Making My CJ5 Into A CJ6/II

mk,
Grin Yes! ........................and Thanks for the complements .............Look at the 4th picture..........the backer is inside the wheel tub. I'm using a Tig machine on that with silicon bronze filler rod.....flows real nice, but you still have to weld only a few inches at a time then jump to the opposite end to keep it from heating up and warping.......Patience is what is required..........there will be very little weld above the weld zone to grind off. The tough part will be finishing the weld over the ribs. But, that is just time............. A little skim coat of Bondo and it will look just fine.........underneath the backer will get covered with undercoating.

As far as the cleco's go they are very simple and designed to hold two panels together to drill or rivet. Made popular during WW 2 in factories that were building Airplanes..........in my case the backer panel is in place to hold the top panel using the cleco as the clamp. Very handy if you work around sheet metal much to fit and set-up work prior to welding or riveting or screwing panels back together.

 

Back to the build, Sorry been busy on other Projects.......

TIME TO WELD THIS BAD BOY BACK TOGETHER

THE LONG ROD UNDER THE JEEP ON THE ROTISSERIE IS THERE TO KEEP THE BODY FROM FLEXING AND BENDING IN THE MIDDLE, IT'S BASICALLY PRE-LOADING THE BODY TO KEEP IT STRAIGHT DURING THE WELDING PROCESS OF PUTTING THIS BODY BACK TOGETHER.........IT WAS STILL PRETTY FRAGILE AS I WORKED QUICKLY TO GET SOME STRENGTH BACK IN IT...........IF YOU NOTICE THERE IS ALSO BRACES SCREWED INTO THE DOOR POST AREA ON BOTH SIDES.......

ALL THE DRILLED OUT SPOT WELDS NOW NEED TO BE FILLED


THIS WILL BE ALL STITCH WELDED BACK TOGETHER OR IN SOME CASES JUST A SERIES OF SPOT WELDS , JUST AS STRONG AND NO WARPING OF THE MATERIAL.

NEEDED SOME CORNER BRACES TO TIE IN 4 SIDES ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BODY.





THE ORIGINAL CROSS BRACE WAS CRACKED IN A FEW PLACES SO I WELDED UP THE CRACKS AND FOR AN ADDED LEVEL OF STRENGTH I CUT ANOTHER PIECE OF 16 GU SHEET METAL TO COVER THE ORIGINAL BRACE.

 

Looks great, Terry. By the way, I was able to get a little better measurement on the turning radius and I'm realistically a lot closer to 29* than 30*, maybe even a little bit shy of 29*

 

Thanks John, and Thanks for taking the time to re-measure your Jeep again............I measured the old D-27 that came out of this Jeep and it was about 26-27 degrees......at least to the stops as they were set, which I assume the tires were at that point nearly touching the springs...........Some of these crawlers look for upwards near 50 degrees up front , which may be able to achieve with the right suspension at low speeds but that would also require taking allot of metal out from around the U-joints..............I'm at 32 degrees with this 1-ton stuff and that may be about as good as it gets without re-engineering the suspension once again!.........just looking for a little tighter turning radius to complement the longer wheel base.

 

I would think that at 50* the u-joints would be a little on the weak side. If you can muster 32* I would think that is good. No points deducted for backing up on a pleasure run.

 

I just wheeled a super tight trail this weekend ,and my PS was done ! I need a better pump !more steering would have certainly helped ,,,,don't know if I ran spacers on the axles how much I would gain tires rub on the frame .the more degree the more it might go boom

 

Hey Steve , man your tough on stuff...........(LOL) Turning it more would not effect how it works.......the system is sealed and pressurized , your pump either is not set high enough of it's bypassing or warn out , I thought you turned it up a while back?...........Call my buddy Tom Lee he is in Sun Valley , CA a mere 100 miles away 11661 Pendleton St, Sun Valley, CA 91352 (818) 768-0371 He will fix you up.

 

Back to the Build,..........More welding & reinforcing , did allot of cutting to get my old CJ5 and the CJ6 extension panel apart and unfortunately destroyed some portions of each along the way that were blind panels under another panel that obviously was assembled in a different order than I could take them apart ......so I'm building new braces and connections as I go to strengthen all this up again. Time consuming Yes! But well worth the time. Once finished , I'll finish off all the parts & connections & spot welds with some metal finishing and once undercoating is applied only a trained eye might see the changes.





AGAIN SOME BRACES THAT I FABRICATED TO PLUG HOLES IN PANELS & TIE THE TWO SECTIONS BACK TOGETHER

 

Looks amazing Tarry. I hope my fab skills we be up to par with yours someday.

 

Thanks Jake..........Your skills will improve as long as you stay in & around fabrication. No rocket science here! Metal work is just taking your thoughts and a mechanical need and applying it to a fabricated fixture or bracket that is both functional and attractive. It's Just time and having a few pieces of equipment to make it easier.

 

:iagree:

 

my friends were amazed with how my rig turned out with just normal tools nothing fancy.....

 

Yep , You know old friend , I was just thinking the same thing! How does Steve do that using those old rusty nothing fancy normal tools? Especially bending sheet metal over that Fresno Trowel.........next time I'm down that way you really have to show me your methods.............

 

I'll buy that and that .......... and that ..........and that. that brush is the bomb I paid $60 for mine and it's thrashed I need a new one ,mine looks like Kookla!

 

Back to the Build..............Lots of Time & Labor to get this all welded back together.......Probably about 80% done so it now needs to come off of the Rotisserie for now. It will still have to go back on towards the end of the project but for now it's in my way as I want to get the chassis Jig back in the shop and start building a few fixtures I'll need to build the new frame for the CJ-6.




Scraped all the undercoating off of the rear floor..........It seems all CJ's were just shorted some braces back there from the factory as all the floors I've seen no matter how careful you are get canned in and wavy.........I need to fix that so I bent up some full span Hat Sections which I will install later...........no more wavy canned floor once I'm done.



Needed a better way to tie in the sections between the CJ5 and CJ6 bodies.........When I took the bodies apart I had to cut through the original continuous sheet metal factory sections to get the bodies parted........found some 5/8" square tube that fits tightly into that original sheet metal body cavity that will add some real support to that dividing line.........


Lots of holes need to be filled up from the old roll bar and gas can mounts...........none will be needed going forward as this project will get a full cage tied directly into the chassis.

More braces to add some new and some old.


LETS SEE IF ANYONE KNOWS WHERE THESE GO? THEY ARE FACTORY.......ANY GUESS?



Another brace........

IF YOU GUESSED THE BRACES ONE ON EACH SIDE WENT INSIDE THE FENDER WELL AND TIED THE TWO SECTIONS TOGETHER YOU WERE RIGHT.

 

Looking guudddd, Mr. Kotter. Nice work.

 

Back to the Build

Chassis Jig back in the shop.......had to build some new fixtures , this Jeep build will have some different needs so more will get built along the way.
The chassis will be built from 2x4x.188 wall rectangular mild steel tubing.....the front & rear will have a 4 inch kick up while the front only will also have a two inch kick in. It should be about 104" +/- Wheelbase when done.




Whoooo! , What's that sitting between the frame rails? A V8? Yep , a 350 Chevy block and a 4L60 4-speed auto with 30% Overdrive. Yep , I think I'm going to make the big change.
One I like the Idea of a little more torque and power, Two I been wanting to do a fuel injected motor and Three , I'm tired of shifting Truck manual Transmissions......and smelling gear oil........this will be my last build so I'm going the Automatic route.............that's why the frame will be stepped in and up to allow more room between the rails for the Transmission and Atlas Transfer case......this will also be a Drivers side drop as there is more room for the driveline on that side. Enjoy the Ride!



Donor Vehicle.........1990 Corvette w/6-speed.........bought this several years ago for a 55 Chevy full Independent suspension Project.......I was way to busy Racing and just never got around to it. Lost interest in the 55 and sold it to a friend........kept the wrecked Corvette just in case another project came along.
The 1990 Corvettes were not known to be High Horsepower screamers, at the time GM was trying to keep up with emissions and mileage standards...........so this package was only rated at 250 HP @4000 rpm and 350 Ft.Lbs. of Torque at 3000 rpm.........I pulled the factory dyno sheets on these motors and was impressed to see that the Torque Curve was near table flat to 350 ft.lbs. right off Idle............Just what a low rpm off road vehicle would need. Great throttle response and instant torque! This is also a Speed Density motor so the intake air track is more easily done in a Jeep with a short hood............The early ECM's & harness can be easily replaced with a more tunable aftermarket version for less than $700 bucks. The car / motor only had 4300 miles on it when the driver wrapped it around a tree on the passengers side......purchased at auction so don't know if the old boy walked away!

My Soninlaw Andrew helping with the extraction!



The other nice thing about extracting a motor out of a Corvette is that all of the accessories and exhaust system is tucked in nice and tight.......just what's needed for a Jeep.

Low Profile Distributor also!

Hey about that AC pump?.........Could there be AC in this old Ride? Will have to wait and see!

 

Should be a pretty slick set up... Love the pics man!

 

Tarry....I am new to this forum......and this was such an interesting "man and his vehicle" biography! Thanks for taking the time to share your old photos and the fabrication pics!