Front Bumper Off!

FINALLY! The front bumper is off and the frame ends are primed. I managed to get three of the eight rivets punched out with a 5/16" pin punch and a three pound sledge easily enough... then the remaining five either had to be drilled out and/or ground down flush with the frame and then they popped out pretty easily. Think that all my blacksmith hammer blows must have ironically mushroomed the heads slightly. But now its off and I'm going to grind and cut a TJ bumper slightly to fit!

Back To Work

Lots done today, great 70 degree day and lots of time to do stuff. I finished the frame... well, almost. I still have to finish grinding off the rivets and pop them out (which is harder than I thought it'd be...) and get the old front bumper off. I plan on retrofitting (read drill new holes and torque Grade 8 bolts) my old TJ bumper in place of it. Its been sitting around for a couple of years and hey, it's cheaper than buying a new one!




The seat frames. The green is actually a bit darker than the photo shows. Its like a light OD... just a Rustoleum rattlecan meant for outdoor furniture in a satin semi-gloss.




The TJ front bumper getting painted today...




I painted the frame with two coats Rustoleum bedliner over two coats of primer. I just love the look of the bedliner! It's a semi-gloss and just looks great. Hope that it'll last too!




































The first two small parts... gas and brake pedals.

Down to a frame...

as of today... The D44 is out.

Getting There... Again.

So as of yesterday this is what I'm left with:




Frame resting on wheels...




Dana 25...




...and F head resting on 2X6's.




Up...




up...




up...




...and over!





Now just to work on the rear axle and get the frame on sawhorses, strip it, paint it, check out the axles, rebuild what's necessary, change the brakes, figure out which f head I'm using and do the necessary repairs, buy a welder, teach myself to weld, weld in various sheet metal to the body, strip it, paint it, hook up the brakes, rebuild the steering box, etc, etc, etc... you get the idea. But I'm getting there...

Halfway There!

This is how the Mistress sits tonite. Minus one spring and four more rusty U bolts & nuts to tackle tomorrow. :) Jeez, I'm dirty, but pretty happy :D

Getting the Engine off the Frame and the T90 and Bellhousing Out

So, I've been working on lots of things simultaneously these past few days all leading up to getting the engine off the frame and the frame stripped.




Got the skid plate off. Looks VERY rusty, but still think both it and the crossmember, trans support are salvageable. When I start cleaning them, I'll get a better idea.









Finally after a whole lotta sweating and cursing, I got the bellhousing and T90 down. Glad to have had the comealong, it wasn't too heavy, but it was pretty awkward all together as one piece. I had problems at first, I think due to some rust stubbornly holding on between the tip of the mainshaft and the flywheel. Also, once I adjusted the angles between the jackstand that I had the T90 set on and the engine itself, it worked right out easily.




This is how she sits now, f head sitting on scrap 2X6's and off the engine mounts. I plan on getting to the front axle now, remove the whole thing and then lift and walk the frame backwards and over the f head.




A mouse condo inside the bellhousing for who knows how many generations of mice.




The motor mounts go on the disabled/ to be replaced list...

Pulling the Transfer

I finally found that last bolt hidden beneath another inch of dirt and grease build up. It was like stumbling on a lost treasure when I found it!





I love nice clean gears that have been hidden from the light of day for over 50 years!





A view through the PTO cover.





After... this is some of the accumulated dirt and grease that I had to chisel through to get at that last bolt.





How NOT to wire the transmission's mainshaft. I needed to string the wire behind the two gears that its in front of and behind that gap, the space in between the lip of the gap where the shifter fork sits. I slowly pulled the transfer out and the joyful tinkling of needle bearings falling into the tranny case greeted me. Live and learn. I'd feel bad if I weren't already rebuilding the T90.








On the workbench at last!
:edit: Oh yeah, who can recommend a good degreaser? :)