Taking out an engine

[Amateur7]

Well I just got a jeep and I really don't know what to do with it. I know the Transmission needs work, probably just a rebuild kit but I won't know for sure till I get my papa to look at it. For now I want to try and clean her up a little bit. I want to take the engine out buff off all the rust and repaint it. Is there anything I should know to watch out for? ANy help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Hedgehog]

Get a damned good engine hoist. You can't keep the engine on the hoist so get a few furniture movers from Harbor Freight to put it on and move it around. If you get an engine stand don't go cheap, get a fairly good one. An AMC 304 isn't light, the cheap stands tend to fade with time.

if you've got engine and Transmission work to do I'd pull the whole drive train in one move. First pull the front end off, fenders and grill. Don't be es-scared, each part is easy to remove. Then grab onto that bad boy, pull the engine mounts, then put a jack on the Transfer Case and pull the cross member from the Transfer Case . Yes there will be clutch linkages and exhaust to pull along with wiring, but it's all easy. Hint: Take a bunch of pictures, no kidding TAKE A BUNCH OF PICTURES..... Then lift the engine, crow bars are handy here. When it's clear put a roller something under the Transfer Case and pull forward. At the right time and you will know when its the right time, lift the tail up and out of the frame. Take a bunch of pictures, clean off 39 years of , then do what ever you planned from the beginning.

The procedure writes hard and yes I skipped some steps, but it really is easier than you'd think.

 

[rr41mag]

Get a damned good engine hoist. You can't keep the engine on the hoist so get a few furniture movers from Harbor Freight to put it on and move it around. If you get an engine stand don't go cheap, get a fairly good one. An AMC 304 isn't light, the cheap stands tend to fade with time.

if you've got engine and transmission work to do I'd pull the whole drive train in one move. First pull the front end off, fenders and grill. Don't be es-scared, each part is easy to remove. Then grab onto that bad boy, pull the engine mounts, then put a jack on the T-case and pull the cross member from the T-case. Yes there will be clutch linkages and exhaust to pull along with wiring, but it's all easy. Hint: Take a bunch of pictures, no kidding TAKE A BUNCH OF PICTURES..... Then lift the engine, crow bars are handy here. When it's clear put a roller something under the T-case and pull forward. At the right time and you will know when its the right time, lift the tail up and out of the frame. Take a bunch of pictures, clean off 39 years of , then do what ever you planned from the beginning.

The procedure writes hard and yes I skipped some steps, but it really is easier than you'd think.

Take pictures!

 

[Peanut Butter]

I just did mine. Wasn't a V8 only the I6, but looks really good now. I used Harbor Freight's engine host and think it is well built and a good buy. Their engine stand not so. I used VHT spray can paint on the Transmission , but Eastwoods Ceramic engine paint on everything else. The ceramic paint is the only way to go IMHO. I sprayed the block and brushed the intake and Transfer Case . Spraying looks the best. Their kit is only $40. Well worth the money. Taje a look. Rod

 

[Jimbos76cj]

Get a 4 leg engine stand to work on.. I have a 3 wheel one that likes to flip over on me. if its got a hole plug it before you do any cleaning. before you take the material that you plugged the hole with out hit it with a shop vac to make sure theres no fine debris left in it to get back into the motor.

 

[Hedgehog]

Get a 2 ton or bigger hoist. Sure the engine won't weigh a ton, but the bigger hoists have the reach your looking for. Remember the further you reach the more leverage the hoist will be dealing with.

Yes, plug all holes before power washing. Remember the valves are open in at least one cylinder so spraying in the manifolds shoots water directly into one cylinder, the carb is the same. I know this because I was stupid enough to remove the maniflods on my 360, then wash it down. It didn't take long to realize the mistake, but it didn't take long to get water in the cylinders either. I used WD-40, then a good supply of Marvel Mystery Oil in the cylinders. A few days later it was running so in my case the water didn't have time to hurt anything.

 

[ThisGuyUKnow]

If you know the tranny needs work or rebuild and you are planning on driving this over making a dedicated wheeler, I'd consider looking into an ax15 or nv3550 5 speed. They can usually be bought for 200 to 400 bucks and are strong trannies. That is my personal preference though I have a few swaps under my belt and that is my current plan for my 85 with 360.

 

[Petescj]

Well I just got a jeep and I really don't know what to do with it. I know the transmission needs work, probably just a rebuild kit but I won't know for sure till I get my papa to look at it. For now I want to try and clean her up a little bit. I want to take the engine out buff off all the rust and repaint it. Is there anything I should know to watch out for? ANy help is greatly appreciated.

What are you using the Jeep for? Or how do you plan to use it?

 

[Amateur7]

What are you using the Jeep for? Or how do you plan to use it?

I'm not going to be driving it on the road probably. Most likely just something to drive in the hunting club or on the land. I want to get it looking nice though. I have a two ton chain fall and a frame to raise it out but I will definitely have to get an engine stand. I undid the hose from the motor to the radiator and where it connected on the inside there was huge clumps of rust. I have a lot of flushing to do and am not sure where to start. I have had trouble taking off the bumper. The leaf springs seem to extend past the grill is that normal? The tranny and front and rear drive shaft are already off so I don't have to worry about taking them out. But I'm not looking at spending more money than I need to to get this thing running and looking good.

 

[Hedgehog]

Oh my....... Great bumper, I can imagine, but you tell me, what do you guys in Texas use a bumper like that for? Honestly it looks like the nicest part of the Jeep. Whether you want this for the road or not, this project is going to be spendy to make look nice. It looks like you have some serious body rust to deal with. ....... love the nice shinny bumper though. What does the back bumper look like?

 

[Peanut Butter]

Come'on Hedgehog, it's for dear hunting. The bumper that is. Rod

 

[Hedgehog]

Oh my....... Great bumper, I can imagine, but you tell me, what do you guys in Texas use a bumper like that for?

As said above,"I can imagine" what it's used for. But lately on American Hoggers they use their bumper or tow hitch for putting the squeeze on the hogs they catch for transport. I want to hear what they specifically use that bumper for. Sometimes the real use can be surprising. Texas seems to be full of cool stuff like this bumper, generally they are hunting related, sometimes they are cattle or other stock management related, getting it from the guy using it can save guess work. Didn't John Wayne use a bumper like that in some movie about catching game animals in Africa, they also used a chair for catching. So I think asking isn't really that funny, I do like the bumper and would like to see the back bumper. If you look at the picture you can see there's something going on back there as well, probably part of a dog box, maybe not.

 

[Petescj]

Didn't John Wayne use a bumper like that in some movie about catching game animals in Africa, they also used a chair for catching.

I believe the movie was "Hatari" and you are right about the chair as well. John Wayne was the Co star though compared to that CJ6 . These type of things seem to show up on alot of Cjs in Texas. It almost always comes back to hunting but what type of hunting and its purpose is a good question.

As for the shackle position question they do extend past the fenders. The question is how much? Here are mine in the stock location. The T-150 isnt a terrible Transmission but it doesnt really have any low gear for four wheeling. A T-176 is a decent Transmission behind the AMC 304 .

 

[Peanut Butter]

Come'on Hedgehog, it's for dear hunting. The bumper that is. Rod

I say that, because I just love the videos of the decoy dear that people shoot, and then there is the guy that runs over it with his truck. That's wanting a deer really bad! Rod

 

[Hedgehog]

I bet that would be expensive. A ticket for game harassment and you have to pay for the deer.

 

[Amateur7]

Oh my....... Great bumper, I can imagine, but you tell me, what do you guys in Texas use a bumper like that for? Honestly it looks like the nicest part of the Jeep. Whether you want this for the road or not, this project is going to be spendy to make look nice. It looks like you have some serious body rust to deal with. ....... love the nice shinny bumper though. What does the back bumper look like?

I bought the jeep as is. The bumper was already on it. I just took it off today. Took some work. Anyways I guess it could be used for spot lighting rabbits. Here is the rear, not really a bumper at all.

I know it will never look great but I want it to look better than it does now

 

[Peanut Butter]

You hit the nail on the head HedgeHog. Looks like a place for dog cages. Rod

PS Amateur, Good work takes time. With a little effort and some guidance, you came make this your one of a kind CJ7 . With a $10 grinder fro Harbor Freight, a cutting wheel for it, a piece of sheet metal (maybe even the one you cut off, and a couple of bolts, you could make the back end look like a regular Jeep again. Come up with a plan of what you want to do, and then set goals that you Can accomplish a little at a time. Before you know it, you will be setting new goals for more things to do.

 

[Hedgehog]

One bit of advice, sorry Mr. Butter, but don't buy the Harbor Freight grinder. I got one and it lasted me 42 minutes. Worked great for that 42 minutes though. Even after that short period of time it was obvious I couldn't go without it, so I spent a little more money and got one from Porter Cable. It's not the most expensive, but it's been used and used hard for 6 months without a single problem. The take away from this is, spend a little more on tools that will be used a lot.

Once you start using a 4.5" angle grinder it will become a GO TO tool for applications you never thought of before. Cut off wheels are a metal workers savior. Flap wheels in many grits are amazing. Wire wheels of several kinds will do work in minutes a brush would take hours to do (try stripping paint with a twisted wire wheel), be careful with wire wheels, especially the ones you get at Harbor Freight. They work well, but spit off wire that can pierce skin, I know this Very well. Notice I haven't mentioned grinding wheels, don't like'em, if grinding is necessary I use a cut-off wheel. It's quick and easier to handle. The bad part is they wear quickly so you need a lot of them on hand, get the cheap thin ones (blue) at Home Depot, don't bother with Lowes the Dewalt wheels suck.

Now don't get me wrong, Mr. Butters is right, get used to going to Harbor Freight, their tools are getting better and better. I've got a garage full of HF pullers, timing lights, compression testers, welding stuff, air compressor stuff and much much more. Years ago I got an electric impact wrench from them, it was Okay I used it a lot for long thread stuff with a wrench to set the nut at the end. It finally gave up, after pricing the "good" electric impacts, I got their newer impact wrench. Oh my, this has been the best $43.50 I've ever spent on a tool. Having used the more expensive impact wrenches it was obvious that this tool is a beast.