1948 CJ2A Restoration (Pic Heavy)

I am currently restoring a 48' CJ2A. Started in August and have made some nice progress. My goal is to keep it as original as possible with the exception of the color scheme and engine. The color combination will be Harvest Tan / Sunset Red and the engine is out of a 44-45 MB. (I have the original block, but its severely cracked. All parts are treated with either POR 15 w/ a topcoat (frame, leafs, rears), Powdercoat, or Cerakote. Here are some pics.

The CJ was fully intact and I have a clean title. I already began to disassemble the jeep prior to taking pictures. The tub is too far gone and I am going to replace the tub with a Mopar repli-tub.












Progress....









Sandblasted, POR 15'd, and Top coated the chassis.






The original block was severely cracked.






I pulled a good "Donor Engine" out of a 1941 MB (has timing chain). It seemed appropriate to haul it home in my 59 Willys 4WD Truck.









I sent the bare block to the machine shop for machine work. This engine received a complete overhaul and is ready for Cerakote.






Curing the Cerakote with heat.






Disassembled the transmission, replaced what was worn out, reassembled and cerakoted.






Rebuilt the carburetor, steering box, intake, and exhaust manifold. (All are Cerakoted except for carburetor)





















Installing engine and transmission

















I have a ton of reproduction and restored (powdercoated/cerakoted) parts to install. I expect to have a complete running chassis ready for tub installation by the end of February. More to come..

Edited by blc3128 - 28 Jan. 2016 at 4:49am

most excellent 

Leafs were re-arched and repaired The front and rear axles were stripped, cleaned, repaired, assembled and sandblasted. The sand got all inside the internals, which required me to disassemble them and clean them out. The leaf springs and rears are treated with POR 15 plus a top coat. Nonetheless they are in excellent shape!

Very cool.  I like the CeraKote idea.

Wow amazing work!!
Thanks for all the pics.

Edited by Flatfender Ben - 26 Jan. 2016 at 4:01am

Update:

The expected progress I anticipated did not happen! I'm a Track and Field coach and my free time is limited with the season picking up. I did receive parts back from the powder coater (steering stem, steering tube, headlight buckets and rings). Much of my headway was hampered due to a rebuilt water pump that developed a leak plus delayed shipping. The wiring harness did not arrive yet, but I was able to make some progress. I was able to reassemble the Ross Steering Box (which was a complete pain).


I used a very small amount of grease for lubrication during the installation of the Ross Steering Box.






Ball bearings installed on the worm gear. The steering shaft has a gloss black powder coat.









The worm installed inside the box with the sector shaft in place. (I used red grease to assist with the snug sector shaft install.)








The steering box assembly is "loosely" assembled to the frame, but I still need to adjust the pittman arm. You will notice the clutch and brake pedal assembly are also installed. These are "loose" installs. I still need to work the bugs out! For some reason I think I have the brake pedal installed wrong. (Note I have a better steering wheel from another 48 2A, but I won't install it until the very end!)









Other small updates:

- Installed the rebuilt generator and rebuilt starter.

- "Loosely" installed the oil lines, exhaust hangers (original style), and throttle linkage assembly (from block to carb).


I anticipate to install a few small items tonight such as new water pump tonight along with the fan and fan belt. I plan to have the steering assembly finished along with the Tightsteer installed on the Ross steering box. Also, there are some "loose" things I need to take care of such as adjusting the exhaust manifold heat valve, installing the clutch cable boot, correcting any error and adjusting the brake/clutch pedal assembly.

I am expecting to receive both the oil bath air filter and fuel filter assemblies from the powder coater today and the wiring harness early next week.

More to come...

Edited by blc3128 - 21 Jan. 2016 at 2:51pm

Responsible restoration

Update:
Radiator core is being rebuilt and the jeep should be ready for a test run in the coming days! Now enter the kicker;

After much personal reflection and discussions with experienced body shop owners I have decided to restore the original tub. I was very attracted to the reproduction tubs for the sake of having "new metal" and the faster turnaround in restoration time. (I intended to have it ready for the first warm day of spring.) Yet, the deeper I get into the project, the more I want to save the CJ's originality. The tub and tailgate are in pretty rough shape, but the fenders , hood, grill, and windshield frame are in great shape. (I'll have pics in the coming days)

I am currently looking at replacement panels from classic enterprises. Does anyone have input about their product(s)? And, if there is another (preferably American based) company, please inform me!

Long live the jeep and its originality in all of its entirety!

More to come...

Looking good!