66 CJ5 Rebuild

Looks really solid PieLut. I noticed an incredible difference in the way my Jeep felt offroad after I re-did all my body mounts and floorpan supports. It's got to help reducing frame flex too, having some good solid mounts.

 

This rebuild is awesome! I can't believe how good the work you've done is! Keep it up

 

nice work.

 

Thanks guys! I appreciate the kudos...I'm working on the transmission cover right now. After new body mounts and a custom transmission/t-case mount, the transmission cover needed some work. It dosen't help that the PO did a sloppy job with the previous version.

 

I changed the steering column again...One of the first things I did to this Jeep was replace the loose steering column. The PO changed over to a manual saginaw box, which means lots of "customization." I came up with the idea to remove the original style shaft and replace with a 3/4" shaft using 3/4" Heim joints for support.
This design was very sturdy and I saw an immediate improvement when driving the old girl.
Here is the design with a crossbar over the dash and a Heim joint welded in.




The problem with this design is that the crossbar gets in the way of viewing the gauges. I recently decided to change the design once more. I wanted to have an original looking steering column, but improve the design. The steering column mount on the dash is not a strong mounting location, so I made a bracket that connects the dash, steering column, and firewall. This has shown to be very strong and just as good as the previous concept. I like the new look a lot better

Steering column 1.5" x 0.065 wall. Bearings are 3/4" bore and 1.375 O.D.






Bracket that attaches steering column, dash and firewall. 1" tubing.















Also added a bearing with retainer at the firewall

 

My roll cage is a tight fit, so that means a PITA to get in and out. I had to come up with a way to remove one of the front mounting locations in order to remove or install it. I found this tube clamp from Ballistic Fabrication in Tuscon, AZ.
I grabbed some universal mounting tabs from them as well, they seem to have good prices. Some people want rediculous prices for some laser cut tabs. This I.D. tube clamp uses two allen head bolts to hold it together (not shown).

 

You are doing a great job, keep the updates coming.
Can you show some better pictures of the entire roll cage? Looking at doing something similar.

 

Chuck, I like how stout the piece is. The tolerance on the two halves are tight, once the bolts are tight this clamp is very secure. The allen head bolts do not protrude once they are all the way in. This particular size fits perfectly into 2" .120 wall tubing. The length of this piece once welded in place is 1.5" long.

 

I just put a ratchet strap on the legs of my cage, tighten the snot out of it and in it goes. Amazing how mcuh you can tweak those legs in, although I don't have the horizontal bar between the legs like you do. Probably makes a big difference.

 

You got it John, I was able to squeeze the front bars together before the seat mounts were installed. Now I can't budge em'

Pictures of roll cage per Rob's request. I started with a standard front and rear hoop. I added the seat mounts and the side tubes that follow the shape of the tub.

 

Thanks for the pictures. I have been trying to come up with a way to incorporate the seat mounts into the roll cage and still have access to the tool box under passenger seat. Pictures gave me a few ideas to work on.

 

A few more items crossed off the list.
--I finished the roll cage fabrication bits. Most of it was for seat belt mounts. I grabbed a set of 3-point shoulder belts from JC Whitney. The 18" cable buckle is good because it allows me to mount the buckle on the floor. Now the buckle comes right up to side of my seats and is easy to fasten.

I also cut some giant holes in my tub. Not sure why, but I was very nervous about cutting a 4 1/2" hole for my new flush mount tail lights. After I pulled
myself together I made a quick tool to give me a clean hole with the plasma cutter. Worked great!
These lights are awesome. I tested them as soon as I got them and they are crazy bright. Here is the link for the lights.







After all that nonsense it was time to remove the tub (again) move the rolling frame (again) and try out the new rotisserie.
The rotisserie turned out great. It moves easily, rotates with little effort, and locks in place where needed. Very happy with the end result

 

Looks good! I am always amazed at what you can find on Amazon.

 

You are going to love that rotisserie before you are done. I did all my body repairs with the tub on a Tommy B. Working alone on mine, it was real handy. I even painted it on the rotisserie.

 

Fixed the dent and crack in the grill. I started to repair this with a hammer and dolly, but my labors did not prove to be fruitful. I'm not much of a dent fixer, but I can cut, shape, and weld new stuff. So here are the results, it should clean up nice after a bit of paint.











Next up is the dash...lots of missing metal to replace.

 

That dash is going to be a challenge. Flat panels like that will show warps like crazy after the heat shrinkage from welding in the new metal.
I did one for my '69 that had only 3 holes in it that somebody cut out for gauges. After welding in the new metal, I ended up using a lot of hammer-on-dolly to stretch the metal in the area of the ground down welds. It took a while to get the panel back close to straight again.
With the way your grill turned out, it looks like you have the skills to do it, good job.

Don

 

Thanks Don,
My biggest concern is the warpage that will happen, I know it will. At this point I will give it a try and see how it turns out. I think my last resort will be to purchase a custom dash from Double D Fab.

 

Lookin good, PieLut. I had a lot of holes to fix on my dash. No big ones though. I didn't have a warpage problem just filling in the numerous "bullet holes". It'll be time consuming welding that many spots and taking the time to let all the welds cool. But you can do it. If you have access to a sheetmetal brake you could probably bend up a new panel faster than you could fix that one. Of course the glovebox would be challenging.