Ewan's 79 CJ-5 restoration project

Spent some time working on the front axle. Bearings and races are in good shape, will be reusing them. All the seals are toast though, will need replacement.

 

Just scrapped my T-5 and bought a T-18. I have an SM420 if you are at all interested. My Dana 300 is next.

 

Tempting to have that extra 4th gear, however too much hassle and money to swap it in. Going to stick with my T-150 for now.

 

Understand. The SM420 may just be kept and rebuilt incase I ever want to butcher my jeep with a Chevy 350... How's that extra engine holding up? I may may be looking at buying the case back or borrowing it for however long it take to rebuild the one in my Jeep. I think it's just an empty casting right? Goo look on both your builds and take your time to do it right as I am sure you will.

 

You mean the block? It is fully disassembled and taking up room in my garage. I'd be willing to part with it if you want, along with the oil pan and other accessories. The only parts I wanted out of it was the crank and rods for my stroker.

 

I will email you.

 

You guys were a lifesaver last night helping with the beginning of my tear down. I am currently shopping for a hoist that will hold my tub midair while I work on everything else due to the size of my garage. Again, thank you so much for your help. I will go grab that exhaust manifold today for you.

 

No problem. You could look for a chain or electric hoist, and mount it to your garage ceiling. A stripped tub weighs around 250lbs, you'd have to see if you have any sturdy mount points to hold the weight. If not, you could look at storing it upright, with the tailgate on the floor.

 

Yeah, the tub and hardtop standing upright leaves very little room for working. Maybe I will just stand it upright and hoist the hardtop up as it is more fragile and lighter.

 

Ball joints installed. Even with the proper tools, what a giant PITA. Dead in the water until I get my allowance from the wife, my highly expensive $15 Harbor Freight angle grinder bit the dust. Had it for 2-3 years now I think, lasted longer than I thought.

 

Mine lasted about 15 minutes... I started cutting the tub up around 1800 then got to the last last few inches and it broke just before 1820....

 

Front springs in, front axle goes back in this weekend. It would have been in sooner but I had to order one of those weird spanner wrench sockets for the ball joints. I also searched about 6 different part stores for that spindle nut socket. Gave up and just ordered them online.





I also got sidetracked last weekend with another project. Picked up a $50 tiller from craigslist, looked like hell and didn't run. Tines were completely frozen together and bearings were shot. Stripped everything apart, repainted, new grease, new belts, new stainless hardware, plug, bearings, etc...Replaced brownish-orange gas with fresh stuff, took carb apart and put a whole can of cleaner through it. Runs great now and total investment was $120.

 

Spent some much needed time in the garage today. Rear leaf springs installed and placed the front axle. Rear axle is out for cleaning and then a couple coats of paint. Rear drums are going to need to be rebuilt, same for the front.

 

My CJ5 and Lotus projects are on hold, awaiting delivery of parts. I did find a few parts to install tonight though.

 

That looks great. Currently waiting for extra cash to finish my stuff. Just need the frame work now before I start assembly (and the engine of course).

 

So far I haven't had to dump any large amounts of money into the jeep. That will change once I start doing bodywork and invest in a paint job.

 

Driver side axle shaft assembly rebuilt and in place. Passenger side is waiting on a thrust washer, either I lost it or threw it out.

 

You can have mine dude.

 

Are those hex nuts? If so you should be using prevailing torque lock nuts.

Build looks good!

 

Couldn't find any at the local stores so I used lock washers and a dab of thread locker.