CJ3b....That is what the vin tag says.

[jonah]

Hello,

I am new here and started posting about my Jeep in the welcome section, but I thought I should do a real build thread over here. Here is the catch up post.

I picked up a 54 CJ3b a couple of months ago with thoughts of a little fixing up and trail riding. I will let the photos tell the rest of the story.


It was a runner, but I started to strip it down.




Here is a nice example of what I was finding everywhere.


New frame in progress


I hope these YJ springs flatten quite a bit when the weight is added.


The start of the front shackles


I threw the tub on today and this jeep is too tall right now, 24" to the frame. I am contemplating going to spring under, which will be too low so I would probably need new springs and a change of shackle hangers. Maybe I will french the hangers and stay SOA. I am not sure, I only was going to run 33s on my M20 and D30 with 4.56s. I think it will get closer to a reasonable height once all the weight is on it. I have been staring at it all day - going crazy now.

On the up side I cinched down the front and the shackle angle is just right, 50 degrees when the spring gets flat.

photos for your review (31" tires on it now):





Oh yeah, the tub is getting stretched 8" to fill the frame, the wheelbase is currently 91", I am running a Dauntless V6, Dana 20 transfer case with 2.46 gears, and I have a half rebuild T-14 but I am thinking about going with a sm420 instead if I can find one with a Dana 20 adapter for a decent price.

[xjkevin]

really cool, cant wait to see the finished product...

[inVERt'D]

I have a half rebuild T-14 but I am thinking about going with a sm420 instead if I can find one with a Dana 20 adapter for a decent price.

SM420 would be sweet in that... wish I had one in my TJ

[jonah]

Thanks xjkevin.

inVERt'D, I really want the 420, just a matter of the cash. Even if I can find a cheap tranny, the adapter is another $500. Did I mention I am doing this project on a very small budget? Like I don't even have 500 in my jeep fund at the moment...and I am almost out of welding rod. I need some government stimulus money!

Not much time to work on it today, but I got a little done.

Rounded the other end of my shackles. Look more like the real deal now.


Got the rear shackle hangers mocked up, but still have to do some cutting, grinding and tacking. It actually will be flush with the outside edge of the frame, but I was just checking the height and distance from main eye.


Cut a hole for my hitch, need to decide soon on the gas tank situation. original under drivers seat, or something else?? This hitch will be in the way if I do a CJ5 tank.

[RAT]

Jonah,
That is looking real good. You're making pretty good progress there. Still want to come over when I start doing the cage?

[jonah]

Hey Thanks! I am still worried about the height but I am going ahead with the spring over anyway.

Yeah, I would like to come by for the cage build. Still looking at next weekend?

[inVERt'D]

Yeah, looks pretty clean. I think it's great that you're making your own frame, hardware, etc. WTG on making your tools pay for themselves. Of course, after those booger welds even the Jeep factory welds look good. A graphic reminder of why people with severe Parkinson's should not operate power tools. What Parkinson's doesn't explain is that someone said "Good enough, I'm gonna run it."

[jonah]

The best thing is I am mostly using borrowed tools, my super cool neighbor used to build cars and has most everything. Torches, hoist, grinders, etc. Borrowed an old Miller Thunderbolt from another friend and I was good to go. It would be sweet to have a plasma and mig, but the torches and thunderbolt are doing the trick! But I do like making my own stuff, it is fun - and that is what it is all about!

The crazy thing about those welds (term used loosely) is that they were on fairly heavy gauge steel, just turn the thing up and burn it in. I could kind of understand if it was really thin metal, that can be tricky. I mean, I can't even weld that well but sweet baby jesus those were bad.

Cheers!

[GP4Play]

Looks like your doing a great job on a budget Hope to do that well with mine.Can't wait to see that high hooder stretched out.Thinking of a SOA for my,CJ7,with YJ springs.

[jonah]

Thanks GP4Play, I can't wait either! It is tough keep it on budget, you start looking at all the options, 60s, lockers, horsepower, chromoly bits - too many goodies to be tempted by. But I am trying to keep it basic so I can actually finish it.

This will be my first jeep with spring over. Everyone says the YJ springs will flatten out. If that is true my height to the bottom of the frame should be at 21 inches (2" higher than when I got it). My steering knuckles are set up for hi-steer, so that should be no problem. Still thinking about traction bars. I might truss the M20 axle, if so I would likely incorporate the traction bar into it. Or I might try some longer spring perches at first, not like I will be making a lot of power anyway.

Let me know if you have any questions about the SOA...

[jonah]

Hi, I hope everyone had a nice Christmas. I know I did, family, food and fun.

Got to work a bit on the jeep today, worked most of the day and accomplished making my jeep two inches lower. Now the chassis is sitting at about 22 inches to the bottom of the frame with nothing on it. It should be at 20 with everything on and bigger tires (planning on 33s). Anyway, I have a lot of finish welding to do and I better get to it as you can see some of my other work is starting to rust already. Didn't help when my "garage" blew away last week and everything got rained on.









I am thinking about putting the gas tank between the rails under the bed but forward of the rear diff instead of behind it like a cj5. I want to keep the original filler position but want a bigger tank than stock. Any thoughs on this? The only danger I can think of is a broken drive shaft swinging up and hitting it.

[RAT]

Loookingggg goood... Jonah, at this rate you'll be done before I am, and I'm just doing suspension... sort of

[inVERt'D]

I really like the way those spring hangers turned out. Looks like you can run a bead, too.

[bails85]

just for the hell of it why do u want to lower the jeep? isnt more clearance better.

[jonah]

Ha ha RP, sort of like the suspension and everything within 15 feet of it When you going to start that cage?

Thanks inVERt'D, some of the beads are better than others. I did have the luxury of always having the parts in flat position early on. I bit tougher now that it is together. I will have to work on my vertical... but not bad for the old stick welder - that 7018 is some nice stuff. The main eye hangers were cut from a 3.5 inch square .25 wall tube. It is a touch wider that the main eye bushing, but I will probably just pop a washer or two in there.

bails85, more clearance is better to a point. But if the center of gravity gets too high the roll over potential goes up. It is better to keep the chassis as low as possible for a given tire size and desired up travel on the suspension. I will be able to get a max of 6 inches up travel, although I will probably take less (4-5 inches) with use of bump stops to keep my springs from going too far into negative arch. And I could fit 35s with this setup if I wanted to but I will probably run 33s since I have relatively weak axles and I don't want them to break too quick. I need to save up for a while before I can upgrade to beefier axles. Plus my axles are geared 4.56 and I like 33s for that gearing.

Painted my freshly rebuild T14 and 2.46 Dana20 today...probably won't use them...