1965 Cj5 Build #2

I am just finishing up the rebuild of my SM420 going in my '68. I noticed that the shaft in the novak adapter is pretty hard to turn by hand, was your adapter the same way?

 

I bought my trans and xfer case already rebuilt and adapted from a guy who started a project and decided to go a different direction so I’m not sure how it felt. It seemed to turn fine when I got it and I haven’t had any problems. I picked up the whole setup for $900, I think I got pretty lucky!

 

A little pause in my build due to a little (maybe a lot) of Covid/Protest/2020 fatigue.
Did take time for a 5 day back country hike in Alaska.


Sent the housing and bits sent out for sand blast and powder coat. A little longer than expected but they look nice.
I'm putting in an Eaton Elocker. 4.27 gearing to match the rear.

Was a little nervous as I've never set up gears before. Made a set of set-up bearings and that helped a lot. Everything in the old axle was pretty shot. Was sitting with water in the pumpkin for I don't know how long so was starting from scratch.


please critique the pattern.

 

Back at it again.
D30 is complete. This weekend I had a chance to hang the D30 on the frame.
A few months ago I welded up some shackles.

Out with the old


Rebuilt Dana 30 with Eaton E-Locker, BDS 2.5" lift



Rear Springs this week so I can measure Caster
Steering next

 

correct me if i'm wrong, but those backing plates for the drum brakes would be incredibly useful for someone doing that upgrade, as they're not made anymore.

 

The 9" drum brakes off of the D27 are available, but unless you are going for a restoration, most people would recommend upgrading to 11" drums.

 

off of that D30 you had. those should be 11"

 

The D30 came with the disc brakes you see in the pictures

 

Got the rear springs installed this week.
Rear shackle brackets fell apart when I removed the old springs. Will weld new ones on when I get to the frame work.



Tacked them together enough so I could install the springs and be able to move it around the shop


Bolts were pretty worn too

On 4 wheels again

 

Steering Next

 

My plan for the steering is to use a Saginaw box and the stock steering wheel and column with the AA kit.
The original steering wheel was pretty bad, so I found a NOS steering wheel for a replacement. Should be easy right?
I read somewhere that removing the steering wheel from the shaft was the hardest thing to do on these old jeeps. I would have to agree.
I spent a month spraying PB Blaster on the splines every time I walked by.
Tried a bottle jack and straps. Spent 4 days under compression, but no go.

Tried the press next.


3 days under compression with the press an nothing. Gave a little more pressure and stripped the threads on the shaft.
The good news is there is no damage to the nut.
What to do next??
I think I have located a new shaft from Wallys Jeep parts here in Kenosha. (side note: If you have never heard of Wallys, this place is like stepping back in time 50 years. He's got just about any part you need for our old Jeeps. Old school, no CC, hand written tickets)
Or do I go for a new tilt column. I know this would be more functional, but I'm having trouble finding a steering wheel that I like, that isn't gold plated.
Guys with tilt columns, what steering wheels are you using?

 

I can't remember who it was, but there's a member here who made an adaptor to use the stock wheel with a modern tilt column. Basically you make a round plate with the proper bolt pattern for a modern wheel, and a 4"ish stub from the stock column, and weld that in place.

The result is a stock looking column with tilt function and modern turn signal stalk.

 

That was Warlock in this post: Manual Saginaw In A 3b - Stock Steering Wheel

It's expensive, but I like this 40 Ford look-alike wheel from Speedway. It bolts to a GM based column: Speedway 1940 Ford 15 Inch Steering Wheel

 

I had forgot about Warlock's adaptor. Thanks for the reminder.

 

Temporarily placed the Engine, Transmission, and Transfer Case onto the frame.
The objective was really two fold.
1. I really wanted to see how they would fit.
2. I needed to get them off the floor so I had room to fix my garage floor.
I need to fine tune the placement, but for a rough fit up it went pretty smooth. My boys were home to help. The extra hands always help.

Bolting the Engine to the Transmission/Transfer Case

Rough Placement



I have to do some AC work on my wife's JKU, but when done, I will start laying out the steering.

 

Been working slowly but have a few more things in place.
I'm at point of locating the engine, steering, exhaust, and PTO winch (if I can make it fit). Been doing more thinking than work, but made some progress lately.
Modified the Dash so I could mount the 2" steering column.





I think I need to move the engine forward a few inches as the distributor is up against the firewall.

And the passenger exhaust is on top of the tub supports.

This will also give a little more room for the steering.


But... The front of the water pump is already against the radiator.
I don't have the radiator in for the photos, but from the end of the water pump to the grill tunnel is only 3 inches.




For those that have done the 4.3L swap, have you trimmed the radiator tunnel to get room for the radiator?

 

If that is not a balance shaft motor (looks that way from here) you can use a short water pump and pulleys from a 67ish sbc but it's a bit of work relocating everything. There should also be a shorter serpentine for the vette's.

What year is the motor? Do you have a picture of the rear of the block and a picture of the intake with bolts to head visible?

 

I haven't done one but definitely have seen others shorten the radiator tunnel. Let me look at a couple builds here to see.

Here's one...

http://www.earlycj5.com/xf_cj5/index.php?threads/108426/page-21
I'm sure there are others.

 

I see your doing the same setup as I did. I shortened the grill shroud by 1". I also used Electric fans.

 

I thought I had this bit earlier: Using the 60's short water pump I did not need to alter any sheetmetal on the radiator tunnel /shroud or firewall. I did need to switch from large cap HEI to a smaller distributor. This will not work on a balance shaft motor due to the difference in timing covers even if you took out the balance shaft the bolt pattern is different for the bottom of the cover that otherwise looks the same.
20210711_151111 by Joe with a jeep, on Flickr