Build Thread The '80 FrankenJeep frame off reassembly

[shum8]

Here's a before and after of the front spring packs......




Big difference!

As of now, both axles are painted, all four springs have been broken down, cleaned, painted, and reassembled, as have the spring mounting plates.

 

[shum8]

Well, in the process of replacing the rear main seal, I had a buddy (who rebuilds engines on occasion) take a look at the engine while it was opened up. It looked clean inside to me, but I had no knowledge of it's history other than it had come form a Wagoneer. His conclusion was it had been rebuilt, had relatively low miles on the rebuild (still had honing marks visible on the cylinder walls) but excessive wear on the filter head where the oil pump makes contact caused a low oil pressure issue. That caused some damage to the main and rob bearings. Long story short, new mains and rob bearings will freshen the engine up nicely - top end looks good. As soon as they get here the engine gets reassembled....... And I know - this is useless without pics. I'll take some this afternoon.

 

[shum8]

Well, as you can tell - I'm not a typist by any stretch of the imagination...... I'm replacing the "rod" bearings - my rob bearings seem ok at the moment.

Anyways - here are a couple pics of the main bearings - specifically numbers 1, 3, and 5. The last pic is of the worst rod bearing.

 

[shum8]

Remarkably the crank is in very good shape. So as soon as the brown Santa truck gets here this week I'll be ready to button up the power plant.

 

[defibvt]

Things are looking good. Great job on the Jeep.

 

[shum8]

Well, farts - memo to self....... Always check ALL bearing before ordering new ones. The bearings I pulled displayed no indications of being anything but standard size bearings. Wrong. Now that the new ones are where, I got to tearing stuff apart. Got all my caps off and cleaned up, all the old bearings out....... And there it was - the center main bearing said it was .020 undersized. I measured the main and rod journals....... The rod journals are .010 under and the mains are .020 under. Sooooo, back these go and we wait for the proper sized bearings to get here.

I HATE waiting........

 

[shum8]

Ok - Got the correct bearings in and installed - may be my imagination, but I swear it feels tighter turning the crank by hand - firm but extremely smooth.



Now I'm ready to put everything back on the engine..... I swear no matter how many pics you take, it's never enough. I have a feeling this is gonna a big, AMC Blue puzzle.

 

[shum8]

Things are looking good. Great job on the Jeep.

Thanks - but at this rate I'll be dead before I have a chance to drive it..... Maybe once I get the rolling chassis done I'll just bolt a chair on it and drive it that way.....

 

[shum8]

Finally - got some more work done.... Here are a couple pics of the recent reassembly progress:



One of the thermostat housing bolt holes was almost completely stripped - so. I bought a Helicoil repair kit for a 5/16 bolt. Looked up the drill size needed for the tap, and drilled out the hole. Went to start the tap, and it went right to the bottom of the hole!!! What the heck? Oh, look - I drilled for the 3/8 insert, not the 5/16.... Dohhh.... So I now have 1 5/16 bolt and 1 3/8 bolt in the housing. Oh well.









Here's where I am so far.......







I hope to get the carb back on and the headers as well.

 

[shum8]

Think I'll stop at this point and stick it on the frame and finishing all the small stuff on it afterwards.....

 

[74G8R2]

Very nice.....encouragement to me on my project which has gone dormant due to work load.

 

[ksouthw80]

Looking good!

 

[shum8]

Very nice.....encouragement to me on my project which has gone dormant due to work load.

Sweet - get on it..... But you will finish before me. My progress stalls and sometimes it takes me a while to get it going again, and I just figured out why. My wife upgraded her phone, and I believe she has an app that tells her when I'm thinking about working on the Jeep - because right after I think that, she texts me with something I need to do. Either that or she has ESP.... LOL

 

[74G8R2]

Sweet - get on it..... But you will finish before me. My progress stalls and sometimes it takes me a while to get it going again, and I just figured out why. My wife upgraded her phone, and I believe she has an app that tells her when I'm thinking about working on the Jeep - because right after I think that, she texts me with something I need to do. Either that or she has ESP.... LOL

Nice thing is...there is no timeline. Started this project purely for the joy of working on it, so I'm in no rush to finish it. Very blessed to have other transportation and a place to work on the Jeep. That said, it'll sure be fun to drive it!

 

[shum8]

Mine seems to have turned out as yours has - no visible timeline LOL. Bought it with the intent to paint and drive, and this whole process started with a quarter size hole that had rusted thru in the frame. Bad news is I am really enjoying the process, which can cause me to lose the "hurry up and get it done" aspect. I never should have painted the replacement frame - but once I did that, my fate was sealed. Don't tell my wife, but once I get this one done I'd like to do another one just for the heck of it. Shhhhhhhh

 

[shum8]

Ok - I've actually been able to sneak out to the garage and get in some Jeep time WOOT WOOT. Was talking to my neighbor a couple seeks back, and told him I have a new plan - something to thwart my wife's ESP....... Seems every time I utter the word Jeep, within minutes I get a text or a phone call with something I need to do. Somehow she knows every time I say Jeep. Sooooo, we now refer to the Jeep as the Yugo. So far it's working like a charm! I had gotten to the point that the suspension was under the frame, and was ready to start running brake and fuel lines when it occurred to me to verify axle gearing. PO had swapped in WT axles, and I had never checked to see what gears were in them. Both of my previous CJ's had 2.73 gears and wouldn't pull a greasy rag out of a cat's butt downhill with a tail wind and I do not want to recreate that - and as luck would have it, these did as well. So now I am I pulled the axles back out from under the frame, and have a neighbor who is gonna help me do the gear swap - he did em for 12 years....... Rear end is out, broken down, so the tear down of the front will commence in the next couple days. Gotta take some pics today..... FINALLY making some Yugo progress!!

 

[shum8]

Alrighty then.... I have the rear carrier all cleaned up with the new ring gear bolted on. Brake drums cleaned and painted ready to go back on. New brake parts, wheel cylinders, shoes, and outer axle seals ready to go.

Front axle has all the brake parts removed, with new calipers and rotors standing by. Grabbed a NT Dana 30 for the carrier and harvested the 6 bolt hubs to replace the 5 bolters that were on the WT's. Those hubs have been painted, the lock outs need to be cleaned up and they'll be ready. Caliper mounting brackets are next for the media blast cabinet then paint. Ball joints are good, as are tie rod ends. Soooo, once I get the spindles persuaded to let go of the knuckles, they will get a facelift, yank the carrier out of the housing, clean out the funk from both axle housings, and head to the neighbors house..... Doesn't sound like much, but I am tickled just to have made a little more progress!!

 

[cj7eatit]

Oh man, what a great project! do you have anymore pics?

 

[shum8]

Oh man, what a great project! do you have anymore pics?

Thanks!! It's a good thing none of you are close enough cause I know I'd get a whack in the back of the head for the lack of pics..... Problem is, I start out with either the camera or my phone ready to go, and once I get started I'm too greasy to use em. Ah, damn - Just occurred to me I have an old digital camera that probly isn't worth 20 bucks - I think I'll just use that one and the heck with the grease.... Why didn't I think of this sooner

(There is the small issue in my wishing my garage looked like some on here..... I've seen a few with a totally disassembled CJ all over the floor, and you could still play tennis in em. Mine, I have to be a contortionist just to get a beer out of the fridge...... So the pics have to be edited on occasion LMAO)

 

[mtnwhlr]

I have to be a contortionist just to get a beer out of the fridge......

You have a fridge full of Beer in your garage I'm surprised you get as much done as you do