1970 Jeep Rebuild

I think you have time. You might need a hand getting the pan back on. And there are less expensive HEI options, and you could save the rotor, pickup, and cap for spares.

 

Yeah, I sure do remember that.

 

I tore the front timing chain cover off yesterday to see what damage if any. Before this I drained oil and found no metal shavings in the oil. I also cut open the oil filter and found nothing in there. Dropped the oil pan and found nothing in the bottom. When I pulled the timing chain cover the metal shavings were contained to above the oil pump. I pulled the oil pump apart to check for any wear or trash and found nothing. Everything looked good enough that I could of just cleaned and put back together but I’m not willing to chance loosening a motor over $100 in parts, so I ordered new gears and thrust plate from TA performance, should be here by end of week. I did find a crack in the top of the timing chain cover by where the distributor hold down screw attaches. I’ll get one of my buddies to rig this up and I’ll re drill and put in a heli coil. I contacted Davis Industries about the distributor and they had me ship it back to re condition the shaft, dropped it in the mail last night.

 

I had to do a little research on this pump as it isn’t stock, it has the taller v8 gears and a 1/4” plate and was blue printed for better flow.

 

Update:
Got my parts from T/A Performance. New gears, thrust plate, shim pack, adjustable pressure valve. Took my timing chain cover to my buddy to TIG weld up the distributor hold down bolt hole, I drilled and tapped the hole.
I assembled the oil pump dry and checked end clearance.

Sitting at .002 tolerance, recommended between .002-.004
It might be a little tight still.

 

I stopped for the night after I inserted the distributor to check how it engages the pump shaft. I tightened the hold down bolt and the top of the timing chain cover started to pull up and cracked.

 

Might be ordering a new cover from T/A Performance.

 

I went up into the attic and went thru all the crates of engine parts I have stashed and found a front timing chain cover to use, completely serviceable. I spent the day prepping it and opening up a few of the passages for the oil pump. I cleaned it up and assembled it with the taller v-8 gears. The end play ended up being .003. I got it installed on the motor. Now only have everything else to go.


New/old cover before I cleaned it up.



setting up the taller v-8 gears with the 1/4” spacer.


Installed back onto the motor.

 

Dang Rob. Looking good.

 

Got some work done on the JEEP, got everything back onto the motor minus distributor and plug wires. I primed the motor with my cordless drill, wife was watching gauges for me and said it was at 50 pounds. I think this will work. I got my distributor back from Davis Industries. They replaced the main gear and cleaned it up all for under $50 bucks, including shipping and a week turn around, great company!

got my new 7 blade fan mounted, will see if this keeps temps down.


Getting it back together


Got the grill back on


Got most everything buttoned up except for distributor and plug wires, then will try firing it off.
'

 

Got some garage time this morning…
Got distributor stabbed and Spark plug wires on and finished plugging back in some wiring. Set the timing and she fired off first turn of the key. Played with carburetor a little and she is purring.
before setting idle down she was idling at 50 lbs.


As temp came up she settled in at around 42-43 lbs


Been idling in garage for about twenty minutes still not even to 180* and it was 93* outside and 98* in the garage


After 40 minutes idling only at 195* oil pressure still at 40lbs.

Running the RPM’s up and oil pressure running 60lbs
.

ran it around town…pulled up to stop sign and temps were 180* and oil pressure was at 40lbs

 

Are those gears for a Buick 350? Where did you get them & the spacer plate?
Thanks

 

Good Job, Glad you got her fixed. ,.

 

Yes the taller gears are for the Buick 350, it comes as a kit from T/A Performance, it includes the 1/4” spacer plate.

https://www.taperformance.com/proddetail.asp?prod=TA_1505

I also bought the steel oil pump booster plate and shim kit so the end clearance can be set up correctly.

https://www.taperformance.com/proddetail.asp?prod=TA_1510
https://www.taperformance.com/proddetail.asp?prod=TA_1704

 

I started off this morning by pulling carburetor off the motor. When I rebuilt it last month the spring loaded needle and seats were back ordered so I used the standard ones in the rebuild kit, they worked fine but not what I wanted for off road. I also wanted to change up a few other things to see if I could get it to run better.
I’m running the Holley 4160 - 390cfm with vacuum secondaries. I’ve always had an issue with stumbling when taking off, I’ve just learned to feather it and I made it work.
I removed the secondary metering plate and added a metering block with #59 jets and a vent baffle/whistle.
I changed the primary jets to #56 and traded out the 6.5 blow off valve for a 2.5.
I changed the accelerator pump discharge nozzle from a .25 to a .38.
I also changed the secondary diaphragm to a quick change unit with the black spring.
I got carb installed back on the motor and adjusted the float level and adjusted the idle mixture screws.
Took it for a 202 mile drive, it hasn’t ran this well since I installed the 4 barrel, accelerated with no stumble, had acceleration that you could feel at 55-60 mph.
Checked the plugs after it cooled down and they look really good. I might up the secondary jets up to #60-61 as it was popping a little out the exhaust when the rpm’s got up high before shifts, like it wasn’t getting enough fuel, but over all very happy with the adjustments.

 

Because I forgot to post pics of the plugs:
'

Hard to see

 

When I was going through parts bins I found a hand throttle that I bought last year to put on. When I got rear ended I was more concerned on getting it running instead of adding convenience items.
only took an hour to fab up a bracket to hold cable at carburator end and get it all set up.

 

I’m trying to finish up a few projects before Rubicon trip, hopefully mechanical stuff is done. I have a Bimini top on the JEEP that works great on the road when the windshield is up. When I’m off road the windshield is down and I loose the Bimini top and any shade. Today I started making a Bimini top that snaps to the roll bar letting me put down the windshield and still get shade.

.
got all the holes drilled (24) and snaps riveted in. Cut out the material and marked out the snap locations and measured out where the seams will go. Took to a buddy of mine that owns an Upostory shop who is gonna sew it up for me.

 

I just added snaps to my existing top and the roll bar.

 

Still not 100% done with new Bimini top, so I started another project.
I bought 2-2 gallon RotopaX water containers to put in the JEEP. I was going to put 1 in place of the 2 gallon gas RotopaX I have on the spare tire carrier and just strap the other down in the JEEP somewhere.

while sitting in the garage drinking a beer (or 2) and starring at the JEEP, I came up with a brilliant game plan for storing the RotopaX water cans inside the JEEP where they wouldn’t take up to much room.
I started off with some 1”x .120 wall tubing I had laying around and put it in the bender and bent it to 115 degrees.

I marked out the holes and drilled and inserted 1/4” rivet nuts.


I installed the mounts to the tubing.


I mounted the water cans to get my angles for the cuts.


And checked to see if they fit.