The B3 3b Attempt

I wasn't going to bore you all with some 2-3 year long drawn out record of my idiocy but ehh....why not. Maybe someone will learn from my mistakes. This will be a long slow process like every damned thing else I waste my time and money on so be prepared for that. Hopefully world doesn't end before I'm done.

So, I'll start with the backstory. Years ago, (like 15 or more) I bought this 3b from a guy that I now consider a friend. I bought it because it was sitting on a lifted V6 cj5 chassis ( rancho 2.5 lift), had 33s on it mounted on the sought after K-H renegade type rims, and had 4.88 gears front and rear with the rear being a flanged off set 44. The perfect swap for '71 that had 3.73's. So, I DID swap the axles around and got 4.88s under my '71 and then sold the B to a coworker. Much of the original driveline still existed, and still does today, including the 3 speed and D18. So, I washed my hands of the thing as I was never a fan of the high hooded ugly step child of the jeep family. Besides, the body had been heavily repaired and covered mostly in aluminum diamond plate. No thank you please.

So the new owner did a bunch of stuff to it in an attempt to make it road legal. New exhaust and a rather sloppy attempt to rewire the the poor thing. He started to try to make a cj5 cage fit in the 3B tub and never finished it. Lost interest in the project and sold it to another cat I worked with. That dude played around with it a little bit on the farm, drove it to work once, did a complete tune up on it and then one day it just quit on him and he decided he didn't want or need the jeep. So, I ended up with this ugly *** old B back in my driveway for not much more than I originally paid, and later sold it for. And thus the project name B3.....Bought Back B.....3, count 'em, 3 b's. And the name also fits because I'll probably do everything the hard way and backwards so 3B backwards is B3. And I don't name my vehicles with like, names, so if I have to call this heap something, B3 is as about easy as it gets and I'll get to have people look at me stupid and call me names like dumbass and numbskull when I call the thing B3 instead of 3B.

So, a quick rough plan for the steaming pile of poo goes in the direction what I always wanted to build. A pretty purpose built off road jeep that will see more trail time than road time. This actually means it will sit there under a tarp most of the time and just be a huge waste of time and money that I should spend elsewhere. ( I wonder if they make a tarp with dollar bill type graphics on it). It will not be torn down to the frame, as I would prefer to do, because that just takes forever (project creep and budget) and takes up a lot of room. I want to incorporate some ideas I've had on my mind for many years and I may do this as I go or maybe straight away. I'd like to consider this thing as experimental even though most or all of the mods have already been done by people on their projects. It will be experimental only in terms of testing my skills and to learn, first hand, how and if something works and if I like it on my jeep. I'm not reinventing the wheel or breaking any new ground. It will ride on 33's but I'd like to keep the whole thing kinda low-ish. It seems tall as heck as it sits right now. The thick body mounts don't help that and they will be replaced but that isn't much of the height issue. My cheap *** is having a hard time finding decent used 33s so, it may end up with 35s because they seem to be everywhere but, I really don't want to go there. 33 is just fine with me and very much preferred. This thing is going to sit a lot so bias ply tires are pretty much out of the equation I think. I'm interested to experience the challenges and space constraints of making things work on a flat fender jeep vs a cj5. The B certainly has more than a 2 A but I still see the challenges. Maybe it's a stepping stone to a low hood project someday.


Body:
I don't care about the already cut up and partially fixed body so body work will hopefully consist of a few rather minor repairs and flat black primer paint job. My 5 was rattle canned in black primer when I bought it and every spring it go new duct tape over the holes and 3-4 cans of black primer. Looked B/A for the summer and easy to touch up. This was before the whole satin black thing started to be main stream or whatever. So, I'm going back to it because I did it first. And it will help camoflauge (sp) that tall grill.

Always wanted dual underseat tanks if I did a flat fender. I might give that a whirl. I just like the theory from yesteryear. Stupid maybe but, that's me. Hard headed and backwards and old school. I've been saving gas tanks and fuel filler cut outs for years. I'd like to think it will not have been in vain. I'd like to stick the battery somewhere else besides under the hood. I dunno. We'll see.

Chassis:

The 5 frame seems okay though it's been worked on front and rear. I may box it as I go along. Going to do a cage of some kind and properly tie it into the frame. Thinking about the bumpers and the winch up front. I have an old 8274 that's been taking up space for a while. I'd rather stick that on a 1972 4x4 F250 but, that probably won't happen so, I'll use it here I guess.

Suspension:

Eventually I want to go YJ springs. Not sure when then that will happen but it will. No kits. I'll just do it because what I have is time. Funding, not so much. I'd love to French the spring hangers into the frame. Maybe I will. I'm going for smooth sailing over obstacles. No hang ups. Gonna fab up some custom spring plates but I might have do it twice depending on when the YJ springs appear. But for the time being, the Rancho lift will stay. I have other fish to fry.

Steering:

The stock Ross junk will find get eventually get turned into manhole covers over there in India. Sometime before that happens, it will be replaced with Saginaw power steering. New for me though the '71 has manual Saginaw on it but it was there when I bought it. This will be new ground for me. High steer tie rod set up.

Drivetrain:

Dana 44 rear, off set, flanged, 5.38s, Spartan locker and 11 inch drums. This is already underway. I'd like to do discs on the back but probably won't. Maybe some day. And I won't be wasting any money on paint. The surface rust will be there when it gets bolted in. (This method will continue throughout the project. If it's not a new part or something I already have painted, it ain't getting painted unless I feel it is totally necessary to spend 4-5 bucks on a can of paint and a bunch of time cleaning stuff up.)

NT disc brake Dana 30 up front. More 5.38s and another Spartan.

T18 and D18. These are waiting on the bench. They were slated to go in the '71. I'm gonna use them here.

And finally, the 225 will remain, for now, if it isn't junk. Which it might be. I drained the oil last night because this thing has sat dormant outside for a couple years now. I though I caught a glimpse of coolant at first when I first pulled the plug. I need to examine the oil a bit before going much further. I'm not sure what all can happen when an engine sits this long..... or if even saw what I think I saw. But if I keep the 225, it will get a Motorcraft 2100 carb on it and HEI (which I started messing with last night). I want to put a rear dump driver exhaust manifold on it (on the bench waiting...thanks Michael) but I need to dig in to the whole steering set up thing. I don't see the room for the steering with the rear dump. It looks like the manifold would run directly into the path of a Saginaw steering mod. Ehhh, later huh? I'd really love to stick a 302 in front of that T18.

Soooo........there's the rough sketch. I'm not even sure why I'm doing this. I should be working any one of the 3 other jeep projects. I'm not rich and I'm not poor, I'm just cheap. Well, cheap because I feel guilty spending money on a hobby instead of funding our retirement or paying every penny I can on the mortgage or even on a car payment so we can have newer vehicles to drive daily. It's guilt that drives my cheap skate mind set. There. I said it. So, please keep that in mind as we move forward.

Feel free to offer suggestions along the way. I may be skeptical and may come off as a jerk, but I don't mean it that way. I'm just hard headed. I always take advice under consideration, think about it too much, then make a decision on how I want to proceed. I might heed your advice, or I may go my own way and learn the lesson you tried to warn me of the hard way. It's nothing personal.

I'll start adding pics soon. I have to remember how photobucket works and how to get this pics to here. I'm probably almost out of allowable room in my media and besides, this project would require some other hosting site to keep all the pictures up anyway. Bear with me folks.....I'm a "Beeg Dummy" like Fred used to call Lamont.


The first time it came home. Maybe 2005 or something. I don't remember. We were still in our first house so that's at least like 14 years ago. I think Mom and dad were still on this side of the grass so that takes it back to '06 at least.

The second time it came home (back to me anyway). This is our new place. We've been here a few years now.

Sat in the driveway for a while. I tinkered with getting it running a few times. No success.

Got it the new garage last fall before it snowed the first time. In fact, it was on the day that it DID snow the first time for the year. I remember, quite vividly, the whole evening leading up to the call from work to come in. But I cannot disclose the details.

Circa 1989. My '71 in flat black primer. I'm tellin' ya I started the flat black thing way back then. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Love it or hate it, I don't care. I like it.

 

So, if it isn't painfully obvious, this project has already hit a roadblock. Antifreeze in the oil. Weighing options. I might try to reseal the 225 and hope for the best. Cheapest option. Head gaskets, intake gaskets, timing cover gasket. I'm really not interested in putting a dime in another 225 but, it might be the best course forward until the right donor engine comes along.

In the meantime, I'll move forward with the axle work. See ya in a year or so.

 

hey it's indoors . that's all that matters

 

A bit of news on this heep.

Brought home a Buick 350 out of a '67 J truck, so he said. I'm thinking it's a 68 but I'd need to research the availability of the 350 in J trucks.

Anyhow, it's home and on the stand. It ran and sounded okay and didn't seem to smoke so it's going in basically as is. I have some things to do to it. Exhaust manifold leak to be investigated. Oil change of course. Replace the carb. maybe toss is an HEI bit that might come later.

If I can remember how to post pics I will. I always struggle with this. For now, maybe a 'bucket link will have to do. Click away.

https://s299.photobucket.com/u/whee...aff116/p/85cca441-043b-4153-9d2e-9e541306bf6a

https://s299.photobucket.com/u/whee...aff116/p/85cca441-043b-4153-9d2e-9e541306bf6a


https://s299.photobucket.com/u/whee...aff116/p/85cca441-043b-4153-9d2e-9e541306bf6a


Also started making replacement tail light panels. Used a junk hard top door for the metal.

https://s299.photobucket.com/u/whee...aff116/p/85cca441-043b-4153-9d2e-9e541306bf6a

 

Took that visit from Snake Plissken seriously huh?

 

Let the purge begin.

 

Your green 2 door wagon is a sedan delivery (with side windows cut in). Those are pretty rare! The windows were a “dealer option”. Does it have a tailgate or barn doors? It looks pretty solid too. That where the 350 came from?
-Donny

 

That wagon belongs to the guy I bought the 350 from. It has a 230 in it. It’s probably for sale. I could help if anyone is interested.

My 350 came out of a rusted out gladiator with a 3 speed behind it.

 

Drained the oil out of the engine after securing it to the engine stand. My engine hoist, that I tried to repair some time ago, failed while swapping engine to the stand. I'll need to fix that.

Ordered exhaust manifold gaskets. Getting these manifolds off should be a chore. Probably never been off since new in like '68. That's probably all I'm doing to this thing. New belts and hoses.

 

Went after the port side exhaust manifold on this 350 today. The bolts have been soaked regularly for weeks, except the one in the center of the manifold which I could not access. The bolt heads were all rusted and decomposed to the point that I could not any socket to fit decently, standard or metric. I mentioned this to my mechanic during my regular Friday after work stop at his shop. I'm not much for borrowing tools, and I didn't ask but, he offered some very helpful MAC sockets designed for just this type of problem. They worked very well and I'd recommend them. If I had 245 bucks to spend on a small set of sockets, I'd buy these. I'll look for a cheaper option maybe.

So, all but two of the bolts came out and with little fight. The two that did not succumb to the MAC sockets just snapped. One had plenty sticking out so I double nutted it with the outermost nut sticking up just above the remainder of the bolt. Then I zapped the outer nut with the welder turned all the way up to weld the nut to the stud and it spun out directly.

The other snapped off pretty flush with the head. Half a dozen attempts to get a nut to stay on the bolt had failed. Back to the old ways. Center punch and drill bits. I have 2 left hand twist bits and when I got to their size as I stepped up in bit diameters, I gave them their shot at this thing. No love. Keep drilling. I was off center a little bit and stopped when I though I was in danger of damaging the threads. Then I started picking and prying until I felt safe running the tap in. Patience payed off and eventually I got the hole cleared out and looking decent.

I noticed, on this engine, that the spark plug holes, or recesses for the holes, are like way deep. They collect everything. And then hard to clean out. I'm gonna have to blow them out or vacuum them out carefully and completely. Not sure Ive ever seen plugs recessed in like this.

The gaskets are here but today was a 3x day (EVERYTHING took 3x longer than expected). And I need to clean up the head where the manifold meets it and maybe get the manifold checked for straightness.

I'm not touching the starboard side. It may come back to haunt me and probably will but, it ain't broke so, like my old friend used to say, "If it's broke, don't fix it." No wait, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

 

The 225 spark plug holes are deep too. I have been using a thin metal wrench to get them out. There may be a thin-wall socket that works, but I have not found one yet.
Buick could have made the recess have a little larger diameter. The 350 will be cool in your jeep. May have to source another power steering mount.

 

So, there are several options for replacing the manifold bolts. Regular old bolts. Studs. Stainless steel bolts. What do you guys think? I'm leaning toward studs.

 

I've always used grade 5 bolts, fresh lock washers and a copious amount of copper based antisieze ( because that's what we used in generating stations on conduit threads, it was free)

 

Studs and copper nuts are a good solution.

 

Sent me looking for copper nuts. I've seen a few in the industry and may have a couple in my nut collection. The copper nuts i found were metric.
Mcmaster shows bronze and nickle alloy. I have seen more of these usually on large electrical connections to copper motor studs. Monel or iconel is the correct term.

Good idea and seems like it would work being dissimilar metals.

 

That's what my Dad used to do when working on cars way back in the '70s. Told me it was so you could get them off in the future. It seems to work. I've never seen him have any issues removing the copper nuts even after 20+ years in service.

As noted above, the copper anti-seize also works well. That's what I used on my hotrod Mustang I was constantly taking apart. It's also key for O2 sensors if you ever want to get them out again.

 

Project Farm did a video on anti-seize. Not sure if the nickle or copper is the best.

 

So, I got studs from McMaster Carr. Couldn't get exactly what I wanted so I'll have to do some cutting to length on at least some of them.

Question: Will a copper nut really take 35 lb/ft torque? Seems like a lot for a copper nut. Hoping I can find them. I'll be hitting the local hardware stores. As noted, M-C does not offer them. I'm sure there is no grade rating on a copper nut.

No need for anti-seize on a copper nut, right?

And, last week I slid under the jeep with a stock Wrangler spring and held it up against the 2.5 lift Rancho springs. I was surprised by how close they seemed to be in arch, although the wrangler spring obviously had no weight on it. I think I'm gonna start with these and see how it sits (when I get to that point in 2 years ). I'm going for low CG and 33-35 inch boots. Might end up trying to find and use 2.5 lift Wrangler springs depending on how the ride height goes. There's several different stock spring rates for front and rear. I have no idea what mine are.

 

I believe brass nuts is what you want. I use them routinely in exhaust system applications. Any hardware store will have them.

 

The really nice part about wrangler springs is there are more off the shelf selections available.