[FONT="]We had a few days last month that the temps were kind of spring like, so the CJ bug bit, and we decided to bring “Chip” out of the barn, and back into the shop to start on this years upgrades. Problem is, by the time I got the shop cleaned out, the temps had dropped back below 0, and the Jeep would not start! So for the next few days, I would put the charger on, wait until the next day, and with gas or ether down the carb, try again. No luck. It ran great when I parked it in the barn last fall! Why won’t it start now?
About a week later, there was a reprieve in the weather, and temps soared into the 20s. This time “Chip” roared to life with no problems.
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[FONT="]I decided to adjust the brake proportioning valve since the driveway was covered in ice. I know, red neck method, but it worked. I just kept on backing down the driveway, got rolling in 2nd gear, and gently applied the brakes. Kept on doing this, and gradually adjusting the valve until I was happy with the balance of when front and rear brakes engaged.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]Now into the shop, and let the real work (frustration?) begin! First on the agenda was to see if there was some obvious cause for the starting difficulty. I removed the air cleaner, and could not believe what I saw! 2 of the 4 carb mounting lobes were broken!
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[FONT="]This carb has been on for almost a year. The bolts have not been tightened, or anything changed. It appears that the phenolic spacer just gave out and crushed, thereby causing uneven torque on the carb bolts, and failure of the carb base.[/FONT]
[FONT="]I posted my woes on another thread, and a generous friend whom we wheel with sent me a “retirement” gift. A rebuildable carb! Thanks again Posi![/FONT]
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[FONT="]Once again, we enlisted the help of our oldest son to perform the rebuild, and all went well. I hope to install it this week, although testing may be a few weeks off due to no fuel tank currently in the Jeep.[/FONT]
[FONT="]As of right now, there are several projects taking place on the Jeep. None of them completed, but most of the improvements are at least heading in a positive direction.
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[FONT="]Since last summer we have been making due with a hastily put together spare tire carrier that did not allow us to open the tail gate. We decided that a swing out type of carrier is what we wanted. I checked out some of the ready made ones, and decided that for what they cost, I could probably make one that I would be much happier with. I searched Google, and various threads on this forum and others, and this is what I came up with.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]I had a couple of old ball bearings that I believe came from a 1970s vintage snowmobile engine, some cut off sections of pipe, and about 12” of 1” cold rolled steel bar. These are the materials I had laying around, so this is what the entire carrier will be built around.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Let the fun begin![/FONT]
[FONT="]I started by making a mock up for the bearing by drilling a hole in a piece of 2x6.[/FONT]
[FONT="]I placed a spacer on the bottom of the 1” bar for the bearing to rest on, and used the washers as an offset so that the pipe that the bearings will be housed in would have plenty of space to rotate without hitting the bumper.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The bumper is a piece of 2x4x1/4 rectangular tube. I drilled a 1” hole through it for the pivot bar to go all the way through. The bearing housing was made by inserting another piece of pipe into the main pipe, drilling holes in the main pipe, then rosette welding the 2 pipes together. This keeps the top and bottom bearings spaced the way I wanted.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Once I was sure there was adequate clearance between the bearing housing and the back of the Jeep, I tacked on the swing arm.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Next the upright and the lock down tab were added.[/FONT]
[FONT="]After adding the wheel bolt plate and hanging the spare tire on the back end, I discovered that there was going to be a lot of movement against the bearing while wheeling. Change of plans. I decided to add another bearing to the top.[/FONT]
[FONT="]This bearing was a whole lot easier to make! If I had known these bearings were only around $6 each, I would have just purchased them for the bottom and been done with it! These bearings have lock collars, so I did not have to go through all the fooling around making the housing the way I did for the bottom one. Just drill the holes, and lock the collars! The lower bearing and swing arm are held in place by a bolt that threads into the top of the 1” pivot bar.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Also, being SAE sized, I did not have to grind out the bore like I did on the metric bearings to fit non metric pipe and bar. But I did save almost $12 by using the old bearings!! YIPPEE
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[FONT="]Cross braces and tow points in place.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The open ends of all the tubes were welded closed, and all that remains is to turn it over to the wife for clean up and paint. Since the gas tank is currently out, I am going to wait to install the carrier until some exhaust work is completed. I’m not thrilled using the smoke wrench right next to the gas tank![/FONT]
The bodies are just wearing out! New pains every day. The winch is currently on sale at HF for $294.78 using coupon code 64793915
