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

[RAT]

Wow,you've done a ton of work there. I especially like the flower foreground effects, I'm thinking the purple would look good on the Jeep.

[jonah]

I was trying to get that back to nature kind of feeling.

Purple....it has a certain flair, maybe a bit to west hollywood for me.



I am liking the corners you put on yours, I might have to look into those. I wonder how far off the corner radius is? My rear corners are all jacked up anyway. I was going to fix them, but.

[GP4Play]

Jonah, purple!!Man I hope thats not your favorite color.Anyway the Jeep still looks very cool,I was wondering what the door was going to look like.Nice having that extra room to get in.

[jonah]

Ha Ha, nah. I am planning on painting back to it's original color, gale gray. It is a nice blue gray. Although it might be in primer for a while.

[dirtman13]

Looking good jonah. Your almost there.

[jonah]

Thanks, I am trying. I had a little set back last night. Put oil in the trans the other day. I was under the jeep yesterday afternoon anchoring the rear brake line and saw a leak, right out of the countershaft front bearing cover gasket:angry:

Had to drop the transmission and redo the gasket. Got it back up last night but needed a hammer to get the crossmember back in and it was a bit late for hammering.

I did finally lift the front for a full droop test on the front drive shaft, no binding!! The grinding worked.

Still have to finish electric (from scratch), fuel tank, and trans cover. Oh, and a mess of body work.

[dirtman13]

That crap will happen. Yesterday I dumped 8 12 oz bottles of Royal Purple (not the cheapest) power steering fluid in to the reservoir and after bleeding I found a leak at the line from the steering gear to the ram. It happens to all of us.

[jonah]

It's ALIVE!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUP3Sf6bpIk

first test run, not too bad. Belts started squealing after a minute. Brakes need some adjusting, I can lock up the rear pretty easily. Throwout bearing was making some noise, I think I need to add a spring to the throw out arm. I wasn't sure if the hydraulic clutch system would need it, but I guess it does. Motor is hesitating a bit, not sure what is wrong. Anyway, still a ways to go but it felt good to get it moving under it's own power.

[dirtman13]

Awesome. Congrats.

[GP4Play]

Looks great,Congrats Jonah

[jonah]

Thanks guys!

Here are some photos of my gas tank and battery tray.

battery tray made from some left over 18 gauge sheet.


Tank made from 16 ga. sender and filler from a CJ-7 tank. It sits in a basket made from 1/8 angle and 1/4 inch skid on the bottom. It has one baffle that divides the tank side to side. It was 15.5 gallons on paper, but I had to change the angle on the front to clear the differential. So it is around 14.5 gallons now, so probably 13 usable gallons. Not great, but it beats the 10 gallon under the seat tank. I could actually still run the stock under seat tank too, but I think I am going to lower my seats a bit which will eliminate that possibility.

[mpc]

Good job on the tank. Does the inside get any type of rust preventative treatment? How did you pressure test it for leaks. I've been considering making a larger tank for my Wagon.

[jonah]

thanks mpc, I probably would have gone with a pre-made tank if there was one that would fit. But I did build this one cheap, probably $25 bucks plus some welding wire and gas. Most of it for the cj7 tank where I got the sending unit and filler neck. I have not done any rust treatment on the inside yet. I was planning on doing one of the tank liners from POR, KBS or similar. But I am just running it for now. I have a clear fuel filter, so if rust starts showing up I will deal with it. Testing for leaks, I just filled with water. I was very careful welding but still found 5 pinholes (every one at a starting point), but it was easy to weld them up. I thought about pressurizing the tank and checking with soapy water, but decided it wasn't worth the trouble since the tank isn't pressurized in normal use. When full of water the leaks showed themselves instantly, but I left it for a couple of hours just to be sure there were no slow leaks (no additional leaks showed up during that time). I also designed it to have the least amount of seams on the bottom as possible. After looking at my original tank, I figured there was nothing I could do that would be worse than that thing, rusty full of holes with a fuel line tapped right into the bottom. Overall it was pretty easy, I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. Although I wish I had a TIG and could do it out of aluminum.

[Zoobi]

Before you put the tank up, check your seams with alcohol or gas. When I built the tank for my cj7 I was told the mig welds can be very porous and will seep gas but will hold water. I didn't listen and ended up pulling it out again.

Scott

[jonah]

Good tip Zoobi, thanks. I already put the tank up, but I think I will drop it again just to double check. It has been holding about 5 gallons for a week with no obvious leaks, but that is only a third full...

Did you seal the inside of your tank?