Another thing I got accomplished recently was the rebuilding of Rusty’s T-96 transmission. It’s been a couple decades since I’ve rebuild a T-90, but I think a person could follow a T-90 side shift guide when rebuilding the T-96 (I didn’t think of this until after I was done — instead I used an old rebuild manual from the late 60’s that has rebuilds of 35 different styles of transmissions). Once again, I thought I had more pics, but I didn’t. So, this isn’t a step-by-step overview.

I took this photo at the beginning of the tear-down to remember which way the speedometer gear should face. The lack of a transfercase is part of what makes this rebuild different from most other jeep transmissions. 

Here’s the transmission with the input shaft pulled forward. My first gear and second gears were a bit worn. 

Once I removed all the gears, I discovered the reverse gear had a broken tooth. 

Close up of broken tooth. Thankfully, Charles Tate had sent me a box of T-96 parts that included a reverse gear. I was also able to replace the entire bottom cluster, first gear, and second gear. That saved me some money!

To remove the side shifters, a pin has to be tapped out. I was able to remove the 2/3 gear shifter, but not the first/reverse unit. Since there was no critical reason I could see for removing the first/reverse mechanism, I left it as is and cleaned up the housing.

Normally, I’d paint the housing before assembly. However, with time being an issue and lacking enough warmth on the rebuild day to properly paint it, I will paint it at a later date. 

One other unique thing about the T-96: it requires the use of a special speedometer cable that is also used for Jeepsters and wagons.

During my brief visit to Seattle the weather was most uncooperative. Today it was rain and hail, intermixed with sun. Two days earlier it was thunder, lightening, and downpours. So, I wasn’t as productive as I would have liked. Still, I managed to clean some more parts, order some parts, and work on the gas tank.

Not surprisingly, there seems to be no aftermarket replacement tank for the DJ-3A. I’m pretty sure a DJ-5 or rear CJ-5 tank would fit just fine, but I didn’t have one readily available and, besides, I was trying to stay with the DJ-3A tank. After some searching, I found one with all the parts, but it was a bit dented.

This tank took a pretty good hit.

Today I decided to get the dents out. With nothing to lose, I started by drilling an access hole in the good side so I could pound out the worst side.

My tool of choice was a 20 pound pry bar that had a round surface at the top. So, I inserted the bar upside down into the newly drilled hold and began working out the dents. It worked surprisingly well.

I also had a small sledge and a smaller bar with a rounded end that helped remove some dents. Continue reading →

This weekend my lovely helper and I blasted and painted the frame. Now, we are both tired. So, here’s a recap in pics …. First the dirt and scraping. Yuck!

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Ann is not afraid to get dirty!

Unlike our sunny Friday, today was a rainy day, so any thought of blasting the frame was put on hold. But, we did get nearly all the parts removed from the frame and the engine/transmission ready to pull out. The more we removed, the more we could see that poor Rusty had come from an abusive home.

Case in point: the transmission cross member. Both sides of the frame where the transmission crossmember normally attaches have been beaten, suggesting that the jeep was often bottomed or high centered. That would also explain the need to install a custom cross member:

You can see the wave along the bottom rail. I play on straightening it and then added an extra piece of metal to about a foot long to add additional strength along the bottom of the frame.

This net photo shows the rear passenger spring. The front portion of the bottom leaf is bent down quite a ways. This is slightly problematic in that there aren’t off the shelf springs for DJ-3A convertibles (that I know of anyway).

I don’t know which year this image was printed, but it highlights the different springs among models.

Note that the hardtop version had different numbers of springs on the left vs. right sides. From the CJ-2A Page.

To make it more confusing, I have five leafs in the front and four in the back (on both sides). I think I should have only 3 leafs. Perhaps the previous owner broke them and installed heavier ones? Or, the number of leafs was changed after 1956? I don’t know.

Continue reading →

Just a few updates for today ….

Friday was another day of blasting. And, with Ann’s help, there was plenty of scraping, too. This photo describes my day:

But, all that work wasn’t for naught. See the much cleaner steering box:

And, some of the blasted parts … clutch linkages, pedal levers, column shift parts, and more:

Continue reading →

All work and no noodles makes David grumpy! Good thing I found a new Ramen noodle place just a few minutes away from my parents. I had them add some pork belly. It was awesome!

More progress on Rusty, one part at a time. I wanted to remove the u-joints so I could sand blast and paint the driveline.

To remove them, I used my favorite vice, something that’s been around longer than me. Using two different sized sockets (one to slide through and one to catch the u-joint as it slides through, I pressed it through. Make sure the grease nipple is NOT on the side you are pressing or it will cause you problems. This shows the u-joint after the springs are removed, but before I began pressing.

This shows the u-joint after pressing it through. 

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There’s nothing like disassembly to reveal all the problems that remained unseen. Once the body came off, the realities revealed themselves.

The front cross member is cracked on the driver’s side (no surprise there — funny how I didn’t notice it with the body on it). The transmission is so packed with muck that I doubt any oil could leak through it. There are also some odd bends, like the mid cross member, which had something hit it with enough force to bend one side. Maybe the driveline broke at some point and flew up into it? Of course, there were rusty bolts, too, some which not even PB Blaster could save. At least it is getting closer to being disassembled.

The first big event was the removal of the body. I used a block and tackle to pull the body off:

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With the rain staying away for a few days, I booked it over to Renton for a few days to work on Rusty. Here are a few of the things I did today.

I did a little more straightening to the body. This time I wanted to remove a bow along the top back. I’ve mounted a board as a straight edge. You can see the cancer in the rear.

You can see there’s a gap between the board and the back.

After some clamps and some sweet talking with a 5lb sledge, I coaxed the back into line.

Then I played doctor and removed the cancer.

Continue reading →