neohic Posted January 20, 2023 Author Share Posted January 20, 2023 Why do I keep breaking my rule? This week is cold but I’ve got a small window between snowfall and more snowfall starting late on Friday. I was still waiting on engine seals (which showed up later this afternoon) so I decided to put a pile of material to use. A while back I started cutting parts for tying my cage into the frame along with rock sliders. Let’s talk about tube work and tight notches. I don’t have a proper tube notcher but I cheat by using an angle finder and a long drill bit. There are so many simple angles on these CJs that it takes a lot of the proper measuring out of things. Is it 90°?… Is it 45°?… probably. I started with connecting the dots between the underside of the main hoop and an additional support I added. There’s a 45° notch at the bottom and a 90° at the top. I did both sides at the same time. … then the top… … and then finish the notch with a grinder. Easy, right? Yes. I’ve got a magnetic bolt holder thingy that I used for holding the tube while I tacked them. I noticed a major spot of rust at the seams under the seats that I kinda sorta “fixed” before moving forward. P.S. it’s still rusty, but it made me feel better to stick the rusty top back to the rusty bottom. Base plates were added to the frame… … and then I plowed through the sliders and frame tie-ins because I wanted to get both sides at least tacked together today. The other side went faster since I cut all my parts at the same time. Overall, I’m happy with the look of them. I’m more of a fan of the heavy angle iron style sliders that so many CJs have but I’m not sure how much I trust bondo over rust to absorb an impact. Finish welding and paint tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted January 20, 2023 Share Posted January 20, 2023 sweet! yeah, bondo and rust aren't all that great at being structural. I had to do the same for my MJ and avoid any touching of the rockers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted January 20, 2023 Author Share Posted January 20, 2023 Got everything pulled off, welded, and painted. Really nice when it all goes back where it belongs without any fuss. While I was crawling around under it I looked over at the rear driveshaft and… … noticed a completely wasted u-joint. This has obviously been bad for a while. Who’s to know with all the squeaks and bangs and rattles that go hand in hand with driving a CJ?! Anyhow, guess it’s time for u-joints. I swapped them out and also gave everything a wiggle while I was in there. The rear output bearing in the transfer case is wasted along with the rear pinion bearing. I just put them on the list for now. I’ll dig into it deeper when I pull the engine. Fun little project but I’m a bigger fan when there’s a bigger physical outcome. On to the engine next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted January 23, 2023 Author Share Posted January 23, 2023 Some engines just don’t look good. This morning I started on resealing the engine. No idea how long this engine has been sitting so I pulled apart the rotating assembly and gave everything a little assembly lube for its first start up. There’s new hardware for the valve cover that needs to go on, but everything that isn’t in it now will get swapped over from the old engine when it comes out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 form follows function. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted January 24, 2023 Author Share Posted January 24, 2023 I sanded the raised ribs on the valve cover and threw new hardware at everything I could. My plan was to get started on swapping engines when I has decent weather for a full week came around so the Comanche could sit outside. Starting a new job tomorrow after giving up the last one six months ago. G-dang new job is already getting in the way of my shop time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 jobs have a nasty habit of getting in the way of free time. I assume this new gig is a bit easier on the body? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted January 25, 2023 Author Share Posted January 25, 2023 12 minutes ago, Pete M said: jobs have a nasty habit of getting in the way of free time. I assume this new gig is a bit easier on the body? We’ll see. It’s stepping away completely from the manufacturing/fabrication world that I’m used to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89 MJ Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 It does not seem like you left 6 months ago, but you probably knew that already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted January 25, 2023 Author Share Posted January 25, 2023 10 minutes ago, 89 MJ said: It does not seem like you left 6 months ago, but you probably knew that already. It actually feels like longer to me. In retrospect, I’ve had the opportunity to get so many things accomplished for myself. When comparing back to how long projects typically take when I'm only moving forward in my spare time, the past six months have been leaps and bounds on so many things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiatslug87 Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 Congrats (?) on the new job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted January 26, 2023 Author Share Posted January 26, 2023 On 1/24/2023 at 5:00 PM, neohic said: … stepping away completely from the manufacturing/fabrication world that I’m used to. 19 hours ago, fiatslug87 said: Congrats (?) on the new job! Harrumph. I’m walking away from things because it makes too much sense to. It feels disappointing in my head. Almost like the end of an era. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted January 31, 2023 Author Share Posted January 31, 2023 Changing of the guards in the shop today. The truck got kicked out so the CJ heart surgery could start. Things started at the car wash to get as much grime out of the way… … and then into the shop it went. Last picture of the old engine still in there. Then the whole front clip came off and out the door. The new engine got pulled over and all of the external parts being reused got moved over. And then? Up, up, and out! Not to surprise anyone, there were some surprises. The engine mounts aren’t a huge mess but someone has torched the mounting holes elongated for some reason. They’ll get cleaned up some. Then I grabbed my fancy Novak pilot bushing and the input shaft was too small to fit properly! What the hell?! I measure it, call Novak, and they confirmed the size to the part number. Maybe it’s an older T14 that had the smaller input shaft? Nope. Novak’s page says the older T14s weren’t this size either. The answer was staring me in the face the whole time. Surprise T150! Not awesome because my crawl ration was already thought to be only 27:1 and the T150 drops me to 26:1, but kind of awesome should I find a T18/19 four speed to swap in here in the future that I have the right bellhousing. I need to move the oil pan over to the new engine yet. When I do that I’ll pull the new engine off the stand so I can get a for sure measurement for the pilot bushing now that everything can have a caliper put on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89 MJ Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 I believe my brother's parts J10 has a T18 in it. Just thought I'd let you know in case you have any MN trips planned anytime soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted January 31, 2023 Author Share Posted January 31, 2023 2 minutes ago, 89 MJ said: I believe my brother's parts J10 has a T18 in it. Just thought I'd let you know in case you have any MN trips planned anytime soon. The trucks had a longer input shaft than the CJs. People mix and match parts to dial them in to have a chance at keeping tube in the rear driveshaft though. I’ll keep you in mind in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted February 1, 2023 Author Share Posted February 1, 2023 Got home, rearranged the shop so I could play “musical engines”, swapped the oil pan, got the new engine off the stand, and measured the outside diameter for the pilot bushing. I need 1.055” outside and .673” inside. That’s a bone stock bushing for a 1976 CJ from the parts store. $4 instead of Novak’s $18. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted February 3, 2023 Author Share Posted February 3, 2023 Okay… moving forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted February 6, 2023 Author Share Posted February 6, 2023 On 2/3/2023 at 4:49 PM, neohic said: Okay… moving forward. … and we’ve stopped again. I got so caught up in the pilot bushing that I completely overlooked the throwout bearing. In hindsight, I should’ve just returned the clutch kit and got one for a ‘76. Now I’m waiting on that before I can toss the engine in. Why not do small things like drop in the distributor? … nope. The camshaft gear has the same amount of teeth as a stock 4.0 distributor but the gear on the aftermarket distributor is different enough that it won’t drop in. The distributor shaft is slightly smaller in diameter too so I can’t just swap them. Motor mounts? … close but also a negative. Anybody know the thread size for my empty hole on the driver side of the engine? It’s the same in a 4.0 as in a 4.2. That hole had a 7/16-20 bolt in the 4.2 but it wasn’t tight. That same bolt in the 4.2 barely engages the threads in the same hole in the 4.0. Must be metric? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted February 7, 2023 Author Share Posted February 7, 2023 On 2/3/2023 at 4:49 PM, neohic said: Okay… moving forward. … let’s try this again. Yesterday must’ve been an off day since I went out to the shop this morning and just dropped the distributor right in. I swear that distributor just wouldn’t go in regardless of the number attempts or by rotating the oil pump. Who knows… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olddude Posted February 8, 2023 Share Posted February 8, 2023 same temperature today? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted February 14, 2023 Author Share Posted February 14, 2023 Time to make this thing a runner again. My truck was sneering at me the other morning. Between yesterday and today I got nearly everything wrapped up. Still have a good size list of things that I found along the way and some loose ends. Finally with all the right parts sorted out, the engine slid right in. Almost everything went right back where it was except for the power steering pump. I went back and forth on running the later model serpentine belt, alternator, and power steering setup. I like the simplicity of how it was so on went the v-belt accessories… almost. The power steering pump mount wanted to share space with the exhaust manifold. Being I already gave the middle two runners a small dimple to fit the intake, I figured cylinder #1 wouldn’t mind either. Then came the two bolts into the intake that I knew wouldn’t line up. The throttle linkage came up short too so I made it adjustable to dial everything in nicely. I wrapped up the exhaust and got everything ready to fire. … and it did! Prior though, this fuel injection kit really wants to see a full 12 volts that mildly bit me when I went to start it after just rolling it over to get some oil pressure. In the mean time of letting it sit on the charger, I took apart the heater box and changed out the heater core. Of course I found a mouse nest. Who doesn’t find evidence of mice at some point in their CJ? After the charger did its thing, the key got turned, it fired right up, and I set the timing and gave it another once over. The throttle response is awesome! I still wouldn’t call this thing a hot rod or anything, but the seat-of-the-pants dyno told me that the new engine has a few more horses still in the stable. The Jeep is at a good point to put it back outside for now to get my truck off my back. I’ll get back to it soon to finish up the little stuff. Anybody need a used 4.2? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 I'm still envious every time I see engine swaps in rigs that can remove the fenderwells. it's like cheating. how's the heat working in the barn? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted February 14, 2023 Author Share Posted February 14, 2023 12 minutes ago, Pete M said: how’s the heat working in the barn? Heats up nicely. It stays at 50° when I’m not out there and sometimes I’ll bump it up depending on what I’m working on. I see it in the electric bill though. Of all the compromises, I’m happy with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted February 27, 2023 Author Share Posted February 27, 2023 Back in the shop today to finish tidying up some things. The under hood wiring needed a once over along with some interior bits. Mainly getting the heater box and dash cleaned up. The heater box got simplified since the cables to move the internal baffles were falling apart. Now it’s fixed for full heat and a split between defrost and floor. The switch will be in the panel I made a little while back. New switches and a USB port were ordered today since these mismatching finicky ones haven’t fixed themselves yet. There will be an on/off switch for the USB and rear light along with an on/off/on for the two speed blower fan. As for the rear light… … it’s a super basic tractor light that used to live on the roof of my old Cherokee. It’s probably a place holder since it’s in pretty rough shape. I like the simple utilitarian look of it though. Good to have everything functional again. Haven’t run the new engine much yet. I should probably put some miles on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvagedcircuit Posted February 27, 2023 Share Posted February 27, 2023 Oooh. Those rock guards are looking extra good. Nice job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now