Rebuild For "miles"

No way

m38a1 dash goes below the hood line and steering column..
Cj dash stays above the seam between the hood and tub, handle is at the seam and only a slight notch for the top half of the steering column.




20210327_114539 by Joe with a jeep, on Flickr

 

Humbled by the truth.....

Yup, you're correct!

 

Ok, I had the boys playing Laser tag and I set up a bubble maker...

Finished up the bending rework, screwed the panels together and did a test fit. The dash has to come loose to fit over the flanges. I tested the offset up like i planned then looked at the offset down... I really the offset down, it's about level with the opened door.



I need to weld the box together with corner filler squares, add a cord inlet, add the light holes, paint and reassemble with a foam weather seal to the dash. I need to look at bulb seals for the door opening.



I will tie the rear of the glovebox into the old oil bath bolts for support. Interior will be chrome spray paint and the outside will be black.

 

Looking good. A power outlet, eh? Now that's an idea that I may have to steal for use on my own Jeep...

 

I have a flush mount waterproof outlet on hand but... location, location, location.
Lots of wires to work with as it is.
Needs to be clear of future roll cage, aux heater, and fuseblock.

 

Alright, glovebox sort of went to but eh, it's a heck of a lot better than what I had.

I fully welded the seams, it warped.
The can of primer was clogged so i sprayed black right over everything after just wire brushing. Then I just sprayed the chrome in a can on the inside... well that was a mess.

Here it is:


Then I actually had time so it got slapped together. The pcm had velcro holding it tonthe firewall so some new straps went inside the box.



The wire hole is the biggest stepped bit I have and the plugs don't fit. I don't want to unpin anything so I'll get a bigger bit and Hog it out some more. I put two lights in just above the wire hole and just infront of the pcm so if the pcm gets loose it has something to rattle against.

Here is just one light running on the smoke detector battery:


Again if I was concerned I would sand the blobs out but I'm not concerned. I might put some stick-on rubber in the glovebox anyway.
I decided to delete the arm on the door... the box is in there and I don't want to cut a slot in the box. I plan on making a small cable to keep it from plopping too far. Then I have some weatherstripping I'll find for the door.
It also needs a brace against the firewall.


Then I broke out some gears...
I'm a little concerned about four pitted teeth on the new to me front ring, you can sort of see it nearest the rear ring gear.

 

Looks good! It is not like people are going to be opening your glove box to judge the paint job. As far as the bar on the door goes Jeep deleted those also in later years.

 

Almost done with the steering fix, aka "operation bandaid" you'll see why once I get pictures...

My 1/2" drill bit is gonna need some tlc along with the stepped bits. I've basically hand carved a new steering box mount using the one on my frame as a template. Then both got drilled some more for a total of 8 new 1/2" diameter holes in 1/2" thick steel plate.

Now my DD shaft is about two inches short, I'm not seeing a 12" section of 1"DD on Amazon so it might wait for a summit or jegs order with axle rebuild parts or solve that one offline.

I'm also looking for a 1.375 or 1.5" firewall grommet for the glovebox, I'm beginning to think the best approach will be to basically make a vinyl or canvas shift boot. 3d print the bezel and hole pattern, sew up a sock with a zip tie to close around the wire bundle.

I think part of my engine drivabilty issue are the blown gaskets on the end of the exhaust manifolds.
So 2" exhaust gaskets are in the future.

Then a round of oil changes in everything and I'll be pulling axles for the 4.27 gears and new to me powr-loc.

I'll see how well the 4.3 pulls the overdrive and 4.27s when the time comes, it will always be a good splitter. I'm a little concerned about the pitting on the front ring gear I'm about to put in, the coast side is what is bad with deep pits on 5 teeth but minor pitting on three drive sides.

And I'll add this here:
https://cj3b.info/Tech/SB500PowrLok.html

Sort of rambles but just trying to keep heading in the right direction. Then the big items are tires, sm465, roll cage, rear tank, electric wipers, body mounts, winch.

 

You’re saying we will see you and the Jeep in Colorado in August?

 

I don't think I have enough vacation time from home and work. Additionally the costs and time to work on the jeep are a factor. I'm really hoping for a Rubicon 2025 or Epic 2025.

I'm trying to prioritize stuff, most of this is on my 2021 to-do list. There are things that need done first to get it back on the road but there is also a funny issue of prices inflating at different rates. Some stuff is not going up as fast as others, Soo I may need to hold off on some items and get something else before prices increase. There is also the issue of overtime at work, and time with the kids that come first.

I'm mentally planning $$ a month budget and 2-3hrs a week garage time (subtract laundry, dishes, chores, and overtime). It really hurts the schedule when things don't work the first time so I'm planning and studying the fsm a lot. I'm also trying to keep some little stuff in que
But basically two months for tires, three for transmission adapter, the rest will get done as time allows later and is not as critical for a Rubicon or Colorado trip by myself... but that's no fun so that's where the rear tank and cage etc fall in.

All that said....
I will definitely be at the fall reunion, and I plan to have it able to be on the road within a few hours of clean-up if/when my daily driver pukes a transmission band.

 

Steering shaft is now 25.5", the box is moved 1.5" forward and I'm using the slightly longer but flat pitman arm. Looks like I need to shave a half inch off the steering shaft but here are the tie rod and drag link...

Might eventually flip the drag link on the pitman arm...



And the u-joints...
Lower:


Upper:

 

I had a short list written on the back of my hand today as I left for lunch:

Grind the 1/2" extra off the steering shaft. -done
Look at the air filter housing.
Pull the hydraulic pump off and get the lever out of the way. -done
Grind the hole out a little larger for the driver side tail light. -done
Start looking at the exhaust rework.

Well in 30min I got the pump off... and the tail light in the hole.
The sticky throttle turned out to be at my throttle pedal.

I need to get the two ford's in for fluid changes, oil, transmission, transfercase and axles. So I want the jeep on standby status for part fetching.


So my short list for the jeep,
Pull the trigger on all the bearings, seals, shims, and bolts for the axle repairs.

I need to find my steering box spacers and longer bolts, shorten the shaft -done
and gob high temp silicone on the leaky exhaust flanges.

Hammer the snot out of the air cleaner base plate To clear the tps. -Almost done
Eventually I need to reinforce the base of the air cleaner and tie it into the tbi adapter plate, remove the hot air inlet for cold start and solder cover plates over the extra stuff.

Then pop the fender back on.
Add a brace from the oversized glove box to the firewall and fix the busted weld holding the dash on.

 

Tinkered on the glove box today, got the TBI harness passed through without pulling the box out and re-drilling but I really should have taken it slower. Because I broke one of the wire connection latches. I think it will be ok, it snapped together and all. Now I need to 3dprint a grommet for my hacked up cord hole and make a support to the firewall. If I were to do this again I would also make the box wider because the pcm and plugs are tight. I also got the glove box door strike plate attached (had to take the door off and back on)



With that all hooked up I decided to admire how much cleaner everything is and I needed to check that broken connector...
So I hooked up the battery and turned the key just a bit to prime the gas and oil... then again and it fired right up.
Not bad for 3 months sitting.

 

Today I made a bracket for my switches.

I had to dig into my old emails to see exactly what each switch does...
Idle is 750rpm
1st increase 250 (A/C compressor 12v+)
2nd increase 500 (ground switch)
Both together 750 for 1500rpm total...
or 536rpm at the pto driveshaft with a t90 in 1st.

I need to add a passenger heater switch, back-up light switch, fog lights, and a map light switch.
And the actual Switch for future OBA or whatever.