It lives!!

Well..after two years and just a few headaches it's running (sort of).

[/url]Finished Jeep 003 by Tom Jones, on Flickr[/IMG]

Still need to get a winch. This one was every problem I've read about on this forum. The transmission was two months of headaches alone.
The good: it's running, got about 200 miles at this point
The bad: I didn't mess with the engine and now I think I'm gonna pay for that. I've got a pretty pronounced knock that some of the local guys think might be a wrist pin, so now what to do. Thought I'd bounce this off you guys, considering all options but one I wasn't sure about...I found a motor not to far away but it doesn't have the flywheel (it's the V6, by the way). What I'm wondering is if I find a flywheel will I have issues with balance? Considering a rebuild, shopped crate motors on the web, talked to a local shop about a rebuild. Trying to balance getting something decent without breaking the bank.
What do you think?

[/url]Finished Jeep 006 by Tom Jones, on Flickr[/IMG]

[/url]Finished Jeep 005 by Tom Jones, on Flickr[/IMG]

 

I think that Jeep looks great. The tires are very nice. What type and size are they?

 

I think the 231 motors had the balanced flywheel deal, but not the 225's. I could be wrong and if I am will be corrected by someone shortly.

 

jeep looks nice . as engine goes . why not rebuild what you have

 

Might be able to put in an oversized bearing or bushing or whatever in that wrist pin area to repair it. Which you may be able to do from underneath.

 

I think it looks great. Sorry to hear about the engine, but rebuilding them really isn't too bad. Just take special care on that rear crank seal. I think the xfer case was more difficult. It looks deceivingly easy, but it has its quirks.

 

Fantastic looking Jeep. I'm in the rebuild what you got camp too.

 

Nice looking Jeep. It isn't hard to do a V6 transplant. I did my first back in 1971. The L134 ran great but the rear main seal was a problem. Again, a lot of the parts were on the shelf items then and your concerns about the flywheel are valid. I had a good Jeep guy in Denver who got me through the process (He had the parts too). As usual, I have a Koenig PTO, winch and driveshaft sitting in the shed under the Buick. Probably as much to ship as to what I would sell the pieces for. I'm not saying elecrric winches are bad but be sure you get a good one from the start, not some Humbug Frieight thing.

 

My chime in....

First off nice job so far, that Jeep looks super.
Second, this engine noise. As much as OEM drivetrain components get bad raps by those who push their Jeeps further than others, we all have to admit it's a Jeep. It WAS designed and built to do what it needed to do. Certainly early designs were about function and dependability not comfort and style. That being said, just about every Jeep engine I ever fired up or used to travel daily made it's own unique noises. Before I spent a dime on any engine, used, reman or rebuild what's there, I'd find the exact noise issue.

You hit it on the head when you said "The bad:" You never did any restore to the engine. OK give me some better details as to why that happened. My first guess would have to be because it ran fine. If that's the case then let's try to find what happened to cause an engine noise now. Personally, each of my Jeepster Dauntless engines make their own quite unique noises as they start and warm up. They are share a common thing though - fully warmed up with the thermostat open and coolant fully flowing they idle damn close to silent. And that includes the 67 I just got going after 15 years parked and I put a glasspack on it! I've had customers ask "Is this running?" or be surprised when leaning against the Commando and suddenly feeling a vibration.

If a wrist pin is bad, start her up and pull one spark wire at a time with your preferred non-shocking tool of choice and when the wires off and so if the noise, there's your cylinder. Still begs to question why now though...

So fill us all in on details regarding the engines' performance pre-restore-rest-of-jeep and I will be glad to try and help as will most everyone else in this forum. You know, stuff like how it ran, oil pressure, how old is the tune, carb, etc.

 

I can't comment on you engine issue but I have to say --- your jeep looks amazing - nice work - I gather the paint is the spruce tip green? can you provide brand and chip number you use?

 

Trop belle! Too much beautiful!!

You just should check your engine from the top, take time to look, maybe nothing complex and the less we touch, the less problems come.

Or find a specialist somewhere to make checking, listening, etc...

 

Looks great!

 

Tom,

Great looking Jeep!

I just acquired a 1965 Jeep CJ-5 with an F134. Same color as yours.

Bob

 

Yes very very nice looking Jeep.

 

lease have it repaired to your satisfaction so we can meet at Bantam Heritage Jeep Festival. You have done a really good job there.

 

First of all, thanks for the kudo's. You guys have been more help than you know as I have spent hours going through different threads on some of the problems in addition to putting out questions.
So a short history on this jeep. Found on Craigslist, came home looking like this.

right front quarter by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Picked it up over the winter on one of those artic spells we were having, think its was -40 the night before I got it. Couldn't even move it (none of the wheels would turn) so getting it on the car hauler was a story in itself. Later when I started draining fluids, yup...just like you might have suspected this is what came out of the transfer case.

xfer case drain 3 by Tom Jones, on Flickr

All in all it was pretty solid, didn't find any cracks or repairs on the frame, crossmembers or spring mounts so I just cleaned it up and got some rust sealer on it. As I have done two flatfenders I was really kind of anxious to get this one on the road so I didn't really have the time I'd hoped for to go through it and do all I wanted (that pesky job of mine didn't help).

body up 2 by Tom Jones, on Flickr

front clip off by Tom Jones, on Flickr

I found out when I pulled it apart that the plywood in the back wasn't covering up a bad floor, there was no floor.

rear floor by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Opted for stock rims and Firestone Destination MT's.

tire on 1 by Tom Jones, on Flickr

The tranny was a nightmare, T86 with the one gear you can't get being the one that was tore up. Went with Herm's conversion but found one gotcha was this plate that had to be trimmed to get the case's to mate up properly. (Don't ask how I learned that)

rear bearing retainer by Tom Jones, on Flickr

I also refuse to admit to how many times I put the whole assembly in and had to take it out again.

tranny slung 1 by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Painted it in the back yard, and close up you can tell. NAPA mixed it for me off the color chart for that year, and even put some in spray cans, didn't know they could do that but very convenient for touch up stuff.

paint 006 by Tom Jones, on Flickr

1967 CJ5 paint chart by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Like to try different things on these projects to see what works well. Laid on some of that granulated floor cover (goes on with a stiple roller). See how this works out over time.

floor covers painted by Tom Jones, on Flickr

floor and covers 4 by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Roll out.

rolling chassis 3 by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Body on.

Body on test 5 by Tom Jones, on Flickr

So thanks again for all the suggestions. I think when I have time I will try the spark plug test, see if that can narrow it down. The PO actually got it running when I picked it up, but thinking back to how cold it was I'm sure the oil was a brick. Once I got it going I did go through the different ticks and knocks as it got used to running again and didn't think to much of it but after a while one knock didn't go away and started to become rather pronounced and constant, and that's where I asked some of the better wrenches around town what they thought, the wrist pin diagnosis was beyond my capability. I did both a wet and dry compression test and all six averaged around 150, oil pressure seems a little low, that stays around 25 - 30. Except at higher RPM's.
The question about what to do is probably the same that all of you have juggled, how much do you spend on one of these when you've already spent way over what you expected. The best shop around me estimated they would be $2500 - 3000 to do it right, I could probably buy one from somebody and have a runner for a few hundred, crate looks like it would be $1500 or so (but I followed Howards problem with one of those) so just trying to make an affordable but decent fix.
So, that's pretty much the Readers Digest version of what went into this one. All in all its a pretty good little unit and I'm sure this will work itself out.

Finished Jeep 004 by Tom Jones, on Flickr

Still need to redo the windshield (haven't touched that yet), looking to mount a winch on the aftermarket bumper that replaced the beat up factory bumper I took off. Maybe mess around with lockers, who knows...this one will never be done, I can see that already.

Here's the one that got all this started.

New Group 086 by Tom Jones, on Flickr

By the way!

Thanks guys, couldn't have done it without you!!