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My 1958 Cj5 "work In Progress" - Updated 10/11/2024 With More Reassembly On Pg.3

Discussion in 'Builds and Fabricators Forum' started by Mouse92im, Jul 10, 2022.

  1. Aug 9, 2024
    Mouse92im

    Mouse92im New Member

    El Dorado, CA
    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2022
    Messages:
    29
    JULY 2024 UPDATE:


    July weather wasn’t cooperating very well. I’d guess we had around 15 days of 100+ degree weather. Tried to get into the garage but it was too dang hot most days. Never the less, the few days I actually was able to squeeze in I got a bunch of little things wrapped up.


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    After placing the tub on and wheeling back into the garage, I put the front end back on jacks to finish up my steering. Lubed up transmission, transfer case, steering knuckles, garage alignment and a quick once over before placing the radiator and grill on. As tradition, poured myself a Thurs night rum & coke and got to work.


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    Also went down to my local metal shop to pick up some seat frame and roll cage material plus a few nuts and bolts. I have no idea what I’m doing but willing to take a stab at a little metal tubing fabrication. Finally get some practice using my tube bender for the very first time soon! This will be fun (I hope).


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    Tail end of the month, there were finally a few days break in the weather during the last week, so I capitalized on it as much as I could every night after work and through the weekend. Got some decent progress and a couple notable items finalized. Starting to look like a Jeep again!


    I was able to get the steering column and linkage cinched down and locked in, color sanded my dash to an acceptable level, exhaust manifold tightened, fuel lines anchored, fuel fittings tightened, choke throttle cables mounted in the dash, vacuum lines done, grille vent painted and mounted, fan tightened, crossmember lifted to accommodate shifters and floor tin, started cleaning the headlight buckets, and mounted the passenger side fender. Oh! Plus had to see how my custom Speedhut gauge would look like in there. WOOHOO!


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    That’s a wrap for July! Thanks for looking.
     
  2. Aug 9, 2024
    Fireball

    Fireball Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Pullman, WA
    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2018
    Messages:
    6,113
    Looking good!
     
    Mouse92im likes this.
  3. Aug 9, 2024
    Jw60

    Jw60 New Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Trails end,...
    Joined:
    Apr 8, 2008
    Messages:
    5,586
    Just remember you can always trim a little extra off a tube and put it in the bender for a tighter bend.
    You cannot lengthen or flatten.
     
    Mouse92im likes this.
  4. Aug 10, 2024
    Mouse92im

    Mouse92im New Member

    El Dorado, CA
    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2022
    Messages:
    29
    Thanks all.

    @Jw60 planned on running the hoops long for that exact reason. I just hope I nail the target width within 1/2”. I’ll be measuring more than twice before cutting after a few practice bends and such. I also need to mock up and figure where the seats will sit angle/height/etc.

    I’ll post my success and failures here.
     
    Buildflycrash and Jw60 like this.
  5. Sep 6, 2024
    Mouse92im

    Mouse92im New Member

    El Dorado, CA
    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2022
    Messages:
    29
    AUGUST 2024 UPDATE:


    The month of August felt like it was a wash. I had higher expectations for myself in assembly, however combination of heat again and limited garage time resulted in a bunch of small stuff being worked on. After over a year from purchase, I finally got my cheapy HF tabletop media blaster set up the way I wanted. Testing out smaller parts that would have taken me an hour or so mechanically stripping took mere minutes.

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    I also have been shopping high and low for some chrome lower windshield hinges with no luck. My parts jeep has a pair on them, so assumed would be an easy find. Apparently, these do not exist in today’s market, so decided to hit YouTube up and went all ‘science experimental’ electroplating with nickel. They turned out “okay” considering these hinges were originally rusty and pitted. At least I know the process and time will tell on the durability.


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    Continuing on these smaller parts. I stripped the paint off some more tin items. Items like floor tin, glove box cover, tailgate hinges, etc. Realized I didn’t take pics of the items such as shift cover, foot pedals, e-brake and such painted black, but here’s a pre-painted primer example.


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    Around the middle of the month, I was down to some final details of the floor tin. One was the top plate for the steering column. Since I reconfigured the column location through the tub, I had to get a little creative with the sheet metal. I also stomached having to drill out my rear tank filler and get that neck set up. I realized after I drilled the hole that I did not make the proper diameter to fit the rubber grommet. OOPS! I’ll have to come back to it at a later time and hone that nicely cut hole larger. Back to the floor tin and steering column mount, Here is a pic most all the pieces in place.

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    BONUS during this mid-month garage session, my son bugged me enough see if the engine would start. While I was working on the floor tin, he went through and made sure all the fluids were good, installed the carburetor, and cinched down all the critical nuts/bolts. I quickly googled the minimum three wires needed to start the jeep. We still haven’t finished up the fuel filler or put fuel in it, but did get it to fire up and putter a bit with starter fluid. The exhaust hasn’t been completed either, so the J tube output was quite loud yet satisfying. Here is a screen cap pic of our video start up with a little “pop”.

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    Following garage session, I began placement and design on how my seat frame mounts would look like and how my seats would fit. This is where I realized how bad I screwed up with my Saginaw conversion designs. The space between steering wheel and driver’s seat was so close, I couldn’t lift my foot to the brake pedal without hitting the steering wheel with my knee. It was way too low and unsafe, so had to go back to the drawing board. *UGH!!*


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    After an evening or two of weighing my options out, I opted to add a double universal U-joint to buy myself an extra couple inches in length. Originally, I was hoping this would allow my steering column to return back to the original angle, however turns out I should have purchased a 32” column for that. Instead, I built a bracket and heim join to anchor the linkage. This also helped with clearance around the motor mount and gained about an inch or so column length past the dashboard. Tough to tell in the pics, but yielded more leg room while I used paint cans as mount mockups (haha!).


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    That’s August in the books. I’ll leave you with one or two more pics. We hosted dinner for one of my wife’s close friends last day of August. The guy she’s dating brought his Cybertruck up. For those of you who haven’t seen one yet, his is wrapped in gloss black. Outside IMO looks like a commercial sized dumpster, inside was pretty tech-like and plush. He has a touch screen control screen, where he can adjust the ride height up to 18” higher. It even has “disco lights”. He offered for me to drive it, but opted not to.


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    Thanks for the look
     
  6. Sep 6, 2024
    Rozcoking23

    Rozcoking23 RUN & GET BIT! 2024 Sponsor

    Stockton, CA
    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2008
    Messages:
    1,090
    Nice progress
     
    Fireball and vtxtasy like this.
  7. Oct 11, 2024
    Mouse92im

    Mouse92im New Member

    El Dorado, CA
    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2022
    Messages:
    29
    SEPTEMBER 2024 UPDATE:



    I feel September was almost like one step forward three steps back. As I’m going through pictures it did look like I accomplished a few things. During the tail end of Labor Day weekend, I was mocking up my seat mount frames and even after adding the double u-joint I still didn’t like the comfort and legroom. So… I bit the bullet, swallowed my pride (and fresh paint) and lost a couple weeks of assembly progress due to notching my fender well. I didn’t really want to cut into my tub, but felt it was necessary for safety reasons.


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    While I was getting into cutting/grinding/welding sheet metal, I continued working on fabricating my seat mount frames. Almost had another major cutting accident again. Please don’t be a dummy like I was. ALWAYS unplug your cutter/grinder before switching the wheels. I bumped my trigger. Anyway, driver seat frame mount turned out great. I’m very pleased with how it looks. I then tacked everything, reassembled and test fit everything.


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    The next couple weekends were wrapping up the fender notch, leveling, primer/paint. After patching my floor pan, this was less intimidating as I anticipated. I still need lots more practice with getting the weld spots overlapped without any pinholes. I probably did three or so passes and more grinding than I should have, but turned out good enough for me as a hobbyist. I also bent myself a new tailpipe and anchored down my whole exhaust system with hangers. The routing turned out much better than I anticipated. I’m very pleased with it. Tried to articulate the rear axles to see what clearance issues I might have, but will need to do it against a rock or something after its running. Based on the angles and such, I think I’ll be okay. Maybe a couple minor tweaks. Also still thinking about how to resolve the fuel filter/line being a little too close for my comfort right now. I’ll prob re-route it to and through the center frame rail like the brake lines are.


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    After wrapping up the fender notch, I painted my seat frame mount and bolted that bad boy in for good! Woohoo! I was able to clean up the hood hinges and window latches nicely and also painted the air horn for more accents in the engine bay. Just some other small stuff while I procrastinated on other larger things.


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    That same weekend, my son and I added all fluids into the jeep. We pushed it out of the garage and fired right up! It was nice to hear it idle with the new muffler/exhaust. Unfortunately, the end of this garage session wrapped up catastrophically. We couldn’t get the engine timed because we found about three fuel line leaks, one coolant leak, and a cracked radiator neck. All spouting gas and antifreeze everywhere. I closed up the garage that Sunday extremely defeated and done with this whole project.


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    After a few days reflecting where I went wrong, plus doing research. I deduced it was because of me using stainless steel lines and my lack of experience flaring that material properly. I ordered some brass flare inserts in hopes I won’t have to pull the lines and re-flare all the ends. We shall see… In the meantime, I chose to look away from the areas that have frustrated me and started on something I enjoy. The wiring. I’ve wired a few vehicles using Painless kits in the past, plus back in the 90s installed dozens of sound systems in all my friends’ cars. Poured myself another rum & coke that eve and got to work. Mounted the fuse block and routed the wire sections throughout the jeep. Below are pics before I mounted the harness. For some reason, I’m in the mood for spaghetti. Haha.


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    Also, toward the end of that weekend and the month of September, I wanted to feel like I accomplished something bigger than just wiring, so installed the windshield, hood, and headlight buckets. Dang! Its SOOOOO close to being done! Side projects update… my son found and picked up a “parts” XJ for super cheap because it was rolled. We’re in the slow process of disassembling it and cherry picking off the parts he wants to keep before scrapping the rest.


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    That’s another month in the books! Thanks for looking.
     
  8. Oct 12, 2024
    homersdog

    homersdog Tulsa, Ok 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Tulsa, OK
    Joined:
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    2,479
    You are doing excellent work! As far as the leaking fuel & coolant that is just another day for an old jeep. I don't remember a time when there wasn't something dripping out of mine.
     
    Fireball likes this.
  9. Oct 12, 2024
    Mouse92im

    Mouse92im New Member

    El Dorado, CA
    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2022
    Messages:
    29
    Thanks for the compliment. I thought I was doing the right thing by bending in stainless steel lines. While I enjoyed learning the process and techniques. Next time I’ll probably just stick to the more common copper/nickel or coated steel instead. Brass fittings and stainless flares seem to more of a pita due to the differences in hardness of metals.
     
    Fireball likes this.
  10. Oct 12, 2024
    Lilbuff63

    Lilbuff63 Member 2022 Sponsor

    Sonoma County Ca
    Joined:
    Jan 12, 2014
    Messages:
    312
    Nice work and congratulations on the progress! It’s an exciting time getting the finishing touches put together. The little details seem to be the most time consuming but you just have to keep pushing forward!
     
    Fireball likes this.
  11. Oct 18, 2024
    Mouse92im

    Mouse92im New Member

    El Dorado, CA
    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2022
    Messages:
    29
    Yes. Thank you. Feels like I should have been done with this thing months ago. I’m so close to finishing the wiring harness. Keep finding random nuts/bolts/etc/accessories to add or cinch down. Soon hopefully I’ll get to enjoy this thing.
     
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