The Official "What The Heck Is This?" Thread

Watching a few videos, I'm afraid pulling out the gear set is above my current skill/comfort level. I'll work on the cleaning and try to asses what is in there. Appreciate the info on the gasket!

 

Got down to clean some more on my lunch break. Cleaning out the cover, I noticed a dent that had rubbed on the gears. You can see the indent. Should I try to hammer this out?

A lot has drained out, but lots of heavy, greasy residue on the side walls. Need to keep scraping and cleaning to see if I can look at the seals.

 

You could post a want-to-buy in our classifieds and get another cover if you would rather. Somebody may have one.

 

Front differential covers are typically heavier gauge than rear covers. That may be hard to hammer out, but you sure do NOT want the ring gear interfering with the cover.
This one appears to have some deformation: Differential cover- original Jeep CJ-7 with Dana 30 | eBay
This one looks good: https://www.ebay.com/itm/285630913668

 

Thank you, that second one does look good. And I agree on hammering--that would probably mess with the seal/alignment anyway. Because the gear has already worn a groove in the inside of the cover, it seems the damage is done. I have half a mind to just use an angle grinder or dremmel to grind it a bit more and create extra space.

 

Realize the cover is already thin where the ring gear contacted it. If you take a grinder to it, you may very well create a window in the cover. You will have more space, but it may be alot more than expected. Just use a ballpeen hammer and a block of wood to back it up and remove the dent.

 

The heavy front cover was a military and D30 thing. His looks to be the weaker 20ga stamped style. I have used ebay covers front and rear. Don't forget to drill and tap the vent in the new cover before you toss the old. The lube locker gasket is metal with silicone. Reusable should you need to perform a trail repair. There are cheaper Amazon knock-offs which are what i'm using. If you already have the paper gasket it's OK, Use it. The metal/silicone ones with thick covers are just trail insurance.

 

Naw. But it is a potential leak. Been there done that.

Hammer out the ding, lay in a dollop of brazing rod to fill the groove , and good to go. Really.

 

Well, if you have a torch, heat that area up to cherry red, then do the forming. It will be easier.
You won't distort the fastener pattern.

 

This conversation is in the "What the heck is this" thread ?

But since it is going forward as a tech question, I will add my two cents worth.

What I am wondering about is how "Grease" got in there in the first place.

I clean them out by putting the Jeep on jack stands, filling the pumpkin with diesel fuel, letting it soak a while then spinning the axles for 5 to 10 minutes or so.

With that gunked up grease in there I would replace the inner seals in the axle tubes, and the hub seals. Doesn't matter if you never pulled one apart, every last one of us who has done it, once did it for the first time. The trick is to not let ignorance stop you, and if you need to do something you never did before you can learn how. Most of us did stuff like this the first time without having access to the internet, where you can find all you need to know about doing this job. It really isn't such a big deal, but you do have to do it right.

 

Apologies. It began as, "What the heck is this gunk?" Wasn't sure about etiquette as I'm running into lots of small questions and didn't want to start a thread for each one.

But thank you for the advice and the vote of confidence!

 

Start a build thread with your jeep details and history, then we can ask the mods to move this section of posts out.
Not ideal but stuff happens.

 

I found this in a box of my Jeep stuff. Metal embossed tag CJ5 H. Where might this have been?

 

Attached to the firewall very cool that you still have it!!

 

What does the 'H' signify?

 

Never ever saw one of those. Do tell.

 

I've got a similar tag here. It was on a Jeep the previous owner of Duffer's Blue '68 parted out. I think it was a F-134 64 or 65 CJ-5.

It's longer than the one you have. I'm guessing 5/26 is a date?. It looks like it's President Red, and doesn't show any witness marks around the rivet holes. Maybe it was in the glovebox? It's not like there were carpets for it to be thrown under:




I've not found similar tags on my original paint '69 or '70.

 

Making me think of my 1956 Cj5. On the firewall under the hood, it still shows "56" in chalk.

Wondering if that mark and these tags indicate what model year features were to be assembled at the plant. ?

 

My jeep is mostly original. Dad bought new in 64. Never left the family.

 

I am going to make 2 guesses that both fit. Mine has a factory hard top with sliding doors so maybe the “H” is for hardtop.

Second guess is an early indication of build date. If the serial number chart referenced in another thread is correct, mine was built in August of 1964. August is the 8th month of the year, and H is the 8th letter of the alphabet. So maybe month of model year code?