More Work

Another nice day and another couple of hours of work before I leave to go drive a bus. I know, I know. I won't post every little bit of work that I get done, but two days in a row after such a long time of not having the time to do anything that I just had to.












I love seeing bits of solid historical evidence like this weld spatter alongside one of the body mounts.
















I never really noticed this until today, but you can see the remnants of the beautiful Woodstock Green in this wheel.

Beginning to Prep the Frame

It was a warm 60 degree day and so following my idea of getting the Mistress done on the cheap, I got some priming done. Cleaned up the old paint, rust and mud with a wire wheel and cup on my cheapo Harbor Freight die grinder and it was Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer on the front crossmember and battery tray. I'll get more done as the weather allows, but I'm sure the Mistress appreciated the sun today after I blew up her tires and pushed her out of the barn. I was thinking about POR15, but this will be faster and cheaper as money is pretty darn tight right now.

A Little Bit of Work at Long Last

Well, slowly, but surely, I've gotten something done on the Mistress. I've had little time and less money now that summer is here and it really started to get me down. I thought about it some and decided that I was going to try and cheer up and get what I could done with as little money as possible. Sure, I'd like to Herculine the frame, but I can afford Rustoleum. I'd like to powder blast the frame and body, but I can't afford to, but I can afford wire wheels on my cordless drill and so that's how I'm approaching this now. I'm just starting with small parts like the brake pedal arm below, but I hope to move onto beginning with the frame as soon as I can figure a creative idea to get the engine block out without a cherry picker. I have the come-along in the rafters, but I doubt that it would be enough and I'd hate to put that much weight on the rafters besides. Any creative ideas? I'm thinking about lifting out the transfer and tranny by hand (I hope...) and then unbolting the motor mounts after supporting the engine on blocks. Next I think that I could support the front of the frame on jack stands while I unbolt the front axle, remove it and lower it around the engine. Then to get the frame lifted over the engine and voila, an f-head on the ground! We'll see how that goes.

More Grill and Heater

Spent some more time outside in this "Arctic" blast of below normal, mid 30 degree Easter weather. Tried to get a better idea of the very faded serial number on the Harrison. All that I can make out is the last two digits which are "52." You can see the 5 in the crop, but you'll have to take my word on the 2. I thought that I had read somewhere on the CJ3B page that the last two digits referred to the year of the 3B if it was original equipment. But "52"? Maybe left over from a 3A? Hmmm...





Also finished stripping the grill. The headlight buckets are in pretty nice shape, but I snapped off a stud on one of the turn signal indicator mounts, which disappointed me as I had lubed it up nicely with PB Blaster and it turned with no effort. It was a big surprise when it fell out of the mounting hole minus the stud. I still have the PO's holes to weld and fill from those crazy tear drop running lights, but have also three holes on either side to the outer edge of them that were filled by rubber grommeted nut and bolts. They are smaller than the holes for the running lights, but I can't imagine what they were drilled for in the first place. Also wondering what the circular outlines are at the very bottom. Looks like a decal had been placed there at one time or something that left that impression.

More Spring Miscellanea

Also got the gauges and choke and throttle cables out today. The dash is beginning to look pretty bare.







I just noticed this on the speedo, Aug 19 and what looks like two incomplete numbers, the bottom loops of a 5 and a 3, as that would makes sense, the Mistress being a '53. What do you think? An assembly date for the speedo, when the dash was assembled or something else?

Seat Frames, Etc...

Lotsa miscellaneous work done today on a beautiful spring-like April day. Pulled out some old wiring that's been hanging on like a bad cold in June to the frame, pulled out the oil bath air cleaner and oil filter assembly to prep for paint. (PS. Does anyone have an idea of where to come up with that particular orange on the oil filter canister?)
I was going to go after the gauges in the dash, but didn't feel like standing on my head this afternoon, so that'll wait.
But got the few last rusted in screws out of the driver's seat frame and the covering and old stuffing from the passenger's. Took the old HF 20 buck cheapie grinder to them to get the worst of the surface rust off. Then I got them primered with a couple of coats of Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer. Still have to figure out how to unattach the old seat cusion pad from the seat pan.

Before:





The driver's side dime sized rust through. The passenger's side is a bit on the thin side with a jagged edge that needs to be cut out too.

After:



Just a shot of the project in situ:

Spring Cleaning 2009

Spring cleaning! Finally, a 60 degree day here in Southern Maine. Swept out the barn and started doing what I could. I pulled the old stuffing and cover off the driver's side seat frame. Still in pretty good shape, but the back was starting to get pretty rusted up. There's one small dime sized rust-through that I was sad to see, but otherwise in good shape with plenty of the old original paint intact. I guess that I'll start priming and rustoleuming them soon. Still have to do the passenger side one.
Also started pulling apart the Harrison heater. Not sure what I can salvage. There's a good swiss cheese rust through in the left front corner and the fan motor I was thinking of doing something with, but one of the studs snapped off and the whole thing is in pretty sad shape, so it may just be cheaper to look for a replacement rather than trying to rebuild it. That's it for now! :)