The "You're an Idiot" restoration

Progress report. Motor out of the way and on the stand. I got a new engine stand from Northern tools. Supposed to be 1500# capacity and it folds up too. I got it for $80. Got it a couple months ago. Good quality it seems, so I had another coupon and went back and got another yesterday. I have another motor to get out of my way and I may use the two for a rotissery once I get to tub work.





Now, getting the remaining junk off the frame.


Pulled the manual steering box off.




I had a hell of a time getting the linkage off the pitman arm. I didn't have one of the wedge tools. My dad has one, but no idea where it was when I needed it. I also tried to remove the pitman arm from the steering box. No way that was coming off. Finally got the linkage off so I could pull the box.



Took out the 3 (I think) bolts out and it came right off.







Here is the steering box. I tinkered a little but wasn't sure how the shaft disconnects from the coupler. Feel free to comment on that! For now, I just set it aside, I'll deal with that later. Planning to go with PS when I build it all back up.

 

Sorry, I am having some photobucket problems. Switching over to Flickr. I hope this works.

More pics of that steering box OEM set up as I removed it.







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Here is after I beat the pitman arm loose from the steering mechanism





Now onto brake line removal. Here are the two lines that connect up to the master cylinder. One to the front and one to the rear drum slave cylinders. Just posting here so I can remember how this is all routed and plumbed.




Here is the 'tee' that connects the front left and right drums. The side port on the tee goes to the drivers front and the through port routes around to the pass side front drum.



routing around the above the steering box to the pass side


Picture 024 by benmack1, on Flickr


pass side rubber brake line to the drum


Picture 004 by benmack1, on Flickr

Drivers side front rubber line.


Picture 023 by benmack1, on Flickr

From master cylinder to rear brakes, runs inside the frame chanel on drivers side


Picture 015 by benmack1, on Flickr

Side note - fuel lines (one supply, one vent return) ran along the top of the frame on the passenger side to the tank in the back.


Picture 014 by benmack1, on Flickr

Here is where the fuel lines come out in the back. Also can see a shot of the rear cross member.


Picture 011 by benmack1, on Flickr

Pic of the rear line connection to the rubber final line to the pass side rear brake. NOTE: the brake tee for the rear lines on the top of the axle in the back.

You can also see the e-brake cables in this one as well.


Picture 013 by benmack1, on Flickr

More e-brake cable pics


Picture 029 by benmack1, on Flickr


Picture 026 by benmack1, on Flickr


Picture 027 by benmack1, on Flickr


Connections that hold the e-brake cables to the rear cross member. These bolted on from the underside.


Picture 028 by benmack1, on Flickr

Drivers side rear wheel drum, e-brake cable, and brakeline.


Picture 012 by benmack1, on Flickr

Finally - brake lines on the shop floor. Need new ones, these babies are well rusted.


Picture 025 by benmack1, on Flickr

 

With brake lines off and steering out of the way, here is what the chassis looked like.


Picture 031 by benmack1, on Flickr


Next I wanted to deal with the rear bumper/body mount.

First was to remove the drawbar hitch. More like a tractor than a truck R)

This thing is in good shape, not bent or anything but I don't think it will be put back on. I am shying away from the bone stock original plan and minimally will put on some decent bumpers.



I wanted to take the rear end cap cross piece off and replace it. This is what the body mounts to. I had to grind off a ton of factory rivets. They were underneath as well. I kept grinding until it came off. Not too bad, but I went through a dewalt 4 1/2 inch grinding wheel!







It was also welded on the top and bottom to the frame chanel. I took my time and got the weld ground out without harming the frame. Also see how this piece of crap cross member is bent. Time for something new back here.





And it's off.



the (former) rivets.



My new backend. Everything is solid. Just heavy surface rust.



Drivers frame end (rear)



Passenger same



Drivers side rear frame - side view



Pass side rear frame - side view. You can see where the drawbar was braced.



Topside with tail brace off.



The next step is clean up and painting the frame. I left the axles on for now while I start the clean up. Not sure how to do this so I just started with a wire wheel on my drill motor. Slow and painful, but it cleans up nice. The body mount holes are perfect, no deforming from rust. I've seen many much worse. The frame seems to have a black paint on it yet in many places. I assume that is factory paint.





Alot of pitting in some places. This is the inside of the frame rail mid-chassis. I think it's solid and doesn't need any rebracing but it's pitted alot in this area.



This wire wheel is very slow. I got a 60 grit flapper disk for my dewalt grinder. That did much better much faster but I have to be careful. It gets down to metal fast. Anyone got any other suggestions or is this basically how to go about this rust clean up (I don't have a sand blaster and don't want to hassle with the mess of that).

 

Great work. And going fast it seems like. I used a wire wheel because I did not want to take too much off too fast. The 80 grit on the grinder took it down very fast as you find out. and if the paint is in good shape, I'd leave it. Just remove the rust. What I did was to remove the rust, coat it with ospho then use a 2 part primer. Topcoat with Tractor Supply Implemeint paint with the harnder. Then I left it outside for about 2 years. I'm finding a couple of rust spots I need to clean. But I also decided I can worry this thing to death. I need to get it together and running, then I'll go back and worry about a rust spot here and there.

And thanks for the picts. It is a fantastic documentation for all of us. Thanks for taking all the picts and giving captions.

 

Wire wheel is definitely the way to go! I got a 4 1/2 inch wire wheel from my local chinese tool supplier and set it up on my dewalt grinder. That did a much better job than the flapper sanding disks. The flappers were not removing everything in some places (rust remained and there is some pitting here and there that they don't do a good job on) and other places actually taking the metal down, especially on the bending corners of the frame C-Chanel. They also will grind down a weld bead if you aren't careful. Very impressive actually for sandpaper but not what I am needing. The wire wheel seems to just remove rust and paint but the metal is just shined up. Just what I am after.

I am also starting to think seriously about what I'm going to do with the frame painting. I was thinking it had to be POR-15, but I've decided there is no point. I've heard some dissatisfaction on various forums with the POR 15 over time. I have a southern vehicle here so there isn't that much penetrating rust. Most of it is just heavy on the surface and a once over with the wire wheel is cleaning to bare metal that looks like new. I think I will just hit the frame with epoxy primer and then a topcoat. I checked and the local tractor supply has some of the restoration series valspar paints for tractors mentioned by aallison but I'll have to do more research on those options vs. other topcoat paints like nason or PPG etc. I'm less than novice in this entire paint area. I don't even own a paint gun yet.R) The first painting attempts are sure to be a total cluster (insert your favorite term here).

I'll get some pics of the frame clean up posted soon.

 

Anybody that can disassemble a Jeep can spray paint. Harbor Freight has some good guns for the money too.

 

Great quote. I needed the laugh, it's been a long monday! We'll see if you are correct. I better pick a color I like because everything in my shop is likely to be painted by proximity by the time I get done.R)

 

It's been a bit since my last update. I've made some progress albeit slow. I've been distracted by a couple side projects and I'll elaborate on one of those below.

I was ready to clean up the rust in earnest on the frame so, I loaded it back up on the trailer so I could pull it outside to keep the dust down in the shed.

This guy has made life alot easier along the way!






Started by pulling off the front axle (frame is on the trailer ***-backwards in the fotos)

This part was a bit of a chinese firedrill at times trying to lift and prop-up and move axles around the hoist, all on the trailer.











Finally got these things into the shed



and the frame on some saw horses so I could work on it



Took the front bumper shown here



Off!



Note that little bend. That is going in the junk along with the rear bumper. I've been reading alot about bumpers and there is a bunch of neat options and fun mini-projects to come there. That's for later.

Pulled the motor mounts off. (just a self-hint - the big one goes on the passenger side )



Driver side with motor mount gone



Passenger side with motor mount off. I also jerked off those bump stops and brackets and the rubber low profile stops that bolted under the frame (not shown here). I'm never going to remember where all this crap goes later.



I then pulled the leftovers of the steering box mount.











Some looks at the spring hangers before clean up













(probably all any of you ever wanted to see on spring hangers from a 72 CJ5)

So I started in hard and heavy with the wire wheel and my 4 1/2 inch dewalt grinder. I burned through about 4 or 5 wire wheels.

Much nicer looking now!









I had this pitting on the drivers side bottom of the frame. I think it will be OK, this is about the worst part here.



This was the underside of the rear - mid ship cross member







Alot of wire wheeling - Ugh!

 

....and voila, a cleaned up frame. Actually the pics below are the frame after it's been sitting for about a month or so. I'm getting some flash rust. I plan to hit it lightly just before painting once I am ready, but this is much better than before! I am pretty damn pleased with how it's cleaned up so far.











The body mounts are very clean





You can see more of that pitting again on the inside of the drivers side frame channel



The next 2 pics are of the top of the frame, just ahead of the passenger door area. You can see the frame numbers. These (thankfully) match part of the vin which is I think what it should. (J2 13354, I believe that means a 72 and that was the serial number 13354 for that year). Although the stamping isn't real deep for a couple of the middle numbers. I think that makes it pretty damn authentic, matching the nameplate on the body so no one has been cobbling on this one. (My wife is laughing at me on this kind of thing. It just means it's all one pile of junk and not from two she says. Basically right I guess R))



better here.













Some of that pitting on the rear spring hangers









Underside of that mid-ship/ rear cross member





These numbers were clearly stamped on a couple of the body mounts and the frame. I don't know if that means anything or not or was just a part lot. This is all very interesting to me. A bit of history. Stupid I know but interesting to me at least.





All the pics you ever wanted to see of a wire wheeled frame.

That's the status of the jeep as of September 25, 2011. The plan is a quick once over again just before painting, then W&G remover, then I am planning to use a PPG shopline brand epoxy primer. I have heard enough bad things about the POR-15 and I don't know that I have enough rust to need it so I am going to avoid it.

I don't want to get into a big paint debate, but I am all ears on painting the frame. It will probably be mid-October before I get to it so now is the time for advice!! The other option I had thought of was an etching primer then a urethane build primer on top of that. I was leaning toward the epoxy primer, a couple coats and then eitherway a topcoat of black paint.

 

I am in exactly the same status as you are, but a few days work behind.

I have been using a side wheel grinder and a wire cup wheel for the majority of the frame, and for areas like you have below,



I have been using an air powered needle descaler. This will get into really tight corners and does a good job cleaning things up.

They do eat a lot of air, and are quite noisy, so be warned.

http://www.harborfreight.com/air-to...ft_adv=10062&gclid=CI799_TOuasCFTAaQgodDmT_fg

Next to sandblasting, the needle scaler is the best tool I have found for the job in areas the wire wheel will not fit.

Keep it up, lookin good

 

Getting ready for painting I decided what the heck, time to upgrade from my 20 gal hobby compressor. I did some research and here is what I did.

I did some research and got some recommendations from folks on various forums. They recommended Quincy compressors by in large as one of the best. The other one that one guy mentioned was Eaton compressor. I checked them both out. It happened that I was passing through Eaton Ohio and stopped back in August and took a look at the Eaton compressors. I was taken aback, these are high quality units and the people there were very good to talk to. It seems to be more or less a family run group although not what I would call a mom and pop operation but I was thoroughly impressed. So I bought one. I don't have it quite set up yet but I got it a couple weeks ago. this thing is a mac daddy to say the least. It's a 5HP, single phase, two stage compressor, with an 80 gallon tank. The damn thing weighs in at 800 lbs. Fortunately I had the tractor or I am not sure how I would have moved it around. It came on a semi drop shipped to my home.

You can see the difference in size from the old one and the new one R). By the way, this hasn't gone over very well with the wife and has just served to confirm the title of this posting in her mind. She's right but she knew that about me when we got married 16 years ago so that's her fault for making a poor decisionR)R)











Here is the best part, these are all over it







heavy duty platform on top of the tank



So I poured a pad and put some mounting bolts in the concrete. (My shop has gravel over most of the floor just for tractors etc to sit. I needed some more space and concrete.



Here is dad, trowling





I put some heavy duty rubber belting under the feet to reduce vibration.



I still have to plumb and wire it up. I am going to run 3/4" pipe around the shop. I'm getting to the point in life where I am tired of half-a$$ing things so when I can do it, I try to do it right. This should give me plenty of air for my needs. I could probably even do some blasting with it at least with a home unit. It still probably isn't enough for major blasting but sure as hell should take care of any more of my needs.

I would seriously recommend Eaton Compressor to anyone intested. Go look at craftsman or quincy or IR whatever, they just don't seem to compare at least to my untrained eye. These are available for basically the same money or less.

 

Thanks, great suggestion. I may give that a try. I have been using a dremel tool of all things to get into the corners and obviously only with modest success. Thanks again.

 

Brian, dont even think of doing the needle scaler thing until you have the new compressor on line.

As I said before, it eats air rapidly.

I have the basically the same compressor, and it will not keep up over the long haul.

By the way, these scalers work best at a slight angle to the surface, dont use them straight on. Play around, and you will find the correct method.

Good luck,

 

Holy crap, that air compressor is awesome! You could buy a Jeep for the price of that thing
3/4" pipe is a great way to plumb the shop for air...If you want to keep some money in your pocket, consider using 3/4" PVC schedule 40. I was very skeptical at first, but my employer used it and we never had a problem. I have since used PVC for my garage and it is a very quick and easy solution.

 

AGREED! i used 1.25" PVC in my shop when I had it and it worked great... plus, it held more volume than 3/4""... just a thought...

your project looks FANTASTIC and i will be following this for sure...

as it stands right now, my 75/76 hybrid is STILL in the garage in pieces... long story , but she keeps talking to me, trying to get me to come out and play... maybe THIS year, i ll be able to...

CONGRATS on the great find and excellent progress!

 

I worked my way through my frame with a wire wheel and it was enough to make me throw in the towel. The PO had some kind of spray on rubberized crap on the frame which was gumming up the wire wheel and killing my electric drill. My frame needed some crack repair, front shock towers and front hangers I needed to send it out to get worked on. Since he had the equipment I also had him blast and paint the frame. That rubber crap took forever with a blaster so I am glad he dealt with it. Great job so far. For what it's worth, my wife thinks I'm an idiot too.

 

OK, your making some great progress and doing good. This all begs the question, are you still getting the "You're an idiot" line????

 

Ha, more than ever. Everytime she walks by my piles of junk she mumbles the idiot line. I've got a 03 Wrangler too. She isn't a big fan of that one and it's pristine, clean and right all the way around (I don't even drive it in the rain) so I don't suspect this vintage cj5 will ever be very much appreciated at home. Let's just say she isn't ever going to be much of a jeep person. Just for the record, this project isn't the only reason she thinks I'm an idiot. After 16 years of marriage, I've given her a long list of reasons for that.

 

Pert near 21 years of bondage with me and my better half. The line I get is "Your going out to the barn again?" It's where I work on my Jeep......

 

Well, the frame is painted. Went very well. I talked myself into and then out of several options. I finally did the following.

1) Bought a cheapo Harbor Freight sandblaster. This really helped clean up the problem areas. The metal was quite porous, probably about as aggressive as I would ever want to get with this old steel. I used black diamond coal fines abrassive. $7.99 a bag. For what I did, I used 2 bags so not a big deal on cost. The blaster was $105 out the door with a 20% coupon (never go to HF without their ubiquitous 20% coupon).

2) Used PPG shopline brand epoxy primer. 2:1 mix with the hardener. Painted it within an hour of finishing the sandblasting. I could just hear it rusting with that fresh completely exposed steel.

3) Two coats of the epoxy primer. Great day to paint, about 70 F, no wind, low humidy here in central NC yesterday and today. I used just under 1 quart to cover it. I had paint leftover and probably put it on a bit heavier since I had it mixed up. I wish I had more parts cleaned up ready to go. I also did the motor mounts while I was at it.



4) Let it sit overnight. Someone told me 16 hrs is perfect for the epoxy cure before topcoat although the specs say after it flashed you can topcoat anytime within the first 72 hrs. I didn't want to have to scuff it so I topcoated the next day.

4) Used Eastwood single stage urethane. I went with 'rat rod flat black'. I used just over 1 quart to top coat the frame and some small parts. It is a 4:1 mix so volume is slightly less than the primer so overall probably used about the same amount of paint (primer and top coat). I will add, the people at Eastwood are great to deal with. I had a couple questions so I called and they got back to me within a couple hours with the answers I needed. Shipped it out right away and all went well other than the package looked like the UPS guy drove over the top of it (the paint was fine but the cans are belt all to hell )







Used this cheapo HF purple paint gun. Worked like a charm. Every bit as capable as the operator was. I read a ton about this topic and everyone liked this gun for the price (about 40 bucks I think). I am normally not a fan of the cheap chinese tool vendors but the blaster and this gun were well worth it for my purpose.




OK, some pics of the damage.

Wire wheeled frame. I knocked off most of the rust with the wire wheel, but it just didn't seem good enough. Alot of pics above of this as well. Keep in mind, there is alot of flash rust here since it sat in the NC heat and humidy (inside) for a couple months since I did the wire wheeling. It needed a touch up eitherway.









You get the idea.

After blasting as much as I could take this is what I had. I don't recommend blasting to the faint hearted. With all the respirator, goggles and hood, I couldn't see crap.

Here is the blaster



and black diamond media 30/60 grit. I would suggest a higher grit # if you can find it. I have heard 80 grit flows better. The biggest problem was when the tank got low, it didn't seem to fall into the exit port so well. But it worked. I checked on some play sand but with the health concerns and courseness of it, I decided it was a no go for using sand.



After sand blasting, this is what I had.











Motor mounts after blasting.



Not perfect, but this isn't my day job. I am trying to do this right and to the best of my ability within a reasonable cost so all in all I was happy at this point. I'll post the painting pics in the next installment since this is getting long.