Another 66 rebuild

I just about finished the Steering column/Saginaw conversion, with the exception of the tie rods. I created a bracket for the floor similar to the speedway bracket they sell.


The biggest issue now is the brake pedal is right below the Steering column, so I get a little rub with my foot if I am slamming the pedal down. I think for now it will work, but I might make some changes in the future if I think of a better way to run this set up.




My biggest enemy right now is time. I need to get this project rolling (preferably driving) before April. It is at my parents garage and they sold the house so the closing date is my expected build finish date. Since I use most of my dad's tools I either need to get this done, or start buying/borrowing tools to finish it.


I have some Spring plates being made up right now to fit the D30 and flanged D44.
Here is the front(don't mind the growlers or messy garage):



Another issue I ran into is the rear driveshaft. I ran this before with the stock two piece D44. So by my calculations the yoke is now 1/8" closer to the Transfer case. I am hoping I don't need my driveshaft shortened. I didn't have an issue before, and right now the springs are hanging with the weight of the d44 on them, so I know as it flexes up into the wheelwell, the driveshaft length will increase. As of right now, it seems like it is at the minimum length it will go:



I have to have the front driveshaft modified to fit the different u joint size for the D30. Can I have two different sized U Joints on one driveshaft? Since it isn't the rear, I am not too worries about vibrations when driving at normal road speed.


I had talked to someone on here about buying a power steering bracket and pump, but I tried to make one to save money. Turns out, its way more time consuming to make one. So since he may have already sold it to someone else, I am going to call up a few junkyards today. I went to car-part.com and I think I found one off of a 82 Buick Skylark not too far from here.

 

Can you heat and bend the brake pedal to make it work?

 

Looking at the pic, looks like by the time you got it bent to the other side of the column it would be pretty short.

 

Yes. I bent it over a bit. Eventually I am going to cut the pedal and weld a bent extension on to get it to the right side of the column. Right now however, I am focused on the big picture. Things like that will just have to wait until the next time. haha

 

Maybe im missing something but couldnt he bend it towards the clutch pedal a little?

 

There isn't a lot of room between the pedals. Maybe 1". So I don't want to get too close.

For now it will do. It is just going to take some getting used to.

Also, looking at the pics of the pedals, you can see my wiring needs to be dealt with. That is something I have been putting off because I just dont' want to do it. Maybe this weekend I will get to that.

 

I took care of most of the wiring today. I just need to find some of the little light holders for the speedometer cluster. I think i have one out of a later jeep, so there are all sorts of indicator lights and I have some wires that I can hook up there to add to the dash.

I was installing my hubs when I noticed that the Axle hub (part that the spindle goes through that the lugs press into, had a broken bolt in it. I am not sure how I didn't notice that before. Anyway, I took the wheel bearings out and took that hub off and drilled through the bolt with my drill press. I have it soaking in PB blaster now and I am going to try to Easy out it tomorrow.

However, if that doesn't work, I have another D30 with drum brakes. Is this part the same for disc and drum brake d30's? If it is, I will just use the spare and not deal with the broken bolt. I was hoping to have this driving on March 1st. Now I am shooting for March 15th. Its going to be close...

 

You may have to machine the back side of the flange on the drum brake hub so the rotor wil sit flat on it. However, those broken hub bolts usually come right out. I've had more than a few break until I went with studs instead of bolts. Bolts always seem to get loose, then they break.

 

Thanks, that makes me feel a little better. I don't have access to a local machine shop so machining stuff isn't a great option.

It is still soaking in PB blaster and tonight I will try to loosen that. I can always heat it up a bit if I need to.

 

I just snapped off my easy out inside the frozen bolt. I am unsure of where to go from here, although I found some new online that I might just buy if I am out of luck.

Any thoughts on the matter?

It was the first time my jeep made me bleed during this build up. The hub ate two of my knuckles.

 

When I converted my D30 to discs I bought new hubs that were already machined from 4wd.com Very bad breaking an ez out. I'm guessing the bolt is broken off below the edge of the hole? EZ Out steel is extremely hard. I don't see drilling a hole in it to get another extractor in there. If it's near thesurface and you can weld, weld a bolt to it. The heat from the weld usually breaks things loose. Probably not practical on this case. Or, fi you can swing it, order a hub or hubs and work on something else while you wait for UPS. There are some machinists on this site that might be able to tell oyu how to get that out. The search function is always good too.

 

Yup, easy outs are HARD. About your only option is going to be taking it to the machine shop and getting them to get it out with an old carbide end mill. Even at that, it's about a 50/50 crap shoot seems like. Had to do quite a few taps that way...maybe easy outs are better?

Id' go for the weld method. Put a nut over the easy out, fill the middle up with weld, and back it out. Once that's out of there, then try the same with the frozen bolt.

 

I can't weld it because the bolt and easy out are about 1/4" below the surface of the hole. I was able to drill along the side of the easy out, which might allow me some room to mess with it with a punch.

We shall see...

 

That's a bummer. If all else fails, some creative use of tin foil and gentle welding *might* allow you to reach down to it. Might start searching junkyards for hubs at that point...

 

Don't know about the quality of these as they are Omix-ada. Already machined for disc brake rotor. By the time you figure your gas to a wrecking yard, your time to find what you are looking for and then your time taking it all apart at the wreckers, these seem like a pretty good deal to me. But, I'm almost 62 years old and my time is valuable to me.

http://www.4wd.com/Jeep-Drivetrain-...spx?t_c=12&t_s=514&t_pt=5660&t_pn=OAI16705.04

 

jersey-jeep is parting out a mid 60's CJ5, I bought the lockouts off of it. I'm sure he'd give you a good price on a hub. Based on the lack of wear on the lockout, I'd imagine the jeep didn't have a pile of miles on it.

 

Was it a Dana 30 from a later jeep? If so, that might be the ticket. I have looked at all the aftermarket options. I will keep trying to work on this myself for the price of those.

Its funny that a damn chunk of steel has been stressing me out so much! ha

 

Nope, sorry, missed you had the swapped in D30. His is the stock D27 still.

 

Ok, so I started working on other things while I figure out how to deal with the Hub. I am about to move so I don't know want to spend too much extra cash right now. I am not sure what my expenses will be in the coming month or two.

So, I put on the grill and realized the new firewall master cylinder is in the way of the stabilizer bar. I am going to shift the bar and mounting bracket over about 4 inches to clear up some room. I will test it with the hood but I am pretty sure it will work. I don't think this is a huge deal since the girll is also bolted to the fender.

Since the ports on the exhaust manifold had a slightly smaller height, I followed Posi's build and welded the gaps in. I will grind them down carefully and I will probably hand file to make sure that they are perfectly flat. I have a straight bar used for tuning downhills skis that I will use to check the flatness. However, I heard from an old jeep guy out here that they used to double up manifold gaskets to help with any imperfections in the metal. Does this sound familiar to anyone? I just bought a set of the Fel-Pro gaskets, but might order a second set if you all think that is sound advice.

I am hoping to work on the exhaust this weekend. I am going to try to manipulate the old Y Pipe to fit. Its going to involve some cutting and welding, but should be a fun project.