Dismantling Barney ( '58 CJ-5)

OK so I already posted about rust repair i'd like to do, now I am thinking that it would be worthwhile a swell as fun and interesting to pull the whole body off the chassis,get a good look at the mess and do some much needed repairs..

Is there a step by step build posting about doing this, or at some caveats about what to do first second third etc? My biggest concern is the electrical rats nest and trying to clean it up while making sure everything gets reconnected correctly..


..oh boy this thing will start out this way but will likely end up in a never completed restoration....parts strewn about.....talk me out of it....

 

Do it! Label everything, bag everything (Label those bags!), take a million pictures, get an FSM. :twisted:

I'm a couple months away from rust repair myself, and I'll have the tub's cracks rewelded.

 

If you go there... you get lots of things to choose and decide on. Plan your removal and then have plan B so you can stick to your plan, or stick to plan B if A isn't so good.

I have a lot of 'tear down' picts in my build thread.
I took pictures of what was behind the dash, then used side cutters to remove... melted wiring harness was the primary indicator of 'no worry, must replace.'

the steps are as previously mentioned: take your time, digital pictures are 'cheap' - take a lot of them, label boxes, bags, etc. I cleaned up rusty parts as I removed them, then just primered for later. I suggest doing it over some time so you can process the pictures and sort of take notes along the way (what picture went to what, how it was hard to do X to remove, and how you might have to address 'Z' when re-installing - don't write it down and you're likely to forget).

I had a few things powder coated along the way - by default they were sandblasted first -small parts like seat frames, grab handle, etc..

New wiring harness from an outfit in Washington I found on ebay. Price was excellent. Looks good in the box. Is a little more 'robust' than the standard early harness, will handle a 100A alternator when I asked (and not melt or ignite) the jeep. I'll find a good weatherpack from JEGGS or somewhere so I can build it sort of 'quick release' like should I ever need to pull the tub again and that my connectors are more sealed and 'pretty' than not.

I pulled the tub with another buddy, then my FIL and I lifted it onto a flatbed and took to the blaster. I've had it on horses while I've been working on it. I have an old redwood picnic table dismantled that I think I'm going to make a rotisserie out of now that I need to do some spraying on it. I've moved the tub by myself a few times - you need to watch out how you do it (stand on rear, then 'walk' like you would a bookshelf, etc.) but you need to protect with plywood or something to keep from denting, gouging, etc. I built some simple little rolling dollies that the horses sit on making it easy to move about (harbor freight for rubber casters). Having a friend handy usually has only cost me a couple beers and some seared meat on the grill - bonus...

Degrease and power wash at a minimum so you can find all the fatigue cracks, worn holes and smashed pieces, etc. and things you need to fix - then you can internally debate yourself about what to fix beyond that since 'you are there already'.

time is my own enemy. I wish I had more time to devote to my project. I'm just about to the bottom of the frame (brakelines, springs and axles left). Then it's patching, fixing and painting, then re-installing on the way back up. It's been a year of disassembly so far (and fixing as I go, and fabricating as I go, and rebuilding as I go, etc.).

Good luck

 

I've had several vehicles tore down to there bones . over the years , bag - tag - notes - masking tape - and memorize what it looked like when it was in one piece . yes the modern age .digital camera . a frame off is a large job . it can be done with TIME & MONEY . one bright side is my daughter . she said I don't know how you can remember HOW IT GOES BACK TOGETHER . motorhead I guess . go for it

 

Keep everything until project is done. Its easy to just say "ah I'll just get a new one" I know this from experience. It gets expensive and OEM parts are way better than aftermarket if they can be salvaged, if not you can match new part to it to make sure its correct.

 

interesting. thinking of doing my work in a car tent and surrounding backyard

 

Just curious, how much are you allocating for the project, from the last time it runs, until it is back together and running again?

 

My advice is take pictures along the way, write down needed fixes and replacements to do as you go. I think Kaiser Willy's has a series on Youtube for breaking down a Jeep.

 

Label wiring with paper tape and magic marker it
This color and size was routed this way to the part, written on a note card, taped shut in a sandwich bag. Log book all entries. The log book goes into the tool box every time.
Go to the manual for your Jeep and photocopy it. Take the photocopy and have it enlarged from 8x5 to 36 x 48 to write notes onto to show that the last wire run is attached properly.
Hope that that helps.

 

Time? Or Money? I have plenty o time and will do things as money comes in...IF I bother at all..

 

Sounds like you need to pick up another jeep or two. One to keep running and driving while you take Barney apart. Many have taken cars and jeeps apart with good intentions, only to loosing enthusiasm and not completing the project. Having a second jeep keeps the jeep fever going. Also is great for sanity check where everything goes. Its also good for testing the "wife tollerance" threshold I had 4 jeeps at the same time, 78 and 81 for my son, and the 68 and a 64. The 78 and 81 which though were salvagable when I bought them, but ended up buying a fiberglass body due to so much rust issues after the body was removed. The 64 was bought for the plow, the body on that one was pile of rust beyond repair.

Take a look at some rusted out jeeps in a junkyard to get a good idea how bad things can get and then take a look at yours for signs of rust on yours before you start taking things apart. Suggest you take a trip to Armyjeepparts in Bristol. They have a couple of rustbucket jeeps on the lot if you can't find one closer.

 

Yeah my wife already said "If you take that Jeep apart, just keep in mind that I only barely tolerate it due to the fact that it plows snow...if it is not ready for plowing next winter...." LOLOL so I may just keep it in one piece and chase my tail keeping it alive.

 

Matt, on this same note ... I'm sure you've thought about this.

A Jeep in pieces is worth a lot less than an assembled, running Jeep. So there is a certain amount of risk involved that you may not finish and you'll lose the Jeep and most of its value. Unpredictable things happen in peoples lives - kids, health, job, you name it. Just be aware.

If it were me, I would avoid the complete tear-down if I could. Instead, I would try to make the repairs modular, so that I had a running, driving Jeep every 6 months? Every 3 months? In a year? Tearing down without a well-defined plan of what I wanted to accomplish would make success much less likely.

For example, you want to redo the wiring. How much of a priority is this? All the wiring can be done without tearing down the Jeep. Seems like a very bad idea to increase the scope of the teardown for a might-as-well that isn't any easier with the body off the Jeep.

You know what a Gantt chart is? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gantt_chart I'd suggest you make a Gantt chart of what you want to do and make a timeline for completion. You can get add-ins for Excel that will make Gantt charts, or buy Project. I'm sure there's other freeware that will do Gantt charts too. Then I'd try to pare down the jobs to the bare minimum that needed to be done with the body off. If it were me, I would limit the scope of the project to rust repair. Do you want to detail the chassis? That would also need the body off. But I'd rule out everything that I could do with the body on.