Build Thread 1959 CJ5 "One Piece at a Time..."

[mriplaybass]

[FONT=&quot]On to the engine for awhile. We decided to look inside before we put the engine in the frame. Good idea! Main and rod bearings were scored badly. The pictures don't really show the extent of the damage. The crank however, was clean and all journals were in spec. OK, roll the dice and consider it good.[/FONT]






Our son Jim helping with the rebuild




[FONT=&quot]The 231 odd fire V6 now has new main and rod bearings, timing gears and chain, new chain tensioner, oil pump cleaned and a new pick up tube and screen, new fuel pump, water pump, belts, spark plugs, wires, distributor cap, thermostat and housing, and the carburetor has been rebuilt by Jim. Compression was good on all cylinders, so again, roll the dice and consider it good for now. On to other fun problems! Oldjeeplady cleaned, scraped, and sanded the engine, helped with reassembly, and painted it. Ready for the frame![/FONT]







[FONT=&quot]Frame is now blasted, boxed[FONT=&quot],[/FONT] V6 motor mounts welded in, and painted. Ready for the next step.[/FONT]






[FONT=&quot]2 1/2” lift pro comp springs, 32x11.50x15 BF Goodrich tires, blasted and painted slotted rims. This is an off road vehicle! I don’t know if I will have the heart to get it dirty! The street rodder in me is beginning to show![/FONT]





[FONT=&quot]We have overcome cracked transmissions and adaptor plates, bent frames, rusted through cross members, and several “component changes” and we are still winning! [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Us: 3 steps forward.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]RJ: 2 steps back[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Engine in, (no clutch yet, just wanted to be able to test the engine) ready for the first test fire! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MnjODKfmXc[/FONT]



[FONT=&quot]I knew it was too good to last! No oil to the rocker assembly. We had to take everything apart to see why. Though our son is a very good mechanic, he rebuilt the engine while I was at work. No offense to his knowledge, but I pulled the pan to make sure the bearings were in correctly, they were. Next, off with the intake and timing gear cover to make sure the oil galleries are clear, they were. Took a couple of lifters apart to check for gunk, clean as a whistle. Searched the forums, posted a question on ask and expert, no one seemed to know. What the heck, lifters are not that expensive. Put in a new set, problem solved! Don’t make sense, but don’t look a gift Jeep in the grill………..right?? Back on track again. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Time was getting short, and it became obvious that there was no way RJ was going to make the trip to Ouray for 2014. Plan B, the good old blue oval Explorer needed some pretty extensive work in order to be able to use it for the trail ride, so………….time to roll RJ out to the barn, shift gears to Ford mode, and get the Explorer ready. Explorer did great on the trails! But we kind of felt out of place with all the jeeps. The Ouray trail ride was supposed to be taking a year off, so we have all the time in the world to finish RJ, so in the barn he stayed until just a few weeks ago when everyone decided to go to Ouray again. So, this is what has been all been done so far, and here we go again! More updates soon! (I hope!)[/FONT]

 

[Posi]

Good progress!

 

[mriplaybass]

Good progress!

Ah, but will it be enough! More pictures coming soon, but we have hit a wall with the clutch set up!

 

[007]

No worries. You'll make this work. Great, great progress. Extremely happy for you!


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[mriplaybass]

[FONT=&quot]We decided to switch to the drive train as we resume our build. This in and of itself turns out to be a beginner Jeepers’ night mare! As stated before, we started with [/FONT][FONT=&quot]a T86aa Transmission , a Dana 20 Transfer Case , and D27 front and Dana 30 rear axles. Well, this hardly seems adequate for what we plan to do, so we find a great deal on a Dana 30 and a Dana 44 , both with Warn lock outs so we can flat tow if we want to. What a deal! They look great, and have 11” brakes and drums! As stated before, the T86aa has a cracked case and there are none to be found. We found a [/FONT][FONT=&quot]T-14 Transmission and another Dana 20 Transfer Case just a few miles from home on Craigslist for $AMC 150 , so, and hour later, our Transmission problems are solved. We already know the Dana 30 and Dana 44 have 3.73 gears in them, so we figure that with the addition of a Tera Low kit we will have an acceptable crawl ratio and street drive ability that works for us. So, off to the computer and the wonderful world of Jeep aftermarket toys! We order a Tera Low kit, Eaton E lockers for both front and rear, and new seals, bearings, gaskets, etc. for the axles. Being a trucker, I am gone most of the week. Each day I eagerly watch the tracking of the parts via my phone as they make their way toward RJ waiting in the shop. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I know that there will be a 2 week delay on the Tera Low gears, but everything else is well on its way! I get home Friday, but our treasures are still a few days away. Might as well start taking the axles apart, right? Let’s start with the 44. Groan!
[/FONT]








[FONT=&quot]The gears and the bearings are all pitted with rust……………back to the computer and the wonderful world of ...........(sigh). We check the 30 and things are about the same. Ordered new 3.73 ring and pinions, bearings, races, etc.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Monday morning, back to work. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Home Friday, gears are here! Off we go! [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Cleaned out the 44 housing and we are ready for the new gears and the locker. Doing this in Wisconsin during the winter has its benefits. [/FONT]



[FONT=&quot]Like putting the locker in a plastic bag and putting it out in the snow at 5 below zero really helps pressing the warmed bearings on.[/FONT]



[FONT=&quot]Pre loads set, back lash set.[/FONT]



[FONT=&quot]Pattern looks good[/FONT]





[FONT=&quot]All new brake components, drums turned, new seals in, let’s button ‘er up![/FONT]





[FONT=&quot]All assembled, and ready to go![/FONT]



[FONT=&quot]Monday morning again. Another week of fun on our nation’s highways. Can’t wait to get home Friday, the Tera Low gears will be here, we can finish the 30, install the Tera Lows, and things will really be moving![/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Friday again, there’s a heavy box waiting for me in the garage…..THEY’RE HERE! Quick! Change my clothes and get out to the shop. As stated several times already, I’m new at this Jeep thing. Better read the instructions all the way through before even starting. OK, step one, “make sure your Transmission has a 10 spline output shaft”. What?? Why wouldn’t it? When I ordered the gears, the only question that I was asked was whether I had an automatic or manual Transmission . A T-14 is a manual. Well, I’m sure the spline count will be 10, but let’s look just to make sure…………..6…………………….!!#@%!!!. (pretty sure these were the spline counts, but either way, the gears will not fit my Transmission ). Now what?? I called the vendor from [FONT=&quot]whom[/FONT] I purchased the gears and in a nut shell this is what I found out. The gears only fit the 4 speed manual Transmission , not the 3 speed. (I know…….why does this idiot want to put a $950 low kit behind a 3 speed Transmission ? Right? Remember, new Jeeper, prior to starting this project my automotive hobby world consisted of vehicles with only 1 differential in the rear, and that 1 differential was to make the vehicle go real fast in as little time as possible, not go as slow as possible and take all the time you need!) After making several calls while putting me on hold, the vendor came back and told me that the kit would not fit a 3 speed Transmission , and I could return it for a full refund. OK, here is where things kind of went south on me. I had to pay for the return shipping even though it was their fault for representing the gears to fit “a manual Transmission ” both by their sales rep, and their web site. But wait, it gets better. I am now left with the only way to get better gearing for off road is to change to a lower ring and pinion. Easy fix, right? WRONG!! I had already installed the 3.73 gears on the locker pressed the bearings on and installed the locker in the differential. Better yet, the locker has a cutoff point. I can only install 3.73 and numerically lower ratios on this locker! I want to put 4.56 gears in, but right in the E locker instructions it cautions you to use a different set of set up bearings and hone them out to setup your differential, because once the bearings are pressed onto the locker, pulling them with a standard bearing puller could damage the stator. So, after some back and forth with the vendor, the rep comes back and says that they will take the locker and gears back, less a 25% fee. Obviously, not a good deal for me. We go back and forth some more, I get frustrated with the demeanor of the rep, and I hang up. I won’t itemize what this would all cost me, but it was substantial. I wrote a rather strong letter to the vendor and got a 180 degree turn around response. They agreed to take everything back, pay for all the shipping, and send me new shims if I would agree to pay a flat $100. Sounded fair enough to me. I could have probably pushed the issue, but, we needed to get moving again. We were also shipped a set of gears for a Rubicon by mistake from another vendor, but this seems like small potatoes compared to everything else. The other vendor paid shipping back, and we finally got the right gears. We had been pretty much shut down for the past 4 weeks, and needed to get this build back into high gear! [/FONT]

 

[Posi]

The T-14 comes from the factory with a 10 spline output shaft
The T-86 , T-90 , T-15 , T-150 , CJ T-18 , has a 6 spline output shaft.
What is the casting # on the tranny?
Part # 3.15 kit?

 

[mriplaybass]

The T-14 comes from the factory with a 10 spline output shaft
The T-86 , T-90 , T-15 , T-150 , CJ T-18 , has a 6 spline output shaft.
What is the casting # on the tranny?
Part # 3.15 kit?

Got the 2 of them mixed up. Wrote this late last night, and didn't remember which one was which. Bottom line, the Tera Low gear would not fit the T-14 . Already sent it back and am heading in a different direction.

 

[Posi]

Not a problem
I'm not sure why the rep told you the kit only fits 4 speeds, of the 5 I listed above 4 were 3 speeds that should work with the 3.15 kit.

 

[mriplaybass]

[FONT=&quot]We have hit some problems with the pedals and the hydraulic clutch we want to install. Kind of looks like we have more work than we do time before our trip to Ouray. Also from talking with Posi, we have discovered that we can use a T-15 instead of the T-14 , and this would allow us the option of using a Tera low in the Transfer Case . Thanks Posi! I can’t believe that the T-14 is the only Transmission that is not adaptable to a Tera low kit, and the vendor I purchased it from did not know this! Well, I have only been into the “Jeep” thing for about 9 months, so I am still learning. So for now, RJ won’t be going back to the barn to collect dust, he will be pushed across the drive way and put in the garage to await a different Transmission , and for me to figure out the clutch and pedal situation. So for now, RJ takes a break.[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]We hope to start back in later this summer after the Ouray trip.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]We purchased a 79 CJ7 two weeks ago, and we hope that this will be a more realistic project for the amount of time we have to get a Jeep ready for the Ouray trip. We will be starting a build thread for the CJ7 shortly.[/FONT]

 

[007]

Well there's nothing wrong with that backup plan. Don't forget that a stock CJ will do everything that you need it to do in Colorado so don't burn your RJ money on the 7 beyond getting it reliable etc. Your call.


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[mriplaybass]

I hear you, we pretty much have RJ's finances set aside already. About the only really costly thing is going to be the drive shafts. We are going at break neck speed to get something ready, and in spite of all the problems with our most recent purchase, the 7 is probably going to be a quicker build. No way we want to miss the Ouray trip!