1963 Us Navy Dj-3a

Can’t imagine there’s someone with a shop just up the road from you that offered to rework an exhaust for you a while back.

 

I'm still making slow progress on this thing. The last week was a bunch of waiting for parts and fixing overflowing ditches on the property, so not a ton of time got spent on the Jeep.

I have a 21-circuit wiring harness I'm planning on installing, and I'm getting all the electrical stuff ready so I know what I need to run.

First item was swapping out this nasty steering wheel and replacing the broken turn signal switch:


I identified the column as 1968 or so full size Buick unit, ordered a switch, a new steering wheel, and a new adapter (to source the missing horn parts).

This is when I realize that GM had two different turn signal switches in that time frame and, of course, I had the wrong replacement switch:


I identified that one I actually needed and waited 5 days for it to get here. Much better:


I'll be using the flat style GM turn signal connector with the new harness, so I needed to cut off the curved one on the switch an re-pin wires. I also had to order and wait for the pins to show up:


After a week and a half of being apart, it's back together and looking much better! I used a multi-meter to verify the turn signals, hazards and horn are all working:

 

After I had ITLKSEZ came down and help me fab a perfect fitting exhaust, I found out the ball flange I made in the press tightened up a good 3/8" tighter when using wrenches instead of fingers. The brought the perfectly routed tube under the bellhousing into tight contact. It makes me feel really stupid for not tightening the flange up tight when we were doing the fitting. The other flange had no issues.

So, I had to cut into my beautiful new exhaust and weld in an extension. It also needed to be offset a little bit because of the angle of the manifold outlet. Now it looks like this on the passenger side:


And the clearance to the transmission and belhousing is perfect again at about 3/8":

 

The alternator to battery clearance is tight with the spinning cooling blades and I'm looking for more space.

I was considering using one of these compact tractor alternators with internal fan (it really is tiny), but, it's only 40 amp, it would need some grinding on the bracket, and I decided I don't trust the cheap Chinese thing to get me out of the woods:


That said, it's actually small enough to be a viable trail spare.

I ordered a made in USA Powermaster 100 Amp 10SI type alternator. The plan is to clock it as tight to the engine as I can while still getting a belt on it:


Right now, the ground lug on the back of the alternator is hitting the bracket and preventing full clocking. I'll have to take a die grinder to the bracket. I'd rather modify the bracket than the alternator so replacements are easier:


With the bracket ground, I think I can get about an inch of clearance between the alternator and the battery. I'm happy with that:


I'll be adding a restraining cable near the driver's side motor mount. Everything is so tight that a failed motor mount could do a lot of catastrophic damage under the hood. Let's prevent that.

 

just a word of advice, the 10si case isn't particularly great at higher output levels - GM used the 12si, with a better cooling system, when larger current needs were present. they're the same form factor, but can better handle the heat from a high amp unit - something that might be especially useful in a jeep that'll be doing any slow speed crawling. probably not going to be a life or death differenc, and you have a trail spare so you're extra safe, but I would be unsurprised if that alternator sees a shorter lifespan than usual because of its configuration. of course, that may be the difference between 10 years of service and 20, so it may not be worth changing, but something to think about nonetheless. or, go another step up and use a cs130, which will perform even better and bolt on with just a pulley swap (serpentine vs v belt).

 

I thought you were going to clock the back of the alternator 90° when I read clocked. That is what I ended up doing.

 

I was supposed to work on the alternator bracket last night so I could button up the front of the Jeep, but I noticed the power steering bracket was home made:


That's fine in general, but the only resistance to belt tension puts the bolts in bending. It would suck to have those bolts snap and dump the power steering pump into fan while in the rocks:


There were also lots of fiddly stacks of washers involved to get the spacing right.

I have a high mount bracket in the stash of parts, but I like the current location better for under hood room and don't want to deal with sourcing a new high pressure hose right now:


I decided to weld some 3/16" thick diagonal braces to the current bracket to resist the belt tension. There are actually gaps between the tubes and the main bracket for the plate on the back of the pump to fit into and pivot. I used some shims while welding to give me some margin, but I still needed to do some hand filing to get it to fit together and pivot smoothly. I also tacked all the washer stacks in place so I don't need to fight them during assembly:


Here it is mounted on the engine without the pump plate. It should should be much stronger:


Full trial fit and everything seems to fit and adjustment works:


The paint is drying on it today so I can install it tonight. It's back to the alternator after that.

I did order a stock Buick low-mount power steering bracket set from eBay. I'll have it on the shelf for the next time I have the Jeep apart. That will probably require require a new high pressure hose.

 

Yeah, I know, but the 12si fan is slightly bigger and I'm trying to get all the clearance I can. These Powermaster 10si alternators seem to have a good reputation, so we'll see.

 

Hmm. That's a good point, if I do that, then I probably won't need to grind the bracket for ground lug clearance. I've re-clocked the backs before. Maybe that will be the first task tonight.

 

I think it may be wise to consider Mr. Vaughan's recommendation of a cs130. Except for the need to change to a V belt drive, it's a bolt in with no other interference. An AC Delco cs130 from say a mid-90s Camaro has a 105 amp output and can be purchase anywhere for $100.

 

I've been running a cheap reman 10si for 11 Years. Bearings are beginning to squall from mud and I'll see if I can find the double groove pully I'm running.

I know it's been 11 because...
Alternator install by Joe the adapter guy, on Flickr

Pulley i'm running...
https://a.co/d/3QH7kXf

 

Now I feel really slighted and will no doubt need many therapy sessions. That same steering wheel resided in the 3B for three decades------

 

I'm petty your chrome wasn't destroyed by rust and your wood rim wasn't delsminating and falling off. In which case I'm fine with it.

 

Clocked the back of the alternator to 12:00 and it clears the mounting bracket now. I can even use the ground lug:


I swapped out the alternator bracket with one from a 1970 Buick 350 so I mount the coil on the front of the engine (the casting is slightly different to allow for the coil bracket). This finishes up the front accessories and I have about 1" of clearance between the alternator fan and battery:


Now I can start putting the cooling system back together.

But before that, it's time for something more fun. I don't have the 1967 only SM420 top cover with the integrated backup light switch but I would like to have working backup lights.

I took some inspiration from the dealer installed switches back in the day. They were an external switch with a tab on the shift lever like this:


Those are impossible to find and won't fit with my shift boot, so I mocked up a test setup with a 5 amp micro switch, a strip of metal, and a hose clamp:


It works so well, it's probably permanent.

Shifter anywhere that isn't reverse - no conductivity:


In reverse - conducts!


5 amps should be enough to power the LED backup lights, but I'll probably add a relay to reduce electrical load on the switch.

 

I don't want to derail your thread but I've been thinking a lot about a way to utilize one or multiple of those microswitches in the parking brake cane to operate Ford Fusion parking brakes (Brennan Metcalf's EEBrake kit). You seem like you got a good handle on this stuff so would love to hear your thoughts (offline if you'd prefer).

 

start a thread, there's plenty here that would love to chime in. i've got to do some thinking about that now.

 

http://earlycj5.com/xf_cj5/index.php?threads/161969/

 

Made my test backup light switch permanent by trimming screws and adding paint. Then I went back to getting the front of the engine back together.

Things were crowded up top, so I move the fuel filter down low. Access is no problem from under the Jeep:


Then is was:

• Replacing the heater hoses.
• installing the thermostat and housing. This took a lot a scraping and cleaning to get a good gasket surface.
• Installing bypass hose.
• Replacing vacuum advance hose.
• Tightening both fan belts.
• Bolting the grill/radiator back in place.

The next task is hacking up a lower radiator hose. I've got one with the right bends, but it needs the ends trimmed shorter and a length reducing splice in the middle. Not looking forward to it. Access is limited with the permanent battery tray above, the front axle pumpkin below, and the oil filter behind. I'll probably need to pull the oil filter.

 

Old Block heaters make good lower hose unions.