The Slut

[Blacky]

So by now I'm sure everyone knows that I have the club cj5. I took it off Jay's hands last year and was fired up about getting it going, or so i thought. My interest quickly faded and it sat for a few months completely untouched, not covered for that matter either . I didn't have any real place to work on it, and i used that as an excuse to not work on it (lame right?). Well I now have Bob's old car tent covered by Bobby's old cover and it's at least out of the elements.

The Basics:
Its a 79 CJ5, Ford 390 big block, T-19 trans, Dana 30 and AMC 20. Fiberglass tub, original front half of the frame. Rich replaced the rear half of the frame when he had it, so there's no rot to speak of on the frame (obviously none on the tub )

On to some progress here.
When i got it the exhaust manifolds were both cracked at the bolt holes so i removed them. The drivers side was the worst of the two with almost all of the bolts either broken already or they broke in the head upon removal. For anyone not familiar with the Ford big block FE, the head is cast in such a way that the back of the upper manifold bolts are exposed, making it easier to apply ones favorite choice of rust penetrating agent. I decided to give it a shot using a mix of acetone and some Dex/merc transmission fluid i had laying around, and it worked very well. Two of the bolts came out easily and one broke at the head but came out with a pair of vise grips. The others i resorted to cutting the bolts flush with the flange, drilling, and tapping them out. Pretty basic stuff, but was my first shot at drilling and tapping bolts on a cylinder head. I know one of the holes i will have to oversize and nut & bolt because i did a great job of drilling it horribly crooked.

Both of the fenders had to be removed to have access to the manifold bolts and Jay gave me another pair of fenders with the jeep. I plan on building a set of tube fenders for it but that will come later. I also needed to take the grille off because it just has too much rust to be used, Jay also gave me another grille with it with much less rust, so I'm going to patch the little rust it has. Jerry hooked me up with an offset Dana 44 for the rear and its been confusing to find parts for. I took a wire wheel (or 10) to the housing as it had extensive surface rust on it. As it turns out, I'm an idiot and i wire wheeled it a bit too hard right where the BOM info is on the axle tube and its really hard to make out. I tried to look up the numbers I could make out and they didn't really make any sense

Here's a pic of where its at right now for reference

[Twisty]

Glad you're finally working on this CJ.  It has a lot of potential to be an awesome rig! 

Thank Chuck for the fenders and grille.  He gave me a great deal on them, but I never got around to installing them.

[Axle]

very cool! keep going!

[rich]

Passenger side inside the frame rail I never hit good metal while welding the old to the new. I don't think I would run a offset rear which a centered output tcase. I think those axles are geared pretty decient 4:10 ish I think I would throw a set of 1 piece axles under it.

[jerry k]

That and truss it. I would think it would hold up to 35's..oh wait..its Blacky driving.. shake and bake !

[Bluerocket]

Get her going, and see how it holds up.    I have smaller axles than I should and I'm sure they will eventually break, until then I wheel it nice and easy.   

[jps4jeep]

I wonder how hard it would be to get a Land Rover T-case to work. I think a lot of them were offset front and rear.  Just a thought, I honestly have no idea which side the outputs are on.

Edit, to add, with stubborn manifold bolts, I have had the best results with just cutting/chisling/drilling the head of the bolt off, leaving as much remaining bolt or "stud" left. Once I get the manifold off, clean up the studs and fully weld a nut onto the stud then remove when red hot.  By doing this, you eliminate most of the rotational torque applied to the bolt shank that exhists between the head of the bolt and the point of thread engagement which is usually where the break occurs.  Also I weld and remove, one by one.

[Posimoto]

The odds weren't in your favor, but at least three came out with ease.
The penetrating solution you used is the least expensive and best preforming.
I'm with Rich, I'd keep the 20 and beef it.
 

[Blacky]

Thanks for all the replies guys.
John - I don't have a welder at home, that was my first thought. I might have been able to bring a gas stick welder home from work, but Im trying to use up as little favors as I can at work. I think there is only one bolt left to drill and then the manifolds can go on.

On the subject of the 20, I guess I can run it seeing as you guys think it should be ok. It had a good amount of water in it when I got it. I tried to take the cover off to drain the fluid thinking it was gunked up (when we tried to move it, one tire would spin opposite the other even when in contact with the ground), and no gear oil came oil, just water. I never got the cover off, the torx style bolts rounded out before many of them moved.

My main focus right now is to get the motor running and then chip away at whatever else it needs.

[jps4jeep]

Good to hear a plan for this..

re: the rover case, just because i was wondering, LT 230 is the most common, they all have a low ratio of 3.321, but all different hi ranges from 1.3-1.67.  I guess there is a gear reduction in 4w Hi as well as 4w Lo?
Everything I founs said passengers side drop front and rear.

[Posimoto]

It had a good amount of water in it when I got it. I tried to take the cover off to drain the fluid thinking it was gunked up (when we tried to move it, one tire would spin opposite the other even when in contact with the ground), and no gear oil came oil, just water. I never got the cover off, the torx style bolts rounded out before many of them moved.

You didn't say where the water came out. Sounds like you removed some of the torx bolts then water came out the cover. If this is the case I'd say the gear lube is still in the diff. Water will always come out first because of density, then you will have a thick brown milkshake come out next. Water may appear to be heavier because oil floats on water, it isn't, water is lighter. It's about density, oil is heaver per molecule then water but water is far more dense then oil. I can't tell you how many old Willys  transmissions, tcases, and diffs I've drained with water followed by the brown milkshake, and it smells awful.

Torx head: I clean the head until there isn't a spec of dirt or rust, this way the tool gets a good bite. With my left hand I press down on the ratchet head with straight even force, I tun the ratchet very slowly with my right hand keeping even and straight down force. If there is any dirt/rust in the head or the tool tilts a bit chances are it will begin to strip the head. This method has worked for me and Ive removed partially stripped head using this method as well. Once their out don't put a torx head bolt back in.

[rich]

tapping the torx bit a couple times with a hammer after cleaning like chuck said in theory will shock the bolt to help break it free

like john said about welding a nut to the stud but use welding rod mg600

[Blacky]

Wheelin swanzey yesterday helped light a fire under my lazy ass and I spent today with the jeep and it runs now! I'm going to have to order some parts tomorrow. I finally made up my mind and I'm going to stick with the 30 and 20 in it now. Now that it runs I'm going to tackle the brake system.

[jps4jeep]

Awel-Right!

[Ian]

Ya!