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71 Wheeling Rig

Discussion in 'Builds and Fabricators Forum' started by Fireball, Jan 18, 2021.

  1. May 18, 2022
    wheelie

    wheelie beeg dummy 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor

    York, PA
    Joined:
    Mar 6, 2004
    Messages:
    4,491
    Re: license plate positioning.............I moved mine to the center of the JEEP just below the tailgate. Covers up that big hole back there and keeps it out of harms way for the most part.

     
    Rich M. and Ol Fogie like this.
  2. May 18, 2022
    Ol Fogie

    Ol Fogie 74 cj5 304, 1943 mb

    Southern...
    Joined:
    Nov 24, 2019
    Messages:
    1,765
    Tag light to go along with it? Our local city cop nutted up when I moved my plate on the big truck up higher to prevent damage when dumping gravel/dirt and so on without installing a new tag light. It is a shame he wasted time stopping me for this while ignoring the folks going by in the school zone 30 mph over the posted speed limit. :shrug:.
     
  3. May 19, 2022
    Fireball

    Fireball Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Pullman, WA
    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2018
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    5,627
    That's my plan when I put some recovery points on the back. I'll move the plate to the middle with a couple LED license lights. I didn't want to delay the re-install of the gas tank while fabricating brackets and modifying the wiring. I want to get everything ready ahead of time so I don't need to drop the tank long to get it in place.
     
    Ol Fogie likes this.
  4. May 19, 2022
    duffer

    duffer Rodent Power

    Bozeman, MT
    Joined:
    Sep 17, 2009
    Messages:
    4,460
    I made the rear plate bracket a flip-up on the B out of necessity so I could access the trailer plug. With a trailer on it, I don't think you can really see the plate anyway but that prepossession hasn't yet been verified-----
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  5. May 19, 2022
    shadetreetim

    shadetreetim Member 2022 Sponsor

    Riverside, Ca -...
    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2019
    Messages:
    199
    I centered mine on the rear bumper. I like that it's protected by the fuel tank and the shackles, so it doesn't get too bent up. Added little LED license plate lights on either side of the plate to keep it legal.
     
    Rich M., ITLKSEZ, Fireball and 2 others like this.
  6. May 20, 2022
    Fireball

    Fireball Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Pullman, WA
    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2018
    Messages:
    5,627
    Playing on the mulch pile to look for gas tank leaks. Still no leaks!
    [​IMG]

    Here's another one of those small detail projects that took forever to get done.

    The Jeep currently has 3.73s. When I rebuilt the new transfer case, I kept the 4.88 speedometer gears it came with. I was planning on changing gears to 4.88, 4.56, or 4.27 and I didn't have any extra 3.73 speedometer gears without tearing into a running Jeep anyway. Once the new drivetrain was installed the speedometer was reading about 20% slow. 60mph actual was 48 mph indicated.

    Now that I've had some seat time I'm enjoying the 3.73s and will probably keep them. This means the speedometer needed to be fixed.

    Sadly, even though both the OEM 4.88 and 3.73 ratios us a 6 tooth speedometer drive gear, they are of a different series and the driven gears are not compatible. If I want to used the 3.73 capable drive gear I need to pull the back off the transfercase and potentially re-shim the output shaft (the speedometer gear is part of the stack). Rather than do that I bought an NOS Ford 1.23:1 speedometer gearbox from ebay for $30.00. Realistically this is a better solution because it is exact an calibration and the original 3.73 gears won't match the 32" tires anyway.

    A week for shipping and problem solved! ....Or not. The gearbox had a keyed output instead of square drive:
    [​IMG]

    This required ordering an adapter bushing and waiting another week. Problem solved!:
    [​IMG]

    ...Or not. The gearbox interferes with the parking brake backing plate no matter how you orient it. Even after grinding as much off the corners as I dare it just doesn't fit.

    The solution to this interference problem is a short extension cable. I ordered one and waited another week for shipping. Here's the whole menagerie:
    [​IMG]

    So much for my quick/cheap gearbox solution. $30 for the gearbox, $9 for the bushing, $25 for the extension cable and another $20 for shipping costs. $84.00 and almost a month of waiting for things to show up. Bah.

    Since all the parts were finally here today it was time for an install. Here's the extension cable and gearbox:
    [​IMG]

    The extra length of the gearbox and extension pushed the now-too-long speedometer cable close to the exhaust:
    [​IMG]

    With some re-routing and zip ties, it has adequate clearance:
    [​IMG]

    It actually looks better under the hood since the speedometer cable follows the wire harness routing now:
    [​IMG]

    With everything installed it was time to grab Emmett the test engineer and take some data:
    [​IMG]

    Whoohoo! It's dead nuts:bananatool::
    [​IMG]

    Good grief. It took a month to calibrate my speedometer.

    Thank goodness for GPS on the cellphone. GPS speed makes it trivial to find the right gearbox ratio for a perfect calibration.
     
  7. May 20, 2022
    Ol Fogie

    Ol Fogie 74 cj5 304, 1943 mb

    Southern...
    Joined:
    Nov 24, 2019
    Messages:
    1,765
    I admire your ingenuity, I would never have dreamed there was an adapter available for keyed to square speedometer cable.
     
    blalp! and Fireball like this.
  8. May 20, 2022
    Ol Fogie

    Ol Fogie 74 cj5 304, 1943 mb

    Southern...
    Joined:
    Nov 24, 2019
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    1,765
    If you don't mind my asking, tell me about the app you have for your GPS on your phone.
     
    timsresort likes this.
  9. May 20, 2022
    Fireball

    Fireball Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Pullman, WA
    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2018
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  10. May 27, 2022
    Fireball

    Fireball Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Pullman, WA
    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2018
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    5,627
    Another vanity project.

    The tach mount did not match the diameter of the steering colum. While it was mounted securely it looked like crap and I hated it:
    [​IMG]

    So I bought a cheap Aluminum 2" Dia roll-bar light mount off Amamzon. It wasn't quite two inches ID, so that took some die grinding. I also needed to gaind the bottom half to clear the wire guide on the bottom of the column:
    [​IMG]

    I hack-sawed off the mounting lug:
    [​IMG]

    Then I shaped the top to match the radius of the tach mount with the die grinder and drilled/tapped a mounting hole:
    [​IMG]

    I'm much happier with this:
    [​IMG]
     
  11. May 27, 2022
    dozerjim

    dozerjim Member

    western New York
    Joined:
    Nov 22, 2010
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    966
    (y).....lots of peer pressure now
     
  12. Jun 2, 2022
    Fireball

    Fireball Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Pullman, WA
    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2018
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    5,627
    I was under the Jeep greasing things and when I got to the pedal shaft it looked like this (picture from when the transmission was out):
    [​IMG]

    So I thought Heck, I ought to scrape some of that crap off of there. 45 minutes later it looked like this:
    [​IMG]

    I suspect that hadn't been clean any time during the Jeep's 51 year life. The wood handled screw driver is a foot long:
    [​IMG]
     
  13. Jun 2, 2022
    47v6

    47v6 junk wrecker! 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    USA
    Joined:
    Oct 25, 2006
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    5,798
    Thats called anti rust treatment anywhere on the east coast....
     
    dozerjim, Rich M., Fireball and 2 others like this.
  14. Jun 7, 2022
    Muzikp

    Muzikp Active Member

    Sacramento Ca.
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2016
    Messages:
    1,450
    Exactly what I do, works perfect and sooo simple. (y)
     
    Fireball likes this.
  15. Jun 10, 2022
    Fireball

    Fireball Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Pullman, WA
    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2018
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    5,627
    Dumb little details.

    A long time ago, I swapped the valve covers side-to-side because the breather interfered with the heater hoses. Now that I have a stock air cleaner I don't need the bulky breather. I switched the valve covers back where they belong.

    In process. Decently clean for a 50 year old engine that doesn't seem to have ever been apart:
    [​IMG]

    With the valve cover back on the proper side, I can hook up the PCV intake hose to the filter in the air cleaner. I also added the heat stove pipe so there isn't an unused fitting hanging off the air cleaner:
    [​IMG]

    Looks pretty factory now:
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    I snugged up the power steering belt a bit since it squeaked occasionally and I also adjusted the clutch to release higher in the pedal travel.
     
    vtxtasy, Muzikp, Rubicloak and 9 others like this.
  16. Jun 14, 2022
    Fireball

    Fireball Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Pullman, WA
    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2018
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    5,627
    I bought this twist-lock hand throttle cable at the local Ranch store over a year ago and decided it's finally time to do something with it:
    [​IMG]

    It's a nice cable. You turn it counter-clockwise to unlock it and it moves freely. Turn it clockwise to lock it into any position. It's 25ft long so it will need a little trimming. I found out after I bought it that ITLKSEZ is using the same cable on his 3B.

    Here's what I have to work with (throttle return springs removed). The cable doesn't like tight bends nor multiple bends in different directions so I'm going to bring it in from the front and use the bottom hole in the throttle linkage. That will give me a single large radius bend. I've bent the carb heat shield up to make more room:
    [​IMG]

    I need something that will pivot in the hole but allow the cable to slide through it when you use the throttle pedal. I started with a chunk of 3/8" bar and a 1/4" bolt:
    [​IMG]

    I ground a groove in the head of the bolt to index them and welded them together. Here I'm drilling a hole for the cable to slide trough:
    [​IMG]

    I threaded the bolt down further but left a shoulder where it will pivot on carburetor and then cut it to length. It's not real pretty, but it's strong and will do the job:
    [​IMG]

    I would be prettier if I had any real macine tools.

    Then it was time to figure out an anchor bracket for the cable housing. Rahter than waste time fabricating somthing, I drilled the spot weld and stole an anchor form an old heater control unit:
    [​IMG]

    I made an angle bracket to bolt to the strange factory mount already on the intake manifold and welded the cable anchor to that:
    [​IMG]

    All fit up. Here it is with the throttle closed:
    [​IMG]

    Here it is with the throttle open. It seems to slide freely with no binding:
    [​IMG]

    Here I've got the return springs back in place to see if it all still works. It all seems good. The throttle returns properly and the effort to operate it by hand is reasonable. The extra spring is kind of ugly but I want a fail-safe on a V8 Jeep:
    [​IMG]

    That takes care of the under-hood part of the job. The paint is drying now:
    [​IMG]

    Tomorrow is enlarging a hole in the dash, drilling a new hole in the firewall, and trimming the cable to length.
     
    jeepstar, blalp!, Muzikp and 8 others like this.
  17. Jun 14, 2022
    duffer

    duffer Rodent Power

    Bozeman, MT
    Joined:
    Sep 17, 2009
    Messages:
    4,460
    Buyers' cable? Those are definitely smoother than the wire wound versions. I didn't want any drag on my throttle linkage so did this:
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    And I made an adjustable anchor for the return spring.
    [​IMG]
     
    Danefraz, jeepstar, blalp! and 6 others like this.
  18. Jun 14, 2022
    Fireball

    Fireball Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Pullman, WA
    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2018
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    5,627
    Very nice as always John. I was considering a swinging arm like that but don't really have any way to make it. ...or the time!
     
  19. Jun 15, 2022
    Muzikp

    Muzikp Active Member

    Sacramento Ca.
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2016
    Messages:
    1,450
    Interested to see the in cab part. Is this a set it at an RPM and keep it there or something you can actually drive with by hand? I went with the bicycle brake lever and it works great. Good enough that I drive around town with the hand throttle more than the foot pedal.
     
    Ol Fogie likes this.
  20. Jun 15, 2022
    Fireball

    Fireball Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Pullman, WA
    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2018
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    5,627
    It does both. If you rotate the handle counter clockwise, it unlocks it for free travel. Turn the handle clockwise to lock it in any position. See the following post for pictures.

    I think the really cool setup would be an airplane vernier throttle. If you push in the button, it freely moves. If you let go of the button, it locks in place and can be fine tuned by rotating the knob:
    [​IMG]

    The disadvangaes are price and a limited number of lengths: https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/appages/a750.php
     
    Muzikp, Ol Fogie, blalp! and 2 others like this.
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