69 Dauntless Project - the 'Heep'

Any progress Dane?

 

Time is in short supply. Daughter is taking martial arts 2x a week, and that is fun to watch, I catch it right after work.

Finished resetting end play on the output shaft of the t98 trans and the twin stick d18 I rebuilt. I can now clamp some vice grips over a rag and turn the input shaft, goes in every gear, high / low, 4wd, 2wd.

Planning the axle swaps now, preparing to pull and check bits and pieces, replace wipers on the d25, and put under the frame...

Some slow progress on other things as well, not much worth a word, sand blast and prime mostly of small things.

 

A few hours today tinkering on the jeep.

i removed the springs, axles, wheels and the brake lines from the frame. I have to redo the brake lines.

master cylinder was frozen up, soaking currently in degreaser, will see if I can rebuild it (twin tank Wagner version with bolt down top).

wondering if I need to take the Ross steering pivot from the middle of the front cross member?

i see some cracks in the rear cross member around bolt holes, middle of member, should not affect integrity if I fix.

thinking I will re design the mounts for the rear gas tank the po added.

ran the angle grinder for a While with a flap disk. Thinking I'll get the deep rust off, the spot blast the rest. Then I'll lightly box the frame.

rear of frame


front of frame:


rear frame horns: note the broken tab


rear tank mount: I'm not fond of this style. Wondering what others have done to mount their tanks and the factory rear skid on preCJs that didn't have rear tanks.


front horns: - note these have slight cracks which were hidden under some fishplate on the tab. cracks still there, I also ground off a rivet to get the crack in the open. anyone have a problem drilling out the rivets then welding the holes closed and adding some weld to the frame and spring mounts?


front axle bubba cut: gotta grind this mess off I suppose.

 

Today I spent about 3 hours AlOx blasting small parts.

didn't get a lot of parts done, but I spent about 3 hours blasting away.

I fiddled around with the master cylinder, it's beyond repair. Guaranteed needing replacement now...

Amazing the wear grooves on the shackles after I blasted them clean. Funny the clutch pivot (thru the floor) and the brake pivot (the combined main shaft of sorts), how out of round it is.

I think I'm all the way down to my small parts pile, it's all blasted and will soon be at least primered, if not rattled black.

Will be working on frame and axles next.

 

More time today on the heap of parts.

took the rear 44, wire wheeled and spot blasted it all. Primer and semi-gloss black.

i pulled the moser axles out of the rear 44.

drilled off the bearing blocks, two holes opposite sides, smacked with a chisel, then had to cut off the bearings.

degreased and hit the flash rust with naval jelly. Ready for new bearings brown Santa is bringing...

Sorting parts in the shed.

 

OK,

Made an order from Summit for some needed supplies for the fixin' of the jeep.

Ordered some 'steel tubing wire protector' to put aroudn the brake lines. Ordered a service kit for the front Warn hubs.

also ordered the 'set10' bearing kit from Moser engineering (summit distributes them).

So, the moser parts, #9510 drop ship from moser direct. The difference: I get a single source of parts, don't have to create an account with Moser, and because I'm far above the $99 for free shipping... mostly so I can track as many parts purchased for the jeep in one account where possible...

I get a package yesterday from Moser:

It's a soft-sided 5x7 or so paper envelope that's supposed to contain two bearings, two bearing races, bearing blocks and seals...

Um, package is torn and taped with clear tape over the holes, looks like it's been thru some combination of a hay baler and slid across an oily table.

Opening the package, what do you know... it's missing parts.

Bearings and bearing blocks only. where's the races and seals? (apparently somewhere in UPS limbo land).

I'm perplexed that Moser would send metal parts in a paper sack and expect that they get delivered without incident...

SO: Summit is making it right, but I have to wait about two weeks for all that PITA to clear. In the meantime, I had them order me a new set and some other goodies. Wonder if they'll come in the same crappy packaging...

 

Progress: Axles now done.

Loaded the frame (not a single bolt on it) into the bed of the F150 today and took it and a few small parts to the blaster...

Incidentally, I also dismantled and loaded up 4 cast (iron and aluminum) yard benches. Going to have them powdercoated with a product that's made for exterior weather.

He's going to blast the frame, the spring packs (so I can shake-n-shoot 'em), and then he's going to PC some other parts for me.

Should be ready next week... (he was crazy busy, a few go-fast-carts in there, a few other very large projects in front of me.

 

Progress is slow... looked at the start of this thread... 2012... ug.

Frame is coming along. that's a separate thread.

I'm spraying primer now on various body parts, mine included. I have a decent 3m respirator/filter. I highly recommend this.

So, I hope I'm not vilified for being a 'shake-n-shoot heritic'... I bought a gallon of 'Rustoleum Pro - Rusty Metal Primer'. I was in Tractor Supply and bought a pint of hardener and a can of reducer (medium). I also have acetone for making it go faster, but I need slow so I get the idea of what I should be doing before it's all set. The price was right also.

I started 'testing' my spray gun (and abilities) on my freshly sanded leaf springs packs. No I didn't want to disassemble them, and it didn't seem that paint would last anyway between the leaves (rubbing together constantly). They'll be dirty soon enough.

So, here's my mix and it seems to be going well...

about 2oz of hardener
about 2oz of reducer
Put both in the 'cow' colored sour-cream container (about two pints I guess, says 16oz).
add rustoleum until almost full and mix well.
dump in the HLVP hopper of the sprayer and shoot ...

SO, I think the springs have enough primer on them to last until I can get to spraying some black.

I also prepped a fender. Pictures tomorrow...
It's now on it's second coating, and I realized you have to use a brush to get into spaces where the gun can't fit. So, a 1" brush from cardboard freight has done the trick... Next layer will get a blocking/scotchbrite and the spray will mask the strokes and it's under the fender in the engine compartment as well...

I'm kind of using it like a 'high-build' primer I suppose, let it cure enough, then block out the 'wrinkles' and spray another layer (or that's what I understand it as being).

If my weather holds tomorrow, I'll shoot some photos before I block / DA the fender a second time and may be start on the other.

The finish is almost 'smooth' (not gloss, almost a semi-gloss I guess). It's not the chaulky finish most primers leave. But it's not hard either. 10+ days of rain kept me from the second coat, and it was easy to DA / scotch brite to scuff and knock down the lumps I left on the first pass.

I found that if I clean the sprayer immediately with mineral spirits, it makes light work. I have been capturing what spirits I can in a foldgers plastic container with a lid so I can rinse brushes or drain the clear off the top after the solids all settle.

Question:
What's a red-ox / brownish colored primer do for 'under-the-color' like the 'spruce-tip' green over it?

Thanks!

 

What's a red-ox / brownish colored primer do for 'under-the-color' like the 'spruce-tip' green over it?

Depends on how many coats you do Dane. I would look at a color wheel, its been a long time sense I played with paint that wasn't for a house.

 

TCP Global has a resto paint that looks dang close to spruce tip and a gallon kit is pretty reasonable.

frost green metalic:
FROST GREEN METALLIC ACRYLIC URETHANE 1-GALLON KIT

sage Green metalic:
SAGE GREEN METALLIC ACRYLIC URETHANE 1-GALLON KIT

I looked at kirker, but there's nothing I found close to this.

Anyone have opinions on the colors? Is this paint worth spraying?

Thanks!

 

Seal the red primer with one coat of grey non sanding sealer for better coverage. I use red sealer on red based paint( red brown orange etc) and grey sealer on everything else. The non sanding sealer helps with gloss retention. Careful with the film build with the rust oleum too much and you get a bad paint sammich. It's not really for filling.

 

Got it! Thanks for the visual on a bad paint sammich. No mayo, no anchovies, no kale, no sprouts ... no uncured paint blobs.

 

bingo think big mac .... bad. hamburger ....better.the finish whatever you choose will be hard, the surface you are painting ,hard as well, keep the goooey stuf in the middle to a minimum.

 

Front Axle ready to get springs...

In the mean time
Some chrome diff-cover bling with stainless fasteners on this upgraded Dana 27...
11" brakes
Detroit lunchbox
Hercules HDTs 7.00x15
5.5 x 15" rims I had blasted and powdered. They've stacked, under a tarp for 2.5yrs, need a cleaning, but in good shape, like the look already. Although there were pitted spots in the rims, it only adds to the vintage look, IMO.

Waiting for Morris4wd to send me the Warrior spring plates with Skids...

white wheels show greasy fingers with gusto.

Officially, this thing is now effing heavy, I can only lift one end now, put it on HF wheeled dollies to move around until the spring plates come in. After that, I'll try and set the toe and clamp the TREs down at that point.

 

How do you like those tires? I may be up for a set soon and I'm trying to decide between those and STA Super Traxions like I have on my other Jeep.

 

I like them for the retro look, tall and skinny. Iirc, they are not in the hercules catalog this year. Iirc, about 32" tall

 

New u-bolt skids are in. springs mounted on the front axle.

I have to go find a single u-bolt for the D-44. One side of one u-bolt had cross-threads so I couldn't get it started, may be in the nut, not sure. Not sure I'm man enough (or have a wrench big enough to twist that SOB all the way down (not half-way thru the nut yet. Thought about trimming the bolt and getting a start on it, but it's hard to start threads...

And in the 'always something category' ...

Moved a wheel and knuckle pudding / gear oil came seeping out of what I think is the drum ... sounds like the effing inner seal copped a squat right in front of me. Got to check so it doesn't foul my shoes... grrr. Doesn't appear so lucky that it's a bolt on the kingpins that's leaking.

And to make that more fun... while having the axle upside down (with some gear oil in it), I got it too close to 'level' and had some dino piddle out of the breather onto the floor.... gotta flip this sucker over, fix the inner seal leak and move on to the rest of the work needing to be done.

d

 

Had a doomas moment. Walked by the axles today, dreading fixing a new leaky seal.

Noticed the filler plug on the knuckle was only about one thread in...

Sheeeooooot. Fixed both sides. Living large again.

 

front end success as I start mocking stuff for later

mcRuff's shackles mocked up for now (need 3.5" bolts, not the 3" ones I had), sorry, you have to tilt your head on this one.


a view from the front
Looks like about 1.5" between the tie rod and the springs.
minus the ROSS steering components. Those have been put in a box for later (will sell 'em).



These Hercules HDTs stand currently at 29.5" and there's at least 10" under the diff at the moment.

Will add the rear end later this evening.