with a flap disc:



Next I applied Bondo over the patch (and over every other patch on the tub). Internet wisdom says the two-part Bondo won't cure in the cold, but if I waited until it was warm out, I'd have to wait until July 5. It was 40 degrees outside when I applied the Bondo and dropped down to 30 degrees overnight. Today, however, the Bondo seem to have hardened and cured normally.



I sanded the patch:



All of the rusted areas of the tub have been cut out and replaced. All the extra holes have been welded and filled. The next step is to mount the tub on the chassis, bolt on the fenders, and make sure everything fits. After that, I'll remove the body parts and prime and paint them. I hope I'm on the home stretch. This isn't a restoration. It's a jeep to drive.

 

Jeep related.
I made an axle yoke holding tool. I should have done this 40 years ago, sure beats putting teeth marks in the yoke with a pipe wrench.
I used 3/4" schedule 80 black iron pipe and 1/4" steel plate. Its so much easier to get the pinion nut to 200+ foot/pounds now.