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The B3 3b Attempt

wheelie said:
You could break a Sherman tank. :lol:

I'm open to better ideas.
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I've been fiddling with the high clearance spring plates on either the 58 or 70 - I am beginning to think the traditional skid plate style of spring plates is maybe my preference. I like the warrior ones.....
 
Thats what is on my '71 James. But made by Con-Ferr back in the day. Con-Ferr is long gone of course but WP version appears identical. If I could find just the one WP plate for this side I'd probably use it. I like the high clearance design and the other 3 I made are quite stout IMO.
 
Yep. Thought about that too. I like the challenge of making it myself though these things took me way too long. If I negative replies on my question I'll look to another answer. The WP skid plate kits are like 150 - 180 an axle. I only want/need the passenger side. I have yet to find a flip kit listed for a YJ ( YJ springs). Skid plate style but not a flip kit.
 
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If you do some kind of skid the nut is recessed into that'd be ok. Otherwise, I'm with Scott that looks begging to be smeared off.
 
I think it would be fine if you added some vertical plates between and past them for a lot more weld tie-in to the bottom plate:
AP1GczP9Xag4iP8eDYhIy5kmL4DPfsl3Djtv6mBXdphG9LjzsourluKPEQ2iw6ulHAUE39izL8lm95BFVbvHHFSAAQq0SJf8czAmEQJS2AkAB7Qyt-y6WHgiX6cp1qs007ddQMCJ6OnsdiiOaSaB6dE1H80BiA=w540-h720-s-no
 
wheelie said:
Yep. Thought about that too. I like the challenge of making it myself though these things took me way too long. If I negative replies on my question I'll look to another answer. The WP skid plate kits are like 150 - 180 an axle. I only want/need the passenger side. I have yet to find a flip kit listed for a YJ ( YJ springs). Skid plate style but not a flip kit.
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I feel like your way overthinking this.
You just need to grind a little off of the axle housing for clearance.
Halfway down the page you can see the high clearance spring under plates that I built for a D27 with YJ springs.

http://www.earlycj5.com/xf_cj5/index.php?threads/121282/page-15

Post #219 here details how I built the spring under plates.

http://www.earlycj5.com/xf_cj5/index.php?threads/121282/page-11
 
I would keep the U-bolts the same distance from each side of the spring. Otherwise it will get weird when you tighten it.

Also like kyle suggests you gotta be ballsy with the clearancing of the housing. Just take it a little at a time. then gusset if you feel the need.
 
Kyle, I followed your design as much as I could with the material I have on hand. I'm doubled up on thickness pushing my U bolt 1/4" farther into the pumpkin. Overthinking....maybe. I do that a lot. Maybe overcautious too. I got concerned with grinding away material from the housing. Maybe it's not as much of a concern as I think.
 
Settled on these motor mounts. I got the same one for both sides. The look like a match for the 2 that came off the 350. It will be a bit before I get to see how they pan out but they are here and ready to go.



The RF spring plate is still under construction though I haven't been on it for a while. Other stuff around the house taking precedence. I made new pieces to accept the inner u bolt. Solid one piece instead of a sleeved half arsed attempt. More on it later when I get back at it.
 
Finishing up with goofy spring plate. Pics to come. I've wasted too much time on it. It is what it is. Inboard nuts will be exposed to damage. Oh well. I had a plan to protect them but I'm worn out on this. I will revisit it later if I think it's necessary. Pics later. It's in primer.

And I introduced the T18 to the 350. Letting them get to know each other a bit. Ruined a pilot bushing so reordered a replacement. God as my witness, I would have sworn that the one I took out was flush with the end of it's bore in the crank. I didn't take a picture when I removed it a couple weeks ago. After destroying the new one and removing it, I can see a ridge at the end of the inside of the bore ( a slight ridge but a ridge) that stopped the bushing. Some forensic study of the old one leads me to believe that it stuck out of the crank about 1/8 inch. So much for starting to assembly this stuff until the new bushing arrives.




I'll haver the transfer case to rebuild then too. Still looking for speedo gears for 4.88 gear ratio. Not that it really matters but I'd like to make it right.....ish.
 
wheelie said:
Still looking for speedo gears for 4.88 gear ratio. Not that it really matters but I'd like to make it right.....ish.
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So....do you have 4.27 speedo gears to trade? I'd be willing to trade you my 4.88s for some 4.27s - with the caveat that the 4.88s are currently in the jeep. Not sure how easy it is to pull them out and swap them in place? I'll be pulling the D18 this winter for some work, so that would be the best time, but don't want to delay your work until then. I expect to see the B on trail next summer. What actual gearing are you running in the B, and what tire size. I have the OEM 4.88 gears and speedo in my cj, but with the increase in tire size from the OEM 29" to the current 33s, the speedo reading is about 14% off. Switching the speedo gears from 4.88 to 4.27 would essentially offset the tire size change.
 
The transfer case I have done for the green '71 has 4.27 speedo gears in it as I have 4.88 in the axles and 33" tires. I may have another set of 4.27 speedo gears. I'd have to look in da box. Not sure if our time lines will match up or not. I'm slow and winter is just around the corner.

My hope is that 4.88 speedo gears will compensate for the 5.38s in the B with 33-35 tires. I think it's as close as I'll get anyway. A fancy dancy GPS speedo may not be out of the question but I'd rather not. I don't really do fancy so well.
 
So, apparently my pilot bushing is not uncommon to Buick V8 engines. Others have had to deal with it as well. I have no way to accurately measure the ID of the crankshaft so that I could turn down inner end of the pilot bushing to match. Maybe I should just see if it goes together first before getting too wigged out about it. I could use the bushing I just ruined for mock up. It should go in and out with relative ease. As long as the protruding length does not prevent the transmission from mating up properly I should be okay right?

Post #9 addresses this specifically in the link below.

https://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/350-crankshaft-pilot-bushing.334889/
 
wheelie said:
Finishing up with goofy spring plate. Pics to come. I've wasted too much time on it. It is what it is. Inboard nuts will be exposed to damage. Oh well. I had a plan to protect them but I'm worn out on this. I will revisit it later if I think it's necessary. Pics later. It's in primer.

And I introduced the T18 to the 350. Letting them get to know each other a bit. Ruined a pilot bushing so reordered a replacement. God as my witness, I would have sworn that the one I took out was flush with the end of it's bore in the crank. I didn't take a picture when I removed it a couple weeks ago. After destroying the new one and removing it, I can see a ridge at the end of the inside of the bore ( a slight ridge but a ridge) that stopped the bushing. Some forensic study of the old one leads me to believe that it stuck out of the crank about 1/8 inch. So much for starting to assembly this stuff until the new bushing arrives.




I'll haver the transfer case to rebuild then too. Still looking for speedo gears for 4.88 gear ratio. Not that it really matters but I'd like to make it right.....ish.
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Thats progress
 
wheelie said:
My hope is that 4.88 speedo gears will compensate for the 5.38s in the B with 33-35 tires
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It'll work reasonably well ...4.88 to 5.38 is about a 10% difference. 33s are just under 14 % increase compared to stock 29s - not perfect, but will keep you out of trouble. 35s are just over 20% increase over 29s, so the 4.88 speedo gears will only get you about halfway for the correction you need. It'll still read about 10% slow. If you know your going 35s, running the 4.27 speedo gears will actually get you closer to the correct speed - it'll read about 5% over. Food for thought....I wouldn't worry too much about it.
If you decide not to use the 4.27 speedo gears and want to sell, I'd be interested. If it works out timing wise, happy to pass along my 4.88 speedo gears to you.
 
The final spring plate. It'll have to do. Burned out on this and parts are here for the next phase of mock up so I'm moving on. If I have to revisit this later, so be it. But honestly, I think it'll be alright. Famous last words right? I DID replace the crappy inboard U bolt sleeves that were sleeved to fit with sleeves made from a solid bar that I had drilled for the 1/2" u bolts. At least that will be a bit more solid.







Limited time today. Only had about an hour this morning before taking a little day trip to the Chesapeake Bays' Eastern Shore with my sister. I did get another coat of paint on the wheel for the 71. Calling that good too except the detail painting on it. The "rivets" need to get dabbed black and it should get a black and a silver pinstripe around the circumference to match the other wheels. But that's another story.

Hoping to get the front wheel hubs and rotors and then roller tires under Buford in the next day or two. Car show Sunday so there's another day I'll lose.

Aaand....a new set of inside calipers showed up yesterday so I can measure the minor inside dimension of Bufords crankshaft and then try to make one of the new pilot bushings fit properly. I ordered two figuring I'll wreck another one before I get it right. If not, I'll have a spare. I have to look. Either Novak changed their bushing to solid bronze or the original one I ordered and subsequently ruined came from elsewhere (AA). That one would take a magnet and looked better machined than these with no taper on either end. I dunno.

 
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