My Prarie Gold 67' CJ-5

Passenger side, I think this one was damaged by a broken tire chain. You can see the pattern in surface rust running from the bottom
over the top past the hood latch and the crease running at an angle from the outside in toward the frame.



View of the bottom of this one, lip smashed flat again in a couple spots.




Couple more hours w/ hammer dolly and vice grips.




Lip bent back into shape.

 

Passenger side marked for removal, about 4"x 5" doesn't look too bad but once the gap between the outer skin and inner brace starts to fill with rust
and corrosion it just bulges the body out until it breaks through the sheet metal. It is just starting to bulge so I better to take care of it now.



I cut it out with 4.5" angle grinder with cutting disc. You can see the red menace taking hold.



Then I cleaned it up with a flap disc and got ready to cut the patch panel. To make a template for the patch I taped over the hole in several
directions with masking tape.



Run a razor blade around the inside edge of the hole to create a template.



Then hit a piece of steel (in this case a scrap piece of 3/32" I've been nibbling away at) with the flap disc to get it clean and hot, the heat
helps the tape template stick. The bottom just has to be cut off square at least a 1/2" longer than the face, so it can be bent at a 90 to
match the body.

 

Trace around the edge of the tape with a magic marker and peel the tape off.



Then I cut the patch with the plasma torch and cleaned the edges with the flap disc. Here I'm test fitting and marking the patch where I
want to bend it to match the body.



Then I welded the inner cowl brace together where I cut through it and welded it to the body panel. Here's the patch after bending it in the
vice with a 4lb estwing hammer.



Then all welded up and ground.




and while I was on the pass. side I welded a couple small pieces of sheet metal into the 2 antenna holes somebody drilled into the cowl.



and now I'm so happy, hellokitty hellokitty that completes the major body work on this beauty,
now just some mud and sand and paint.

 

After three days of snow and rain finally back at it. Servicing the front end today, I really enjoy working on closed knuckle front ends, so I'm gonna do a brake job
and freshen up the knuckles and enjoy the sunshine.
After tearing it down the only real problem was both lower kingpin bearings, one fell apart while I was cleaning it, the other was frozen to the race and came
apart when I drove it out of the bore.




After cleaning every thing up it's time to go back together, first thing to do Is get some studs to replace the spindle bolts. I live in the sticks so I have to improvise
and custom make studs myself. This shows a 3/8" x 24 and 3/8" x 16 x 1 1/2" stud. I have to use (2) 3/8" nuts to install the studs and here they are clamped in the vise
for customizing the length. The single nut is actually the 3/8" x 24 nut from my thread restorer kit.



Now the stud is cut to the correct length and taking the single nut off will make sure the threads are good enough to thread into the knuckle.



Now a little dab of lock-tight red gel and it's ready to install.



Now do it 12 times and it's done.



A couple shots to show 2 areas of concern, the 2 holes on either side of the upper king pin bore have to be cut shorter than the other 4 or they will hit inside the
knuckle when you turn and you don't want to do anything to limit your turning radius, but you have to cut them long enough to take full advantage of the stud over
just using a bolt.



The other stud to pay close attention to, is this middle one, if you leave it too long it will contact the edge of the ball and again limit turning radius.
This photo is a little deceptive there is actually just under a 1/4" between stud and ball. The PO. had installed a longer bolt here and it smacked the ball repeatedly
I've already ground the burr off and cleaned the ball.

 

New wheel cylinders, the old ones were rusted solid and the rubber was just a memory. The old shoes weren't bad, but while I was in there I changed them
and 6 new lock nuts.



I always give the pivot pin and steel guide plates a little dab of anti-seize to keep them moving freely.



Then I clean the threads on the self adjuster and coat it with anti-seize.



Then 6 more of the same studs turned around so the coarse threads go into the wheel hub and new thin lock nuts finish the job.



Oh yeah! closing shot of my Sears Hub.

 

Finally some decent weather, last weeks snow (18 inches) has melted and it's time to get back to work.
Wire brushed the crud and pulled all the accessories (water,fuel,oil pump assemblies, timing cover,oil pan) off the motor,
to install new gaskets. You can see in this photo that the end seal on the intake is blown out on the driver side so I pulled
it and put new gaskets on it also.





New intake gaskets installed and manifold torqued down 20,35 and finally 50 ft. lbs. All gaskets and the rope seal replaced
and ready for paint.

 

New coat of paint and starting to re assemble.



Other side.



Time to test fit the HEI, of course I didn't take near enough off so I'll have to grind the new paint, and since the fan was already yellow I just freshened it up.
I also made a 5/16"x 1" stud for the upper starter mount bracket.




Shot of the front, when I seal and paint the valve covers I'll touch up the ground down area for the dist.




New fuel pump and if you haven't seen how close a big cap HEI gets to the manifold here it is,also I put a kit in the carb last week and now it's
bolted on, (4) 5/16"x 1.5" studs and lock nuts.

 

1 half of the original 2 piece bell housing and the UN-used bearing retainer off the 465 in my cj-6, fresh from the machine shop
same as every one else 5" bore and 4.995" big diameter on the retainer. I splashed a little greased lightning cleaner on it here to
remove some of the filth.



NAPA turned the flywheel and I torqued it to 57.5 ft.lbs. then a new Sachs Clutch Kit K1874-03 torqued to 30 lbs.then I bolted the trans. to the bell
and set the chains on the cherry picker.

If you haven't wrestled an SM-465 into: throwout bearing, splines of clutch, pilot bushing, bell housing bore
all while laying on your back in the rocks pushing and lifting/rocking with hands and feet and turning the tail
shaft with your teeth to line it up and get it stabbed you haven't lived, my goodness they're heavy.
Bolting it together first is much easier, even with my hill billy set up.
I raised the motor/trans higher than the front x-member with the trans hanging below the pan then I ran a come-a-long between the two Jeep projects and pulled the yellow one under the swinging drive train. Then I threw some scrap steel under the Jeep to support the floor jack. As I pulled the Jeep up the hill and lowered the motor into its home I jacked up the back of the trans. Continuing this way lower hoist,
raise jack and pull come-a-long it went right in. I was just to busy to take a picture.



Motor sitting down on the mounts.




One day while shopping in a scrap steel dumpster I found this trans. It was about 8 ft. deep and I couldn't lift it out so I took a 25' chain and wrapped it up
then hooked the end to my truck bumper and took off, it must have went 15' in the air, but I got it. I talked to my buddy who threw it out and he said it had
a fresh build, and then the guy (his cousin) flipped his truck. I got it home and dis-assembled and everything looked good except one of the sintered iron bushings
was broken and one of them was just melted into goo and the main shaft was badly burnt. I was using a Novak short adapter and the shaft gets re-placed anyway
so It was a good find.
Be careful and make sure of your alignment when you press the sintered iron bushings on the main shaft they are brittle and easily broken, I got lazy and broke the
last one, fortunately I had a spare so it worked out okay, just press them on straight.




Shot from the side.

 

When I moved into my house 13 years ago I found a dis-assembled model 20 in a milk crate and assumed the previous resident followed the time honored tradition
of leaving good Jeep parts for the next guy, so I decided to build it a couple years ago. Took the case to my dads blast cabinet and brought it home.
Started assembly without a lot of inspection and discovered the rear race had spun very badly in the bore and the case was junk.
So I talked to a neighbor, bought a junk Scout from him and pulled the 20 out of it. So here it is Scout model 20 case, with model 18 Tera low 3:15s and a
home made twin stick on the scout single stick housing.



Side view.



Saturn overdrive.

 

Since the dist. is out of the way I thought I'd show how I ground the intake/head to clear the HEI.
I started with a carbide tip in a dremel tool and cut as carefully as i could around the head of a button head torx. Then I re assembled the front of the motor
and the dist. was still hitting, so more with the dremel, this time cutting into the torx head. Finally enough room to get the dist. to seat, but not turn.Now frustration
and impatience take hold and I start using the 4.5" grinder w/60 grit flap disc. I took the parting seam out of the head and ground the edge of the bolt hole till it was
razor thin at the top, in fact a piece broke off while I cleaned it up. Next with my other grinder and a cutting disc coming straight in from the front I took out about 1/4"
and left a nice even pad to bolt to.



It worked well enough but then I wanted to trim the bolt head down a little more and took so much off the shoulder it wouldn't seal. So I had to go get a button head allen
which I prefer anyway. You can see how much I lowered this area about the thickness of the bolt head. There is no need for me to go any more in this area, it no longer hits
here but the dark streak in the background is where the rib of the cap hits the intake runner as the timing is adjusted.

 

WSF, you are a busy guy, keep it up.
Just wondering, are you in the Craig area or further West?

 

Here's the original cross member, I just unbolted the skid plate and scraped the gunk off.



Wire brushed it then cut at the same angle from each side removing the rib flat along the bottom. Removal shot.



These are the replacement pieces a 7"x7" square to strengthen the bottom and two side filler pieces.



This is my assembly jig another stock x-member bolted solid to the work piece, this should make sure it fits without a lot of hammering.



Most of the welding done and still in the jig to cool.



Cooled off and ready for the test fit.

 

I've got the trans. as high as I think it can go, there is about an inch clearance at the closest point, I tried mounting the x-member flush to the frame but it was too close,
so I ended up using 1 factory spacer, originally it had 3.



Passenger side, I used the same bolt holes as the original on both sides and put 1 of the spacers on the top of the frame to spread the load a little.The long bolt coming
through at an angle here is the transfer case mount bolt, It also has a rubber doughnut sandwiched here between the x-member and the ear on the transfer case.



Bottom of the x-member.




Here's the notch for the flush drain plug on the trans.



Bottom of the Novak adapter with the poly body mounts.

 

Fitting the factory skid back in place, it bolted right up just had to blow holes for the trans. mount bolts.



Passenger side .




You can see that it hits the front of the trans. here, but it looks sort of factory original. When I take it back off to clean and paint I'm going bend this part
for clearance and extend the front out past the bell housing.

 

Last thing for today, mounting the shifter for the Saturn, this is the A/A shifter and bracket. If you haven't used one the strap sits on the top of the
Novak adapter and the 2 upper transfer case bolts go thru the 2 drilled holes in the shifter mount. I used studs for the upper bolts and the trans. is
too close to the floor to fit this any way so I had to alter it.



I cut the strap off at 3" and rotated it so the remaining bolt hole lined up with a bolt hole in the trans. top and put a bolt in, the red bolt in
the photo.
Then I cut the plate with the shifter pivot welded on and rotated it 180 which lowered it an inch then I lowered it an additional inch
and welded it back up. Next I drilled a 3/8 hole in a 2"x3"x1/4" piece and welded it all together.



This show a little better what I did.
The upright piece running toward the shift rails is the cut off strap, and the piece sticking up is the original height of the shifter pivot.



One more, here's where it should have mounted and where it ended up.

 

Thanks for the reply
Yeah I am busy I really want to drive this beauty, and that week off for the snow drove me crazy.
I am in CraigAmerica.

And I had to do a quick Google search to find out what the heck this is;( 1994 Mitso Fuso FG Class C) just in case it was some kind of code.

 

This is what mine looks like with the top up.

 

Man that looks a lot roomier than the pop-up I had on my K/5!

The last major fab project is mounting the radiator, then its button everything else up and start driving. Took the rad. to the local shop
and it ended up UN-serviceable he thought he could re core it for $350.00, so I just bought a new one from "speedy". Of course it is
different dimension's and doesn't have mounting brackets, so I'll have to build something.
I started by welding a 18" piece of 1" angle along the inside bottom of the grill shell.



The radiator has a 3/8" deep valley on top and bottom between the tanks, so I cut a piece of 2"x16" strap and attached it to the angle with 3 pieces of 3"x2"x 1/4",
the radiator will sit on this piece of steel and hold itself in place with the tanks and the edges of the core.



It's really no fun trying to fab radiator mounts with the grill wobbling around on the single center body mount, and with the new rad. the passenger side grill support
rod will no longer bolt up so I extended it and welded it in place.



Then just to make it look alike I did the driver side. I'll clean all this up when I finish the body work.



Here's the rad. sitting on it's new perch, you can see the valley between the tanks on the top.



Now for the upper mount, I took a 16" piece of 2" woven ratchet strap material off a broken ratchet for the insulation. I found a can of industrial adhesive
of unknown origin and tried to glue this in place on the rad. All it did was stiffen the fabric. Oh well it will still serve it new purpose.



Then I cut a bunch of pieces of 1/4" to make the upper mount 1 1/2"x12" , (2) 2"x10" bent and drilled to fit the holes already in the grill shell, and (3) 2"x2" spacers.
Then welded it all together into this.



Another view, and how about the mood photo's? apparently the lens cover wasn't fully open.



Then a couple with some paint rattled on.



Now I just have to figure out how to hang the shroud.

 

Mounted the shroud today, once everything was measured I drilled and welded 4 tabs off the sides of the grill shell similar to the extended rod mounts.
Here you can see them along with the lower radiator mount and the piece of rubber belting glued in place to cushion the rad.


Radiator sitting back in place on the lower isolator.




The original shroud, I bolted 10" pieces of 1" angle along each side to the original mount holes, then welded 4 more drilled tabs to the angle that match the
ones already on the grill assembly.



Here it is bolted in place, for the top I used the scrap center section from the first shroud I built for my daily driver project. I cut this piece to fit and made a couple
bends to fit the radiator. Unfortunately my sheet metal break is the leg of my cherry picker, but it went all right. Then I bolted the shroud to the sheet metal to seal
the top.



After rough fitting everything on the ground I dis-assembled it and put it back in place on the Jeep, the re-assembled it.
This is the 5/16"x5" bolts on the driver side bolting the shroud to the grill shell.



Then the passenger side. Along each side wherever the edge of the shroud or the angle contacts the radiator tanks it is insulated/protected with
split rubber hose .



This shows the rough top right after I drilled and mounted the self tapping screws.

 

I finished the top with more split rubber hose and sealed it all with silicon. Then covered it all with flat black shake and shoot.



Driver side bolted on and painted. The eight self tapping screws bolting the shroud to the sheet metal are welded on the underside to hold them permanently.



The finished passenger side.