1959 Cj-5 302 Swap. Help Me To Help Myself......

ok, well THATS A WIN!!!!

Hooked up the ad-hoc fuel system (clicky-clack pump and a gallon of 50:1 chainsaw fuel) to the Edelbrock 1406 carb, and with some (not so) gentle persuasion from a wayward can of brake cleaner, It has fired up. I had to monkey with the firing order, and it seems to like the late model 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8 firing order over the early 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8. looks like I need to pull the valve covers at the very least and VERIFY what the cam is set for. Popping through the intake is gone, and it actually started on the key when I went back out there.... i wouldnt be UN-happy to see a late model roller cam in the damn thing, but that makes the water pump a bit more suspicious (late model serp belt runs backwards to what I need)..... Worst case, I have to pull the timing cover off anyway to helicoil the pump bolts. I can see if there is anything marked on the cam at that time... but this thing sounds ANGRY..... in a good way!!!

 

I like the spacing of your pedals and shifters. Mine sucks. The 4 speed shifter on mine sits in front of the front fuel tank. I have less than one foot length between the shifter and the gas pedal and my pedal is right in front of it. My overdrive is so close to the shifter I accidently shift it at times. I think your shifter is swept back more so you won't have that problem.

 

ok, my YJ steering bracket finally came out of FedEx purgatory yesterday and arrived. Looked at it on the Jeep last night, and it didnt make sense, so I contacted Fireball for a few more pics of his setup, which he graciously provided. This answered all of my questions.

The YJ bracket has a "shelf" (for lack of a better term, this will suffice) that is supposed to locate on the bottom of the frame rail. This does not work on the CJ, and has to be removed. In its place, and with a couple measurements that Fireball provided, and a couple that I inferred, I got the box located in space this morning. The box locates just forward of where the bumper will mount, and cants the nose downward more towards straight than a YJ plate will mount it, but it WILL clear the crossmember just fine. With my Crown pitman arm loosely installed, the tapered hole to mount the drag link in will be slightly above and forward of the tie rod (more than enough for clearance and smooth operation) Now I need to cut off the rest of the shelf (I had previously just removed enough to clear the front spring mount (initial point of interference), get a boxing plate for the frame, and start drilling to mount this monstrosity....



This shows what is left of the shelf. You can see that where I need the box is considerably "flatter" in relation to the box alignment than the YJ bracket. that will come off, and a pad below the frame will take both lower bolts, and then be gusseted to the frame rail. Fireball has this in one of the pics he sent me, but I dont want to post his pics without his permission. Ill have more of mine when done in a few days or so.



this has the steering box sitting on a support in about its final position. The mark on the frame rail should line up with the center of the upper "front" mounting bolt location, and be about 1/3 of the way up the frame rail. Again, this is about where Fireball's is on his conversion also using this bracket. The bracket fits the box nicely (late model GM "A" and/or "G" body box, got it cheap off Amazon with no core charge, its only a 3 bolter, but will be fine for the usage I have intended for it, and I can always swap that later if needed) There will be a 1/4" boxing plate between the bracket and the frame, and tubes for the upper two bolts going through for compression support. The unused mount bolt will be installed with a tube to hold the bracket in place for now. The upper bolts will be about level with each other when installed.



just sitting on the support box, the stub shaft clears the crossmember fine. Ill fine tune this once I get one of the bolts installed for some support. Hanging 30 pounds of cast iron when taking a pic with the other hand doesnt allow fine tuning.... BUT, goal achieved, and I shouldnt have to notch the crossmember, my pressure and return lines will clear (with some creative fittings) and the drag link is above the tie rod, and will clear side/side. naturally there is some additional fine tuning, but thats all I have time for on my lunch break. for those really interested, I need to pull out the rest of the Ross gear, as thats more in the way now than anything else....

 

ok, a couple more mockup pics. Removed the last vestiges of the Ross steering, save for the bellcrank bracket on the crossmember. thats riveted AND welded on... maybe another day, if its in the way...



with the box sitting on the support, at approximately the height I will mount it (within 1/8 inch), I am SLIGHTLY above and about 1 1/2 inches forward of the tie rod with the gearbox end of the drag link. I can be happy with this. Should give plenty of swinging clearance while minimizing bumpsteer.





I have a stock length drag link from a late model CJ for mockup. its obviously too long to actually use, but it does bridge the area nicely for getting a straight line. I have two new tie rod ends for the actual drag link once I can measure what length tubing I need to connect them. Speedway sells this ready to rock in various lengths, so thats where Ill source it.



I will probably have to go with a three joint shaft to go from column to gearbox. this is resting on the engine crossmember, but will clear above it nicely, then ill have to get to the column past the exhaust. shouldnt be too hard, Ill put an eyeball support somewhere close here to support it....



you can see the bottom of the column coming out of the firewall at the bottom of the pic. Just need to match that with the stub coming back from the crossmember, and Bob's Your Uncle....

 

pretty much got diddly squat done today.... had a doc appt with my son, and then it seemed every time I went out to work on the Jeep, it started to rain... did get the boxing plate sourced and cut to size, but other than getting it clamped in place loosely, nothing else of note got done....

 

ok, back onto the Saginaw conversion this morning, and lots of progress made. Final positioned the box, and marked the holes in the boxing plate, drilled them, and cut to length and welded the spacers to the boxing plate (I dont want to be fiddling with trying to get them into place inside the frame channel... a little tack weld goes a LONG way to maintaining my sanity.... Fabbed up the plate for the lower bolts on the bracket, and welded it to the boxing plate. This makes the frame side essentially one piece, and will get separately gusseted to the frame rail once its all burned in. Mounted the box (bolts drop right through nicely thankfully, I musta done something right) and clamped the plate and gearbox to the Jeep for final fiddling before burning it in and making it permanent... At this point, I can bin what I have, and not feel bad....

Clearances checked for left/right swing on the pitman arm (clears nicely, very happy with that) and fabbed up a drag link so I can determine what length tubing I need... turns out the Ross drag link is only about an inch or two shorter than I would really like, but will be fine for yard usage until I get the new one here.... (that only leaves me some DD stock short of being able to steer again...) Some would probably send it, but the ends are shot to hell, and since I have new ones already, I may as well make new....

Now to go and burn in the plate, and drill the upper holes (gonna use the plate and spacers as a drill guide when punching those two final holes... then this is essentially done, save for power steering lines....



Need to drill the upper holes before I can put bolts in them.... lowers are in already and supporting the box.



lower plate is a chunk of 1/4 inch I had fabbed up for another project, then went another way. yes, its a couple of pieces welded together. this will get a gusset or two going to the frame that I still need to make. The hole that impinges on where the "new hole" will need to be in the frame is already welded up....



once my grinder battery charges, Ill cut it back to flush for a nice flat washer surface.



the old Ross tie rod end fits the new pitman arm nicely, I wont fully secure it, no real need for that... its only for mockup and mobility....



Pleasantly surprised that the center tube of the Ross drag link fits nicely (for mockup/mobility at least). I can now measure for the new link. Tires are slightly off to passengers side, so that is reflected in the pitman arm position. Its a little close on the passengers side spring. I may need to run some 1" raised shackles front/rear for a little more clearance. The new tubing may also be a slightly smaller diameter as well. The Ross tie rod ends are larger threads than the 11/16" on the new tie rods.



the Universal joint and shaft clears nicely without having to butcher the cross member. This was my original goal, not having to cut the crossmember.

 

ok, onto other things this morning. The mechanic at work took pity upon me and my project here and donated some sheetmetal to the cause. Notably a tailgate that one of the grounds guys bent up. Plenty of flat 18ga steel still in it, so I gladly accepted the donation. I deskinned it this morning, and am getting ready to put some of it to good use. Time to do the fender well notch, so my 6'5" 350# frame can actually get into this thing and use it.... (I shoulda got a CJ7....)

Dont want to fire up the deathwheel for a little bit still, its early on a Sunday morning, and I dont want to annoy the neighbors too much, but I do have it marked out. This should go quick....



taking a 3" section out of the wheel well. That should give me enough backwards to work with.



i may regret it if I dont take off that sharp corner, thats easy though... I have the OG fender as a pattern ....



Probably gonna follow the original angles, then I can scab the OG steel back in on the front side, and only have to make some corner pieces to seal it up and give me something to blow holes in....

 

ok, the notch is nearly done. I need to finish welding in one section, but with the angle of the sun, I cant see diddly squat through the mask. Ill finish that another day, or maybe tonight when the sun goes down and isnt shining in the back of my mask.....

and yes, before I went and welded it back in, I sat the notch in place, and sat in the seat. This will be PERFECT for me. a bit more would have been better, but Ill take what I got.

 

connected the steering shaft last night. Still need to drill the crossmember for the eyeball support, but thats a nothingburger. Job was much easier than I anticipated.

 

do yourself a favor and tack those joints to the shaft they aren't any fun when they come apart....

 

Likely will do. I still need to spot drill the shaft for the set screws, and finalize everything. That will have to wait for the weekend.... I try to do little things during the week, but today I didnt have a whole lot of luck... the master I got to replace the shagged out one needs more mods to the pedals.... so that is what I was getting frustrated with tonight.... and not the steering....

 

this morning has been all about tying up loose ends.... Finish welded the notch in from last week, so that is ready for some seam sealer. Got the eyeball support in for the steering column, then had to redrill and slot the hole because I screwed up, and put it too far "outboard" and the u-joints hit on the frame rail.... easy fix..... couple of washers and some tack welds, and you will never see it...

then I decided to un-phuck the threads on the water pump that someone before me had so graciously removed.... yep, its HeliCoil time.... Pulled the pump, cobbled together a balancer puller that would work without jacking the engine up (turns out the crank bolt is the same thread as my puller, so a spare one of those made a new forcing screw, along with an old 460 head bolt to go into the crank and prevent me from screwing those threads up...) and found this:



now, Ive had the feeling that someone was here before (those threads didnt strip themselves...) but seeing this actually surprised me. Why they went gear drive over a good old fashioned double roller at half the cost, I dont know... but I do know they installed it "straight up" and not advanced or retarded. I couldnt get the cam gear off to see what the cam was, and with the top end installed, I dont want to push the issue.... Its a "no joke" timing set though....

the Heli-coil went in smooth enough though, so that is repaired.... My power steering pump and bracket should be here tomorrow, so Ill wait on putting the rest of the crap on the front end (its all back to where it was, save the accessory drives...) until that gets here, then I can plumb in the power steering lines and rig the pump.... Yay..... that should be about as much fun as a recreational colonoscopy.....

 

Nice timing set. There is almost no way it could be a stock cam with that setup.

And good grief on the amount of RTV. You might want to drop the pan and clean all that up and check to make sure the oil pickup isn't clogged with RTV boogers.

 

I would pull the gear drive and inspect the camshaft.
Chances are the installer of the gear drive installed a camshaft that is not ideal for general CJ5 driving conditions.
Sell the gear drive on FB marketplace and install a timing chain, the peace and quiet are worth it.

 

yeah, they were in love with the "Blue Schmoo".....I have 40PSI of oil pressure cranking, so doubt there are issues with the pickup. For now, I need to get it running, then I can break it again....

 

Given the intake (Edelbrock Torker 289 with a 650 CFM carb... Who does that.... It'll never see the 5-7k RPM that the intake is designed for.... ) and the gear drive, I fear you may be correct. For the time being, its gonna stay in one piece though. I need to get this thing running and out of my front yard... A little fun with it before it blows up wouldnt hurt either... Hard to tell if the heads have been off, but they appear to be iron Ford heads.... my bet is someone put some $$$$$ parts onto an otherwise stock motor, and its gonna make all kinds of wonky issues... I can deal with that once its self-mobile though....

surprisingly though, the gear drive wasnt that loud when I had it fired up a couple weeks ago... Granted that was with open headers, but still, the whine from those spur cut gears should have been epic....

 

wont get much done today... Have to take the doggos into the vet for their yearly.... that will shoot the **** out of the day... Hopefully the power steering pump shows today like USPS says it will (doubt it). Did go out this morning with some plastic split loom and tidy up some of the underhood wiring. Looks a bit better now, and isnt hanging in my way while trying to do other things....

 

well, as predicted, I didnt really get diddly done yesterday. I did get the carb pulled off, and into some mineral spirits for cleaning (Edelbrock 1406). It was absolutely disgusting inside, with a thick layer of varnish in the bottoms of the float bowls, and the metering rods STUCK in their bores.... Green growth everywhere... Got it cleaned out, and flowing fluid (pressurized brake or carb cleaner works great). Reassembled this morning at 0400 (my son decided that 0230 was the perfect time to start singing the song of his people, so no more sleep for me...). Will bolt it onto the engine when the sun comes up, then hook up the fuel system and check for leaks (not gonna run it today).

power steering pump bracket came yesterday, with no signs of the pump.... yay... I may rob the one off my boat (yep, its got a Saginaw PS pump on it) to see how it all fits, but im not optimistic. The way it looks, the PS wants the rear groove on the crank pulley, but that is already claimed by the water pump and alternator.... so I may have to scrap all of the accessory drive, and get a matched set.... Joy to the world.... keep in mind these are supposed to be "stock" replacement parts... and stock, the PS pump goes to the front of the alternator by its lonesome... which may also interfere with the lower rad hose.... FML.... its only $$$ I guess....

 

well, Im happy to report that the carb cleaning was a complete success. Pumped it full of chainsaw fuel (I use this as it has a bit of oil in it for the carb, and since the engine has been sittin a while, its good for the valve stems...) put a battery back into it, turned on the key, and hit the remote switch... It fired right to life, and idled.... it didnt do that before... so WINNING.... I still need to put a radiator in it, but I want the power steering pump in first. I need the room for the pulley installer.... 30 seconds of running open headers was enough to see that the carb at least isnt trashed....

on the power steering front, it looks as if I will need to get a different pulley than what I have.... RockAuto looks to have them for under $20, so now its just time....

other than that, I got sidetracked by getting the boats ready for the season..... Got one of them ready to go last week (its gonna get sold) and the bigger boat I de-pickled this morning.... I still need tp run that one, but I didnt feel like going and getting 5 gallons of gas for it today.... too many idiots, and too little patience... Ill get that this week when I fill up the truck.

Next week, I need to start tackling the clutch and brake pedals, and get this thing moved....

I still need to finish the floor as well, but that time will come.... at least its RUNNING.....

 

naturally the USPS seems to have lost my power steering pump.... Yay, no updates since the 9th.... tell me why again they lose MILLIONS every year....

took this morning and fabbed up a dash side column mount out of some 1/4" plate and a muffler clamp. Appears to work well, but may need some massaging to be "perfect". three 1/4-20 screws will hold it to the dash sheet metal, and ill make some rods to go to the new pedal mount when it arrives hopefully Monday or Tuesday.

now its a bit of hole filling... there was a rough cutout for a radio in the dash that is now no longer, and I have mocked in the generic switch panel ready to install that once I fill a few more holes... Stuff I dont need/want and the hole is useless to me..... some steel and the hot glue gun make pretty short work of it....



Squared out the hole (it was a post type radio....) and ready to weld it in



almost like it wasnt ever there..... a bit of massaging and a bit of bondo, and it will be invisible....



cut the hole for the new switches (no use yet, but wanted them for additional "crap", plus it has USB ports for phone charging and a built in voltmeter... that alone makes it useful... Ill mark for riv-nuts and install this here after I fill the three holes above it....



last three holes filled on this side... that looks MUCH better than before... Its not perfect, but it wasnt perfect when I started either....



these three are next, but I dont know if they are a "today" next or a "later on" next.... The speaker hole is handy at the moment for behind the dash access both sight and for my hands... The others can go, but if Im gonna move my seat, im gonna make it worth it....