- Joined
- Mar 6, 2004
I wasn't going to bore you all with some 2-3 year long drawn out record of my idiocy but ehh....why not. Maybe someone will learn from my mistakes. This will be a long slow process like every damned thing else I waste my time and money on so be prepared for that. Hopefully world doesn't end before I'm done.
So, I'll start with the backstory. Years ago, (like 15 or more) I bought this 3b from a guy that I now consider a friend. I bought it because it was sitting on a lifted V6 cj5 chassis ( rancho 2.5 lift), had 33s on it mounted on the sought after K-H renegade type rims, and had 4.88 gears front and rear with the rear being a flanged off set 44. The perfect swap for '71 that had 3.73's. So, I DID swap the axles around and got 4.88s under my '71 and then sold the B to a coworker. Much of the original driveline still existed, and still does today, including the 3 speed and D18. So, I washed my hands of the thing as I was never a fan of the high hooded ugly step child of the jeep family. Besides, the body had been heavily repaired and covered mostly in aluminum diamond plate. No thank you please.
So the new owner did a bunch of stuff to it in an attempt to make it road legal. New exhaust and a rather sloppy attempt to rewire the the poor thing. He started to try to make a cj5 cage fit in the 3B tub and never finished it. Lost interest in the project and sold it to another cat I worked with. That dude played around with it a little bit on the farm, drove it to work once, did a complete tune up on it and then one day it just quit on him and he decided he didn't want or need the jeep. So, I ended up with this ugly *** old B back in my driveway for not much more than I originally paid, and later sold it for. And thus the project name B3.....Bought Back B.....3, count 'em, 3 b's. And the name also fits because I'll probably do everything the hard way and backwards so 3B backwards is B3. And I don't name my vehicles with like, names, so if I have to call this heap something, B3 is as about easy as it gets and I'll get to have people look at me stupid and call me names like dumbass and numbskull when I call the thing B3 instead of 3B.
So, a quick rough plan for the steaming pile of poo goes in the direction what I always wanted to build. A pretty purpose built off road jeep that will see more trail time than road time. This actually means it will sit there under a tarp most of the time and just be a huge waste of time and money that I should spend elsewhere. ( I wonder if they make a tarp with dollar bill type graphics on it). It will not be torn down to the frame, as I would prefer to do, because that just takes forever (project creep and budget) and takes up a lot of room. I want to incorporate some ideas I've had on my mind for many years and I may do this as I go or maybe straight away. I'd like to consider this thing as experimental even though most or all of the mods have already been done by people on their projects. It will be experimental only in terms of testing my skills and to learn, first hand, how and if something works and if I like it on my jeep. I'm not reinventing the wheel or breaking any new ground. It will ride on 33's but I'd like to keep the whole thing kinda low-ish. It seems tall as heck as it sits right now. The thick body mounts don't help that and they will be replaced but that isn't much of the height issue. My cheap *** is having a hard time finding decent used 33s so, it may end up with 35s because they seem to be everywhere but, I really don't want to go there. 33 is just fine with me and very much preferred. This thing is going to sit a lot so bias ply tires are pretty much out of the equation I think. I'm interested to experience the challenges and space constraints of making things work on a flat fender jeep vs a cj5. The B certainly has more than a 2 A but I still see the challenges. Maybe it's a stepping stone to a low hood project someday.
Body:
I don't care about the already cut up and partially fixed body so body work will hopefully consist of a few rather minor repairs and flat black primer paint job. My 5 was rattle canned in black primer when I bought it and every spring it go new duct tape over the holes and 3-4 cans of black primer. Looked B/A for the summer and easy to touch up. This was before the whole satin black thing started to be main stream or whatever. So, I'm going back to it because I did it first.
And it will help camoflauge (sp) that tall grill.
Always wanted dual underseat tanks if I did a flat fender. I might give that a whirl. I just like the theory from yesteryear. Stupid maybe but, that's me. Hard headed and backwards and old school. I've been saving gas tanks and fuel filler cut outs for years. I'd like to think it will not have been in vain. I'd like to stick the battery somewhere else besides under the hood. I dunno. We'll see.
Chassis:
The 5 frame seems okay though it's been worked on front and rear. I may box it as I go along. Going to do a cage of some kind and properly tie it into the frame. Thinking about the bumpers and the winch up front. I have an old 8274 that's been taking up space for a while. I'd rather stick that on a 1972 4x4 F250 but, that probably won't happen so, I'll use it here I guess.
Suspension:
Eventually I want to go YJ springs. Not sure when then that will happen but it will. No kits. I'll just do it because what I have is time. Funding, not so much. I'd love to French the spring hangers into the frame. Maybe I will. I'm going for smooth sailing over obstacles. No hang ups. Gonna fab up some custom spring plates but I might have do it twice depending on when the YJ springs appear. But for the time being, the Rancho lift will stay. I have other fish to fry.
Steering:
The stock Ross junk will find get eventually get turned into manhole covers over there in India. Sometime before that happens, it will be replaced with Saginaw power steering. New for me though the '71 has manual Saginaw on it but it was there when I bought it. This will be new ground for me. High steer tie rod set up.
Drivetrain:
Dana 44 rear, off set, flanged, 5.38s, Spartan locker and 11 inch drums. This is already underway. I'd like to do discs on the back but probably won't. Maybe some day. And I won't be wasting any money on paint. The surface rust will be there when it gets bolted in. (This method will continue throughout the project. If it's not a new part or something I already have painted, it ain't getting painted unless I feel it is totally necessary to spend 4-5 bucks on a can of paint and a bunch of time cleaning stuff up.)
NT disc brake Dana 30 up front. More 5.38s and another Spartan.
T18 and D18. These are waiting on the bench. They were slated to go in the '71. I'm gonna use them here.
And finally, the 225 will remain, for now, if it isn't junk. Which it might be. I drained the oil last night because this thing has sat dormant outside for a couple years now. I though I caught a glimpse of coolant at first when I first pulled the plug. I need to examine the oil a bit before going much further. I'm not sure what all can happen when an engine sits this long..... or if even saw what I think I saw. But if I keep the 225, it will get a Motorcraft 2100 carb on it and HEI (which I started messing with last night). I want to put a rear dump driver exhaust manifold on it (on the bench waiting...thanks Michael) but I need to dig in to the whole steering set up thing. I don't see the room for the steering with the rear dump. It looks like the manifold would run directly into the path of a Saginaw steering mod. Ehhh, later huh? I'd really love to stick a 302 in front of that T18.
Soooo........there's the rough sketch. I'm not even sure why I'm doing this. I should be working any one of the 3 other jeep projects. I'm not rich and I'm not poor, I'm just cheap. Well, cheap because I feel guilty spending money on a hobby instead of funding our retirement or paying every penny I can on the mortgage or even on a car payment so we can have newer vehicles to drive daily. It's guilt that drives my cheap skate mind set. There. I said it. So, please keep that in mind as we move forward.
Feel free to offer suggestions along the way. I may be skeptical and may come off as a jerk, but I don't mean it that way. I'm just hard headed. I always take advice under consideration, think about it too much, then make a decision on how I want to proceed. I might heed your advice, or I may go my own way and learn the lesson you tried to warn me of the hard way. It's nothing personal.
I'll start adding pics soon. I have to remember how photobucket works and how to get this pics to here. I'm probably almost out of allowable room in my media and besides, this project would require some other hosting site to keep all the pictures up anyway. Bear with me folks.....I'm a "Beeg Dummy" like Fred used to call Lamont.
The first time it came home. Maybe 2005 or something. I don't remember. We were still in our first house so that's at least like 14 years ago. I think Mom and dad were still on this side of the grass so that takes it back to '06 at least.
View media item 2482
The second time it came home (back to me anyway). This is our new place. We've been here a few years now.
View media item 5345
Sat in the driveway for a while. I tinkered with getting it running a few times. No success.
View media item 7257
Got it the new garage last fall before it snowed the first time. In fact, it was on the day that it DID snow the first time for the year. I remember, quite vividly, the whole evening leading up to the call from work to come in. But I cannot disclose the details.
View media item 8993
Circa 1989. My '71 in flat black primer. I'm tellin' ya I started the flat black thing way back then. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Love it or hate it, I don't care. I like it. 
View media item 3909
So, I'll start with the backstory. Years ago, (like 15 or more) I bought this 3b from a guy that I now consider a friend. I bought it because it was sitting on a lifted V6 cj5 chassis ( rancho 2.5 lift), had 33s on it mounted on the sought after K-H renegade type rims, and had 4.88 gears front and rear with the rear being a flanged off set 44. The perfect swap for '71 that had 3.73's. So, I DID swap the axles around and got 4.88s under my '71 and then sold the B to a coworker. Much of the original driveline still existed, and still does today, including the 3 speed and D18. So, I washed my hands of the thing as I was never a fan of the high hooded ugly step child of the jeep family. Besides, the body had been heavily repaired and covered mostly in aluminum diamond plate. No thank you please.
So the new owner did a bunch of stuff to it in an attempt to make it road legal. New exhaust and a rather sloppy attempt to rewire the the poor thing. He started to try to make a cj5 cage fit in the 3B tub and never finished it. Lost interest in the project and sold it to another cat I worked with. That dude played around with it a little bit on the farm, drove it to work once, did a complete tune up on it and then one day it just quit on him and he decided he didn't want or need the jeep. So, I ended up with this ugly *** old B back in my driveway for not much more than I originally paid, and later sold it for. And thus the project name B3.....Bought Back B.....3, count 'em, 3 b's. And the name also fits because I'll probably do everything the hard way and backwards so 3B backwards is B3. And I don't name my vehicles with like, names, so if I have to call this heap something, B3 is as about easy as it gets and I'll get to have people look at me stupid and call me names like dumbass and numbskull when I call the thing B3 instead of 3B.
So, a quick rough plan for the steaming pile of poo goes in the direction what I always wanted to build. A pretty purpose built off road jeep that will see more trail time than road time. This actually means it will sit there under a tarp most of the time and just be a huge waste of time and money that I should spend elsewhere. ( I wonder if they make a tarp with dollar bill type graphics on it). It will not be torn down to the frame, as I would prefer to do, because that just takes forever (project creep and budget) and takes up a lot of room. I want to incorporate some ideas I've had on my mind for many years and I may do this as I go or maybe straight away. I'd like to consider this thing as experimental even though most or all of the mods have already been done by people on their projects. It will be experimental only in terms of testing my skills and to learn, first hand, how and if something works and if I like it on my jeep. I'm not reinventing the wheel or breaking any new ground. It will ride on 33's but I'd like to keep the whole thing kinda low-ish. It seems tall as heck as it sits right now. The thick body mounts don't help that and they will be replaced but that isn't much of the height issue. My cheap *** is having a hard time finding decent used 33s so, it may end up with 35s because they seem to be everywhere but, I really don't want to go there. 33 is just fine with me and very much preferred. This thing is going to sit a lot so bias ply tires are pretty much out of the equation I think. I'm interested to experience the challenges and space constraints of making things work on a flat fender jeep vs a cj5. The B certainly has more than a 2 A but I still see the challenges. Maybe it's a stepping stone to a low hood project someday.
Body:
I don't care about the already cut up and partially fixed body so body work will hopefully consist of a few rather minor repairs and flat black primer paint job. My 5 was rattle canned in black primer when I bought it and every spring it go new duct tape over the holes and 3-4 cans of black primer. Looked B/A for the summer and easy to touch up. This was before the whole satin black thing started to be main stream or whatever. So, I'm going back to it because I did it first.
Always wanted dual underseat tanks if I did a flat fender. I might give that a whirl. I just like the theory from yesteryear. Stupid maybe but, that's me. Hard headed and backwards and old school. I've been saving gas tanks and fuel filler cut outs for years. I'd like to think it will not have been in vain. I'd like to stick the battery somewhere else besides under the hood. I dunno. We'll see.
Chassis:
The 5 frame seems okay though it's been worked on front and rear. I may box it as I go along. Going to do a cage of some kind and properly tie it into the frame. Thinking about the bumpers and the winch up front. I have an old 8274 that's been taking up space for a while. I'd rather stick that on a 1972 4x4 F250 but, that probably won't happen so, I'll use it here I guess.
Suspension:
Eventually I want to go YJ springs. Not sure when then that will happen but it will. No kits. I'll just do it because what I have is time. Funding, not so much. I'd love to French the spring hangers into the frame. Maybe I will. I'm going for smooth sailing over obstacles. No hang ups. Gonna fab up some custom spring plates but I might have do it twice depending on when the YJ springs appear. But for the time being, the Rancho lift will stay. I have other fish to fry.
Steering:
The stock Ross junk will find get eventually get turned into manhole covers over there in India. Sometime before that happens, it will be replaced with Saginaw power steering. New for me though the '71 has manual Saginaw on it but it was there when I bought it. This will be new ground for me. High steer tie rod set up.
Drivetrain:
Dana 44 rear, off set, flanged, 5.38s, Spartan locker and 11 inch drums. This is already underway. I'd like to do discs on the back but probably won't. Maybe some day. And I won't be wasting any money on paint. The surface rust will be there when it gets bolted in. (This method will continue throughout the project. If it's not a new part or something I already have painted, it ain't getting painted unless I feel it is totally necessary to spend 4-5 bucks on a can of paint and a bunch of time cleaning stuff up.)
NT disc brake Dana 30 up front. More 5.38s and another Spartan.
T18 and D18. These are waiting on the bench. They were slated to go in the '71. I'm gonna use them here.
And finally, the 225 will remain, for now, if it isn't junk. Which it might be. I drained the oil last night because this thing has sat dormant outside for a couple years now. I though I caught a glimpse of coolant at first when I first pulled the plug. I need to examine the oil a bit before going much further. I'm not sure what all can happen when an engine sits this long..... or if even saw what I think I saw. But if I keep the 225, it will get a Motorcraft 2100 carb on it and HEI (which I started messing with last night). I want to put a rear dump driver exhaust manifold on it (on the bench waiting...thanks Michael) but I need to dig in to the whole steering set up thing. I don't see the room for the steering with the rear dump. It looks like the manifold would run directly into the path of a Saginaw steering mod. Ehhh, later huh? I'd really love to stick a 302 in front of that T18.
Soooo........there's the rough sketch. I'm not even sure why I'm doing this. I should be working any one of the 3 other jeep projects. I'm not rich and I'm not poor, I'm just cheap. Well, cheap because I feel guilty spending money on a hobby instead of funding our retirement or paying every penny I can on the mortgage or even on a car payment so we can have newer vehicles to drive daily. It's guilt that drives my cheap skate mind set. There. I said it. So, please keep that in mind as we move forward.
Feel free to offer suggestions along the way. I may be skeptical and may come off as a jerk, but I don't mean it that way. I'm just hard headed. I always take advice under consideration, think about it too much, then make a decision on how I want to proceed. I might heed your advice, or I may go my own way and learn the lesson you tried to warn me of the hard way. It's nothing personal.
I'll start adding pics soon. I have to remember how photobucket works and how to get this pics to here. I'm probably almost out of allowable room in my media and besides, this project would require some other hosting site to keep all the pictures up anyway. Bear with me folks.....I'm a "Beeg Dummy" like Fred used to call Lamont.
The first time it came home. Maybe 2005 or something. I don't remember. We were still in our first house so that's at least like 14 years ago. I think Mom and dad were still on this side of the grass so that takes it back to '06 at least.
View media item 2482
The second time it came home (back to me anyway). This is our new place. We've been here a few years now.
View media item 5345
Sat in the driveway for a while. I tinkered with getting it running a few times. No success.
View media item 7257
Got it the new garage last fall before it snowed the first time. In fact, it was on the day that it DID snow the first time for the year. I remember, quite vividly, the whole evening leading up to the call from work to come in. But I cannot disclose the details.
View media item 8993
Circa 1989. My '71 in flat black primer. I'm tellin' ya I started the flat black thing way back then. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
View media item 3909
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