46 Willys-Overland CJ-2A

[WolfGT]

It did have a tailgate at one time. When I was little, I remember helping him do a bunch of rust repair. He removed the tailgate and closed it in at that time. Also you will see in the pictures to come that he patched the sides under the door openings and fabricated new steps. But even after that work was finished, it never ran.

Something that is neat is that it has a wood deck in the rear. That was put there by my grandpa way back. He did a really good job because even to this day, it is solid. He coated the underside with some sort of tar to protect the wood.

I think I'm going to start from the ground up. Work on the axles, then the trans and transfer case, then the engine, then wiring. At that point, I would just like to run it as is. Then later get a new tub for it.

 

[WolfGT]

Pics

 

[WolfGT]

More

 

[WolfGT]

Me and my dad before it goes on the trailer.



And up she goes.









I then towed it about an hour to my brothers place and tuck the trailer with it on it into his garage for the night. Will be on the road first thing tomorrow on my way back to South Carolina. Hopefully won't be hitting a bunch of storms tomorrow.

 

[DanStew]

Be safe.

 

[WolfGT]

I'm back and unloaded.

It is so tiny.





Ran into Jimbo right after I unloaded it.

 

[WolfGT]

After a quick search, here is what the Willys should look like (what it looked like new).

Picket Grey, Red Wheels



Except ours has never had military tires on it. Always A\T's.

 

[DanStew]

Looks happy in the garage.

 

[WolfGT]

Got a little pimp lean going on.

 

[DanStew]

you will find out all the early jeeps did. Many differnt theories abound but they all do. hahahahaha I miss my old flatty it was fun to knock around in, definitly not fast. And you sure do have alot more room in the garage with a stock one in there. I would avoid the military tires when the time comes to get tires. They look OK but in wet conditions they are really really horrible on pavement.

 

[kenfly]

Let me know if you need any parts, I have several setting around.

 

[WolfGT]

Ken, I may have to take you up on that offer. If you follow this thread and see something that I obviously need, and you have, let me know.

We started to pull the engine on Sunday. (BTW, the guy in most of the pics is my dad.)





We first pulled the radiator.



Then we needed to disconnect everything from it. All the linkage and then the bellhousing bolts.





At this point, the engine is completely disconnected from all mounts and all linkage .... but, it just won't come out. Something in the bellhousing is holding it and won't let go. Since I was getting frustrated, we called it a night before I got too violent with it.

We suspected that the shaft coming from the transmission was somehow stuck in the clutch. Did some research and found that there is an access panel in the top of the bellhousing accessible through the top of the transmission tunnel. We figured we would start with that when we go back.

We went back today to continue. Pulled the cover on the tunnel and opened the access panel to find the bellhousing full of material (obviously a mouse nest .... probably generations worth). We could see that the shaft was heavily corroded and needed lubed and persuaded. We pumped a bunch of penetrating oil in there and waited a bit. Then gave it some healthy hits with a small sledge and rod. A couple attempts and the engine broke free.



And out it comes.



A shot of the nest. The top half of it was vacuumed out so we could get access to the problem. This is what was left.

 

[WolfGT]

Then we started the tear down process to find out why it won't turn. We initially thought that the pistons were just seized in the cylinders. But that opinion changed throughout the day.

We popped the head off and found significant rust and carbon deposits. Valves rusted.



And initially this cylinder (the front one) looked like the culprit.



But after cleaning all the cylinders of debris, we found that the back piston was broken (no pic). Drained the oil pan and found heavy sludge. We figured we should go ahead and get the full picture and pull the oil pan off and make sure we didn't see any major damage in the bottom end. Pulled the pan, everything looked fine. I thought I would go ahead and scrape all the sludge out of the pan .... that is when I found all the metal pieces. After inspection, they appeared to be gear teeth. But could not visually see where they came from. Pulled the oil pump to see if it was the cam gear. nope. Looked under at the timing gear and it appeared to be fine. Decided to pull the timing cover and found...



Now in addition to the rings being frozen, we think the gears are jammed.

So here is how she sits until Friday and we will hopefully be able to free up the pistons and get a shopping list together.

 

[WolfGT]

Yesterday we pulled the camshaft timing gear and the crank timing gear.




Then bolted a bar to the flywheel end of the crank to see if we could free the pistons. No luck. So, when we went to clean the penetrating oil out of the cylinders, we noticed that 1, 2 & 4 were all cracked. Then flipped it over and methodically pulled the rod caps and main caps. Stamped them all and stored them in order. Then hooked up the hoist to the crank and lifted it free.



At this point we found that the rods would not freely move on the pins at the piston end. I had to pry them so they were in line. Then we tried to remove the pistons. Started with #3, the easy one. Tried to drive from the bottom out the top (using a dead blow and a trimmed 2x4), but it stopped right at the top of the cylinder because of a lip. So we drove it out the bottom. That one came out fine. Then it got hard. #4 came out the bottom after moving from the dead blow to a small sledge. Then #2 came out the same way. Then it got really hard. #1 would not move. We then braced the block on a make shift framework so we were driving against the floor instead of the engine stand. Tried some more, no luck. So we had to step up to the bid sledge. Slammed on it for a while until the 2x4 gave way. So then stepped up to a piece of 2x3 steel stock and hit it with the sledge from a ladder. Hit it harder and harder and it finally broke free. Woohoo!

Took pictures of all the stampings on the bearings, pistons and block for reference when ordering parts and also documentation reasons.






Next we need to put the valve train but need to get the proper tool to compress the springs and get some parts on order.

 

[DanStew]

Very nice!!!!! Good to see it come apart.

 

[WolfGT]

The engine block and head have been at the engine shop for a couple weeks. I told them it wasn't a rush so they are working on it during slow times. They have tanked them and then magnafluxed them both. Block is good and the head has what initially looked like a crack, but turned out to just be a casting flaw. He is going to grind it and epoxy it smooth. Looks like I will need to go to .80 over for the pistons. The crank and cam looks good. Waiting for a parts list and we'll get some items ordered. I'm glad the head was good. Looked at a replacement .... $400 !

 

[97TJGUZZY]

The engine block and head have been at the engine shop for a couple weeks. I told them it wasn't a rush so they are working on it during slow times. They have tanked them and then magnafluxed them both. Block is good and the head has what initially looked like a crack, but turned out to just be a casting flaw. He is going to grind it and epoxy it smooth. Looks like I will need to go to .80 over for the pistons. The crank and cam looks good. Waiting for a parts list and we'll get some items ordered. I'm glad the head was good. Looked at a replacement .... $400 !

any idea how boring it .80 over will affect HP and TQ numbers?

 

[WolfGT]

Nope, it's already .60 over. My dad put this engine in when he was in high school. It was already a rebuilt engine at that time. I estimate about 450hp, 600ft/lb or so. :roll: I doubt it will make much of a difference really.

But because of the corrosion in the cylinders, he will have to bore it out to the next level to clean it up. Also going to have him put in the hardened valve seats so I don't have to worry about fuel additives.

 

[RClippa]

Can you even punch it to 0.08 over or is going to have to be sleeved? Who do you have doing your machine work?

 

[WolfGT]

Performance Engines in Cornelius, NC. All I know is that 80 over is the biggest piston they make for that engine. So I assume that it can be bored to that size without being sleeved.