'Home Again' My CJ3B, Starting out

[Moncheche]

I will be pulling the 305 and rebuilding it. The more I check this motor out, the more reasons I have for a total rebuild. It's a 72 and I really have no idea what shape it was in when it was first stuffed in. I know for a fact that I would get everything buttoned up and have an issue.

More money now, less headache later.

I believe I can rebuild this motor far cheaper than I can find a decent F-head to go back in here.

[Moncheche]

You've all seen the 'sludge' build-up commercials. Well, I always thought they embellished those sludge problems, until I opened this engine. I can't see how this thing didn't just seize into one solid piece of iron. I enjoy working on motors, so a complete rebuild is in order. It will look sharp going in as well.



So what happened to winter? I wasn't going to mess with her until next spring? Well, it was warm today. (and the wife was in a good mood)

[HOGHEAD]

I bought a 65 327 out of a one owner Impala (chevy) with 30K on it for my 63 Willys Truck & it sounded great running on my shop floor,, But when I pulled the stock valve covers off you could'nt see the valve springs for the sludge..It had belonged to a old lady & I think she just keep adding oil instead of changing it ,,, Cleaned it up good & it ran for 5 years & when i sold it it was still running strong...

[Moncheche]

I went back and forth on the decision to rebuild the motor. After all the chasing I did for this vehicle I don't plan on giving it up. I figured a solid motor will last the rest of my lifetime and I won't have to worry about it.

It still adds time to the total project, but it can't be helped. I'm sure it will be done in time for the Willys event in PA, in 2019.

[HOGHEAD]

Hope you have better luck than me at setting a date,,, Mine was sopposed to be there 2 years ago & I just hope it makes it in 2012,,, Wish you luck...

[Moncheche]

80 degrees today? Due to the great weather, I 'laid hands on' the Willys. Can't wait for the summer.

[Moncheche]

Well, today the oldest boy and I tore out the rest of fiberglass that my grandfather had laid in. The situation is not so bad. I'm hoping somebody here has some photos of their 3b's rear floor pan and fender wells. I'm not looking to restore the vehicle, but any work I do I would like to keep it as close to stock as possible. If you remember , this rig was rear ended 30 years ago.

An aside, my grandfather had a habit of signing EVERYTHING he made, and he made a lot of things. He worked with wood and metals. Well, today as we peeled off the last of the fiberglass, there it was. There, engraved on a piece of sheet metal, like he left it for me to find. Arnold Maves 1978.
Pics of progress tomorrow.

[Moncheche]

So we started pulling off some of the angle iron that my grandfather installed following the late 70's wreck. The arrow points to the iron. This 3b was rear ended by a semi.

What I found was a very pleasant surprise.


The right side has all the original sheet metal. It shows the original green, followed by some grey that I had not seen before.



The rust is negligible and I will spend more time filling holes made by grandpa than fixing rust.



Right rear fender well, some patch work. The original Willys tin is still here.

The kids helped a lot today. We found the original tin here, and we are wondering what is left for us to find on the driver's side??

This post has been edited by Moncheche on Apr 15 2012, 04:09 PM

[Moncheche]

Here we are removing the first piece of angle iron.

[Moncheche]

Here's the tagging done by my grandfather. It's hard to make out on the pic. This one shows 1978, the year he did the work.

[Moncheche]

Here's the signature. Hard to make out in the photo, but it's Arnold Maves 1978





And here's Violet working hard.

[Moncheche]

Here's a shot of the driver's side rear fender, where the left rear of the drivers seat is mounted. You can see the two different pieces of sheet metal. Next time out in the shop I'll get the remainder of the angle iron off.



What it's all about.

[Moncheche]

Had some nice weather and the day to get some work done, so I tackled the welded on fenders. Took forever, but I was focusing on saving the body.

[Moncheche]

The drivers side angle iron will have to remain. I will have to do my best to fancy it up. For starters, I'm going to clip the front of the fender so it looks like the stock version. You can see my marks.

[Moncheche]

Here is the only patch panel my grandfather put in. (apparently)


By the way, this thing was dipped in bondo. We are peeling it off of EVERYTHING. It served as a decent preservative.

I wish I could have weighed the tub before removing all of the iron, glass, and bondo. I wonder how much material (in pounds) we have removed. One stuffed 40 gallon garbage can was emptied today.

We wrapped up as the rain approached. They look tired!
So do I...