1963 Us Navy Dj-3a

Just bite that proverbial bullet and BOX THE FRAME. Pretty much eliminates the relative flex issue.

 

That's in the plan, but there isn't going to be time to do it for this year's Jeeping season.

 

Used the new bandsaw to reproduce my cardboard templates in metal and then tacked the two pieces together:


A bunch more peck welds to complete the seam:


Ugly at the previous stage, but looks pretty good after some time with the flap disk:


Fitting for hole drilling and rivnuts:


A coat of paint encouraged to dry faster with the heat gun:


The final product. I like how it turned out:


Also finished bolting the driver fender back in place:


And mounted some horns so I know where to run the wires:

 

Well done! That’s cool looking.

 

Didn't really get any time to work on the Jeep over the weekend. Had house and yard repairs to do. Got a few small things done though.

Swapped an actual Lokar branded cable end onto the throttle cable. The one that came in the Chinese throttle pedal kit would not stay clipped on the pivot ball. This one is great and adds some more adjustment to the throttle:


Did some more wiring prep.

Ground strap from engine to body installed with Rivnut on body end:


Ground strap added from engine to chassis by drilling and tapping a hole in the motor mount:


Anchored the front axle vent tube to the back of the grill:


Transfercase vent tube mounted to firewall:


Finally, I went through the Jeep noting all the electrical components so I can start laying out my wiring:

 

I like seeing that Im not the only one that appreciates the value of a well placed riv-nut!! Gonna be watching close at your wiring, I need to start on mine here soon.... The fuse block I bought uses GM color coding, but we will see what happens once I start installing it.... I dont want it to look like multi-colored spaghetti, (I was an Aircraft Electricians Mate in the Navy, so I know better) but finding some of the colors to extend the wiring (specifically the tracer colored wires) is proving a bit challenging without breaking the bank...

 

More slow progress.

The brakes were still feeling a little spongy after my wife helped me bleed them so I wanted to use my pressure bleeder. There were two problems with that. Problem one is that the hoses on the bleeder are old and failing. Problem two is that the dual reservior adapter that came with the bleeder doesn't even come close to fitting under the floorboards in the Jeep.

To solve problem 2, I cut and threaded a chunk of steel for a new pressure bleeder adapter. It was hot rolled so I wasted a good 40 minutes with files and sandpaper to make a smooth (enough) gasket surface. I cut a matching cork gasket to go with it:


Then I replaced all the hose on the bleeder:


After taking 30 minutes to find my 4" C-clamps, I clamped the new adapter on the master cylinder and it held pressure and I could start bleeding:


After all the effort I definitely got a little more air out of the system, but it still feels a bit spongy. I'll drive it a bit and re-address if needed.

The bleeder was up high on the fender with lots of brake fliuid filled hose, so of course, it made a huge mess on the floor when removing the adapter. Kitty litter deployed.

With the cutting, drilling, tapping, sanding, hose replacement, bleeding, and cleanup, that all took a lot longer that it should have.

The last thing I did tonight was identifying the wires for the FJ-40 wiper motor and new FJ-40 wiper switch I bought. It should have 2 speeds and park, but the PO wired it with one speed and no park.

Four wires at the motor (with only two currently hooked up): Light blue, light blue with red tracer, light blue with black tracer, light blue with white tracer:


Through some testing and web searching, I managed to identifiy the colors on the Toyota wiring diagram, so I think I have the info I need:


That's the last of the wiring mysteries figured out, so I think I'm ready to start that whole project.

 

That is interesting. I'm listening for sure. How can you add an intermittent function also?

 

I don't remember if you stated earlier in this thread, are you going to design your own or start with a wire kit? (From your diagram, I'm assuming you are going to do the complete system now)

I designed my own when I rebuilt my Triumph but used a kit on my '74 CJ. Each worked out well but I felt I needed to design my own on the Triumph. First big reason was Lucas weakness of light duty switches and second was the need for custom control of electric overdrive (latching relay). Patching into a wiring kit would have made an ugly finished product. I ended up with a control box with seven relays and associated terminals. All switches go through relays. Overkill? Probably, but no issues for the last ~20 years. And when there is one in the future, it will be easy to troubleshoot. Also, any future modifications will be easy to make.

 

I've got a 21-circuit Painless kit. I'm not averse to rolling my own, but I'm hoping the kit saves me some time. The kit comes with a horn relay, I have separate headlight relays, and I'll add a relay for the reverse lights since they are triggered by a micro switch, but that will be it for this setup.

 

Roy, I was wondering if the micro switch would be adequate if you just use LED bulbs for your reverse lights?

 

It's a 5 amp switch so it should be fine, but I want to leave my options open to put some REALLY bright backup lights on it in the future.

 

Use some LED bulbs and the micro switch will likely handle the load.

 

I spent the tail end of last week figuring out the electrical stuff; what switches I have, what wires are where in the Painless harness, ...etc.

On Saturday, we had free access to an excavator, so it was time to clean ditches:


Today, I spent the whole day making a wiring diagram.

Under hood portion:


Dash/interior portion:


Rear portion:


Now I feel ready, so it's time to rip the old wiring out and start on the new stuff.

 

I've just been working on boring wiring stuff.

Old wiring removal:






I took the seats out so I could lay on my back to work under the dash:


What said dash wiring used to look like:


Piles of removed stuff:




As I get older and less flexible for mucking about under the dash, I'm adding plugs to things like the instrument cluster, ignition switch, and light switch so it's much easier to disconnect for service. Individual screws or spade connectors on everything is such a pain in the butt.

Here are all new wires and plugs added to the only instrument cluster in my stash that doesn't have a burned out fuel gauge/voltage regulator:

 

That stuff is so tedious and awful.
I had a PTSD episode seeing that.

 

No kidding! I feel like wiring PTSD is in my future.

 

I thought that was normal. All 3 of mine look just like that.

 

Mine are just as Crisp and splicy.

 

personally i find it enjoyable and exciting. nothing i'd rather be doing than wiring a vehicle.