More Shocking Shock Revelations

Here's a picture of the bottom end of the front passenger side shock absorber.  The improvised "bushing" (and only thing holding the shock in place) was a section of garden hose that had been crammed in between the eye and the shock mount post.  Even my dog thinks that's messed up:

Some time in the past, something bad happened to this vehicle on the right hand side.  Both lower shock mounts destroyed, weird wear patterns on the mounts, and you can see in the above picture that the shock itself is dented.  

Front End Tear-Down Complete

The front suspension tear-down went much faster than I expected; just a few hours.  Not sure whether it was actually easier or whether it was just more PB Blaster + time to soak in, or maybe it's just knowing what to expect.

Rear Suspension Completed

Finally finished both sides of the rear suspension.  Beginning the tear-down of the front suspension... 

One Leg Restored

Here's a picture of the passenger side rear, now completely restored.

Installing New Leaf Spring Bushings

The suspension rebuild kit comes with leaf springs, and you install the front & rear bushings by pushing them in "eyes" formed in the leaf spring.  This is a challenge because the fit is very tight.  Here's what worked for me:  I put the bushing in the freezer for a few hours (cold metal should contract), and brought the leaf spring inside the house for a few hours (warm metal should expand).  I lubed the eye with white lithium grease, and then hammered the bushing in.  Seemed to go with 4-5 good hard whacks.  Some (not all) of the bushings have a very slight taper on one end, which makes it easier to get started.  

"There, I Fixed It!" Redux

I don't know how I managed to miss this before:

This is the passenger side front lower shock mount.  I have no idea what's holding the shock absorber in place, but it's certainly not a bolt and washer!         

What is the deal with broken passenger side shock mounts on this vehicle?  The rear lower was also broken with some kludge fix (see Nov 13, 2011 post).  Scary.

Why I Am Replacing the Leaf Spring Mounting Plates

Below is a picture of my driver's side rear leaf spring mounting plate.  The post sticking out is where the bottom end of the shock absorber goes.  Note the gigantic welt.  Can't imagine what would cause that.  No way I am putting this back on.  The suspension rebuild kit doesn't include replacements, so I get to buy these separately.  Cost about $15 each.

The %^!$@! Shackle Bushing Outer Shells

The shackle bushings consist of two concentric metal cylinders with rubber between them.  The inner shell and the rubber comes out easily, but the outer shell seems like it's welded into the frame hanger.  Here's a picture (the offending piece is the thin ring around the hole):

This has to come out or the new bushings won't fit.  After scouring the forums and getting through this myself, here's what seems to work best: Using a hacksaw, cut through the shell at two locations on opposite sides, and then use a chisel and hammer to push the two half-shells out.  If it doesn't come out with a few taps, it's probably because you didn't cut all the way through the shell -- even through it seems like you are sawing straight, the ends seem to cut faster than the middle.

Here's a bad way I found to do:  Use a 7/8-in step bit to clear a little bit of the shell on one end, and then a 7/8-in hole saw to drill the shell the rest of the way out.  It feels great to end that sucker with a power tool, but the problem is the resulting hole ends up a little larger than 7/8-in, probably because it is impossible to hold the drill exactly on-center during the excavation. So, I now have one shackle bushing which fits, but does not fit snug; it has a little play in it.  It seems OK otherwise, but in retrospect I would rather not have done this. 

Repairing an Upper Rear Shock Mount

In my Nov 19, 2011, I reported that I managed to damaged the passenger-side upper shock mount.  The part of the mount containing the threads came off with the nut.  This has turned out to be remarkably easy to fix.  Rather than replacing the entire mount, I ground down the broken (thread-bearing) part smooth, then drilled and tapped a hole for a new 3/8-16 bolt.

Rear axle freed

Finished dismantling the passenger side rear leaf spring assembly today, so now the rear axle is completely separated from the car.  For a change, no bolts were broken today -- instead I broke my breaker bar!  The hinge fell apart.  It's a Craftsman so we'll see if they still replace broken tools...

Things to Know if You're New to Early CJ5's

• The tire lug nuts are NOT "lefty-loosey" on the drivers side.  To loosen, it's CLOCKWISE on the driver's side, and counter-clockwise on the passenger side.  Good thing the PO mentioned this when I bought it or I would have surely broken a stud.
• The lid to the oil filter compartment leaks unless it is torqued down very tight.  When I first changed the oil filter and fired up the engine, oil went everywhere (of course it was in the garage at the time, so 2 hours to clean up that mess).  I thought I must have twisted the gasket, but no, it was perfectly seated, and the contact between the lid and cannister seems OK.  The only thing that seemed to stem the flow from underneath the lid seemed to be just to keep tightening.  Given the number of bolts I've already broken on this thing, this makes me really nervous, but I see no alternative.  Next time I have it off I must remember to measure the torque that does the trick. 

Silly Stuff: Shock Color

The suspension rebuild kit came with white-colored shocks.  This didn't really bother me until I held one in place and realized how awful white was going to look after a coating of road crud.  So I painted them with yellow Rustoleum.  This looks a lot better against the green body and black undercarriage. 

Suspension Rebuild Kit

Here's the suspension rebuild kit I am using:
Quadratec Master Suspension Rebuild Kit
Surprisingly, I received it 3 days after I ordered it.  Not surprisingly, one of the eight U-bolt assemblies is wrong, and one of the shocks was delivered short a bushing insert.  Contacted Quadratec customer service using the email method, and they responded the next day that they had "issued a warranty for these items and this will ship directly from the manufacture", which was 6 days ago.  So apparently 200 lbs of parts takes 3 days to deliver, whereas 1 lbs of parts takes at least twice as long (the original shipment was also direct from the vendor, which appears to be Rugged Ridge).  Not really holding anything up at the moment though.

Here's a picture of the parts I've removed from the driver's side rear compared to the replacement parts:

It's probably a bit hard to see from the picture, but the original leaf spring bushings (still in the leaf springs) had turned into a crusty deformed sludge and were not supporting any weight, so these connections were basically metal against metal.
 
The kit does not include replacement clip plates, so I guess I will try to clean up the rear driver's side plate (shown) and will have to buy a replacement for the rear passenger side clip plate (which has the broken shock mount).

Suspension Tear-Down, Part 1

Starting the tear-down for the suspension rebuild.  Here's what the driver's side rear looks like before:

And here's what it looks like after removing everything except the axle:

It was a 3-1/2 hour PITA to get this far with hand tools.  Every single nut was corroded and frozen.  I hit everything with PB Blaster once a day for a week before starting, but I don't think it made much difference.  I broke the front pivot bolt and one of the U-bolts for the driver's side rear leaf spring -- neither is a big deal since they will be replaced.  However, I also broke the upper shock mount on the rear passenger side:

Note the shock mount is one piece welded to the frame, so this poses a problem.  I think I'm going to try grinding it smooth and then tap what's left of the mount to accommodate a new retaining bolt.   

"There, I Fixed It!"

I spent most of the day poking around underneath, where I knew most of the problems would be.  The frame still look good -- rust-free and straight as far as I can tell.  The body tub on the other hand is is badly rusted and has had crude repairs which should probably be fixed, but nothing that can't wait.  The worst thing I found was this (see picture) -- apparently someone broke the lower mount bolt on the passenger side rear last time the shock absorber was replaced.  Instead of replacing the shock mount / clip plate assembly, they just wrapped some wire around the shock and the leaf spring to keep it from walking off what was left of the shock mount.  It's obviously been there for a long time, because the wire was so badly corroded I was able to break it by prying with a screwdriver.   No big deal since I was planning on rebuilding the suspension anyway.

Glamour Shots

A few more exterior pics.  I own a few other Jeeps (one each in the backgrounds of each of these pictures), but all from the EFI era.  This jeep reminds me more of my first car -- a 1977 Ford van -- everything is very simple and there's lots of space to work under the hood. 

The Drive Home

Learned a lot on the 10 mile drive from the PO's (previous owner's) place to my home.

• The 4-cylinder F-134 "Hurricane" engine would have been more aptly named "Light Breeze". With the pedal to the metal, it took about 1/2 a mile to get up to 50 MPH.  Had to drop into first gear and floor it in order to get up the steep hill leading to my house.  (If I had previously tested the transfer case low range, I would have done that...) Hopefully will not need to do a complete engine rebuild to improve the power to a useful level.  
• She reeks of gasoline when the engine is running.  There are holes in the tub between the front kick panel and the engine compartment, but the odor is really strong and makes me wonder if there is a gas leak.
• The brakes are really weak.  I expected to have to replace most of the replaceable brake system parts anyway, so no big deal.  However not currently safe to drive IMO.
• The suspension seems intact, but is completely worn out.  The leaf springs have no bounce, and she seems to lean to the right when empty.
• The fuel gauge doesn't work, so I didn't know it was empty when I pulled away from the PO's house.  Ran out of gas half way home.  The PO was kind enough to bring out some gas, but even after fueling up, I couldn't get her started again.  Evidently, if you run this engine completely empty, the only way to get her started again is to manually prime the carburator by pouring gas into it.  So, thanks to the PO for teaching me about that.

The New Jeep

Here she is: A 1964 Jeep (Kaiser Willys) CJ5.  Found her for sale at a local car show.  I had been thinking for a while about getting a topless CJ-era model and doing a light restoration for local cruising and light wheeling.  This one was very close to stock, with rust-free frame rails(!) and new tires, and was moving under its own power.  So, seemed like a reasonable (= a few months in my garage) project.  Purchased October 2011.