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Mighty Mouse

Discussion in 'Builds and Fabricators Forum' started by ITLKSEZ, Sep 16, 2015.

  1. Sep 16, 2015
    ITLKSEZ

    ITLKSEZ Hope for the best, prepare for the worst

    Liberty Lake, WA
    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2015
    Messages:
    6,656
    [​IMG]

    Since so many of you invested time in witnessing the rescue of this old turd, I figured I'd start a thread on the fixes, upkeep and "untaping" of its components.

    This build is going to be more of a "bare-minimum, just get it running" type of build, because my DD car has a transmission issue that throws codes and goes into limp mode every time the temp drops below 59°. It has 400K on it and isn't worth throwing any money at it to see what is wrong. (I have it narrowed down to the SL solenoid in the transmission, but the car isn't worth the $150 for the part.) It looks like this jeep is going to be my DD through winter.

    The two main issues this jeep had on the trip out here were the noise coming from the engine, and the off-idle stumble.
    I promptly pulled the timing cover and found that it had no damper. That would explain the noise. The chain and sprockets looked to be in OK shape, so for $16 I had a new damper and a gasket set.

    [​IMG]

    I pulled the oil pan to see if any spare parts were in there, and aside from the 3 pounds of what looked like red clay mud in the corners of the pan, it all looked good. I pounded the dents out of the oil pan that must have been close to blocking oil flow against the strainer, closed everything back up, and now it purrs like a kitten.

    Next, the carb. The cup in the accelerator pump that came in the rebuild kit that I installed in PA was floppy and binding inside the bore. It would pop off of the shaft and get tangled in the return spring. I had no accelerator pump the entire ride out here. My dad found the one I threw in his garbage can, and it is on its way out here now. Until it gets here, I stuck a fuel-safe o-ring around the base of the cup to prevent it from slipping off the shaft. So far so good. It is running properly now.

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    I am waiting on a reply from Bestop about possibly purchasing some scrap fabric from them so I can repair my mouse-hole-riddled top, but in the mean time, I was still without one of the rear corner channels. I don't know what happened to it. Maybe a mouse ate that too. I looked everywhere online, and without dropping $250 on a complete hardware kit on eBay just for that one piece, I was on my own. So yesterday I set about making one. The one I am trying to emulate is on the left.

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    In order for the brackets to fit on the jeep, the rear corners that Dan put on need to be removed; they were too tall. I opened a can of worms by removing them.

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    I am just going to ignore this swiss cheese factory and fab up some new 1/8" corners and cover it back up. I don't have time to do it right. Ill get to it some day. Tonight I'm going to try to get to fabbing the tailgate chain mounts, because I'm not paying $18 a piece from Kaiser Willys.

    http://www.kaiserwillys.com/category/s?keyword=Tailgate+body+chain+bracket
     
  2. Sep 16, 2015
    lynn

    lynn Time machine / Early CJ5 HR Rep Staff Member

    Huntingdon PA
    Joined:
    Sep 20, 2002
    Messages:
    3,437
    Nice fab on the corner channel, good fix for the accel pump. :tea:

    Some smaller-diameter fire hose will work to keep the tailgate chains from rattling; check with your local FD for scrap hose. Punch a drain hole at the bottom of the U.
     
  3. Sep 16, 2015
    colojeepguy

    colojeepguy Colorado Springs

    At the foot of...
    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2010
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    7,110
    Nice job on that top hardware- looks great.
    fb
     
  4. Sep 17, 2015
    ITLKSEZ

    ITLKSEZ Hope for the best, prepare for the worst

    Liberty Lake, WA
    Joined:
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    6,656
    In my quest to bring this jeep back into the realm of "stock", I wanted to remove the stainless steel panel from the dash and do any repairs that may be needed on the original dash panel. After I removed the roll of electrical tape that was wrapped around the steering column and holding the tach and horn button on...

    [​IMG]

    I was able to get to the rest of the bolts that held the dash together. I was not expecting to find this underneath.

    [​IMG]

    One of the things I planned on bringing back with me from PA was a pristine dash panel from a '63 CJ5 that I had stashed away with the rest of my junk. I looked everywhere for that thing, and my dad "claimed" to not know what I was talking about. I think it was in his way and got scrapped. :( So now I'm stuck with this hot mess. Good times.

    I pulled the cage out yesterday to get to the dash.

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    This cage is a disaster, and is just a few shades safer than no cage at all, I guess. The welds look like dog poo. It is a mishmash of different widths of tubing (and pipe?), and there are questionable sections where separate pieces were buttwelded together in the main hoop. I will definitely address this at a later date. It is going to kill me (hopefully not literally) to put this cage back in like this, but I don't have the time to address it now. Meanwhile, I cut out the unnecessary tubes to make this jeep a little more user-friendly. There were also three jagged, 2" snouts of tubing that remained after Dan took a Sawzall to other sections that were apparently in his way, and he never cleaned them up. After a few hours with a torch and grinders...

    [​IMG]

    I'm off to the scrap metal yard today to find a repair panel for the dash and some metal for the rear corners.
     
  5. Sep 17, 2015
    47v6

    47v6 junk wrecker! 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

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    You have a real cabinet shop.

    I love the tape. Its so funny. I can't believe you drove that thing across most of the country.
     
  6. Sep 17, 2015
    ITLKSEZ

    ITLKSEZ Hope for the best, prepare for the worst

    Liberty Lake, WA
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    Yeah, in hindsight, that was pretty stupid. :)
     
  7. Sep 17, 2015
    47v6

    47v6 junk wrecker! 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

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    not really. you made it and it was awesome as all heck.
     
    Lockman likes this.
  8. Sep 17, 2015
    Admiral Cray

    Admiral Cray I want to do this again.. Staff Member

    Bainbridge...
    Joined:
    Sep 21, 2009
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    Keep it stock...

    In Might Mouse's case it's not more cow bell... It's more black tape...:rofl:

    Where do you find the time to do all this... :rofl:

    I have the same panel saw in my shop.
     
  9. Sep 17, 2015
    PieLut

    PieLut Member

    Glendale, Arizona
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    Jul 20, 2010
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    Walcks makes a nice dash if you decide to buy one. The Bestop bracket came out nice! Maybe a local upholstery shop would have something to repair the top.
    BTW, I killed three hours at work reading your cross country adventure from start to finish, what a blast!!
    http://walcks4wd.com/dash-board-assembly-1955-1965-cj5-cj6.html
     
  10. Sep 17, 2015
    47v6

    47v6 junk wrecker! 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

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    I was told that a sail makers shop would have little trouble making a top for my jeep. I doubt there are sail makers in idaho though.
     
  11. Sep 17, 2015
    DHill78

    DHill78 Sponsor

    Central AR
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    You might be surprised...I found out the other day there's one in Little Rock, AR. If there's one in AR, I'm going to guess there's one in ID or WA. If I remeber correctly, when looking at the map tracking you, there's a large lake fairly close? I'd start by looking for a sailing club around there.

    Edit: I realized I thought ITLKSEZ had made that post. Ya'll get my drift though.
     
    Last edited: Sep 17, 2015
  12. Sep 18, 2015
    ITLKSEZ

    ITLKSEZ Hope for the best, prepare for the worst

    Liberty Lake, WA
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    Thanks for the link! That's a decent price too. I got the steel today to do my corners, and there should be enough left to do the dash too, so I'll see how badly I can screw this one up first.

    There're plenty of rich folks with sail boats around here on our lakes, I'm sure there are sail makers, but I actually heard back from Bestop today. It sounds like I can have all the 3x5 swatches I want. I think that will cover my holes. I have a plan...

    Off to go melt some metal.
     
  13. Sep 18, 2015
    ITLKSEZ

    ITLKSEZ Hope for the best, prepare for the worst

    Liberty Lake, WA
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    The 14ga sheet of steel I got from the scrap yard ($16) is "galvannealed" which will be great for rust prevention on the corners, but bad for welding on the dash. I did a lot of grinding (with a mask of course) to get rid of the galvanizing so I could weld and live to tell about it. I didn't take enough pics of the process, but I got the new skin tacked on the old dash last night. The piece was only 48" long, so there's a seam through the middle of the glove box opening.

    From behind:

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    Front view:

    [​IMG]

    Detail pics of where I need to do some welding and smoothing:

    [​IMG]

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    A quick mock-up... Much better.

    [​IMG]
     
  14. Sep 18, 2015
    rons75

    rons75 Member

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    DAMN!! If you run out of work on yours, come down to hazelton, got PLENTY to do on mine!!lol
     
  15. Sep 18, 2015
    ITLKSEZ

    ITLKSEZ Hope for the best, prepare for the worst

    Liberty Lake, WA
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    I won that saw on eBay after the PO bought it new (with all the accessories) to cut sheetrock. ??
    He made two cuts, decided it wasn't working out and sold it for 1/2 of what he paid.
    I figured it was worth driving to Seattle to pick it up.
     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2015
  16. Sep 18, 2015
    47v6

    47v6 junk wrecker! 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

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    Looks great!
     
  17. Sep 21, 2015
    ITLKSEZ

    ITLKSEZ Hope for the best, prepare for the worst

    Liberty Lake, WA
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    Dash is in, cage is in, rear corners are done (these were important to me because I hated the way the PO cut the corners and angled them down in the back)... This weekend I tackled the rear drawbar mount and tailgate mounts. The tailgate was 1/2" too high on the left and 1" too high on the right, and I couldn't lower it because the drawbar mount was also too high, and also crooked. I had to remove everything, weld all the holes shut and drill new ones. I fabbed up some new chain mounts and got everything buttoned back up. The wiring is awful. Every glob of tape is hiding a bare connection that was just twisted together and taped up. There are about 200 of these connections all over the jeep; it is going to take me a while to get to all of them. Meanwhile, I removed a mile of hot wires that didn't go anywhere. I become more amazed every day that that trip didn't end in a roadside fire. I should be finished (for now) in the engine compartment. I just need to finish up the under-dash wiring, cut holes and wire in the tail lights, throw some paint on it, and this thing should be ready for the road. I won't say "done" because jeeps are never done. :) It is so much more comfortable to get in and sit in without those side cage bars in the way.

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  18. Sep 21, 2015
    lynn

    lynn Time machine / Early CJ5 HR Rep Staff Member

    Huntingdon PA
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    Lookin good!
     
  19. Sep 21, 2015
    rons75

    rons75 Member

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    Looks real good man, youre doin some fine work there. Just read your trip home with the old girl, I too am jealous. Sounds miserable at times, but no one will be able to tell the same story. Hats off my friend. By the way, have a cousin up your way, lives in Fernwood, works heavy haul out of courdelaine(?) for P&H i think.
     
  20. Sep 21, 2015
    ITLKSEZ

    ITLKSEZ Hope for the best, prepare for the worst

    Liberty Lake, WA
    Joined:
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    Fernwood is some beautiful, remote country. I ride a lot out that way.

    I wish I could spend the time on this thing that it really needs, I just don't have the time now to do it right. I'll drive it as-is for a year or three, then give it the complete redo that it needs. I normally wouldn't publicize a build like this, but I feel like this is sorta a community project. :)
     
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