new to the forum

hi I stumbled on this forum quite by accident,I was watching you tube videos on how to repair frame rot on a 2000 TJ  as my normal I fell asleep in my chair .When I awoke you tube had followed my interest by showing flat fender jeeps in Utah.I was amazed by the stuff the Quazy Eight were climbing.                Thinking this would be a lot of fun I checked out my areas craigslist and found a old willys for sale,wanting some input about the old willys I went over to my 89 year old  neighbor and was going to pick his brain as he had one.He told me he thought they were asking way to much for it and if I wanted one he would sell me his 47 cj2a.He told me it had dropped a valve and he was to old for projects. I towed that willys home,discovered the starter was junk,got a replacement starter and it started up on 3 cylinders,taking a compression test they all came in at about 105 lbs to 107,this gave me hope ,if it had compression it hadn`t dropped a valve.Got  to nappa and got new spark plugs,fresh oil,differential fluids,transfer case oil, it runs ,it lives. I`m naming it patches,as it has enough of them.Im brand new to this forum and not much at computers,but I`ll try to post pictures if I can figure out how to.Bear  with me if my posts end up in the wrong section.

Welcome aboard, CH... Congrats on the acquisition, would love to see some pics 

   ok ,second attempt at this ,pictures are in my smart phone ,if I  loggin to the forum with my phone it says wrong user or password, if I download pictures from my phone to the house computer which icon do I use . I`m very pleased with patches so far,running at 35mph it holds temperatures around 180,oil pressure starts up at 25 to 30 lbs but decreases as it warms up,the counter man at my local nappa store has 3 old willys and he said that's normal. the transfer case got oil that had no sulpher additives ,big future plans for patches is transmission rebuild ,it grinds about 50 percent of the time between first and second,then transfer case ,which leaks bad, the rear axle has a nasty clunk , this jeep previously was a plow vehicle ,both front frame horns were bent and booger weld job of patching, I fixed that ,bought new leaf springs from Jc whitney ,they were rough country 2 1/2 lift,I wish I would of been on this forum sooner as  I don't think I needed the lift and there really stiff .I put new new ndt  700 /16  tires on it it, which meant new rims,  as it had 15  inch tires before . These I love, I`m driving it ,enjoying it but  I`m soon to be approaching fall here in Wisconsin.I`ve  got a lot of learning to do about patches ,but it sure is fun. Want to go thru the brakes as this week I lost all brakes due to a wheel cylinder leak, figure there all ready for some tlc.hope this is how you reply on this forum I`m a hunt a peck typer and it frustres me when stuff vanishes into cyper space.

think I might of posted a picture of patches,1947 cj2a,this picture shows height of original  springs  before replacement with the jc whitney  (2 1/2 inch lift springs) the front springs were broke , I later learned from lurking this sight I could of rebuilt them,that is still a option as I kepy them

Hey Cheddar, 

           Thanks for the info Stan on the windshield,103 degrees in moab would melt me.  I live in a lakeside city in Wisconsin,its always 15 degrees cooler than the  western side of Wisconsin because of the cold water temps in Lake Michigan.  I was wondering since I need to do my brakes  anyhow ,would it be better to go the 11inch route, Im not planning on getting a overdrive to go faster ,which is why a lot of people get bigger brakes,but Im hoping to do some trail riding in Colorado , I see from the videos posted by jpet and stan   that there are some beautiful trails with extensive down grades, did you ever feel you needed more brakes Stan?  I thought you still run the 9 inch brakes , also the dual reservoir master cylinder ,I`ve heard people mention its  a nice safety for brake failure ,at least if you blow a line you would still have half  your brakes. When I bought patches, it came with a spare L134 block ,missing the the head and valves,also I bought a parts jeep which was a1968 cj5,it had no motor ,no front fenders,no floor,no radiator,but it did have a transmission ,transfer case ,axles and tires,the axles are the same width as patches but with 11 inche brakes,a dual reservoir master cylinder,I want to get lockersl , maybe a good thing would be to have those axles looked over and do a swap,only fear is that the parts jeep had a v8  in at one time,those axles maybe worse gear wise than patches.My local jeep guy is telling me if I put lockers in the front I d hate it ,turning would be  a real bear, I ve watched a lot of grandpa `s jeep  videos and I see you work hard at turning but you get where everyone else is going,I want that to,anyhow I managed to get another photo uploaded ,its patches and another 47 cj2a,but looking more military than me,he was out of Illinois

Brakes - sometimes a touchy subject here, but since you asked me, here’s my take, and it is different than lots of folks here.