'48 CJ2A #204853, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

 

I have been able to locate, restore and put back together an original speedometer. It is an Autolite, and seemed to be in fairly good condition, apart from a peeling paint job and needing to be cleaned up. I removed the bezel, did some nominal cleaning on the inside, oiled all the gears, tested it to see that it worked freely, painted the bezel and inner ring matt black, resealed the glass to the bezel with a little RTV bead, and put it all back together. It is not perfect, but I am pleased with the outcome, especially seeing as it is my first one! The glass has one or two small scratches, but nothing serious and I figure it is part of the history of this jeep, so I left them. Here is a pic before I started.

 

 

And here the finished product...

 

 

The case got a coat of clear lacquer just for fun, and because I like the fact that there is a faint stamp on the back of the case saying where the speedo was made, in Lacrosse, Wisconsin.

 

 

The crimping of the bezel back onto the case was not easy, but it can be done with a reasonable result if you are patient and take care.

 

 

Apart from that I am about half way through my transfer case rebuild.

 

 

There weren't enough shims in the Novak Adapter kit to get the endplay adjustment right - I had to go back, clean up and reuse some of my old shims from when I took it apart. You can see that the final shim pack in the photo is quite thick, certainly more than I expected. It is the entire Novak shim pack plus the thickest shim from my old shims. Has anyone else experienced this? Endplay is now 0.003" before I do the final seal of each shim. I'm expecting to end up with between 0.003 and 0.004" at the end.

 

That's it for the moment, Happy Christmas everybody and here's to a GREAT 2016!!!!

 

Mike

 

 

- The T90 master rebuild kit from Novak Adapters has arrived (remember this takes 6 weeks where I am!) I also decided to go with a NOS mainshaft, shift rails and shift forks from Peter Debella, and good second hand main drive gear. My tranny is going to be like new when I'm finished!

- I have stripped the transfercase, cleaned it, and it is now ready for paint. Rebuild kit from Novak has also arrived. 

- Rear axle has been stripped out, cleaned to bare metal including drums, hubs, brake parts etc, and now ready for paint

- Engine is off the frame and on an engine stand.

- Springs have been stripped and cleaned, leaf by leaf, almost ready for paint.

- Thread that matches the new shift lever knob has been welded onto the end of the shift stick, so this now works

- Rims have been sandblasted and taken to the paint shop for their coat of Luzon Red!

 

Below a few photos.....

 

 

 

 

 

So lots of parts are now ready for paint, I need to wait for a good weather weekend to get this going! I'm also pleased that other things like NOS parking brake linings have arrived so I can re-line my brake shoes. Lots of things to get going with now!

 

Thanks for checking in...

 

Mike

 

 

So last night I got the tranny/TC out from under the vehicle. Felt like progress even though it's just a part removal!

 

 

I might have to put it back in place temporarily though to confirm the heights of the tranny and TC relative to the frame. Seems there was some well meaning work done on the crossmember by the PO that had some unintended consequences. I have a thread on the Tech Q&A about it:

 

Take a look at the thread, and if anyone can help with the dimensions I need I would appreciate it!

 

Thanks,

 

Mike

 

 

 

I have some questions on my transmission crossmember, and some mods that appear to have been made. I'll post a question over on the tech section. Take a look and let me know if you can advise. All advice appreciated!

Here it is: http://www.thecj2apage.com/forums/topic36043_post338248.html#338248

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Mike

 

The system my paint guys use is Glasurit. Apparently it is a German system, and is used in the Mercedes Benz and BMW factories.

 

I have looked at it on-line, and you can search for your own colours and mix ratios in an on-line database. I don't know much about paint, but perhaps you can fiddle with it, or get your paint shop to take a look.

 

This is what it gives for Normandy Blue.

 

 

For me it is a good sign that the Glasurit database has a matching colour for Normandy Blue that sits under Willys for 1948. And the swatch that they painted up for me looks pretty good. From what I've read elsewhere, most paint shops just draw a blank when you give them the old paint codes. They seem to have all the other colours too in their database...

 

Good luck, let me know if you have success with your paint guys.

 

Mike