Found - My first jeep! "The Heap" (now running!)

[thidisbogus]

Belac,

Congratulations on your find and the excellent work you are doing on your project. You are moving along at quite a rapid pace. Compliments to you especially with your work on the data plates. What is the story behind your brother's jeep? How long has he had it? Did him having his contribute to you eventually getting yours?

[Belac]

Rodney,
Thanks for the compliments. I've been trying to get my brother to join the formums here and may have finally got him to work on doing a little write up as well. I'll post a link when he does. I would say his jeep is a huge factor in me getting this one. 2 years ago the jeep bug bit him. He almost got a CJ2A, but then saw this one on craigslist in Boise, ID. My roomates advice to him was along the lines of "Dude, if you think the WW2 ones are cool, you'll never be completely happy with a CJ." Good advice, so we drove 6 hours or so one weekend just to go look at it. It had 35" tires, a spring over axle lift, and a six point roll cage. He liked it, (and the price) and saw the potential, so we flat towed it back behind my truck. Once he got it reverted back to a more originalish state and painted OD, I began to be a little envious. People loved it, it was a blast to drive, and simple to work on! I wanted in on the club, so I started looking too. It's contagious!

I appreciate the comments and feedback from everyone. I'll post updates after this weekend.

[1943gpw wc53]

WOW all I can say is great work, its looking very nice!! What color paint did you use, 33070? Thanks

[Ethan L]

HA! I REMEMBER SEEING YOUR BROTHER'S JEEP ON CRAIGSLIST. Being only 40 miles away from Boise, I almost bought it. If it's the jeep I remember, it was pretty much a rock crawler. Being that I have no welding/restoration knowledge or skills, I waffled on my decision to get it. By the time I made the decision to go look at it, it was already gone. Now I know where it went.

I didn't have access to a truck or trailer, so if I were ever to get a WWII Jeep, it would have to be local. Over the past 2 years I've been waiting for my jeep to find me. I've seen jeeps way out of my price range to jeeps way out of my ability to fix. I had almost given up and went the CJ-MB or CJ-GPW route because they pop up on Craigslist and Ebay a lot more often then the real deals.

The day came about 6 months ago when 2 MB's came up on Craigslist. One of them was the 43 MB that I bought and the other was a 45 MB. Both of them were stripped of anything military. Both had the wrong engines and transmissions. However, the 45 had diamond plate added to the body, and any part that wasn't covered in diamond plate was painted neon pink and the seats had zebra fabric on them. I shuddered to think that it would be parked in my driveway, so I chose the 43. Plus you can't go wrong then the Jeep was already named "Hoot 'N' Nanny".

I'm glad to see that "the one that got away" ended up in good hands; hands that brought her back to her beginnings. I really like the name of your new Jeep. As vehicle names go, "The Heap" is one of my favorites. I'm excited to see what your axles will look like once those disc brakes are complete. I'm thinking of going that route with mine as I want to make my Jeep a daily driver.

[Outlier]

Well, that last post did the trick, Ethan already knows my jeep so here we go... first post! I've been lurking in the forum shadows for nearly two years!
@Ethan;
This is the jeep moments after we got it home... could we get a confirmation that this is the one you considered? 'cause that would be really cool - what are the chances?!


Now that I'm finally on the G, I'll start putting together a thread on my project, in parallel with Belac's...

*Edit, 12 June '12:* I've started my own thread and introduced my Jeep!
http://g503.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=96&t=205852

[Fat Albert]

Outlier... I love your emblem about the mighty Jeep versus the Honda!

[Ethan L]

Belac,

Sorry, I think I got your thread off topic. You'll have to get Outlier set up with his own thread so I don't keep hijacking yours.

Outlier,

That looks pretty familier. I remember debating with myself on making an offer because the jeep didn't really have any military parts, the front looked heavily altered, and I had no idea if the jeep still had the original axles. Back then, I wouldn't have even known if it had the original engine or transmission. Like I said, I didn't (still don't) have any mechanic type skills or knowledge, so that jeep intimitaded me a little.

Funny part is that I ended up with a jeep that look almost like yours. Very little military parts left, four point roll cage, and incorrect wheels and tires. I knew I had the wrong engine, but the T-90 snuck up on me. Oh well, I always knew I would be limited in jeep selection when I wasn't willing or able to travel to get one. I like what you've done with your jeep, Outlier. It's fun to see it in Belac's photos as he is working on his.

[Belac]

A quick update:
The paint I have been using is the 319. I like it!
I got the transmission and transfer case all finished up last weekend. Here are some before and after pictures of the transmission:




On both the T.C. and Trans, I scrubbed the rust off the gears, and put new bearings and small parts in. Hopefully they work and aren't too noisy!

[Belac]

Another update. We did put the engine and transmission in, but it took at least 4 tries. The trouble was with the clutch fingers adjustment. The pressure plate was a good half inch out of spec, so we adjusted the fingers as per the TM, but then the clutch wouldn't disengage even though the shift fork was hitting the bellhousing. We ended up putting the fingers back where they were when I got it, hopefully it works, or I'll end up pulling the engine again .



I also pulled the head off to check things.

There was definitely some grime and debris on the pistons that needed attention. I had cleaned the piston on the right in the photo. Also it was interesting to find out the motor has been rebuilt at some point. Pistons are 30 over. I put a new head gasket on, and replaced 4 studs which refused to loosen their hold on the nuts. Hmm. now that I'm looking at the pictures, it looks like there may be some damage on the second bore from the left. I didn't notice anything at the time, so hopefully it's just a fleck of greasy carbon. I didn't use any kind of sealant on the gasket (my research on here showed both ways of doing it), so I guess I'll know if there is a problem when I get it started!


Before the tub went on, one more pic of how my hat channels turned out. Not bad for bending them myself, using clamps, a hammer, and the edge of a table for 2 of the bends!



As I am going 12v with an alternator, we made a trip to the wrecking yard. I came back with all the wires I will need, a horn (not correct, I know but necessary to be street legal) a ford style alternator, the bracket for the alternator off a 6 cyl ford truck from the 70's, a coil, voltage regulator, solenoid, and battery cables - all for $3O.
I modified the bracket, and here is what I came up with:


The only trouble is it sits too high. There are a few extra fittings on the bottom of my oil filter housing, so I had to loosen the bands holding the oil housing and slide it up. It will work for now.

With the motor in, the next step was bolting the tub and fenders and grill on. This was really fun, because the jeep began to look right!





I'm VERY glad I left all the dents in. It definitely gives it some character. It does sit higher than my bro's jeepbecause of the tires. I will have to use this set up till I can afford skinny tires. I ended up selling my combat rims, but do have 5 skinny 16" wheels.

I thought once the motor was in, that it wouldn't be long till I tried to start it. There were a couple snags. Turns out my temp guage doesn't work, and the fan blade from the generator is a 6 blade "push" fan which won't work for a vehicle. Also the radiator leaks. I need to order more parts, and get everything wired!

I gave the jeep treatment to my laptop! Does this count as jeep fever?

[thidisbogus]

Belac,

I am very impressed with your progress. Your jeep looks great. Congratulations on getting all that 12V stuff so cheap. What shade of OD did you use, 33070?

[Cobra Doc]

I gave the jeep treatment to my laptop! Does this count as jeep fever?

Not "Jeep Fever", it is OD fever, which is 10 times worse.

[Gustl]

A quick update:
The paint I have been using is the 319. I like it!
I got the transmission and transfer case all finished up last weekend. Here are some before and after pictures of the transmission:




On both the T.C. and Trans, I scrubbed the rust off the gears, and put new bearings and small parts in. Hopefully they work and aren't too noisy!

Hi Belac!

I am impressed by the speed you are doing your project. Should be on the road soon! Like your thread and follow your posts all the time.

As I am just rebuilding my transmission, I learned that the blocking ring should have a bit of gap to the gear.

In the above pic of the cleaned transmission I see the blocking ring to the 3rd gear (to the input shaft) having no gap at all. At least it looks like in the pic. This might be an issue you should check once more.

just my two cent

Keep up the good work!

[Belac]

Gustl,
Thanks for the sharp eye. I just did some research on the subject here, and you may be right. The transmission was one of the first things I worked on, so I didn't know what I was doing! I didn't replace the blocking rings, so it is very possible that they are worn. I will check things out.

thidisbogus,
The paint is 319. I like it, mostly because it's what my bro used on his jeep, so they match.

[Belac]

a few fun pics, 2 jeeps in the barn:

And moving the Heap in a horse trailer:

I finally got it moved to my house, so things should progress rather quickly. I'm hoping to have it running in a week or 2. My outlook has changed a bit. I just want to get it running! So I'm starting to leave things to fix better at some time in the future. Which is kind of funny looking. Everything is nice and new and redone except for things like the starter:

It is in original condition, but works, so I just put it on. I'll worry about refurbishing it when it goes out.
Also the radiator:

I put it in the bathtub and blew into it, and it blew bubles as fast as I could breathe. I ripped out some of the fins, straightened the tubes and soddered it up. Just a teeny little leak now, so maybe some stop-leak will finish the job.
A few other pics of current condition:


More soon!

[thidisbogus]

Looks really nice Belac. I don't blame you for wanting to get it on the road, espaecially if you have another running jeep that increases your fever when it is nearby.

I noticed your new bolts in your bell housing. Did you make sure and put those special dowel bolts in so that the starter will align properly?

Are you going to get you some 16 inch rims and NDT tires soon? Taillights?