Rudycon's 1947 CJ2a rolling restoration

[rudycon]

The head casting number is 529278. This makes it a 1950-1954 Studebaker Champion (car model, not the pedigree) 7.0:1 compression head.

The block and head patina looks the same. I doubt they have ever been apart.

I didn't check the block casting number, but in my recollection I THINK it is 9G. This sorta jives with the block's serial number and 1950 as well.
The block's serial number is 732038 which doesn't line up very well on the engine serial number chart It might be a 1950 or 1951. Pretty darn sure this is the 170" engine. Nothing fancy here.

[Haines Garage]

Now that we are talking Studebaker...I actually drove past a small pick up that had Studebaker on the tailgate today.
I think it is really cool that you have a project like you do. It is Different. That makes it special. Thanks for posting Rudy...
Seems you have become a "Hot Topic"!

[Haines Garage]

Rudy, got my glass per your measurements..Thanks Again...Now if I can just figure how to put it in...

[rudycon]

weekend progress report:

I rented a hub puller and got the hubs off, drums are full of mud. Grease seals, gaskets, and all bearing shims are missing.Shoot.

Took the diff apart, put in stock spider gears in place of welded gears. put in the new cross pin and it is about 1/8" too long! I chose to grind it down so I can slip the ring gear back on. Never had to do THAT before. The ring gear fell right off. Usually I have to bake my ring gears in the wife's toaster oven to get them to expand enough to fit onto a carrier. bearing races are OK, kinda beat on one side, but I think I'd rather run used, kinda beat, but not bad or burned, USA Timken parts than some of the questionable metalurgy parts available these days. I have a differential gear setup question on the dana41 tech thread. I'd like to run the differential with a bit less backlash than a single side gear shim can provide.

Today, I got my new tires mounted up with the right TR15 valvestem tubes.

When I get frustrated and cold on the mechanicals, I try to do something easy and cosmetic.
Tonight I screwed on my new cowl seal and filled in some of the holes by replacing some of the many missing footman loops.
I put the inner to outer windshield seal on. Still no glass in the frame. kinda stuck on that one...

Image: still on jack stands one wheel mounted up, barely touching the ground. suspension is at full droop. It usually isn't this tall.

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[Haines Garage]

You are really at it! Got your PM on the Glass...Seems we need to start a glass installation thread...
Keep at it Rudy, Looking Good! Thanks for sharing here!

[rudycon]

When I first saw this little cj2a, the seller was driving me along a dirt 2-track and asked me if I had a welder. I said, "Well yeah, I have a Jeep, I have a welder." He said, "Good. You can put this back on." and he threw a shock with a broken mount over his shoulder into the back of the Willys.

The spring plate was cracked. I got a new spring plate and while I was bolting it on, BANG there goes the old wasted threads on a ubolt. Sigh...one step forward, one step back. Got a new u bolt today. put it on torqued 'em down. Resolved as of tonight.

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[Haines Garage]

That seems to be the way of things...no doubt.

[rudycon]

Weekend update: A day of hard work. Mostly cleaning parts. Differential is back in the rig. Wheels back on.

So I put the differential back together with stock spider gears. No more welded rear diff. New inner and outer axle seals, gaskets, new brake pistons. Wow is that all? Lots of cleaning parts just to get things clean enough to work on. I got the axles bolted in, but alas, the passenger side wheel bearing turned out too loose. The driver's side is too tight. No way I could have switched all of the shims, right? Shimming that axle is harder than I thought. I thought, no big deal. Get the two cones protruding about even with 0 clearance, then bolt one side down, then adjust the freeplay with the far side. After bolting on 2nd side (driver) without enough shim, I can't get the passenger side to tighten back up even after pulling the driver's side cone back out a bit. both sides are about the same. There is plenty of left/right on the new spacer block. By the math, it should have worked.
My secret hope is that the .001 drivers side will "move" over to the way too lose passenger side and I'll end up with about .004 on both sides and end up in spec on both axles. Hey a guy can hope, right?

I took the master cylinder off because it leaks. That is one dirty job. Took awhile to figure out that the blobs on the outside of the frame rail are actually bolt heads. This thing is so dirty.
I'll order up a master cylinder, then decide if I want to keep or loose the bendix hydraboost power brake system. "Stock is good" -(my Dad)

I also removed the last of the game rack that was welded to the heavy homemade rear bumper. That guy's welds are GOOD! I sprayed the bumper down with fresh rustoleum. All of my painting efforts are designed more for rust prevention than appearance!

I tried to adjust the right front brake again. Now I have the lower front adjuster stuck. I learned about the "dimple" on the end of the adjuster that indicates the maximum eccentric I just cant get the eccentric to turn anymore. I suspect too much goo/rust jamming the shoe out and down for me to get the adjuster to work. My plan is to go in and take the hub off so I can see/fix the problem without the drum in the way. I can BARELY turn the drum with the wheel mounted. It will take some time to get the drum off with the brake stuck this tight. I think I'll order up pistons for the front too. I think the left front was the only working brake and there is a chance that cylinder leaks. The right front might be seized ON. Hard to tell with the drum on. This will also let me do the front wheel bearings. While I am that deep, I should PROBABLY dig into the knuckle and see what's wrong in there. Now it is a BIG deal! I sure would like to drive it around, but I think brakes are going to be a "requirement."

Oh yeah, I still have to do all of the soft lines and probably some hard lines too! Patience...patience...don't get overwhelmed...Still have had it less than a month...

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[Haines Garage]

Rudy, you are Killin' it...Looking nice, The Dimple on the eccentric,,,,Lets do a Brake adjusting thread,,,You are in charge. I have no idea how to do this. I am at the point where I will start to install a complete brake system...I will follow your lead.
This is a most interesting, and important topic.

[rudycon]

hainesgarage: killin' it? nah. little at a time. celebrate the victories, even the small ones. I would like to drive it (safely) someday!

I have 1/2 of the text on adjusting brakes done up. gotta get some images and stuff when I have some cleaner parts to show how things work.

[rudycon]

Worked on the willys for an hour today. I replaced one wasted tie rod end. I think the knuckle has seen some abuse. there might not be any taper left in the knuckle. 2 different tie rod ends didn't tighten up the way they should. I had to stack washers to have enough threads to get to 60 foot pounds. might need a knuckle.

This is the right front wheel that I can't get the brakes to adjust on. I took the drum off and yeah, the lower pivot is just dried grease/rust that keeps it from moving easily. That will be easy to clean up.

Took a look at the wheel cylinder. of the 2 mounting bolts, one was intact. The other was replaced with a mud dauber nest. Bleeder was stripped and broken off. I snapped the "S" hose off with remarkable ease. I took things apart. The pistons are seized in the brake cylinder as well. Too bad. The brake slave cylinder was made in USA. The back is stamped "7379" a NAPA part number.

Check out the brake hose. This is the "good" one. You should see the cracks open up when you turn!

I also dug into the knuckle. I found a cardan type joint on the axle and lots of sticky yellow grease. I'll have to clean it all out and try to replace the knuckle seals. The similarities to a toyota solid front knuckle up to 1985 is remarkable. right down to using the same size socket on the wheel bearing nuts.

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[Haines Garage]

Wow! And I most understand...
That Toyota thing is interesting.

[rudycon]

Weekend update:

Every bolt a battle...and a victory.

I focused on brakes last weekend. I got the wagner/lockheed master cylinder out. I also pulled out the bendix hydraboost brake booster and it's copper brake lines and unions. Fewer failure points, closer to "stock."

I replaced the master cylinder and bent up a new steel line to go forward. Kinked it on a "Z" bend trying to use up the extra 5" of pipe. That's a do-over. I replaced the rear soft line, and the front too, but that was too short so I got another rear to use on the front. One knuckle has a new softline, but no knuckle, so I don't think that really counts. The driver's side knuckle is still a blob of rock hard dirt so no new softline there either.

The passenger front knuckle is still in pieces and still dirty, but cleaner. I think I need wheel bearing seals before I can put it back together. I'll start with the knuckle reseal. That'll keep me busy while I wait for seals.

I ground down some welding scabs on the right front frame rail and then resprayed the frame rail for rust prevention. Looks nicer anyway!

I put more missing footman loops back on. Sure They'll have to come off again if/when I work on the paint, but at this point I'm just trying to get all the pieces back on the rig.

I painted another of the rusty blue monroe shocks to reduce the number of colors on the bucket. Too many accent colors for me.
I painted the neat little stone shield black and the rest of the shock red. Gotta be careful here. I'm getting way too fancy for an old Jeep.I blame you guys and your super clean, super prepped and painted machines!

I also painted up a 2nd wheel. The color is "ivory." I wanted something more white than "universal beige" but not pure white. I think it took 10 years off of the ol' bucket. Looks like it is only 57 years old now! 2 more wheels to paint. Too cold to paint again. It was +7.5F this morning.

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[Haines Garage]

Rudy,
I will say this...YOU ARE PERSISTENT!

Love seeing this project happen...VERY NICE!

[Haines Garage]

Rudy...you still there? Hope all is OK, Just noticed you haven't been on in a while..

[rudycon]

Thanks Haines. I'm still here. Not much progress. I was on "thermal hold."

I did manage to finish cleaning parts for the right front knuckle so I put that back together. I had 4 wheels on the little red bucket for a day.

But, then I took apart the left front knuckle to see what that side needs. That was the brake that was working, so I hesitated to go in there, but I have that new brake cylinder, "S" line, brake hose, knuckle wiper kit, wheel bearing seal, and hub seal just sitting there and no idea if there was anything dangerously wrong in there so I took it apart last night.

Everything is just as dirty as the right front. Decades of rock hard dirt that I have to chip off with a chisel/screwdriver/wirebrush. Inside the knuckle was something that was once grease. Mostly a waxy substance now. 3 hours of cleaning parts with maybe 3 more to go, but no surprises. This side has also been updated with a cardan joint shaft. No other surprises.

I ground down the welding scabs on the frame rail on this side too. I found the crack or a new one that the welding was related to. I'll have to zip that up and see if my weld holds better than the previous guy's. The quality of the welding on this repair is not as nice as some of the other work I have found on the jeep.

Hopefully, next weekend will be warm enough to paint the other 2 wheels and the parts of the knuckle that I have taken apart. If I can just have those clean in time for painting temperatures, I think there is a chance I'll be able to drive around the block next weekend.

I also pulled off the big yellow parking lights on the front. The grill holes have been drilled out too far to use the stock bulb holders.
Since the grill is already non-stock. I won't mind drilling it out a little more and going for turn signals.
My plan is to use 1156 bulb sockets holding 1154 6v dual filament bulbs behind the stock clear lenses. I can't find 1154s in amber, so I'll use sleeves on the bulbs.

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[rudycon]

Weekend update:

I replaced that last copper pipe with a hand bent steel pipe.
I had to loosen up the gas tank to install the fuel fill grommet.
I finished cleaning the parts required to put the left front knuckle back together!
I didn't get the other two wheels or shocks repainted, but I set 'er down on the new tires for the first time and I backed out of the garage and took a lap around the driveway last night in the snow.

Plenty left to do, but I'm mobile!

Interesting. When I watch the video, I realize that the little Willys makes me look...tall! In reality, I'm a case study of what happens when kids drink coffee. It turns out it really does stunt your growth.

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[Haines Garage]

That Video is Fantastic.
Jeep sounds great..love the Colorado Snowfall, and the lights shining through it.
Was that a burn out you did in the end.
The coffee thing is killing me as well....very funny!
Great job!

[rudycon]

Went for a drive today. On public roads!

Screwed my cartags on threw the fire extinguisher on the passenger side and a rope in the back.

Got 'er fired up without opening the hood (a first).

"Year we go!"

Brake check. Left front works. Good enough.

Left turn onto the main road. First gear alright. Second gear. Outa site. faster. It's all right! (Anyone name that tune?) ok, but with a load, and higher rpm she starts surging...bad. Breaking down? Maybe...nope just seems to be a carburation problem. No sweat. Just go slower!

So I motored around the dirt back roads of the neighborhood. Temp 140. Amps positive. Fuel level broken. Oil pressure 40. Speed? I dunno but 25-30 with no windshield feels like 40+!

15 minutes or more with plenty of brake checks. Both fronts working better and better. I don't think either back brake is working.

Hood bangs around and makes it sound like something is about to fall off the poor bucket.

Long 4" stroke motor pulls good at low rpm, but I think there is a lot more power hidden behind my bad carb.
Low float level? Weak fuel pump? Plugged port is most likely.

Professionally repaired radiator seems to leak. I didn't check very hard, but when I patted her hood after our run, coolant started hitting the ground. Maybe just overfilled, but I don't think so. Will check when cold.

[Deleted]

Nice story, glad you have found 3rd gear,,,,,,,,,and by the way, it's "Little Honda" (Beach Boys), LOL. If you fill the radiator to the top it will piss out a cupful after a couple heat cycles, more so if you have not drilled a hole in your thermostat, in all reality the top hose will only be 1/2 full when it's right (the coolant level).

Lee

[rudycon]

Thanks, Lee. You are right. Little honda.

I figured the plate in the filler neck was in there for a reason so I think I filled it until I could see coolant on the plate. The Austin Healeys didn't have overflow tanks either. I know better than to top it off. (So embarassing when your machine pisses out a stream of green at a hot stop light.) I just checked on the little bugger out in the garage and the radiator leaks like a tennis racket. Well I exaggerate but it does leak with British Leyland fervor.

Do you guys think the speedo reads low? Maybe I was really only going 30 but I was in 3rd gear and the engine didn't seem to be lugging when it said 30 mph. Not sure what RPM, but can I really go as slow as 30 in 3rd and pull a slight hill? I looked down at the speedo when it reported 30 mph and saw that 60 clocked WAY around to the right and I thought "no way do I want to get this bucket up to 60." Oh yeah and that's quite a step from 1st to 2nd on the t90 eh?

The simple fact that I didn't have to walk home or bribe the neighbor kids into pushing the rig home made this shakedown cruise a success in my book.

4 minutes of boring driving video. No really. It is terribly boring. The part when I'm rockin' forward and back in the seat? No, not autism. That's how bad it was surging.

[Haines Garage]

Rudy !!! Those videos are FANTASTIC! Love It!

[rudycon]

weekend update:

So I took the carb apart and I got the clogged accelerator pump jet cleared. I also confirmed all the other ports are flowing correctly.

I know what main jet I have now. #159-66s. I want to try to find a leaner jet. Carter#159-82S should be about 10% leaner. I also swapped out the spark plugs for some 3/4" reach plugs. The head is 3/4" thick but for some reason, every book specs out these short reach lawn mower plugs. Makes no sense to me. Why would you pocket the spark way up there in the hole? I selected NGK B7ES plugs out-of-band. I think there might even be enough room for the extended tip version of the plug, the BP7ES. I'm not running nitrous so I don't think a hot tip is going to be a problem. Getting the plug out into the combustion chamber should give me a better flame kernel, and less likely to foul with some hot exhaust gasses to burn the plug clean on the exhaust stroke.

Oh yeah, I also dumped out the sediment bowl down on the fuel pump. Some rust, but who knows how long that has been accumulating.

ROAD TEST!

10x better. No more lean surge. I ran her hard up the hill where it surged last time. No problems at all. Overall the Studebaker simply ran WAY better.

The engine seems down on power. I know it is only 85HP at sea level, but I think she has more to give than I'm gettin'.
Timing. Right now the distributor is cranked to the edge of adjustment towards ignition advance. That's a clue to me that someone would crank in more timing if they could. I checked and yeah, the distributor is stabbed wrong too. I'm going to pull it, re-stab it with the rotor pointing in the right direction to match the books for easier troubleshooting, put the plug wires on the right holes, and I betcha that lands me back in the middle of the adjustment range too. From there, hopefully I'll be able to adjust the timing to match life at 8-9000 feet.

I also want to change the plug gap down to .025" I have them at .030" right now.
Then, solid core plug wires. I don't have a radio or any electronics to interfere with. That'll help spark 'em like it was designed. Looks like I'll be building my own plug wires to get to that goal.

My new Gates, Green stripe II, Made in USA fan belt arrived so I slapped that on last night too.

Some pictures of the scamp next to the other Jeep.

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[Haines Garage]

Rudy
Thanks for sharing that story.

It sounds like you are a very mechanical
Guy.

I am most interested in your spark plug comments.

Could you elaborate on that further?

Maybe even start a plug thread?

Sounds like you have some great ideas.

Both of your Jeeps look great!

[Ryan_M]

Nice Jeeps Rudy. And keep the videos coming. I watched all 4:26 (some parts more than once, LOL).