The Mail? On Sunday?!

I scored a deal and a half today, got all these NT D30 parts for $25. It was a 3 hour round trip but totally worth it. I expected this stuff to be mostly trash for the price..
Add in gas and lunch and I still think I did all right


Got the body rolled back over


A little carnage coming off the trailer, this thing is really heavy.


Starting to get most of the big parts collected.


Got the frame stripped down and partially painted, just need to replace one pivot bracket (passenger front) and fix a couple cracks in the box/ cross member in that same area.



Still need:

Hard brake lines
Fuel Lines
Energy suspension body mount kit
Front Shackles
EZ Harness
Rear Main
Trans & T-Case seals
Probably a clutch and other broken stuff I find along the way.

Then ill be ready to start taking stuff apart.

 

Its been a little slow going on this project, mostly because I'm at the end of the accumulating all the parts/ spending money stage.
But I'm nearing the home stretch, got the small cracks and broken spring hanger fixed on the frame.
Still need to accumulate..

Rear DS (I think the front from the commando will work on the CJ)
Painless Harness
Intermediate Dash (w/ speedo would be awesome)
Shocks
Master Cylinder

Frame is all painted up and ready to go.


Also got a full rebuild kit for my D20 from herm, a fully poly steering and body mount kit, and front shackles.

 

Can't wait to see more progress, was thinking about converting to 4wd but think I'm keepin it stock.

 

Ok, got the D20 pulled and cleaned up. It was really caked with dirty grease. Initially I thought the T-case was leaking but, upon further inspection I think its all coming from a severely leaky/neglected rear main on the 258.

Next week when I have access to a large press Ill get this last roller bearing off the front shaft and reassemble the D20.
Two jaw puller just bent the cage good..


I dont believe that the motor has ever been out of this truck even for a clutch, the interior mat looked like it had never been disturbed and the trans access cover had no tool marks on the painted screws..

Anyway, here is what I got done today..




Pulling the front clip by your self isnt too bad with the shop crane

 

Got the motor pulled. Will defiantly need a rear main, and a clutch kit before going back together.



Only other thing I got done today was found a pipe cap for this fitting on the side of the block. Someone had installed a block heater at one point.


Hopefully Ill get the trans pulled tomorrow..

Here is my short list of things that are broken or missing..

Lower starter bolt
Two oil pan bolts
Exhaust manifold (cracked)
Clutch kit

Other than that everything is looking good for the swap.

 

Here is the latest batch of pics,

All I'm waiting on is a shim pack for the D20 and I need to find 2 early or intermediate rear spring plates. Then ill be ready to assemble.








This truck had seen more water than I had thought..

No rust repair for me on this one

 

I knew some ppl would be sad to see it cut up, but in my defense I tried to sell it before chopping it.

And no, commando grill wont fit Truck/Waggy.

 

Got the rear spring perches welded.


Also got the axles, gas tank, steering box/pump and drive train mounted.


Still need to run a rear brake line, clean up the t-case shifter, clean up/ paint the DJ firewall. Then ill be ready to set the body.

 

That I did.

Got the T-case shifter on, rear brake line fabbed and the exhaust made up today.

Exhaust looks really tight with the frame rail in this pic but it doesn't touch anywhere. And doesn't hang down below the x-member at all.

 

Nice job! Looks like it's going to be a cool rig!

 

Thank you sir. I'm still a little nervous over here, only half way done with the hard part.

I was set on using the postal grill but now I'm thinking of using a stock intermediate grill for ease of fit. If I want to use the postal grill I would have to make a grill mount and fab a rad mount. The stock CJ rad is much wider than the postal.


All in all I'm pretty pleased with the clearance and lift, the tires I have on there are 27" tall so if I can fit a true 31" ill gain 2" under the spring plates and diffs, good enough for me. We'll see how the springs ride.



In this last pic you can see some spacers in between the x-member and frame. That's how it came out of the Commando, think I need them/did CJ's have these x-member spacers?

 

Interesting, I was wondering if the Commando got them because of the length of the rear drive line, if my thought is correct it would make sense that CJ6 got them too.

 

Measured it with my dads fancy Iphone level, came out 4.8-5.0* so I'm in the ball park.

 

Got the firewall painted today.


Also got the square hole for the throttle cable cut, its not perfect but its a tight fit to the cable.


Cut the holes for the Trans and T-Case shifters.


I also got the drive shafts in, front is all good but the rear is a little steep. We'll see how it is when the body cage and sliders are on, I have a feeling it will settle a little bit with all that weight.

 

Modified the gas tank and trans/tc skids to fit and installed them.

Plan is to hoist the body and drop it on the frame later today. Fingers crossed.