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Qwaaazy8 CJ2A Build Thread

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    Posted: 22 June 2020 at 10:13pm
I'm a little overdue to start this thread, but better late then never right?

Background:
I've been wheeling for over a decade now with my Dad (ricco). We attended one of Mike's first Colorado Fall Colors Tours back in 2009 and try to attend whenever work and life allow. I've always loved it, but I think that first year the group did Chinaman's Gulch was when I started to see just what these old Jeeps are capable of.

Dad and I did the Rubicon, as well as a small list of other meets with our Quaaazy Jeep family over the years. As dad and I have told familiy and friends we've got some others into Jeeping but not had enough seats to show them properly.

Have you ever talked about your Jeep adventures to people? Has anyone else, while talking, thought "you really NEED to come see it firsthand, then you'll understand"? Well, that happened with my good friend Andrew. He was already getting excited about it, and hasn't even been Jeeping yet. It was clear he, and some of my other friends, need to see just what this is about.

I've known for awhile that I ultimately want to build a "Tesla Willys", but the money, time, etc to do it just isn't there, yet. I've been dragging my feet and realized I need to start somewhere if it's ever going to happen. So I decided to start shopping for a flat fender project of my own to start tinkering on to go to Mike's in the fall and see everyone, as well as introduce some friends.

A few weeks back I found the Jeep. This thread will be where I document the build leading up to September - and beyond. One way or another, I plan to get it to Colorado. 

Before I get into it, I have to add a disclaimer. While it is my Jeep, it is by no means all me. My friends Andrew (username: Dozer), Dustin, and James live close and are helping. a lot. Dad, of course, has been helping both in person and in advice. Special thanks already to Rick G, jpet, and Bridog who have all been providing their opinions and thoughts on various topics. 


The Jeep:
After weeks of searching Facebook, craigslist, and the internet - after I was done debating if I was really ready to do this, I made a post on the forum asking if anyone had a Jeep to sell. I had a few responses but quickly got to talking to Stan (47 deuce alpha). Three days later Dad, Andrew, and I made the drive from Kansas City to Rick G's in Amarillo, Texas where Stan met us with his 1947 CJ2A.

I liked the fact that it was relatively clean for its age, had a Warn overdrive, and at least some sort of roll protection. It has its fair share of rust (hat channels mostly gone, floorboards were weak, bondo here and there, typical stuff for a 70 year old vehicle. But it was mechanically sound, despite some interesting wiring, nearly everything worked and it ran like a champ. Seemed like the perfect starting place.

Since it seemed to be running pretty well after the transaction we promptly took it to an OHV park near Rick to wheel.








I managed to get a solid 30 minutes of wheeling in. Then she died. We suspected something to do with the wiring or battery, which I knew from the get go would need work. We loaded it back on the trailer and called it a day to troubleshoot once she got home.

Thanks Rick G for hosting us on such short notice. It was a blast, even if it ended too soon. But just because my Jeep died, Rick wasn't going to prevent that from showing us around his park. Never have I seen a person spontaneously take a stock, daily driver, truck to some places Rick went, but we did see the park after all!


(Andrew; Arick, my dad; Rick; and me)

My goal started simple. Find a Jeep, put a little bit of work in, go to Colorado. I thought I knew what I was getting into. 
As you'll see... it has quickly evolved. I'll be adding posts as regularly as I can to document the story of my first Jeep. Stick around, let's see where it goes together.

Paul


P.S. You might wonder about the title of this thread. I've wheeled in dad's bone stock (fully open) CJ2A for a long time. I LOVE knowing what they can do stock, but just because it can do it doesn't mean it does it well, or without some stressful moments. This Jeep will have some tasteful upgrades to make things a little less... intense... (while preserving the fun) when running with the rest of the Qwaaazy8's and during general driving.

Paul S - son of Ricco
1947 CJ2A - "Walker"

1948 CJ2A a.k.a. "Lumpy" (Dad's Jeep)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ricco Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 June 2020 at 11:00pm
This will be fun to follow!!  I might even get my "mug" in one of the pictures!
She can dance a cajun rhythm....jump like a Willy's in four wheel drive...("Sugar Magnolia")

'48 CJ2A #204845 "Lumpy"
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dozer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 June 2020 at 3:12pm
.

Edited by Dozer - 24 June 2020 at 3:16pm
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Getting the Jeep off the Trailer 

After a a day or so to recoup from our whirlwind trip we got started investigating why the Jeep wasn't starting. 



I wanted the Jeep to drive off the trailer under its own power, so on the trailer it sat while we looked into it.

We were pretty confident there was a short somewhere. We disconnected all of the electrical and wired only the ignition and coil with new wires going to the ignition. Tried, nothing.
Thinking the ignition might be the issue I got a replacement. This gave us a faint click but no cranking.

The starter solenoid was the next logical step. (This Jeep is 12V converted). After installing a replacement solenoid we heard the starter, but it wasn't sounding healthy at all. We realized the starter helix was stuck out and engaged with the flywheel. Banging on the starter didn't get it to retract.

We pulled the original starter off and confirmed that it was in fact stuck. I want the jeep to maintain a stock like appearance, but I'm not concerned with keeping everything stock. I didn't want to mess with a starter rebuild at this point, so we started searching for options. Andrew was able to do some digging and found that a starter from a Land Cruiser (I think. He'll have to chime in on that) would fit with a minor modification. 

AutoZone was able to have it the next morning (a Saturday). The next day we resumed where we left off and got it installed.




I turned the key and the Jeep fired right up.

We pulled the trailer forward and got the Jeep off the trailer for the first time in its new home. Andrew, Dustin, and I piled into the Jeep and took her for a spin around the block. She was running strong and aside from an uncomfortable amount of lean when making a left turn was doing just fine.




My plan at this point was to get the Jeep to a point where I could drive it daily for errands and learn any other quirks or other things that need to be addressed before tearing her apart to fix the floorboards. Plus, I wanted to enjoy the Jeep a little before that point too. I mostly just wanted a brake light, maybe headlights, so that people would have some idea of what I was doing on the road. 

The wiring was still very problematic, there were wire nuts, electrical tape, random splices, and some totally bare wires. I decided that we should just start over, so we tore out all of the remaining wire. For now we used some miscellaneous wire and added a brake light.



Drive #1 - The First Night on the Town
With the Jeep running well, and now a new brake light, Dustin, James, and I thought it was ready for a longer drive out. We went to get Chinese across town. James drove separate, he's going to take some time to warm up to riding in the 70 year old Jeep. 

I could immediately tell having an overdrive is awesome. I was able to cruise about 45mph and keep the rpms at a reasonable level.

We ate and started to head home as the sun was starting to fade. Our total drive was likely around 10 miles at this point. We were less than a mile away from home, I was driving through our little downtown area and the Jeep started to sputter, then die - right in front of a recently re-opened bar. The Jeep was really making a great first impression on the town.

Dustin and I pop the hood and quickly see the fuel bowl is empty. There was still a good 8 gallons in the tank. We tried to start it again after a few minutes, she fired up. Excited we hop in to drive home. She sputters and dies again about 100 yards further down the road. Hmm.. I remembered seeing some rust particulate in the replacement tank so figured the pickup was being blocked. At this point it was clear we weren't going to make it.

Conveniently, James had a tow strap with him. We pulled the Jeep the rest of the way home.



I was ready to call it a night but James and Dustin were ready to go for it, so we drained the tank and removed it.




I did some reading that night and decided cleaning the tank out with muriatic acid was the way to go. I considered doing a full restore like m38mike performed, but ultimately decided that shouldn't be necessary for this tank. The next morning Dustin made it back over and we went and got supplies.

After letting the acid sizzle for about an hour or so we pumped it out and began to flush the tank with water. I rotated the tank in a few different orientations and flushed for 20 or so minutes in each position to let the junk flow out. 



I didn't take before and after pictures of the inside, but we observed a very noticeable difference when looking into the tank. Feeling good about our work we mounted the tank back into the Jeep.

The Jeep had an inline fuel filter and electric pump (the pump hasn't been hooked up). We removed the unused pump and put a new fuel filter inline, replacing the fuel line going to the mechanical fuel pump too.

Since it was about time for dinner after adding enough fuel to get to a gas station Dustin and I set out for our second test drive...
Paul S - son of Ricco
1947 CJ2A - "Walker"

1948 CJ2A a.k.a. "Lumpy" (Dad's Jeep)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dozer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 June 2020 at 5:36pm

That starter I found is from a 1990's land cruiser. It is as close to a direct bolt on starter as I could find locally, the only modification you need is to enlarge the  mounting Holes. We drilled them out to 5/8 and it dropped right in. In my opinion this 12V starter is much nicer than the original 6v starter Walker the jeep had when Paul purchased it.  You will immediately notice that the engagement is much smoother and less violent.  It is also much quieter than original, and they are easy to locate the same or next day from your favorite parts house. Part number is 16224 and will run you $60 plus a core charge. Paul decided he wanted to keep the original starter so he ate the $40 core charge.  I think Paul, Dustin, James, and I have some very cool and unique things in the works for Walker and I will try and do my best documenting the fabrication (fabricobble at times...LOL) process.

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Drive #2 - Dinner and a (lack of) Spark

I drive to the QuickTrip to fill up before going to find something for dinner. 

Quick note: When starting the Jeep at my house there was a time where it failed to crank with the motor in a high compression state. I thought it odd.. but we corrected it by manually turning the motor to a different position.


So we make it to QuickTrip. But it seems my mistake was shutting the Jeep off. 
After filling up I went to start the Jeep back up so we could go on our way. Nothing. At all. We thought it was stuck failing to crank again. Conviently, we brought one tool with us. The wrench to turn the motor. Dustin turned it and I tried again. Still nothing.

We realized we were going to need some help so called James and Andrew who would have tools and a multimeter. Since we were occupying a pump, we pushed the Jeep into a parking spot to not be a total nuisance. 



With the entire gang present we determined we weren't getting power due to a bad ground. Naturally, the ONE wire we hadn't messed with until this point. This also explained the starting issue where we were having to manually crank. The starter couldn't get enough juice to turn. Andrew relocated the ground to the new shiny bolts on the thermostat housing and the Jeep started once again. 

Dustin and I proceed to get food with James following for roadside support. The rest of the drive went just fine.


Drive #3 - Full Stop.

By this point I was feeling fairly confident in the Jeep. I knew it would start, we sorted out the electrical. It was getting fuel. I thought it was time to go on a "long" test drive. I had been wanting to show my mom and give her a Jeep ride. I was thinking the Jeep was ready. 

Mom lives 10 miles away and I could get there using side roads that weren't too traffic filled.

I set on on the drive. 5 miles in and I was going through some hills the Jeep sputtered a little bit. I suspected there could be a small flake or two left in the tank. I was still feeling a loss of power and decided to pulled off on a random driveway to give the Jeep a breather and make sure it stopped sputtering so I wasn't dead on a main road.

I got back on the road and as I let off the gas while approaching a stoplight I felt like I was slowing awfully quickly when coasting. I continued on until a stop sign where again I felt I was stopping way too fast. I pulled into a church parking lot and drove some circles. My brakes were locked, or at least, close to it. 

This was the first time in a long time the brakes had been used to the point where they got to warm up. Even cold the pedal was pretty firm. Once the fluid warmed up it expanded and forced the pads to stay engaged. This helped explain what was going on with my lack of power on the hills too. 

Even if I waited for the brakes to cool enough to drive again I didn't want to risk them doing it again. I asked my friend group if anyone was busy, James was available. He was willing to go pick up the trailer and come to me. While I waited my mom and sister came to visit. It wasn't the first showing I wanted to give, but I was able to give them a ride around the parking lot.



James made it with the trailer and we loaded the Jeep up to haul back home once more.





The Final Straw

I had been trying to get the Jeep going long enough to enjoy for a couple weeks before tearing into it. But this was the third strike. I decided to accept that I wouldn't be driving the Jeep until addressing much more. This time it was coming home where the big work would begin.


The Plan

We just made this list a few days ago, having been keeping it all in our heads until then. But it's a good representation of just what work is planned leading up to the Fall Colors Tour and was already on my mind.



Some details about the list

Body Work
  • Hat channels are mostly gone, buying replacements from classic enterprises
  • Floor pans are very rough, toolbox has been repaired with a random sheet of metal because the original was entirely gone. We'll do the sheet metal fab on those ourselves, cutting out the bad section and replacing.
  • Several body mounts had rusted through, we'll replace them as best as we can doing our own fab.
None of us have a lot of sheet metal work, it should be a fun learning experience for all of us.

Brakes
My original plans were to leave the brakes alone. The brake lines and master cylinder were replaced by the previous owner, but the drum condition was unknown - suspected they had been worked on an owner or two before. Clearly was going to have to do a dive into the brake system.

Dad suggested I just plan to replace the wheel cylinders, shoes, and return springs for good measure. I put all the parts into a shopping cart, read more about adjusting the drum brakes, and talked to people like Rick G. After doing my research, I decided if I'm doing brakes I'm going to go all the way - disc brake conversion. Now I'm not trying to debate disc vs drum - I know people have success with both. Various factors lead me to believe I will like having disc more than drum on my Jeep. 

I'll be doing a Metcalfs' Trackick conversion.

Power Steering
I want it. I think it sounds nice. I also want to try something new. I'm going to be doing this in a way I've not seen done on a flat fender. You'll have to wait to learn about my plans for that. 

Tall Mods
This is my Jeep, I am a perfect example of average height, but I really want to share in the Jeep fun with my family and friends. Some of my friends shatter the averages. If/when you meet my friend Andrew you'll probably notice that he's got some large bones. Andrew is 6'7" and suffice to say he can't get behind the wheel of a stock flat fender. While riding shotgun works, I really want him to be able to get some drive time in. I plan to make some modifications tailored to making my Jeep "tall-man-usable." This currently includes:
  • Raising the seat frames fronts
  • Adapting seat slides to the seats
  • Moving the rear fender wells walls back a few inches for additional seat travel


With a plan in place I started ordering parts we knew we would need so it would all be on hand. In the meantime, there was still plenty to do. Next up, taking it all apart.
Paul S - son of Ricco
1947 CJ2A - "Walker"

1948 CJ2A a.k.a. "Lumpy" (Dad's Jeep)
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Tub Disassembly

At this point I knew I wasn't driving the Jeep for awhile and the first order of business was to pull the tub off. We have plenty of sheet metal work to do to it, plus will make working on the brakes way easier.

On 6/6/2020. Dad, Andrew, Dustin, and I start pulling things apart. 




Just a month earlier I finished my new driveway (the less fun project that me and my friends took on before the Jeep). It provides for an excellent work area, but does nothing to shade us from the hot, muggy, Missouri summer - and of course we're working on one of the hottest days until that point. So, we got creative.



By the afternoon we had the tub off. Overall the frame looked pretty good.



This was our first, unobscured, view of what we have to work with on the tub. 



It was also when we got confirmation to what we had been debating. The original color was Luzon Red! Lumpy and my Jeep are more related than we realized. After looking at the bottom more I walked away thinking that it was in better shape than I realized. (Certainly compared to what I can remember of Lumpy's old tub from back when I was a kid.)



A few days later we grabbed a power washer and started to clean up the tub.





Frame Clean-up

The frame is in pretty good shape, and I want to make sure it stays that way. I settled on trying out POR15 on it. I did power wash it, go over it with a flap wheel, and then a wire brush to touch it up before painting. We were amazed at how much life we felt the fresh paint gave to the frame.





Tub Repairs: Sandblasting
With the tub off, I strongly considered going all the way and sandblasting the entire tub and repainting - until I got a few quotes. Two different shops in the area charge $250/hr, with roughly $700 estimates to do the entire tub. It might not be a terrible price, but it's more than I'm prepared to spend at this point. I'd rather put funds towards things that will help trail worthiness. 

Once I decided a full restore paint job wasn't happening I still needed to sandblast various parts and the bottom of the tub. We needed to be able to tell what metal was solid enough and what needs to be cut out. I ended up buying an abrasive blaster from Tractor Supply. I also decided it was time to cut down on the heat and sprung on a pop-up canopy from Harbor Freight. (Initial reaction to the canopy is that it's a great value, goes super high and works well. Time will tell how it holds up.)



My prior sandblasting experience was when I was a kid sandblasting parts for Lumpy using a siphon feed blaster. I must say, this tank blaster works very well compared to what I remembered. Only issue was it kept clogging on me, either do to lack of pressure, a bad batch of media, a bit of both perhaps. I have a very old, 30 gallon, 220v compressor in my basement. Since my only 220v outlet is for an electric dryer I don't have the compressor lives in the basement. I acquired what must be a 200ft hose years ago at an auction that I use for airing up tires and basics. But it's only 1/4" hose. We were definitely having flow rate issues over that distance with such a small hose. 

To combat the issue, a few days later Andrew brought his little compressor over that is plumbed for 1/2" and the 1/2" hose to go with it. It's only a 110v thing, and while it fixed the clogging issue we still weren't keeping up. So, we T'ed in my compressor as well. With both compressors running the pressure dips, but stays high enough to blast reasonably well.




Multitasking: Disc Brakes
Looking at our list versus our time to get everything done we determined that we really needed to parallelize our work as much as possible. Last night while I worked on sandblasting, Andrew and Dustin started working on the brakes.

As part of the conversion we needed the hubs off of the rear drums. After trying an arbor press and a mini sledge without success... Andrew decided to pull out the big problem fixer. Amazingly, he was able to knock out all of the studs with this method.



I quickly sandblasted them and prepped for paint while Andrew and Dustin continued to prep mounting the calipers and other parts.




And with that, you're all caught up! We should be making more progress on the brakes and tub tomorrow. Be on the lookout for Andrew and I to post more updates in the future! 

Paul S - son of Ricco
1947 CJ2A - "Walker"

1948 CJ2A a.k.a. "Lumpy" (Dad's Jeep)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Rick G Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 June 2020 at 7:42am
Ahh, youth and vigor!  You guys are going after it!  I am really enjoying this thread already.  I love all the detail of the write-up; the good and the bad. LOL

Keep us posted!


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1951 CJ3a #451-GB1-24268   â€śNewt”

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote nofender Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 June 2020 at 10:13am
Agreed! Great thread already! Keep at it! 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Pope891 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 June 2020 at 2:21pm
Very fun!  Glad to see another guy neck deep in Jeep parts.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Willys Motors Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 June 2020 at 2:24pm
I've never pounder out the rear studs without bending the axle flanges.

When you get to Mikes will we have to refer to you and your dad's Jeeps as Lumpy and Wobbly?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote pts211 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 June 2020 at 3:18pm
Originally posted by Willys Motors Willys Motors wrote:

I've never pounder out the rear studs without bending the axle flanges.

When you get to Mikes will we have to refer to you and your dad's Jeeps as Lumpy and Wobbly?

Ha ha! That name might make it in the running. Tentatively the Jeeps name is Walker; after Walker, Texas Ranger - to keep its Texas history alive. Not sure if the name will stick yet though so I haven't been using it in this thread to this point. 

We were worried about the flanges as well but our visual inspections suggests that he managed to get them out relatively unscathed. We will certainly find out soon if the Jeep will be wobbly or not!
Paul S - son of Ricco
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote rocnroll Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 June 2020 at 4:06pm
Looks like a very organized plan of attack.....I like the checklist.

Good luck, looks to be a fun thread.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Willys Motors Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 June 2020 at 4:32pm
You might want to measure them sooner than later with a dial indicator. I have seen .020 at the flange result in very visible wobble at the tread of the tire.
I normally resort to backing up the flange with a deep impact socket to support the hammering.
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You’ve been busy! 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote pts211 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 June 2020 at 6:53pm
Originally posted by Willys Motors Willys Motors wrote:

You might want to measure them sooner than later with a dial indicator. I have seen .020 at the flange result in very visible wobble at the tread of the tire.
I normally resort to backing up the flange with a deep impact socket to support the hammering.


I took an indicator to them over lunch. They aren't perfect, but I consider this pretty good all things considered. We'll probably try them and see how they look with a wheel mounted.



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Stev Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 June 2020 at 8:50pm
Wow you guys are getting it done!  Great progress.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote pts211 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 June 2020 at 10:22pm
Brakes, do I really need them?

With the rear hubs freshly sand blasted and painted last Thursday we got back together with the goal of getting the rear brakes on. We were a little too optimistic.

It seems my phone failed to capture some pictures so I can't provide all the visuals. But I tried to press the new studs I bought (Raybestos 2200B) with a large arbor press at the robotics shop. That wasn't doing it. In the end Andrew brought out his portable hammer press - mini sledge - and pounded them in on the vice.

We get back to my house to install everything and were having a heck of a time understanding what order all the pieces go back on when using the conversion bracket, and I wasn't having success finding them online. I shot Brennan (Metcalf) a text message and within 20 minutes he sent us the below diagram that cleared up our confusion on the rear axles. (Kudos to him for very fast support!)




With the diagram Andrew was able to get the pieces back on in a reasonable manner. A quick test fit of the rotor and the caliper bracket revealed that the spacing appeared off. It was getting dark and we needed to called it a day so we ended with that. 




At first I figured I might need to make new spacers, Brennan does say that the spacers he includes work in *most* situations. However, after thinking about it more I had a sneaking suspicion that the spacer might not be the issue. 

For this conversion the rotor holes have to be drilled out, Brennan mentions a 39/64th for the typical stud. The rotor wasn't fitting over the studs all the way and wasn't square to the axle. I had a feeling that might be what made the spacing appear to be incorrect. Saturday afternoon Dustin and I were able to test fit the rotor having drilled the holes a little larger (5/8th's). We had to press the rotor on to the stud shoulders but once it was on we discovered the caliper bracket seemed to fit correctly. 

Here are pictures with the 16" spare wheel I picked up. It might be hard to see, while it is VERY close - it fits!



We discovered we weren't out of the woods yet.. As you'll see, we were not getting much thread engagement on the lug nuts with these studs. The conversion notes indicate that everything should fit with the stock studs but I'm not sure under what circumstances that is true.



Dustin and I are not comfortable with such little engagement, so I started to hunt for alternatives. I thought I had settled on the studs that work on a 2010 Crown Vic, which can come with a longer threaded length and the same shoulder as the originals. A trip to NAPA for the Crown Vic studs showed us that it wasn't knurled the entire shoulder length. Dustin brought up some concerns about the wheel not centering very well and the rotor not hanging on like it should with this stud. We ended up working with the NAPA guys to find another option - and found one! I don't know what vehicles it is off of exactly, I think I found it can be from a 1970 Buick LeSabre. It has the same threaded length but a longer shoulder. This should allow the rotor to press all the way on while making up for the 0.4" of thread that was empty in the lug nuts.

With those on order we called it a day.






A journey for 16" wheels

Saturday morning Dustin and I made the 3 hour drive to Wichita and back to buy a set of 16" wheels I found from a guy on Facebook for a reasonable price. They are just 4.5" wide, ideally I would've liked to have wider. Maybe someday I'll go to the extent jpet did to get 6" wide with the correct wheel center - but for now these are what fit in the budget.




I have new tires on order, so really didn't care about the rubber. I needed the tires unmounted so I can clean up the wheels before putting new tires on. We were fighting to unmount the old tires so James tried out a bit of an unorthodox method - it did work - but was a smelly mess.



I did end up unmounting the other three without the cut off wheel. Though I still cut the sidewall on two of the three with an my oscillating multi tool (much less burning with that), until eventually on the 4th wheel I had the process down with pry bars to do it without cutting the tire. 



After being on order for over two weeks my tires are finally supposed to get here tomorrow! Early this week I'm planning to get the wheels cleaned up and tires mounted so later in the week Andrew and I can finish the brakes and start on tub work!

Paul S - son of Ricco
1947 CJ2A - "Walker"

1948 CJ2A a.k.a. "Lumpy" (Dad's Jeep)
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