neohic Posted July 24, 2023 Author Share Posted July 24, 2023 3 hours ago, Pete M said: well, then I guess you need to get on that. can't be a "project for tomorrow" if you start it today. Nope. Today was for today's projects. I'm in zero hurry to get on tearing into this thing again especially when I know that I'm too cheap to pay full price for new parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiNi Beast Posted July 25, 2023 Share Posted July 25, 2023 22 hours ago, neohic said: Nope. Today was for today's projects. I'm in zero hurry to get on tearing into this thing again especially when I know that I'm too cheap to pay full price for new parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted July 30, 2023 Author Share Posted July 30, 2023 Today was Comet day again! This thing is filthy. After the first “wash” the oxidation and dirt lifted really quick. All the fine lines show up immediately to show where to put more effort. Can’t stress enough that this is absolutely NOT something you want to do on a vehicle with even okay-ish paint. I got about half way through when nature decided it was a good time to give everything a good rinse. After getting back to it, the results where great! … then a trip to the car wash to get all the Comet out of the nooks and crannies. More signs of one of its past lives started showing through also. Once it all dried it’s very evident how dull the paint is. I mean… why wouldn’t it be after two Comet washes with a Scotch Brite pad? The plan this time is to order up a Poppy’s Patina wipe on clear kit for some UV protectant. Stay tuned on that. I’ve heard some really good things about their products. I’m also considering… something? Renegade like hood stripes? Maybe just painting the raised Jeep letters? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted July 30, 2023 Share Posted July 30, 2023 screaming chicken? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted July 31, 2023 Author Share Posted July 31, 2023 1 hour ago, Pete M said: screaming chicken? I was thinking something a little more subtle and just break up all the red. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted July 31, 2023 Share Posted July 31, 2023 google says there are quite a few choices Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted July 31, 2023 Author Share Posted July 31, 2023 Honeymoon stage is over. This sad paint is duller than dull! Gloss clear kit has been ordered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted August 8, 2023 Author Share Posted August 8, 2023 The Poppy’s Patina gloss clear kit came in late last week. It’s pretty straight forward but the real allure to me was the idea of a wipe on clear coat out of the lack of overspray and the huge mess over my whole shop that goes along with that. Things went… okay. The finish is great but the supplied applicator was a bit frustrating to use. There are spraying instructions and, should I use this stuff in the future, I’d probably go that route. There’s really no turning back if you miss anything once you start. Their tag line could be, “Didn’t notice that ancient run under those two layers of paint? YOU’LL SEE IT NOW!!!” I did two coats over the course of a couple days. Lights, hood hinges and latches, badges, and the mirror where all pulled off. Sanding got a little away from me in a few spots but I think the CJ wears the “faux-tina” well. I’ll get it all put back together in the morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 8, 2023 Share Posted August 8, 2023 man, that pops! can't wait to see it in the sun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiatslug87 Posted August 8, 2023 Share Posted August 8, 2023 Shiny! Can that clear be polished? I would assume so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted August 8, 2023 Author Share Posted August 8, 2023 2 minutes ago, fiatslug87 said: Shiny! Can that clear be polished? I would assume so. I would think so. I also highly doubt it’ll get anything further. This thing still lives outside all day, everyday. Surely it’s leaps forward being better off than what it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted August 8, 2023 Author Share Posted August 8, 2023 Things were looking pretty great in the shop! … but this is still very terrible paint. It’s just shiny terrible paint now! It photographs well but the amount of runs and garbage that I never noticed really made itself known. We’ll see how things hold up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 8, 2023 Share Posted August 8, 2023 old-jeep patina tells a story. yours has quite a few chapters but it looks good all shiny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted August 14, 2023 Author Share Posted August 14, 2023 Went for a drive to fetch my new… older?… transmission today. My Bronco buddy arranged transportation to his place which is way closer to me than Denver where it started. He’s definitely a Ford guy and it’s easy to see that walking around his place. There’s the ‘69 highboy, ‘66 Mercury 2wd, his ‘74 Bronco, and a slew of parts stashed away everywhere. I was very excited to see the Bronco! It’s been a while, but this was one of the first bigger fabrication projects I had while working at a local 4x4 shop. Tons of tube work, a bunch of aluminum, and it’s all hidden under a patchwork quilt style body. This thing is very solid and after quarter panels and rockers it just might get painted… maybe… someday. Anyhow… the NP435. I got it home and had a closer look at it. Judging by the crazy shifter, it was clearly swapped into the early Bronco it came out of. The date on the case is 10/31/68. Overall, I’m happy with it. Still no clear direction as to when this is happening or what transfer case, but this is an awesome transmission that I’ll be able to swap over my bellhousing, clutch assembly, and even the pilot bushing should work. Right now I’m leaning towards keeping my current Dana 20 in lieu of its 2.03:1 low range. This trans will jump me from 25:1 to 57:1. Not sure how much more important 70 or 75:1 is to me for a bunch more added cost. We’ll see what other deals might come along, I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted September 16, 2023 Author Share Posted September 16, 2023 Well… it’s getting to be that time of year again. It was 34° outside this morning and I needed to move some parts around. The top was wide open to get to so I reluctantly put it all back together. Made a good run though! Now… about those door bottoms… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted September 16, 2023 Share Posted September 16, 2023 'tis the season. how's the gloss holding up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted September 17, 2023 Author Share Posted September 17, 2023 17 hours ago, Pete M said: 'tis the season. how's the gloss holding up? It’s hanging in there pretty good. There’s an even layer of dirt on it again that hides most of its brilliance. Picked up a small fuel tank that I can rework some to put under the driver seat like older model CJs. Price was right… not sure I need another project though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted September 18, 2023 Author Share Posted September 18, 2023 I don’t hate the doors. The can said “sunshine red” so I figured it must be in the same family as “sun faded red”. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted October 29, 2023 Author Share Posted October 29, 2023 Sleigh bells ring, and whatnot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 29, 2023 Share Posted October 29, 2023 looks like it's officially hardtop season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted October 29, 2023 Author Share Posted October 29, 2023 Yup. It hasn’t hardly been on the road since it got put back on so, at this point, there’s zero regrets. The snow probably won’t stick around too long though. This is just the mountains showing everyone who’s boss. Bare minimum, I’d like to get the ol’ CJ out one more time before pulling the transmission this winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted November 17, 2023 Author Share Posted November 17, 2023 Time to get serious about the NP435 swap! Transmission to transfer case adapter has been order just now through Novak. I decided to not get overly fancy and to stick with the current Dana 20. Should I want deeper than the 57:1 final ratio this setup will give me, I’ll always have the option to build a 2.46:1 low range Dana 20. Four speed, here I come! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted November 20, 2023 Author Share Posted November 20, 2023 This was an expensive box… … but I thoroughly love how well it was packaged, the quality feel of the products, the full color instructions, and the fact that they supplied gaskets without the expectation of just goobing it all together with RTV. Well done, Novak! I’m hoping to get started on everything this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted November 23, 2023 Author Share Posted November 23, 2023 The shop got rearranged so the CJ isn’t an ice cube bringing the room temperature down while I’m trying to work on it. I really like the CJ size to shop ratio compared to just about every other vehicle I’ve had in there. TONS of space to work around it for a 16x26 footprint! Anyhow, I made up a quick mock up stand for the NP435 and got the oil draining. Looking forward to getting started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted November 25, 2023 Author Share Posted November 25, 2023 Big day in the shop with one potential road block… more on that in a bit. For the most part, everything went fairly smooth with rebuilding the new transmission. I didn’t take hardly any pictures while trying to get through it while everything was fresh in my head. With the shifter straightened out, I declared the 435 un-Bronco-ed. Removal of the Dana 20 and T150 was also very straight forward after cracking loose what seemed like an entire tube of red RTV. Had to set them side by side for a good comparison. That T150 is tiny! Then, even though nothing was cleaned, I mocked up the whole assembly to double check measurements. Here’s where I’m leery… I had the pilot bushing fairly far into the crankshaft for the T150 input shaft. The input shaft on the NP435 is shorter than the T150’s. With the bell housing back on the engine I could measure how far the pilot bushing needed to move. One slice of bread later… … and it moved fairly easy. The bushing is now protruding out 7/16” (14/32”) and the bushing itself is right around 21/32” leaving 7/32” still in the crank. With it that far out, the measurement from the face of the bushing to the transmission matting surface on the bell housing looks like this… … giving me just over 7/32” on engagement after the taper. So… what say everyone? Run it or figure a different pilot bushing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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