Ah, the joy of P.O's

[GS1200]

New member, Hey Y'all! New Member, new to me 83 CJ7 .

Previous Owner (P.O) did a frame off resto 7 years ago on this, and supposedly only put 12-1500 miles on it. Been in one of my storage units for the last 3 years, (I own a self storage biz), and I made them an offer we both could live with. I have been mostly into motorcycle long distance riding, but lately the desire and the knees have just not been there, so I figure an old jeep was the best way to keep my short hair in the wind. I had an 05 unlimited for a couple years and enjoyed that.

Anyway, after sitting for so long, after only a few short trips between rain storms, the water pump decided to mark its territory. Ordered the new pump, got the wrong one, got the new one this morning, with new tstat, and hoses. Put everything back together, Cant get the radiator to line up properly without it binding on the steering knuckle. Finally the light hits me in the head, I pull the radiator back out, and you can see where the outlet port is caved in from the knuckle, and the power steering lines have been rubbing on the bottom of the radiator. Wonder what OTHER wonders I am going to find from their restoration! New radiator on the way.

They had said the steering was a bit jumpy, but that was from the 13inch steering wheel they had on it. I bet it was from the damn thing binding on the radiator!!

 

[Petescj]

If thats all you got your very lucky.

http://www.jeep-cj.com/forums/f49/p-0-engineering-20692/

 

[Hedgehog]

Power steering lines are difficult to get right and never trust the lines you get as a replacement, they never fit properly. The probelm is the location of the box in relationship to the radiator. It's far to close. The hoses have to take almost an impossible bend or turn directly after the fittings. Then they need to bend in exactly the right way to clear brackets and frame.

Water pumps don't like to sit, probably the worst thing you can do to a car is let it just sit. Double that is the PO removed the water for storage. A dry water pump is a leaky water pump.

Welcome to the board, as Pete wrote, if this is al your troubles you are a lucky man indeed.

 

[GS1200]

Wunnerfull. New radiator is identical to the old one, other then the top and bottom are plastic instead of metal. And it sits in exactly the same position, rubbing the steering knuckle. I know having the plastic rub will be a leak in nmo time, so I suppose the only thing to do is drill some new mounting holes to move the radiator up 1/2 inch.

From P.O engineering to current owner engineering, lol

 

[Hedgehog]

While the radiator is out take a close look at the steering gear box. You might be able to that a 1/2" or so. Also check the body mount donut in the middle of the grill. That could be missing making the grill lower than normal. .... Was the old radiator leaking? If not I'd continue to use that one.

 

[caveman]

If you do raise the radiator, be very careful. The radiator cap run very close to the hood when closed.
I'm with Hedgehog. Check the grill mount and just for kicks, Check all the body mounts. In these old jeeps, there's bound to be some settling.

 

[GS1200]

Well, the adventure continues. I did actually move the radiator up1/2 inch, and that was enough to clear the steering knuckle. I will look at the mounts, that certainly could be one source of the problem.

BUT! Once I got that straightened out, and tightened down, and hoses on and clamped, I filled up with new fluid. a few leaks, tighten this or that, and decide to start it up and see what happened. Uhoh, I released some of the magic smoke. The pulley is not turning, so the pump is not pumping, and the belt is burning. I figured it was the new fan studs that turned out to be too long, got some grade 8 bolts to replace them with, got that all done, and still the same damn thing. So I take a close look, and the pulley is jammed against the pump housing, locking it down. What the?? Finally I realize that the NEW pump shaft is shorter then the OLD pump shaft. Well FSCK. After another trip to Napa, and one to O'riellys, the old pump is a gates 43000, off of a 75-78 CJ7 . So, in the future, check, double check, and dont throw any parts away till the new one works!


I learned to work on stuff with my dad, neither of us knowing what we were doing, but he taught me to not be afraid to try. We buried him on Monday, and it feels like he is reminding me of that with this project.

 

[HackFabrication]

...And it sits in exactly the same position, rubbing the steering knuckle.

Welcome to the madness. Just to let you know, it's rubbing on the Steering Gear or the Steering Gearbox. Or the Steering Box. Not the Steering Knuckle, which is the part of the front axle where the spindle attaches.




It is a tight fit. Your CJ may need a new body mount under the radiator. Even with new poly mounts, I had to have custom tubes made in order to plumb my hydraboost setup:

 

[HackFabrication]

I learned to work on stuff with my dad, neither of us knowing what we were doing, but he taught me to not be afraid to try. We buried him on Monday, and it feels like he is reminding me of that with this project.

Sorry for your loss. My dad passed away in 2008, mom in 2000. I miss them both.

 

[HackFabrication]

Check the grill mount and just for kicks, Check all the body mounts. In these old jeeps, there's bound to be some settling.

^^^^ This is what I suspect is causing your clearance issues. The radiator mounts firmly to the grill, but the grill has a funky single body mount, which is OEM rubber. They will compress over the years, sometime crack and fall out. If you are in need of a new one, go easy with the wrench. Use lots of penetrating oil, and be patient. Otherwise you will twist the welded on nut inside the grill shell off.

 

[Fastatv]

If you do raise the radiator, be very careful. The radiator cap run very close to the hood when closed.
I'm with Hedgehog. Check the grill mount and just for kicks, Check all the body mounts. In these old jeeps, there's bound to be some settling.

Yep, exactly. My lower hose was resting on the steering shaft, problem was the front ( under the grill ) body mount was gone. Replaced the mount, now the radiator clears the steering well.

 

[Hedgehog]

Sometimes you read along on these forums, and suddenly OHMG ......

This Jeep stuff is just a hobby, it's just for fun. You and yours are in the middle of real life, I'm sorry for the loss of your father, definitely a changing point in your life....

 

[GS1200]

Yeah, I am still trying to come to grips with it. Not being able to call him up and brainstorm a problem .

Problems like this, lol. Finally drilled out the top thermostat housing bolt hole, tapped and heli-coiled it. About 5 degrees off dammit. Think I could put a stud in and persuade it up to the right angle, and get the housing to seal?

 

[Torxhead]

Yeah, I am still trying to come to grips with it. Not being able to call him up and brainstorm a problem .

Problems like this, lol. Finally drilled out the top thermostat housing bolt hole, tapped and heli-coiled it. About 5 degrees off dammit. Think I could put a stud in and persuade it up to the right angle, and get the housing to seal?

Would it be possible for you to drill out a clearance hole on the housing to allow it to rotate that 5 degrees? Or you could file an out of round hole for rotation. Adding a flat washer might help here. sounds like your drill walked off center if I understand it right.

 

[rufus1138]

Yeah, I am still trying to come to grips with it. Not being able to call him up and brainstorm a problem .

Problems like this, lol. Finally drilled out the top thermostat housing bolt hole, tapped and heli-coiled it. About 5 degrees off dammit. Think I could put a stud in and persuade it up to the right angle, and get the housing to seal?

for a thermostat housing? fill it with jb weld, the good stuff, mixed with a pile of filings from something of a compatible metal to make a matrix, fill it as completely as you can and let it cure for a couple of days, now re-drill it the right way lol.

 

[Hedgehog]

You could weld it up and start again, this will allow you to use the OEM bolt. If you use your housing as a drill guide. ..........bolt her up and use the hole in the housing to dril through ........ Your likely to be okay.

 

[rufus1138]

the question i guess is do you have a welder.....

 

[GS1200]

I do have a welder, but it wont be needed.

ITS ALIVE! I used a stud with 5/16 x 18 threads on one end, and 24 threads on the other, so now the tstat housing has two studs. I used a box wrench to tweak the stud into the right orientation, painted the housing with permatex gasket maker, then a fiber gasket, then MORE permatex. A dab to keep the thermostat from falling off, put the housing in place, tightened down till the permatex JUST started squeezing out, then left it alone while I went to get new nuts. After an hour, I tightened the nuts down to 10 lbs torque, installed the pump, and let it all sit over night, then re-torqued everything to about 17, then left everything sitting ANOTHER day. reinstalled the pulleys, hoses, radiator and belts, tightened everything up, then filled with what new coolant I had rescued from before, then went to lunch. Came back, no leaks or drips, topped it off with some 50/50 and started her up. Everything running bone dry!

 

[GS1200]

Oh joy, its not over yet! lol

Sunday was a nice sunny day, decided to take my sister to lunch. the night before I had driven the jeep around 40 miles, running like a top since I had done the team rush upgrade and got the ignition running well. Alas, all was not to be rosy. We made it around three miles, and the jeep just shut off. Coasting to a stop, spinning the starter, popping the clutch, no joy. Amazingly, a mechanic was riding next to us, and pulled over when I did. Imagine my embarassment to not have ANY fscking tools! Fortunately, my sister the med tech, had both a pocket knife and a reversible screwdriver with her. We determined there was no fuel coming to the carb. Now, when I first got the jeep, I dumped 5 gallons of gas in with a can of seafoam, since it had been sitting for 3-4 years. I was TOLD it had gas in it when parked. (the fuel gage didnt work....) After my waterpump/tstat housing debacle, and upgrading the ignition to running status, I had stopped at the gas station, and was only able to put in 2$ worth of gas before it was coming back up the filler neck. I ASSUMED, ( you know what that means), that it had a full 15 gallons of gas!!

Sis and I tow it back to the shop, after the good Samaritan gave us a ride. We had all figured, since we KNEW the tank was relatively full, that it was the fuel pump. Off to orielley, 22$ later, got a new one, put it on, Still no fuel. Humpf. at this point a few people have seen me working and stopped to chat, and help out. We blow air back into the tank, THOUGHT we heard air bubbling in the gas, listening at the filler neck. Sucked on the inlet line to the pump, felt like gas coming through, stopped before swallowing. next day, decided to hook all the lines up, and went through an entire can of starting fluid trying to prime the pump. At some point in all this, I decided to dump 5 gallons of gas into the tank just in case. At 4 gallons, I had blowback out the filler neck. No joy. At one point I was able to get fuel spitting out the fuel line just before the carb, into a cup, but no where NEAR the volume required to make it run.

Drink, ponder, research, drink , repeat

So yesterday, I see a buddy, that works on boats, Hey, do you have a 12 volt fuel pump? YEP! We hook that up to the inlet line to the mechanical pump, hook it to the battery, NOTHING. Well . At this point I am resigned to drop the tank, I think I am going to end up with an electric pump, but no sense spending that money until I know what else is going on.

I use the electric pump to empty out the tank, surprise, I only get 6 gallons out of it, and I had dumped in almost 5 after it quit! I think this is a clue!!!

To the present, I pulled the tank today. Just FYI, a motorcycle jack works fantasting for lowering the tank!

a few things I found. The vent lines are looped together, and kinked. I dont know how that worked at ALL, but I know it did, P.O put 1-3K on the jeep after rebuild. Perhaps the gas cap is actually vented?

When I went to take the fuel lines off, the supply line nipple sheared off the sending unit, my theory is it had cracked, and I was sucking air.

What I think originally happened was I just plain ran out of gas, and after that, I was sucking air, so the new pump would not pick up any fuel.

Question, can I keep the vent lines looped?? They worked for the 40 mile ride the night before, and several short trips for the previous month. perhaps my fuel inlet is actually vented, allowing air into the tank? With a return line, is there enough pressure to keep things flowing?

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[GS1200]

well, , the photos didnt load.

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