In reply to DrBoost :
Close, its a form of automotive glucose that is metabolized by the Jeep.
In reply to DrBoost :
Close, its a form of automotive glucose that is metabolized by the Jeep.
ebonyandivory said:logdog said:
Isn't this the cutest thing you ever saw!
I think my Samurai carb could’ve beat that up in a fight.
Everybody knows a 2 on 1 barrel
fight isn't fair!
After a scuff and solvent wipe down, the stock bar from the CJ7 chassis was painted with Rustoleum Matte Black. Fun fact, that color is a virtual match for the bumpers on work truck package Rams.
Mrs Logdog paints much better than I do. She sprayed some base/clear to fix a boo-boo I did to her truck this summer and earned herself the job of go to painter for all projects.
After the paint dried we set the bar on the Jeep. I still need to mount it in new holes. I filled all the hacked up old holes when I repaired the figerglass. But I cleared up a chunk of garage floor.
I spent more time than I want to admit pressure washing the new wheels and they look about the same. A wire brush takes whatever the brown staining type stuff off. I need to go pick up some aluminum cleaner and soak them down. I really don't want to scrub these things by hand. Im lazy!
I could find someone to powder coat those for you...
In reply to DrBoost :
Didnt we already cover this? 
I thought I would clear off a little bench space and hang the power steering bracket on the engine. Unfortunately the holes don't quite line up, as seen in the picture.
I have NEVER had good luck with headers. It doesnt matter what brand of car or what brand of header. I ALWAYS have to tweak or modify something to get them to fit. No matter how much the box lies and says they will bolt up. The header that came on this 258 is no exception. The bracket just kisses the cylinder 1 tube. The choices are stick with the Armstrong steering thats currently on it, dent the tube, or grind a bit off the bracket. Since the bracket is so meaty I am going to grind a little off of it but that project will go on the back burner for now.
In my quest to rid the CJ5 of diamond plate, I decided to tackle the filler neck.
Surprisingly it wasn't glued to the body. Just a few rivets.
The hose didn't actually go to the tank, nor does it fit. It appears the previous owner was trying to use a rock hard old hose.
It came with new stock flares, but only one is installed.
The place the fuel filler was located would prevent the flare from actually mounting to the body. So even if the diamond plate didn't bug me, I would have needed to move it. I think I may use a TJ filler bezel and move it back. Now I need to do some more fiberglass repair.
My dad is visiting for a couple weeks. He doesn't move as well these days due to some health issues but he still enjoys spending time in the garage. Over the weekend I had told him my plan for the wheels and while I was at work he started attacking them with the Harbor Freight wire brush assortment I bought for the task. These things really clean up nice.
The aluminum cleaner I bought and tried last weekend didn't work. Whatever grime was on these was very chemical resistant.
Admittedly my cell phone camera isn't the best, but it appears I had a greasy fingerprint on the lens when I took pictures this weekend.
I pulled the straight steering column in preparation to swap in the tilt. I was happy to see my measurements were correct and they are the same length. I didn't want to give up any belly room. I want to simplify the tilt column and see if I can swap over the turn signal from the straight column. I need to paint the tilt column as well.
I used the column removal as an excuse to go ahead and pull the diamond plate dash in prep for the stock dash.
I expected the wiring to need much more attention than it does. I think a little time with some zip ties and clamps and it will clean up nicely.
I decided to pull the wheels for the first time and see what sort of attention the brakes will need.
I knew there was an oil leak from the rear axle. There was oil inside the wheel. It looks like the previous guy tried to fix it with RTV. Kinda surprised he didn't try and make a seal out of diamond plate.
It looks like these were all new parts fairly recently, but I will be replacing them due to oil contamination. I also have some wheel studs to replace.
Both drums got a little damage from being persuaded to come off.
If red is the most racecar brake color, does that make blue the most offroad color?
One of the things I noticed when I brought it home was that the springs were waaaaaaay too stiff. I could jump up and down on the bumpers and get virtually no compression. I also wasn't sure if it was a 2.5 or 4 inch lift. I was guessing 4 inch due to the stiffness of the springs (seems cheap lifts use stiff springs for some reason) and I found a couple measurements on a Jeep forum that seemed to confirm it was 4 inch. I thought about removing some leafs from the springs on it, but I was able to get 2.5 inch springs from 4WD for cheap so decided to go that route (I really want to do YJ springs in the future but this seemed like an economical solution for the time being).
After pulling a rear spring to swap, it appears the springs that were on it were indeed 2.5 inch. hmmmmm.
So I decided to just pull the bottom leaf from the new packs. We did it to all 4 and swapped them on to the Jeep. The suspension actually moves! Its soft and supple like all the well worn dollar bills this thing will inevitably cost me. Im going to hang on to the old packs in case I want to do some fine tuning. Plus, if I have learned anything from "Forged in Fire" I now have plenty of spring steel to make swords, knives, and other things that will "keel".
Wow. I completely dropped the ball on updating this over the early parts of 2018.
We got the steering column installed and a non-diamond plate dash installed.
I installed new rear brakes and wheel bearings.
I pulled the front axle to install the locker and replace the u joints but before I got that job done, I put the project in hibernation.
That was back in March because I had to get the Champcar in the garage and start getting prepped for our 2018 races. Now that racing is over for the year I am starting to get ready to reorganize the garage to get back on the CJ5.
As she has sat the last 6 months.
The new dash
The current front axle. 4x4 for the 4x4!
Blast from the past! We have been hitting this pretty hard since Christmas with the goal of getting it drivable before we have to start prepping the Chumpcar for Watkins Glen. Here is an overview of where we are at and how we got here over the last few weeks.
We left off with the front axle out and in pieces.
Not sure how well they show up in the pics but the OE hubs had cracks so I bought some Mile Marker replacements.
Ta-Da! The axle is back under (and the flares are all now on). Picture is pre hub replacement.
We know the axle is not original as it should have been drum brakes. There are 2 different rotors and that was easy enough to figure out which ones were correct. When I ordered pads I ordered ones for a 78 because they seemed to match the rotors. Turns out the pads in 79-80 were different and that is what we have. The pads we have only come in a couple choices. The pads I thought we had come in lots of choices. The ones we actually have only have 1 choice at any given store. But at least we got it sorted out. Had to replace the calipers too because the pistons were seized. Ours are the top pads. So close!
The power steering pump was installed. It was a fun task because the v8 and i6 brackets got mixed up. It took longer than I would like to admit.
The bracket was clearanced for the header. There is a bit more room than it looks. The shadow is a little weird.
I had to blow the dust off my power steering pulley remover/installer. That thing made me a ton of money at the GM dealer 20 years ago. I haven't touched it in a long time!
I also picked up a proper CJ5 roll bar with the tilt instead of the CJ7 I was going to use. There is a guy that parts out Jeeps down by Wilkes Barre that will be handy to have in the Rolodex.
Not a big fan of how the previous owner did underhood routing of things like fuel lines and vacuum lines so that is currently getting cleaned up.
There have been lots of things like this "spacer" we have cleaned up as we find it.
The wiring was an absolute mess. I started to go through it and decided to just rip it all out and install a basic Painless kit. I figured the $220 budget hit was worth it. I plan on attacking the wiring install this weekend. Here is a taste of what we saw.
A lot of stuff is in progress but we did get all 4 wheels on the ground for the first time in awhile last weekend. The rear spring perches need welded so we mocked it all up. The plan is to start welding on Saturday.
Here is how it looks right now.
Still need to -
Bleed Brakes
weld rear spring perches
Reinstall wiring
Fix a few holes the previous owner cut in the tub
Install the filler neck
install seats
Install radiator
Finish fuel lines and vacuum lines
Install the Tube steps (one is installed with 2 screws the other is in the shed. I would prefer better rocker protection than tube steps but they came with it and will work for the time being)
Other stuff I am sure Im forgetting.
In reply to logdog :
I love the project! I never post, but wanted to let you know, I'm stealing the engine stand/axle stand setup in your pics from above. It's one of those "duh" moments. Great use of what you've got on hand! Keep up the good work!
In reply to beasterling :
I think my engine stand has spent most of its life holding stuff other than engines!
No Fire! No CAN bus faults! No low side driver DTCs! Over the last few weeks we ripped out every wire, connector, and pixie box the previous owners and/or AMC installed over the last 44 years. Its all been replaced with new. We did a system check and everything turns on/off like it should while keeping the magic smoke in the wires. We also learned the cats REALLY like to play with weatherpack seals.
Would you say it was ...painless?
Looking good!
dculberson said:Would you say it was ...painless?
Looking good!
You know it!
You'll need to log in to post.
