mikes 1957 CJ5 restoration

thanks guys. I enjoy the assembly process (when all of the parts are clean).

I have run into some strange snags with this assembly though.... the drawings in the manual are not clear or are simply wrong, which is causing me some delays.... like the clutch arm having one spring vs two springs, and which side the long tab goes on, and the front steering drawing clearly shows the tie rod ends going on top of the hub assembly.... mine go to the bottom.

I also have been having problems with 'fit' issues with some of the aftermarket parts.... Like the exhaust pipe hits the clutch/brake arm assembly. Now I have to take it to a muffler shop and have it bent about one inch up, and the mounting hangers are all wrong.

I also have been making a few mistakes that have set me back a little.... I put the throw out bearing spring on wrong which required me to have to separate the tranny and engine again to fix..... and I buggered the threads of one of the rear axles when I was trying to pull the hub. I could not clean up the threads so I had to buy a new axle. oh well, such is life

 

Worked on a bunch of little stuff this week: started to bleed the brakes… put oil in everything and greased all of the fittings… replaced one u-joint and installed the drive shafts….got the exhaust modified to clear the clutch arm and some of it mounted… repaired a front shock mount… got the fuel and oil lines finished…. got the new rear axle installed. Then I started doing a little body work to square up the door frame.
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I feel your pain on the hubs, I had a devil of a time with mine as well. After breaking a hub puller and extending my impact gun beyond its specified limits, I gave up and bought one of the smack-it-with-a-BFH puller and it was the best money I ever spent.

As for the axle shims, it sounds right to have more on one side than the other. They adjust the backlash. Just make sure you get them back on the right sides -- I messed mine up originally and had to break it all back down again.

Nice build!

 

Thanks Chris,

Ya, I put all of the shims back in on the passenger side (where they came from).

I think I am going to have to pull the passenger side hub one more time.... I don't think it is on far enough (can't get the cotter pin in). I had a lot of trouble putting the new hub onto the new axle.... if I put the key in place first, I could not get the hub to go on far enough.... if I put the hub on first, I could not get the key to go in. I ended up filing the groove on the new hub slightly, but I guess, not enough. I guess I will be using the big puller again.

I need to get the chassis out of my workshop so that I can bring the body inside to do the body work. It is getting harder to move around. As you can see, I am a little crammed for space. Good thing the CJ5 is so small

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Not much to report. I got the shocks painted and installed. I welded up all of the small holes in the dash, but the heat made it warp, now I need to flatten it back out. I was able to square up the drivers side door frame and repair the support and weld in a patch panel. This week I am going to flip it over and try to get the underside cleaned up and repaired. we'll see

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I managed to get the underside cleaned up.... found some more problem spots. I repaired two of the mounts and used about 1/2 a gallon of under coating on the thing. I am trying to decide if I want to paint the wheel wells or just leave them black. Here is a before and after pic:

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I might be moving soon, so I decided to set the body back on, while I still have the ability to do it. Hopefully the project can continue where ever it ends up located.

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Mike, The jeep looks great! You will love those tires! I have a set on my truck and I loved them so much I bought a set for my wife's 4-Runner.

 

Thanks. That is good to know about the tires. it was hard to find an aggressive tread on a small radial tire.

Well, it has been a little over a month since I last posted.... hard to believe I went from 'thinking' about selling our house to being totally moved into a new house in just 6 weeks! The old house sold in the first weekend so we were homeless for a week before we could get into our new home. (and so was all of our stuff!) The jeep was the first thing to get put into 'storage' and the last thing to move to the new house.... but I think it will be happy here.

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Now for all of the 'finding places to put stuff'. Hope to be working on it again in about a month or so.

 

Well, I finally found some time for the CJ. Now that it is up on stands at its new home, it was time to remove the body again so that I could work out some bugs with the drive train. I found it very hard to push and discovered that the brake shoes were dragging on the left rear and the axle bushing is too tight on the axle on the front right. The brakes were easy to fix, but I am not sure what is the best method to use to loosen up the brass bushing. I am afraid if I just let the axle force clearance, the bushing might spin in the housing instead of on the axle. It is so tight, I can't pull the axle back out. I guess I 'mushroomed' the bushing when I installed it. ?
I also have to fix leaks in the brake lines while I have the body off.

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forcing myself to do some body work before the AZ sun turns the heat on. I can't believe we are almost to the end of May and I have not had to turn the A/C on yet.

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Holly Bondo Batman! Dude, what are you doing? Were your panels so shot that you couldn't use a surfacer?

 

finally got started on painting. I wanted to test out the new color to see if I liked it and to see how the paint was going to stick, so I only painted the backside of a few parts. Turned out better than expected so far.

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7/13 - I got a few more things painted. I really need to work out some bugs in the brake lines (leaks) and the exhaust hangers before I put the body back on. at least this is a little progress.
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I really like that color. What is it?

 

Looks very nice!

 

thanks, it is called royal blue