Forest Service 3A

As you can see, it's only the right side of the bearing that let go.

 

At least the machine shop is making it right. Could be worse like a connecting rod sticking out of the side.

And the fun continues. The block has to go back to the machine shop. #3 and 4 exhaust valve stems are scored up due to the new valve guides.

 

Huh, I didn't realize you had the same issue. From what I gathered from your thread, there was noting wrong with the diameter of your crank. They checked mine and it was spot on.

 

Update! Ted is the very happy super jeep. Only issue is that about 3/4 throttle, it doesn't run too great. Its getting too much gas. I made some new jets up and it is better, but still not great. Waiting on some brass rod to make new ones. I made some out of steel just to it out.

Original jet is in the middle.



And then I was out playing with the go pro camera.



I had a passenger too today Smokey!



And we found a visitor too, a pretty big moose. Didn't see it, just the tracks!

 

Awesome!

 

After my steering upgrade a couple years ago, it was time to do one more upgrade I have been dreading, replacing the original mechanical starter with a key starter. Sounds easy, right? Nope! Since Ted is a 49 3A, he has leftover 2A parts and the starter and bell housing are a couple. A few months ago, I tried doing the toyota starter upgrade, but ran into a bit of a snag. After opening up the holes on the starter, I was tightening it down and one ear snapped off! I got the handy dandy caliper out and did some measuring, the starter hole was about 3.125" in diameter. Ran up to one of my parts jeeps with the broken toyota starter in hand and the caliper, and it fit fine. Then I measured that hole and it was 3.25" in diameter. That was the end of that project.

Until today.

I tig welded the broken ear back on and cleaned up the later bell housing from a '53 3B. Since it was raining out (and now snowing ) It was a good time to tackle this project.

Just looking at the starters side by side, the toyota one looks like it should work, right?



Here are the two engine plates, the stock one is on the bottom and the later 3A/3B/5 one is one top. The stater hole is clocked differently.



And if the starter holes are aligned, the 1/8" difference it pretty clear.



And the difference in bell housings is quite obvious too.



And now I'm in the reassembly process, but I also wanted to show some more of how I mated the T18 to the L head since people ask me how I did it and I don't have very good pictures of what I did. In the above picture, you can see the 7/8" thick adapter from the J10 I took transmission out of. I machined holes in it to bolt it up to the stock holes of the 134 bell. I also drilled in two alignment pins (1/4 roll pins), one at 6 o'clock and the other at 9 o'clock, to keep it all centered until the bolts were tightened.

As you can see, it looks like T90 inside the bell with throwout bearing arrangement. The fork is the stock one.



With the T/O bearing and clutch for removed, the retainer for the pivot ball is visible.



And with that removed, the extension for the pivot ball is now exposed. I drilled a hole in the bearing retainer and at the time I brazed it in the retainer. The extension is a piece of steel rod (7/8" long) with a hole in one end that a stock T90 pivot ball is pressed into.



The throwout bearing a custom made one. I took the stock T90 one and bored the inside of it to fit over the T18 bearing retainer. The actual bearing is one from Advance adapters for Ford transmissions to GM clutches. I cut the back lip off and pressed it inside the T/O bearing slide. One end has a slightly bigger ID to accept the bearing. There is also a groove in there for grease to be retained. I made it the same overall length as the stock T90 one.



And then as far as moving the transfer case shifters forward, I made up some custom brackets that bolt to the OD shifter mount and the dana 18 shifter mount.

 

Not that I'm aware of. Too late to worry about that now! I just got it all together!

 

Well, the tooth pitch isn't the problem, the stupid CJ2A flywheel is smaller in diameter! Now I'll have to pull it apart again tomorrow and swap that out!

 

Nice work.

 

The new starter works perfectly! The flywheel from the 3B was a 129 tooth one.

 

One other issue I was having was the original radiator started leaking. I ordered a new aluminum radiator for it. When it came in, I was disappointed there was no shroud for the fan. So rather than build one, I came up with plan B that had two positives, use an electric fan. I can turn that off in deep water and maybe squeak a little more hp out of the L head without the drag from the stock fan. I found a cute little dual fan setup that almost fit the radiator perfectly. Dual fans are really nice because one can be wired as a low temp fan and if extra cooling is needed the high temp will kick on. I had to weld some brackets on the radiator to mount the fans on.



And now I have all sorts of room!



The fans tucked nicely in the grille. I decided to make them pusher fans instead of pullers to keep room for a future possible engine swap. The nice thing about the aluminum radiator is I can cut the existing hose connections off , plate over the holes and add new ones where I might need them.

 

I wish I would have caught this thread earlier. I knew a Forest Service Historian (also a car guy) but he just retired.

My buddy (who just passed) was a FS guy who did his forest service jeep after the one used by Smokey Bear in the 1950/1960's proproganda films and posters. We tried to get the decals before the parade but we ran out of time. That red decal "Prevent Forest Fires" on the front bumper.

This was my buddies 42 GPW during last years veterans day parade. Up in my neck of the woods alot of military veterans work for the forest service, so they pony up the suit and enter alot of their fire rigs into the parade. Its really pretty cool how as an agency they support their veterans and/or employees. I believe the guy in the suit is a non-veteran FS manager there who showed up on his day off just to show support and sweat his off in the suit for the parade.

RIP Mike

 

Finished up the radiator install. Only issue is the fill is just to the left of the hood seam. The factory radiator cap hits the seam and the Mr. Gasket thermo cap clears, but is too tall. So I ordered one of those fancy round ones that will hopefully work.

Anyways, the fans fit nicely in the grille.





I put a switch inside so I can turn the fans off in deep water if needed.



I did away with the factory heater shutoff valve and put a tee in for the temp sensor.

 

I like your workmanship. You demonstrate good skills as noted in all of your projects. There is one thing that concerns me with this install and that is the placement of the fan/shroud assembly in front of the radiator. Considering the size of the shroud, I wonder if it will create a bit of an air dam and therefore negate the effects of the free air flow through the radiator while driving. If that does occur, you will of course need to run the fans continuously. I guess time will answer the question as to whether there is an issue or not.

 

Is that normally where the temp sensor goes on a civilian L-Head?

Would that matter on an aluminum radiator since they are so much more efficient at cooling?

 

There is no where else to put it. The only other spot is the drain cock on the side of the block, but that is 1/4" npt. I needed 3/8" npt. The coolant in the heater core circuit warms up before the thermostat opens so it is in the correct spot. The temp sensor is turns the fans on at 195° and shuts off at 185°. I forget if I have a 160° or 180° thermostat, but either way, it will be fine.

Thanks. I don't really drive this jeep much on the road, so I don't think it will be much of an issue. I drive it more on trails. I guess the fans will run more if on the road. I wanted to leave the room in the engine bay because it is so tight.