MD Juan Tub Kit 1969 CJ5 4CLY (7/2016)

don't remember where I got my frame . but factory glass was too large . glass shop cut and fit a new piece of glass
still had problems fitting hard top again too 3/8" is alot when it's missing

 

My buddy told me to bring the old windshield. He will cut it to fit and then use it as a template for the new one. He said he doesn't care that it is broken. Sure is good to have friends with different backgrounds. He said the glass piece he will use cost $158.00. Installation and gasket are included for us. Joe

 

Sorry , that's been a problem with them frames since they started building them.............holes in the wrong patterns or locations, custom glass only.......sloppy welding and metal finish.............I only buy used OEM frames now.

 

I'd say, "maybe next time", but I couldn't afford to do this again... although it feels worth every penny so far.

 

We got good news... windshield glass can be installed Monday!

 

Well, it turns out the old windshield was pitted. I thought it was from the welding repair the PO had to do to the windshield frame (after the loose hood blew off on the highway), but Joe thought it could have just been showing signs of a long life. The auto glass guy thought with pits it might not pass inspection. But with no inspection needed for "Antique" registration in PA he let it go the first time.

Bottom line... I probably (mostly) needed to replace it anyway so I didn't feel too badly about it. Besides, Joe thought he did it and he felt badly enough for both of us. (Don't tell Joe because he set up all the arangements for the cheap glass replacement, and he's driving tmorrow ...but actually I cracked it first!)

Edit... I just found out I'm driving tomorrow... dang, he must have read this.

 

Yes , finding good used restorable OEM windshield frames are getting really hard to find...........especially the top curved glass version from 69-75 for the CJ's..........I have bought probably 18 of them over the past decade and only really kept and reused 3...........of that group 6 came through a dealer of Juans at different times and all were returned...........we were being picky on the sheet metal as one ended up getting chrome plated.

 

Wow! A chrome plated windshield frame! Mine is ...err... lusterless haze grey. I'd push you for a picture of a chromed MDJ windshield frame, but I'm afraid I might end up with bad case of windshield envy.

 

LOL!!!!!

 

At the time , that was the problem with MDJ products........nothing flat or finished correctly , too much work to correct the parts ..........as mentioned I found a few OEM frames that required very little metal work and we used one of those.

 

Happy Monday! We made the Pittsburgh/Columbus trip today and Joe's auto glass business friend used our old windshield frame measurements vs. the new frame measurements, plus the old glass, to cut a new piece of glass. Then he and his son installed it with just a minor struggle. Despite letting them know it was going into a Universal with no current top or doors, Joe's buddy insisted on sealing the gasket with silicone with the integrity promise, "my windshields never leak".

We had lunch, a quick shooting competition with Joe's friend's competition pellet gun...



I warned them not to bet me... (my first pistol shot in 45 years).

...and a return trip to the garage to install the windshield:



WHOOHOO! We have a windshield!

When I got home, there was a surprise gift waiting from an earlycj5.com forum participant (ojgrsoi)... a US NAVY theme CJ5!!





...no snorkel cut out... wipers on top... It's late 1960's!!!

So, in case there were any doubters out there about the US Navy using CJ5's, this should put those doubts to rest!

ojgrsoi has the real deal US Navy jeep ('58 postal service, Norfolk) what a sweet find for him. 'Looking forward to seeing more of that.

His scale model donation (and "Navy" CJ5 validation) will have a place of honor in our project and is now forever immortalized in this earlycj5.com post.

Joe is going to be so jealous! I have 2(!) Jeeps.

 

Edit: (Jim) After I won the shooting competition, he knocked another $100 off the price

 

The sprayer nozzle is coming from England (!) so it's late and stalling the vent install and that the dash install. So we attached the rear bow holders and the wiper motor before moving to the hood latch.

Man! What a pain in the behind this latch installation has become! Wow. We've measured this thing 10 times, put slots in our latch plate, added washers three times, tried six different positions fore and aft, switched to a rod insread of a plate, made the hood clearance slot longer, etc, etc, etc.... we probably have 5 hours in this hood safety latch installation and it isn't any better now than the first attempt.

Our latch arm is dead center, the clearance slot in the hood reinforcement is dead nuts, and the latch has free movement fore and aft with the hood fully closed.

The latch arm is tall enough to penetrate into the new slit in the hood reinforcement, but not long enough to catch it's edge (which isn't strong enough anyway). So we made a bolt on plate for the latch to hook onto. But how deep and where to put it fore and aft?

We are able to find several plate positions where the latch hook can catch the plate, but the hood pulls free every time without our engaging the release lever.

Maybe we should be using a bar instead of a plate, but why isn't obvious...

We will hit it again Friday.

 

Again, no nozzle, no dash USB charger (cigarette lighter hole) yet, so we focused on other things.

Like most people I work on problems when I'm in that twilight state between closing my eyes and sleeping. This time it paid off! I was working on my hood safety latch issue and remembered I have a wide shallow metal "u" shaped rod intended to bolt into a door column to locate a shoulder seat belt. I knew I could use it as a hood latching point and the location would probably be just right.

So first thing, I taped over the latch clearance slot (which we recently cut into the under face of the main hood bracket) and closed it over the new latch "hook". That gave me the exact relationship between the latch hook and the hood so I could position the new latch rod correctly fore/aft. The latch hook is "A" shaped, so I could use the width of the penetration into the tape I placed over the hood latch slot to tell me how low on the latch hook the hood bracket overlapps it. The rod has to reach below the latch hook completely when the hood is closed without bumping into the top of the grill. We confirmed the new rod would work.

Here is how it turned out:





Forgive me for taking such pleasure in such simple successes.

You might notice above, we got the radiator installed. We also got the washer bag & pump installed, and the engine air cleaner mounted. We had to put some stand-off's on the MDJ fender wall since it's shape is different from the standard fender, right where the air cleaner mounted. The air cleaner sits a bit lower, but the hose to the carburetor fits without binding.



Wednesday we got the mirrors installed plus the wiper motor and cover.





And Joe got the first of two steps installed.



And I finally tried out the fresh air inlet box I fabricated after replacing the screws with pop rivets.



And then I started to look into how I'll attach the damper controls when we ran out of time.

 

I got a rear seat advertised as "for a CJ" for $25 (!) on Craigslist (which needs fabric repair which I think I can do). I very much doubt it is a CJ seat... perhaps it is a YJ seat ...or maybe it is just an aftermarket seat.

It is a fold and tumble style with front pivots.



It came without mounting hardware but I found some front floor pivot brackets and some side, fender-mounted "C" brackets pretty quickly online. They look like they could work.




But i could find nothing for attaching the single "spool" shaped post that is screwed into the center bottom rear edge (shown screwed out).



Shown screwed out:



I wonder from some other styles I saw, if this spool is to be captured in a bracket integrated into the seat belt mount... but I'm obviously just guessing.

There are no other bottom rear feet on this seat... just the three contact points on the bottom and perhaps another two on the sides.

I hope someone can help me identify this exact model seat and maybe get me a picture of the brackets that hold it in.

Thanks.

 

looks like a cj seat to me the post in the middle has rubber on it usually, mine has three posts across the back,looks like you are missing two.

 

That's two votes for a rubber foot... sold! I'm glad it is a foot! Thanks.

 

'Time for our Monday progress report.

Joe started by trying out the size of the back seat I bought Sunday for $25. It fits!



I need to put new fabric on it but the frame and latching mechanism all seem ok, if a bit rusty. We have to make or come up with the four attachment brackets. This adds a bit to the seat backlog. We haven't stripped them down yet to paint the frames, etc. The front seats are actually in very good shape, but they had a mildew smell a year ago when they were set aside. We want them clean inside before we use them.

Then we installed the new sprayer nozzles and tested them to set their aim. Joe says they shoot like a fire hose!




...and the wipers:



I was surprised the wipers are so much in the line of sight.

...and the second step:



And I worked on the vent dampers and tubing installation:



The push/pull wire clamping bracket is aligned with the damper levers... very solid.

I made two brackets to locate the two hot air discharge nozzles tucked under the lip of the dash. We have gotten several good holes from our Harbor Freight hole saws!



And the Harbor Freight mini press brake put an angle on the flange. These will be added once the dash is installed.



The ductwork, installed, sans the under dash flanged brackets from the photo just above.

And Joe made a hood support arm and bracket by heating and bending a steel rod and welding a ball on the end to retain it with a bracket in the back side of the main lateral hood stiffening member.




On the bottom, we made another bracket to catch the lower end of the hooks we made in the support rod.



It pretty closely matches the illustration in the parts book.

You cannot tell in this picture, but the lower catch bracket may be too far forward. When we close the hood it hits the bottom face of the main lateral hood stiffening member and holds the hood open. We can either make a new bracket an attach it further back (where the horizontal grill stiffening rod attaches), or we can pull out the die grinder and cut a clearance slice in the bottom face of the lateral hood stiffening member to accept the top of the bracket. I do worry a bit about someone having a hand under the hood when closing it, so it might be best to move the new bracket backwards away from the front edge.

And we have to figure out a good way to support the rod in the hood.

I put a bit more time on the fresh air inlet box.

And finally, I did a few things with the dash, removing the unused emergency flasher switch and using that dash hole for a vent damper push pull handle. Since I have a second damper (for the defroster) I added another hole for it's push/pull handle. The three heater controls are clustered together above the steering wheel.



And I added a new pilot hole to the left of the heater controls, in symmetry with the ignition key position. This is where the USB charger port will be added (once it arrives), in place of a cigarette lighter.

And that was the day.

Tuesday edit... the USB charger (cigarette lighter format) arrived today. We can finish the dash on Wednesday!!! Whohoo! Maybe we can have the wiring complete and tested this week. YES!