A cleanish garage

The last month or so has been quite a slog. I have had quite a few $5 parts fail or break on me, but things are starting to shape up a bit. I have however discovered that the front end is dripping gear oil at the dif gasket and the pinion seal. This is a bit upsetting seeing as I have put many hours into the front end along, but I can replace these parts without a lot of effort.

I have the front and rear end under the frame again and I must say that I am proud. There are a number of rough edges on the bumper that require new metal being welded in, but I am ready to move on to this phase of the project. As a matter of fact I am ready to move on to any other phase of the project that does not require me to touch grease. I do not mind oil. You can pour oil over my head and I would not care. However, grease sticks to everything and smears onto tools and before you know it your garage is a hazmat zone. I am proud to say that my garage is now much cleaner than it has been.

Enjoy the photos!











Your daily hoon!

Little Bits and more heat!

I fear that the update for this week will be rather short. Not that anyone is reading this! I have hit the point in the project where it seems as if the stars are aligned against me. I have been trying to get the front and rear end rebuild for about two weeks, but a number of small parts kept me from doing this. I am happy to report that the front end is back together and I thought that I was going to be able to mount wheels to the brake drums, but as I was installing the brakes a retaining spring broke. It is much better that the spring broke now rather than when the car was going down the road, but it was a sign as to how my weekend would turn out.

I feel that I put in two heroic days in the garage in 100+ heat, but I am worn out now. After having my knees bent for so long today it feels very good to stretch out on the couch. Not only did I have front in problems, but the rear end (he he he) did not cooperate either. It appears that at some point someone must have driven the "key pin" further into the wheel assemble then necessary. The end result is that I had to use a cut off wheel (several) and a grinding disk to try and remove part of the wheel assembly. In the end it was just too hot and I had been at it for too long. I do not drag my feet when I walk, but I noticed that I was today. I stopped and decided that rather than bang on and potentially mess something up that I would clean and organize my garage.

Sorry the photos are not so exciting this weekend!

Time to consolidate projects!

Well my project ADD has turned into project ADHD. I was trying to rebuild the front and rear end, but that plot was foiled when UPS failed to deliver the pieces I needed on time. No worries though, I can just address the transmission that has been gathering dust! Well I have it in about a thousand pieces. I am not happy with the condition of some of the needle bearings so I will have to hold off on putting that back together until I can get them in the post.

After hitting so many setbacks this weekend and putting in such a hard day Saturday I was a bit demotivated this morning, but then I remembered that I had the air filter housing to clean and paint. This was not a large project, but it was just enough of a win to put some wind in my sails today. Because my Jeep has a snorkel cutout in the hood I will mount the filter unit to the roll cage because this would allow the Jeep to drive in water five feet deep. I removed the OEM wire and oil filter setup and replaced it with a cone paper filter. I admit to making a hash of trimming the foam rubber to fit the area inside of the filter housing, but rather than purchase another filter as suggested by a foolish friend I spent fifteen minutes cutting a large washer out of some scrap I found in my back yard. I have no idea where this scrap came from, but I was glad to find some nice flat metal laying about. :-P

Enjoy the photos!

Bits and Bobs from Kaiser Willys

I have reached the point in the project that I have had to purchase a few bits and bobs to move me along in the process. I would like to throw in a plug for a company that anyone rebuilding a Jeep should go to for parts. The company is Kaiser Willys (1-888-648-4923). These guys have everything you need short of a new frame. You can really purchase everything you need from these guys, they have a solid depth of knowledge about older Jeeps, and they are very friendly.

Now on the important stuff... I made one of the most important decisions in my life recently. I decided to replace the reverse threaded studs in the hubs with another set of reverse thread studs. Yes, I know that by not adopting the modern method of having all wheel studs loosen and tighten in the same manner that I have had to give up several things. Yes, I know that I have given up the 15% boost in horsepower, but this is a small price to pay for originality. :-)

I am going to make a huge push this weekend and try to get the front and rear end under the frame. I have been telling myself this for several weeks now, but I mean it this weekend. Really, I do. Stop looking sideways at me like that. It will happen.

I threw in a picture of a tire swap that I did on Mike's kart. Mike now has rally tires on his kart! Let the hooning begin!

Enjoy the photos.





Oh, and I made these!

Hot enough to stall progress

I will fully admit to being lazy at some things in life, but physical labor is not one of them. When it is hot enough for me to sit around inside and lay around it is pretty darn hot. I have not made the progress that I wished to make this summer, but I really do think that things will start to come together soon.

I have pulled the front end completely apart, cleaned out all of the old grease, dirt, and clay and am now in the process of putting it back together. I hope to repack the grease this week and start work on the rear end by Friday. I have also blasted the wheels and primed them, but unfortunately those pictures are on another camera. I will update the blog to better demonstrate my progress soon.

Enjoy the photos!

Ape welding

I would like to make a suggestion to you, if you must use a Harbor Freight welder by all means do so, but if you have the means get a real welding machine. I happen to fall into the first category. The little welder has been useful, but I am bumping up against my limits. I freely admit that my welding skills are rubbish, but the welder is not helping me much at this point. The feeding mechanism does not feed the wire in a consistent and constant manner, but I make up for it by ape welding.

I know that the stuff I have done on the inside and underside of the tub looks pretty rough, but it will all be coated with a pretty think layer of the stuff they put in the beds of trucks. I can't wait for the day when I get the body back from the paint shop.

Enjoy the photos!

Heat, and Lizard Earrings!

I would not say that I am tougher than the average person, just that I am a bit more hard headed. With that said I met my match today. The welding, grinding, and heat in the garage really did a number on me today. One the weekends I only come in to eat and get more tea or water. Today I had to some in at 4:00pm and sit down for a bit. The pace at which I was making progress began to drop of at a pace that was noticeable to me. I was not attacking the job in front of me, I was just sort of going through the motions.

I lay here on the couch trying to bang out a few words and I have no idea what I have just written. I fell asleep three times writing the above paragraph. It cannot be said that I have not made an effort to be ready for the task at hand. I wend to bed at a reasonable hour, I have been drinking water like a mad man, but I fear that I may have gotten behind the heat curve.

I am happy that I kept bits of the old Jeep. It turns out that I will be able to graft more of the old Jeep into the body tub of the 66. The rear of the 66 requires a bit more body work than I want to put into the job so I have simply (yeah, simply) cut it away and will tack in the new (I mean old) fender once I have cooled down.

I apologize for any rambling above, but I am really out of it at the moment.

Enjoy the photos!