What? Another Jeep?

Only one thing tonight. Fixed the horn. Popped the old button out and found corrosion on the middle button, the disk, and the cup. I sanded the middle button and cup with 600 grit and replaced the disk along with a new rubber button.

Works great now:


Next project is getting the Spartan to cancel. The on one the Jeep works but has too much slop in the mechanism to cancel properly. I have another Spartan that has a bad switch but a good mechanism. I'll switch 'n swap parts to see if I can get one fully functioning unit out of the two.

 

I love those mats for all the reasons you've mentioned.

 

I know what it is....always the same...

 

I was testing the radio yesterday and, like an idiot, left the ignition on overnight. Amazingly, it started right up tonight. I breathed a sigh of relief and turned the key off but it kept running.

I had to pull the alternator exciter wire to shut it off. After a bunch of wire tracing, I realized that even though it's been converted to a 10SI, the Motorola voltage regulator on the fender still had wires attached to it. I unplugged that and every thing works as expected again. It must have developed an internal short when I left the ignition on.

The wiring on this thing really needs a cleanup. It's on the list of projects but probably won't happen until winter.

A couple easier projects for tonight though.

I tore two Spartan turn signals apart to mix and match parts:


Finally after parts swapping, adjusting, and bending a bracket, I have a turn signal that cancels like it should :


Then I addressed these windshield standoffs:


That's a little beyond the patina phase.

I put some nice reproduction standoffs from Walcks on the '69:


And put the foam wrapped ones from the '69 on the '68. Definitely looks better than it did:

 

Here's a project that took all of 3 minutes.

Removed the old useless 4" round mirror that was dark with failing mirroring. It was useless. I replaced it with an Amazon special 5x7 mirror for $13.00:


All these little things add up to make a decent usable Jeep:

 

Did a few things with the blue Jeep today.

First, it was a beautiful so we took it for an hour drive. Then we ran to dogs on the hills when we got home. Some photos from running around the hills:








Then I decided it was time to fix some of my own screw ups. When I had the pedals apart a few months ago, I was obviously in a hurry to get it running again. The clutch pedal was crooked and I screwed the brake pedal pad on too far. The end of the rod was pushing into the back of the rubber pad making it bulge out and uncomfortable to push on:


Much better:


The fuel guage hasn't worked on this thing since I got it. It has a VDO gauge to the left of the colum and the one in the speedometer cluster is disconnected. It moves some between 0 and 1/4 tank but doesn't really track the level. It's just guesswork.

When I was using a flashlight down the filler to see how much gas we had for our trip, I noticed this:


That's not supposed to be full of liquid!

Pulled the sending unit out to have a look. Yep, a little tiny pinhole. Just enough to let some gas in:


I snagged the float of the old sending unit from the '71 but didn't like the sharp end on this loop. This might be what caused the fisure in the first place:


It may not matter but I feel better after some bending with pliers:


To make sure it stays, I added some safety wire:


I took the Jeep for a short spin so the jiggling can help the float move and my hopes were crushed. The guage still acted the same.

I used a welding rod through the filler to move the float through it's travel and check the resistance. The sending unit seems to work and be in spec.

I'm suspecting VDO gauge is the wrong type. It's working in the wrong direction when I move the float and only moves between 0 and /14 tank:


I think I have an extra gauge in a bin somewhere from the CJ-2. I'll dig that out and see if it fixes the problem. I'll have to test the gauge in the speedometer to see if it still works. Maybe I'll just revert to that and put some other gauge in this spot.

 

Well a month later after working on shop insulation, traveling, and cleaning up from storms, I had time to work on a Jeep. I swapped out the fuel gauge for one that's expecting the proper resistances and it looks like it's reading about right:


I wasn't fond of the non-hooked up ammeter either so I found a volt meter to replace it:


Now all the gauges work. Well, except the factory fuel gauge in the cluster. If I fixed that, I'm not sure what I would put in the extra hole to the left of the steering column. Vacuum gauge maybe?

While I was working on it I had assistance from Colton the new cat:


He's a huge help when you're pulling wires:

 

Very dapper.

 

I had more time to work on a Jeep again. Amazing.

Another annoyance with the '68 was this 90s cassette deck radio:


It completely clashed with the styling of the rest of the Jeep.

Also the wiring looked like this:




I'm not real big on stereos in old Jeeps, but there is already a big rectangular hole in the dash and speakers bolted to the kick panels. Time for a change.

Yanked the passenger seat so I could lay on my back under the dash and pull wires:


What the hell cat??? Had to re-plug in the windshield washer switch after that excursion. I think everything else is still working:


New radio connectors spliced in with heat-shrink crimps:


And here's the new radio. It's a $20.00 something from Amazon that's AM/FM, bluetooth, SD card, and USB key cabable with a more vintage appearance:


It seems to work fine. Sadly, the tabs for the DIN chassis expect a thicker mounting surface than a sheet metal dash. I need to make some sort of spacer to add some thickness. That's where I gave up for the night. That will be tomorrow's project.

The wiring, while not amazing is much better now:


Not much inside the new radio. A brain circuit board behind the face and an amplifier section at the back:


It comes with helpful troubleshooting instructions for dealing with things like "Unreasonable Power":

 

Re:gas cap. I used to put mine on the rear tire when getting gas, until one day I forgot to put it back and ran it over. I suspect they did the same.

 

I bet you're right. I don't know how else you would dent it like that.

 

I recently had a mech-less head unit installed in the Yellowjacket.

 

Is that English???

 

In an Oriental sort of way.

 

Chinish?
or Englese?

 

Finished up the radio tonight.

Found a scrap piece of Masonite I could cut a spacer from. Side note: I inherited the saber saw from my Grandpa and use the crap out of it. It's older than I am and I'm not young:


With the spacer behind the dash, the tabs are now locking in tight:


Permanently mounted. It looks a little modern for the Jeep when powered up:


But it looks decently period when powered off:


AM/FM seems to work well. Bluetooth seems to work well. I haven't tried a USB key/SSD card yet. All in all it's a nice upgrade in style and usefulness for $29.00 and a few hours of work. Better than the 90's cassette deck or a hole in the dash. We'll see how long it lasts.