Build Thread 1955 CJ 3B 53 year odyssey

[duffer]

Where to start? I purchased this 3B in 1972 from a welding/machine shop where it had been their plow Jeep and local delivery vehicle. It was completely stock except for the shop built snowplow with a Meyers lift. As part of that plow mounting, there was a 6x10x1/2" thick angle iron plug welded over the original bumper, 1/4" fish plates welded to the outside of the horizontal portions of the front frame rails extending past the front spring frame hangers, boxed frame horns, and "sleeves" welded to the front spring plates through which the blade supports ran back to 1/2" plates bolted to the rear fish plates. Clear as mud? It actually was well engineered plow lift and allowed for full spring articulation, granted with the heavy duty flat fender springs, that was barely perceptible. It sported the factory canvas half cab and still had the factory NDT for a spare tire. Accessorys included the placebo Harrison heater, manual right side wiper, and passenger seat. It had 26k on the odometer. I only found two photos of it as received.


And it sort of managed to make an appearance in this scene.


The tub had typical rust: the hat channels were gone as was most of the tool box enclosure and the tub mounts. I used it in that state for about a year and a half until I managed to burn the F head 2-3 exhaust valves trying to pull a tiny U-Haul trailer 650 miles. Enter version 2.0. At that point it was pushed off that proverbial modification cliff and a 1962 327 sbc found its way under that high hood, the rest of it remaining stock except for the original tires and wheels from my 68 CJ5 ,a patched up Whitco top from the same, and a swing-out rear tire/jerry can/ski rack carrier I built. The sbc was the 11:1 CR version with solid lifers, big heads, 302 Winters intake, Holley 650 cfm carb, and Hooker 9810 headers. As would be expected that left something to be desired in the rocks but it was an order of magnitude better than the F head. It was a pretty wild ride on the pavement with that engine the 5.38 gears. Only one photo survived of that version from 1974.


Alas, that 327 scummed to a crack in the rear side of the No 5 cylinder about a year and a half after the install, not an uncommon occurrence with those first year 4" blocks bored 0.030 over. At that point, the fall off that proverbial modification cliff much accelerated, perhaps not yet at terminal velocity but close. I did a frame off which became a little protracted with a job/state change in the middle of it. Changes with Ver 3.0 included a boxed frame, Con-Fer rear fuel tank, battery relocated beneath bed, new cross member under the radiator, 16:1 Saginaw steering box from a C3 Corvette, full float 19 spline Powr-Lok rear Dana 44 , 11" Bendix brakes, Muncie M20 Transmission , Warn Overdrive , 1970 350 LT1 engine (yep, slow learner), Chevy truck vertical style radiator, fiberglass tub and fenders, and a number of other changes. Initially it still sported the stock springs but those were swapped out for Rancho 2 1/2" lift springs almost as soon as those hit the market-remember this is still 1970's. I probably should have installed a NT Dana 30 at that point but those were still relatively new and expensive. The D25 persisted.
A few photos of Ver 3.0








The glass tub was actually a 12'/foot plastic car kit. Separate pieces for the shell, floor and firewall and the only one I could find was for a 2A/3A so the cowl and firewall required that 4.5" extension and while I was assembling it, I made an inch and a half larger indent for distributor clearance.. I fabricated a subframe under the seat area to which the seat support frame bolted to and it provided sill support for the "sliders". The exhaust was also hung from that framework.


My original intent was to use an aftermarket steel hood, no doubt an early MD Juan product. It was painted with the rest of it, including the original grill, with catalyzed acrylic enamel but you can guess where that went. VERY poor fit and I couldn't use it.
This was the B at that point:


The LT1 was more than a wild ride with the remaining 5.38 gears and as one would expect, it didn't care too much about crawling over rock gardens. It was dumbed down with a set of 194 truck heads and a Performer cam not long after getting it back on the road but I had already started on a replacement-a 381 build using all GM parts (there weren't any 383 kits yet at that point). Along with the 381 swap, it received a Modine 3 row cross flow radiator and a number of other small changes, including a Saturday night special home brew hood consisting of an aluminum framework with a sheet fiberglass cover. The 381 proved to be just an excellent Jeep engine that would idle down to 300 rpms and still crawl over just about any obstacle without feathering the clutch.
The 381 era:




That version soldiered on for 3 1/2 decades with relatively minor further modifications. The 381 eventually got ProFlo2, aluminum heads, and a hydraulic roller cam.




Along the way, the original D18 was replaced with a "super" D18 utilizing a Dana 20 case and the TeraLow 3.15:1 gear set, the drum brakes replaced with discs, the M20 replaced with an AutoGear M22W, and the Willys went on a bit of a diet. The skid protection was all replaced with aluminum versions, and an aluminum radiator installed. The hood was rebuilt and aluminum skinned. Added accessories included a York engine driven OBA set up and a Premier Power Welder.


With that 4 1/2 decades down, we will get to the last iteration of this Willys, not a frame off, but maybe more severe.

 

[CJ]

Nice, promoted to our front page.

 

[Belizean]

Very interesting Jeep story. I’ve had mine more than 4 decades, easy to tell you are a motor guy ! I will be waiting for more of the story.

 

[duffer]

Before we venture on to something more in the present tense, I should detail a few other features previously applied to this Willys. While assembling that plastic car kit, I laminated a sheet of 1/4" marine plywood under the bed area and extended it into the wheel wells. The remainder of the wheelwells was boxed in with aluminum, again sandwiched in fiberglass. The end results being wheelwell tool boxes on each side, similar to the MB/GPW's but of much larger volume.


The dash, which was a blank sheet of paper at that point, was built to incorporate a defrost duct system similar to an early CJ5 with the lower inside of the windshield also enclosed. That enclosure also contains the wiper linkage. The instrument panel and glove box door were made from 1/8" aluminum and anodized black. Instrumentation was/is all Stewart Warner. A heater from an early 70's Datsun was used along with a Subaru steering wheel/column and Subaru seats. This is a later photo after the Subaru column had been replaced with a Flaming River version but the rest of it is as originally built.


As noted, a fiberglass tub is utilized and that obviously didn't have the underseat toolbox so about 20 something years back, after the purchase of a spool gun for my MIG welder, I had to practice a little. The replacement locking tool box was one of the first items made. It had to be front opening as the seats are solid mounted. I keep all the hand tools in this.


When I rebuilt the hood, I remodeled all the trail tool/jack/lug wrench mounting brackets that had previously resided in that Saturday night special.


The steel tire carrier was also replaced at that time. The new version has a triple extension door carrier built into it.




The aluminum skid plates for the exhaust and Transfer Case /Transmission . The latter is due for further modifications at the present time as the D18 emergency brake it protected no longer exists.




The ConFer fuel tank was replaced in the early 2000's at the same time the tire carrier was replaced. I welded it up out of too heavy 14 gauge steel and made it as large as I could possibly fit. That turned out to be 24.5 gallons.


The filler was also replaced then.




A modified CSI door for a GMC finished that project.


That era also saw the front bumper winch/fairlead remodeled. The winch remained the Warn 5721 purchased new for this Willys as seen in the above post black and white photo.




And finally, after dealing with the stock rear view mirror that was impossible to keep adjusted, I fabricated new ones for both sides out of aluminum.

 

[duffer]

Parting shots of the final reiteration of the 381 era.




Sooooo, after piloting the Willys for four decades with that proverbial raw egg located under the right pedal and cringing every time the tires were aired down, the D25 departed in somewhat stylish fashion with the right side (short) axle shaft literally exploding with a good 2" of that shaft disappearing in a cloud of approximately 1/8" square shards (that were a perfect match to the splines on those 10 spline Spicer shafts. That event also removed much of the inner axle seal seat rendering the housing scrap which was probably a favor for me.


After no shortage of head scratching, I decided to go with a wide track Dana 44 for a front axle replacement and that sort of morphed into new springs, shocks, rear axle, rear driveshaft, more frame modifications, Aqualu aluminum grill, new engine, new clutch, interior modifications, and a winch trade out. Project creep?

I had previously collected both a Ford F250 high pinion Dana 44 and a Scout II Dana 44 anticipating the demise of the D25. After initial mockups, I decided to use neither. There was no way the high pinion would clear the chassis without a LOT more lift and the Scout version required outboarding the mounts which I decided I didn't want to do either. I finally decided to get one of Richard Imholt's "Freedom" wide track narrowed F250 D44HD housings with 1/2" wall tubes. The rest of that axle was assembled with Reid Scout II knuckles (8 stud), Scout II spindles/hubs/disc brakes, ARB, Yukon 4.11 gears, Dutchman 4340 axle shafts, and Warn Lock-o-matic hubs.





The axle utilizes Moog ball joints and their 7/8-18 TRE's. The tie rod and draglink are made from 1.5" x 1/4" wall DOM tube with RuffStuff weld-in threaded inserts for all but the draglink pitman arm connection to the GM PS control valve ( 1 1/16-18 thread). I machined that adapter out of 4140.






The 2" diameter PSC hydraulic assist cylinder is mounted via a bracket welded to the axle housing on the inside and a modified high-steer arm on the outside. An internal stop was machined from Delrin for the cylinder to limit the stroke.






I used 27 spline Warn Lock-o-Matic lockout hubs to finish out this axle. In auto mode, I believe these are among the strongest external hubs made with the sprag clutch rollers sandwiched between that very robust outer steel ring and the steel 27 spline ramp hub on the axle shaft. In manual mode, the drive passes through the steel "spline" roll pins in the outer aluminum housing, identical to other Warn manual hubs of the era. I went through several pairs of hubs to procure parts to build the pair I used.

 

[duffer]

Suspension: old school leaf springs retained but I did go with the long, soft, Holbrook asymmetrical springs. For those unfamiliar with these, the shackle hangers remain in the stock locations and the spring hangers are moved inboard. The Holbrook front and rear springs are 9.5" and 9" longer than stock for the front and rear respectively. The springs are military wrap but that second wrap leaf had some lateral bend to it which required some judicious grinding to keep the wrap from applying force to the hangers and shackles. Those springs were actually manufactured by Benz Spring.

The spring kit came with rubber bushings, pivot bolts and spring hangers, none of which was used. The base plate in this photo is my creation and used to spread the hanger stress out over a longer reach of the frame rail. The bolt and hanger are Holbrook.

The kit hangers were fabricated from 3/16 stock while the stock versions are 1/4", no doubt Omix Ada sourced. In addition to that lighter gauge steel, the mounting holes were not perpendicular to the pivot bolt bores. I cut the one in the photo off and reused my originals, along with machining Delrin bushings and greasable pivot bolts from Grade 9. The shackle hangers are all fabricated, as are the shackles and associated hardware.

The front hangers extent to the front of the bumper.

The spring plates are fabricated for a U-bolt flip and incorporate a raised lower mounting for the shock absorbers. Both front and rears are similar.

Mock up of the above axle "plate" with a 3/4" drive socket substituting for the axle tube.

Even after getting the spring perches welded on the front axle with a nominal 6 degrees of caster, I ended up whittling out some wedge shims to compensate for the asymmetrical springs. I used that opportunity to also pace the axle 3/4" forward.

That all ended up looking like this:

Initially I was going to use those pad mounted JK bumpstops but I eventually just machine aluminum "land pads" for those and used Rancho frame mounted urethane bumpstops. The steel bracket visible to the left is the sway bar axle bracket. I used modified JKS quick disconnect sway bar links. The sway bar is the ADDCO 1 1/8" version.

The first step for fabricating the front shock mounts was filling in the space between the machine shop applied fish plates.

 

[duffer]

Front shock mounts:

The main rear shock upper mounts are relocated behind the axle and tight up against the bed with a 1" tub lift which apparently wasn't worth a photo----