The "You're an Idiot" restoration

A note on the sandblasting in the previous entry. Do that somewhere a long ways from where you will be painting. I took the frame off my trailer you see in the pics and put it on a tarp in the back of my shop to catch and reuse the media. Then I moved to a different area after I got all the residue blown off the frame and put it on my mobile platform to easy of moving and painting. I could just roll it back into the shop for the night. I can't imagine doing this in a subdivision, as you can see I have a bit of land to make my messes on. I could have farmed it out, but I really want to do this project soup to nuts on my own.



So here is the painting.

Primer





















Motor mounts



And topcoat. I put the frame on 2 engine stands so I could rotisserie it. My dad was helping me and it was a bit more than he could lift. He had a good idea. We used a 2X4 cut to fit inside the front and rear shackle mounts. We bolted it to the engine stands and then set it up to the frame which was on the saw horses and put a lag bolt through the shackle bushing. Worked like a charm but they wanted to twist a bit. Probably would be best to connect the bases to each other if I did it again.























And the motor mounts finally coated with black.



and some bump stops and other parts I painted today.





Sure was a beautiful day today. Look at those colors in the background!!

I have stressed over painting for awhile now. It was easy as pie. It isn't perfect and I have some runs but what the heck, first time out. I did my homework and am really happy with the results. Now I need a and can set the frame aside and start working on the axles.

 

Welcome from MO and a super nice find.

 

Looking great!!! We should have another beautiful day today.... ~70 degrees

 

Welcome from Oklahoma. Nice find and it looks like you are having fun.

 

The frame looks great!!

 

Looks good. Love the use of the engine stands for a frame rotisserie.

 

Well Happy Thanksgiving 2011!!!


I have a little time to update on axle progress. Nothing exciting but rather very MESSY work. Degreasing took me 2 afternoons this week. I started with purple power 1:1 with water and following with the pressure washer (mine is only one of the electric 1300 PSI Karcher models, so not too powerful). Switched over to straight purple power, some scrub brushes, wire brush and even a tooth brush. Let is never be said that I didn't give this may all!!! I looked like a sewer inspector when I got done.

For the record, I have a dana 30 front and a dana 44 rear. My gearing is 3.73. All this checked out, see the pics for the numbers. The overall plan here is as follows: (and I am totally open to criticism and suggestions on the plan)

1) Degrease (done)
2) Clean up the metal. I think wire wheeling is the plan with that. I'm afraid to be blasting around things that contain bearings and moving parts even though I will disassemble and overhaul.
3) Open up the housings and inspect the innards. I will make a call on the carrier bearings once in there and will have to try to decide how to make a call on the pinion. Part of me wants to do a total tear down but I am a bit nervous about set-up once I try to reassemble and getting all my preload, backlash and other things I don't even know yet. Kind of want to give it a try but also want a functional jeep when I'm done. (Chicken foot is what I am).
4) Minimally replace inner seals on the Dana 30 and wheel bearings, seals etc. On the D44, replace axle bearings, seals etc. Again we'll see on carrier and pinion bearings.
5) Paint
6) Brake work, lots of brake work.


Teardown and deagreasing pics.

Here is the Dana 30 with springs still in place (at least one is). Need these to remember how this all goes back together. I hit the U-bolt nuts/threads with PB blaster a few days before and then again just before I removed them. These are all original and I am sure never had a wrench on them since '72. I put the impact on it and let it rip, they came right off. Some of the lock washers didn't fare well, but we'll go with new nuts/washers minimally and u-bolts will probably go back on, I can't see why they aren't fine.



Note the shim that goes between the spring and perch in the next pic and direction it sits. These are only on the front.



Passenger side drop, note the U-bolt on the inside goes over the larger part of the housing/tube.



Drivers side dana 30 spring bolts.




Here is the rear Dana 44. Note the direction of the spring shackles and shock mount on the bottom plates.



Drivers side from the rear.



A couple of the psgr side from back



See all that caked on grease and dirt concoction. Ugh! I hate this stuff.



Drivers side from the front.



All the springs once off. Any reason not to reuse these? They all seem OK to me, but what do I know. I think they are 7 leaf on the fronts (to the left in this photo) and 5 leaf on the rears.



A few hrs later and some ruined clothes. Rust is still pretty much in place, but they are definitely degreased. Even in the cracks and crevices!




Some numbers for the record.

The 30 (it's a 30!) The part no is C-36345





Same part no, from the 30 (neither of these pics came out too clear).



The 44. It actually is stamped "44-1" I believe. The part no is C-35284 as best I can tell.



I believe there are some actual S/N or at least date codes on the axle tubes but I haven't gotten enough of the corrosion off yet to fully read them. I can see they are there, so will add those later once I can get a good pic.

Some remaining views of the degreased parts. These are boring pics I know but mostly just for the record for later so I can compare and identify my junk if needed.

30 pumpkin



30 knuckle



30 Warn hub



44 pumpkin



44 - psgr side



44 drvrs side



44 hub



Getting these brake drums off if going to be a trick. Any suggestions welcomed on that.


I also cleaned up the bell housing while I was at it. I think this is about done, it will never be seen from the outside and I have 95% of the grime cleaned off. Pics actually make it look worse than in person.





I also gave this mess of a combination a bath too. I always think I can just pick this up and move it around it's deceiving on weight. A true back killer for sure. There is some more to clean up on this but I'll get that once I separate the trans from the T/C.

 

I picked this up from CL yesterday. It's basically brand new for at least somewhat less than the cost of new. It's the HF brand 20 ton shop press. It seems reasonably well built for their crap and I've read some decent reviews on it. Hopefully it's not a wasted purchase and should push off bearings or ball joints etc. The frame seems sturdy enough. I guess if this won't press it, I am either doing it wrong or shouldn't be doing it anyway.R)

 

I would change the oils and drop in a new battery with some good seats and run. I don't see anything that it needs but gas. Buff out the paint and she will shine and you should be on your way to a big mud hole... hoo raa

 

More pics of the D30 before axle teardown.

First the dampener



Psgr side connections of the steering link and tie rod.





Drivers side tie rod end



Steering hardware off. That tie rod appears bent to me.







Drivers side dampener mount/u-bolt before removal.



Drivers side knuckle with tie rods off.



Ball joints





Here is the manufacturing number from the D30 once I got a wire wheel on it for a bit. The numbers appear to be 10 24 1 C5, I believe this means October 24th 1971, 3rd shift line 5.



D30 Gearing tag. You can hopefully see the 3.73 and the ring and pinion tooth numbering 41-11 which should equal 3.73 if divided. I think this stuff is neat to uncover. I'm not sure what that top number on the tag is for. You can't make it out in the pic, in person it is legible. My camera isn't too good.

 

More pics of the Dana 44 before teardown. I got one of the drums off after some BFH persuasion (actually, not too much was needed, just some tapping around it after backing off the adjuster a bit).





Once the drum was off, the access hole had this plastic plug in it. I assume that is original. in the pic just above, I had already popped this out.



view thru the hole to the flange bolts.



OK, now alot of documentation on brakes brakes brakes!

 

Love this thread! I'm very new to this obsession, and I'm learning more than I ever imagined just reading things like this. Your disassembly pics are awesome. Keep it up man! I'm really looking forward to a similar project one day WAY down the line.

 

I hadn't thought about trying to paint the inside of the axles. That seems to make sense on first glance. I had seen folks put the D30 seals in place using a threaded rod between the seals as well as pull them in using a rod through the tube and a plate/washer on the end of the tube along with a socket on the inside end to pull it in. I think the key to that latter method is to put a nut on both sides of the socket and possibly a round centering block in the tube to keep everything centered. We'll have to see what works best when I get there, but great suggestions and much appreciated.

 

Thanks. Glad you are finding something of interest. Hopefully I can be of some help actually building things back up rather than just knocking a bunch of rust around which is what it feels like sometimes.

Great advice. I would not have known that. See this is yet another great part of this forum. I never know when to go new and when I am just wasting money. I had planned to replace most of the regular bolts sort of out of principle but we'll have to see how easily I can find/supply what I need as I need it. The U-bolts obviously are a unique part so I appreciate the suggestion.

 

Thanks for the kind words. I haven't gotten anything done for the last 2 months. The next step for me on the CJ is to sandblast and paint the axles. I am awaiting a couple days in a row on weekends with good weather. It's either been rainy or too cold or damp to paint here in NC or I've had other things that had to get done. Hopefully we'll get going again soon. I made a deal with myself I was going to go slow and not crap up things on this jeep project no matter how long it takes. Anxious to see some Spring weather!!!!

 

I've been staying inside for the winter but getting ready to carry on. I had a question on posting of videos. Is that acceptable and can one 'embed' or link to youtube videos on here like we do with photobucket? It seems like that would be a good way to continue the build sometimes, just video record with my iphone and post to youtube. I did a little searching and didn't see any discussion on adding videos. Can anyone comment on this or point me to a thread explaining the rules on vids here?