Build Thread My 1982 cj build thread

[ttuseth2]

So I have not done much to the jeep since my last post. ... just enjoying driving it when the weather is nice or to my hockey games.
Last week I got in needing to take my dog to the vet and it wouldn't start, a slight tug on a few wires and nothing changed so I put it off till I had more time to mess with it.
I knew it was either a battery or wiring issue so I went ahead and ordered a few parts from rockauto.com
New positive and negative battery cables, a starter solenoid (and I also had a new ignition coil around that needed to be installed).
On Friday I took the battery in and had it tested... it was bad.
So on Saturday I installed everything listed above and on Sunday went and picked up a new battery.
Started right up (well with the standard pedal pushing and extended cranking).

So I am good to go, except the weather has turned to and I'm not sure I'll have good jeep weather for a while.
I might have to pull the bikini top and put on the full soft top I have.
I am always keeping an eye out for a hard top and doors as I might move to Minnesota in a year or 2 for work.


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[tangoalpha]

What brand are those chinese tires? Do you have contact information for the distributor? Im in a similar situation with dry rotted 33s. Ive seen some chinese options for reasonable prices but nothing that compares to 400 a set. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[ttuseth2]

Reserving this post for my tbi conversion write up, when I finally get around to doing it.


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[ttuseth2]

Today I took the day off before the holiday weekend so I could wrench on the jeep.
I have had an aluminum valve cover for a few months just waiting to be installed.
I finally got around to changing it out.
Here is the before pic.



Here is after.


I didn't like the replacement rockers from the kit so I used my Sawzall to cut the 2 threaded rockers.

Also , while I was in there I took the time to remove the air purge pump and rail.
Here are the removed parts


I'm concerned in the amount of slop in the power steering pump belt but it was loose before I did this work anyways.... and I couldn't figure out a way to add tension.


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[gert]

The pump is supposed to rotate in the mount, a good looking jeep


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[95yjman]

New valve cover looks nice.


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[ttuseth2]

Prime jeep driving weather recently. Last week I drive my jeep to and from work (over 25 miles each way) and I also took my dog to the vet.
While on my way home from the vet just a little over a mile from my house the jeep died and I had to be towed home.
I could tell I was getting gas and the starter was turning fine.... I knew it was no spark.
I feared the worst, I thought my hei distributor ate my cam gear. Pulled it to check and everything was fine. My next fear was a broken timing chain, so I went about getting ready to turn the crank and watch the rotor. I removed the distributor cap and see that the rotor had destroyed itself. The contact had bent back and broken off.
Went to autozone, they couldn't help because I didn't have a year make and model to look up for the aftermarket distributor. Drove down the street to O'Reilly and it was the first part he pulled off the shelf 11 bucks and it started right up after screwing it in.




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[ttuseth2]

Since the weather is so mild I am going to try and drive the jeep as much as I can including to work. I hope no other gremlins jump up and bite me. I've ordered an extra rotor through rockauto for 5 bucks with shipping and will have it with me in case that ever happens again.
I also have a headlight relay harness in the garage waiting to be installed.


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[ttuseth]

So lots of time has passed and lots has changed.
I moved from the woodlands tx to chandler az in April of 2018.
I have really enjoyed driving my cj in az, there is much more keeping weather here.
A few weeks back I was going to go mountain biking and as I was driving down the road in my cj I had a driveline noise and vibration and immediately turned around and got it home.
Its been up on jack stands waiting on parts but they have all come in. Today I started to tear apart my all original 37 year old drivetrain!


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[ttuseth]

It has always leaked oil since I bought it so I first went about doing the rms and oil pan gasket.
Today I spent 5 hours removing my oil pan as part of a rear main seal job. Got caught on the passenger motor mount which made it take that long.

Tomorrow I hope to actually get the rms replaced and pressure wash the oil pan in prep for reinstallation.

Once this is done in going to disconnect the driveshaft and drop the belly pan, trans, and tc so I can tackle the new luk clutch and flywheel (the actuall problem which led to my jeep being out of commission).

I anticipate being done in a few weeks!

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[caveman]

The motor mount has always been an obstacle when taking the oil pan off. Good luck with your rebuild.

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[ttuseth]

No kidding, I would have had the oil pan out in less than 2 hours if not for the hang up....
Right now the oil pan is out and the engine is propped up by my jack and a wood block!
I have used a blade to slice away most of the old gasket and rtv, still need to scrape and wipe the engine side.


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[ttuseth]

Get to it this morning open up the rear main bearing.... There isn't even a top half of the seal in the engine!
No wonder it has always leaked oil.


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[ttuseth]

Get to it this morning open up the rear main bearing.... There isn't even a top half of the seal in the engine!
No wonder it has always leaked oil.


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Scratch that, rewatched a instructional video on YouTube and realized I was looking at the wrong place. I thought it was along the ridge but it was in a channel further toward the back.
Got the old one out and the new one in. Now I'm going to torque all the bearing bolts then its on to cleaning and reinstalling the oil pan.

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[mdeluca]

Really like the wood log... adds texture to the image...!

 

[ttuseth]

Current state of my jeep!
Rms job is basically complete, I need to do some adjusting to get the passenger side engine mount in place properly.
Otherwise a hockey player friend of mine dropped of a tranny jack today for my next project.
Before I do the entire teardown I'm going to see if I can remove the inspection cover of the bellhousing and see if I can find or adjust anything loose that may be causing my issue. Even if I find something I may be tearing it all apart since my transfer case is leaking so much oil. It definitely needs all the seals and gaskets replaced at a minimum.


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[ttuseth]

Well the saga that got my jeep off the road appears to be over (for the most part). I was sure and got opinions from others that the noise was coming from the bellhousing.
So I ordered new luk clutch kit and flywheel and also re-did a leaking oil seal on the transfer case. Got it all back together, buttoned up filled with fresh fluids and no crank.... Sitting for 2 months left me with a dead battery.
I pushed it out into the street and pulled my car around it so I could get jumper cables to reach. Started it up and there is a godawful binding / grinding from the starter and flywheel and and and the noise that prompted the teardown was still there!


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[ttuseth]

So, I tore it back apart again and took the transmission to a shop.
That was the problem there were broken teeth on multiple gears in my tranny.
Got it rebuilt and put it back in yesterday. I still have a horrible grinding noise when the starter is turning my new flywheel but once its on it is smooth as ever and drives with no issues.


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[gert]

Wow dude that’s a lot of frustrating work, sounds like you need to see if you can adjust the position of starter in relation to the flywheel


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[ttuseth]

Well I am finally back together and all fixed. I put in a warranty claim on the luk flywheel, got a replacement and put it in yesterday.
I suspected that the aftermarket spacer plate I put in may have also contributed to the misalignment so I swapped back to the original.
Split up my 3rd drivetrain teardown over 2 days and got it all finished yesterday. Once I had the tranny mated and before I reinstalled the dtiveshafts I fired it up and it was perfect.... No grinding or binding and a nice smooth start.
So its all back together and good to go. Ill keep an eye on all the bolts and grease all the zerks but I'm happy as can be that its all fixed now.


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