CJ-3a Build

The axles are 1975 Wagoneer 44's, obviously with the off-set rear to work with the Spicer 18 transfer case. Everything in the axles is new with Ox lockers, 4.88's, etc. The front axle was narrowed about 4" to allow for the springs to line up under the frame rails, and I believe is around 57.5" wms to wms. The rear axle is about an inch wider, and was left stock width. This was my first time setting up gears, and it went pretty well. Although talk to me in a couple of months and see what I say then . I'd like to thank NickMil for burning in my inner knuckles, I appreciate it!

I made these spring plates with u bolt flip, and essentially copied Dynatrac's design. 3/8" plate with some 1/2" round stock which work well to lay nice and strong on the axle tubes. Some grinding of both pumpkins were in order to get the plates to fit. As you can tell on the rear axle, when using an off-set Waggy 44, the spring wants to sit half on the housing, and half on the axle tube, so the stock mount just needs to be modified.

 

My 3a had it's transfer case drum brake removed by the previous owner, but I really wanted it on there. I rebuilt the Spicer 18 which had already had the Novak 1 1/4" intermediate shaft installed by the previous owner. A big thank you goes out to Herm the Overdrive Guy in Washington, and Rich and Paul at R&P in Oregon City who helped me figure out exactly what parts I needed for my particular transfer case.

Anyway, I wanted to do a rear disk brake conversion while I was at it. I'm using the standard Wagoneer/GM front calipers, attached to some generic weld-on caliper mounts I got from AA Mfg. I made some gussets to support the mounts a bit. The rotors are sort of interesting. They're for a 91+ Chevy 1500 HD IFS. I guess you have to specify the HD in order to get the thicker 1-5/16" rotor. What's cool is that the hat sits perfectly over the Waggy axle flange. The only problem is that the lug holes are drilled larger than the 7/16" Waggy studs. I realized this after I already bought my studs and lug nuts. You could use this set up to run the Caddy Eldo calipers with internal e-brake if you wanted too. I believe most of the older GM calipers were either considered the large style like these, or the later and smaller "metric" style. Anyway, just a heads up.

I had to grind on the caliper casting just a hair to clearance them from my 15" wheels, it's a tight fit in there.

 

It's great to see you are still working on the Jeep. We almost gave up on you. It is a long path to progress sometimes. My project is still going, but slow as well. I was fairly honest with myself at the start though, so I am not far off track. I planned on about 3 years till completion and I am coming up on 2 now. Hopefully I will be close and if I am lucky, only $10,000 or so over budget. You are doing a nice job. Keep us posted, I am looking forward to seeing yours done.
Greg

 

Howdy, could you take pictures of you engine mounts, as I am doing the same engine install and would like to see how you did yours. Also, what did you use for rubber pads for the engine mounts to sit on. Thanks,

 

AVMechanic: Yeah I've been following along on your build since the beginning, it's looking super good. I like how you've engineered and thought out your Jeep.

The previous owner had done the engine swap. I was never really fond of the mounts, especially the driver's side, so I'll have to address that soon. I know the headers make it a snug fit for that motor mount. It'll all have to wait until I re-assemble the accessories on the motor and figure out what I want to change.

 

Yes your engine mounts could be better. You might be able to get some ideas from mine as well. Keep up the good work.
Greg

 

UPDATE:

It's about time I finally got around to finishing up this build thread. I got the 3a on the road in July, just in time for a camping trip that I had desperately wanted to bring the Willys to. The months leading up were around the clock wrenching, with the weeks before consisting literally of all nighters, pots and pots of coffee, a few hours sleep here and there, etc.

Here's the 15 gallon CJ gas tank/skidplate with small filler necks. It fits in there real tight.





Here's a plate I made for the firewall out of 3/16 plate and welded to the vertical body support. I'm using a manual Vette master cylinder, YJ clutch master cylinder, and modified YJ pedals.

 

Here's how the U-bolt flip turned out, real happy with it. I also got a crash course in fabbing up all the brake lines, complete with that gravel guard spring wrap.



Here's a decent in progress shot. Ended up doing a new CV rear shaft from Tom Wood's, and a cut down junkyard XJ front CV shaft for the front.

 

The body was in decent shape overall, but I really wanted to get it on the road for the summer and especially my camping trip, so I skipped doing any body work. The right rear corner where the old spare tire was mounted was the worst bit. Some rust in the rockers, and still need to fill in the hole left by the old gas filler on the driver's side.



Cleaned up the body real good, and rolled/rattle canned on some of Rustoleum's finest white and black paint. $80 I think. The good thing is I can patch and fix different sections of the body here and there, and just roll on some more paint. I have no intention of doing a "nice" paint job for at least a few years, if ever.

 

I made this swing away tire carrier/bumper combo. Nothing ground breaking, but I'm happy with how it turned out. The bumper itself is made from a 3/16 2x4, with the swing away 2" tubing being 1/8. The D-ring mounts are made from solid 1x2 bar which go through the bumper and bolt onto the frame. The frame is sleeved, and nuts welded to the inside right next to the gas tank. As with almost everything on the Jeep, keeping things bolt on was extremely important to me.



The swing away hinge is a piece from Rock Stomper, which I wasn't happy with. It was supposed to be designed for use with a 2x4 bumper, but the spindle they supply you with is just simply too short to be able to get welded solid. After I had bought the piece and done some research, I had seen examples on the net of these spindles shearing. Not something you'd like to think about cruising down the freeway. The consensus is that welding the spindle results in fatigue of the cold rolled spindle, and it then shears. To counter that (and because the spindle was too short) I sleeved the 2x4 bumper with a piece of 1 3/4 OD x 1 1/4 ID .250 dom tubing which was welded inside the bumper. The spindle then has a light press fit inside this sleeve, and is held in place by a roll pin, thereby never having to weld the spindle, thus making both spindle and tire carrier removable. I've since seen other companies who make a similar spindle, but also include a sleeve such as how I did mine.

 

You can see a bunch of details in this picture. This is a modified winch mount, again I sleeved the frame for the bolts. In this shot you can also see how the front spring hangers are flush with the end of the frame. I've seen some other guys extend their frame a bit in order to fit YJ springs, or to have a more vertical shackle angle. To re-use the original look of the upper shock mount, I cut out the original 5/8" round bar and welded in a longer one. Something about using those hitch clips is cool to me. Rancho 9000's by the way. Custom drag link and tie rod with 3/4 ton ends, remember the front Waggy 44 is narrowed 4".

 

Too bad you kinda need a roll bar, looks good without one. I ordered these steel wheels in raw form from the factory and then had them powder coated the same color as the winch.



My track width is 58", which along with 33x12.5's doesn't look too outrageous. The front springs have settled a bit since I first rolled it out of the garage, and it seems right to me. The rear sags just a little bit at the moment, which I'm going to address soon.



I was super happy to finally have it on the road after 3 years, it's amazing how long these projects take. This picture was taken a day after it was completed, at the camping trip I had set as my deadline. That bikini top is the standard CJ5 piece which is obviously too wide, but I had it narrowed soon after by a local upholsterer.



Doing a little snow wheeling here near Mt. Hood. Everything turned out great on this project, and I learned a lot over the past 3 years. I think the thing I like the most is that I got to do everything exactly the way I had envisioned in my head for all those years, and it turned out better than I expected. Thanks for following along, and for all the great knowledge and feedback.

 

Very nice. Great inspiration for us all.

 

Howdy, your Jeep turned out great. I am doing the exact same build, and have some questions. What model number did you use for the shocks and are you happy with them? Also, did you do any mods to your motor and what headers did you use and do you like the way it runs, and do you like the gear ratio you choose for your axles? One more question, how is the rear tank working for you now that the Jeep is on the road, did your rear pumkin kit the tank? Again, your Jeep looks real nice and I hope mine will look that good.

 

Don't know how i missed this build... looks great!

 

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Shocks are Rancho 999113's, 13" compressed/20" extended. I love them, usually run them as a 4 or 5 on the road and obviously a 1 on the dirt. I'm really happy with the BDS springs and Rancho adjustables, nice and soft on the road, and changing the shock settings is very noticeable for controlling body roll.

The motor is a stock Chevy 153 Marine motor, what is also referred to as a 2.5 Mercruiser 120 hp version as you know. Previous owner had swapped it in at some point, along with the long tube headers. I'm assuming they're from Clifford, but I've been unable to confirm, as Clifford's website isn't showing a pic. I've burned through a couple of sets of exhaust gaskets, because the headers don't match up perfectly with the heads. I ended up cutting up the gaskets to separate the intake from exhaust, and using some of the copper gasket maker in a tube from Permatex to sort of align the gaskets better. It's been a couple hundred miles since, so far so good. They made at least 3 different head designs for both this motor and the 181/3.0/140 hp version, and my own theory is that since my ports are a little smaller, they don't line up with the headers exactly; the 181 heads are bigger and symmetrical.

The motor is otherwise stock, with the exception of a pertronix ignition upgrade. I'm still messing with carb settings, and trying different jet combos. Overall I'm happy with the gear choice of 4.88's and 33's. I can go 65 mph all day long with my hand off the steering wheel, but long grades I'm really down on power. This motor is known to really like the revs, but I need to keep playing with the carb, and I have no idea what cam is in it. I'm going to keep an eye out for a 181 head, and may swap that in at some point to help it breathe better.

Yep the pumpkin does hit the tank skidplate when off road. I still need to bring up the rear of the Jeep about an inch as it doesn't sit level and I have a lot of weight in the back with the tire carrier and gear, it's close though. I'll let you know what it's like after I lift the rear a bit. FYI, my wheelbase is right at 80-81" essentially unchanged, and the tank is pushed rearward absolutely as far as it will go. I didn't include a picture, but basically I used a CJ filler neck which exits on the passenger side.

 

Looks good!

 

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I somehow missed this thread until I saw the below link/pics.

It turned out great!

Any more pics to share would be greatly appreciated!

http://www.earlycj5.com/forums/showthread.php?92325-Went-wheeling-yesterday....&p=982914#post982914