turbo diesel Willys!

[daniel_buck]

I work slow. hah! Got the 710 cap in place today.

Drilled out the hole in the blank cap spot with a sheet metal bit to 1 1/8", and pressed in a $5 chrome oil cap with rubber fitting. Man, if fits about as perfectly and snugly as it could, like it was made for this valve cover. Part number is Spectre 1738

[RAT]

got the oil pan removed and gasket scraped off, and cleaned up the engine a bit

Next step, remove the flywheel and bell housing.

And my neighbor stopped by for a chat, and drove his 57 chevy that he just finished building. It is super sweet, though I'm partial to the 55's myself, this one is very nice

Tell me you at least thought about ramping the five seven...

[daniel_buck]

I drove the willys up into the mountains/hills last weekend, so I can get one last taste of how low on power it is And I've since then decided that I'm going to do something with the brakes. The brakes are fine on surface streets around town, but I was having to hammer the brakes pretty hard while coming down the mountain. And with a single reservoir master cylinder and practically no parking brake, .....

Last night I had a dream that the brakes blew as I was rounding a hairpin corner. And since 1st gear isn't synchronized, I'm not able to get into 1st while I'm rolling at speed. So 2nd gear is as low as I can go to slow the vehicle down... which isn't slow enough for corners without brakes in the mountains!

I don't know if I'll put disc brakes up front, but at the very least I'm going to put a dual MC in there, and see what kind of options there are for an emergency brake. Right now I've just got the factory parking brake on the back of the transfer case, I'm sure it's so full of oil that it wouldn't hold the vehicle on flat ground.

While I have the engine out and fenders off, I'll do something with the MC.

Any thoughts on an emergency brake that would actually slow the vehicle down? I've been on-set with stunt drivers, and they often put in a very strong emergency brake that will actually lock up the wheels at speed. I'm not sure if they are tapping into the vehicles regular brakes, or if it's something they add on. That's what I want, stopping/slowing power if the main brakes go out.

[inVERt'D]

There are old-school handbrake/ t-case brakes for those things that go back to the MB Willys. Did yours come with one when you bought it?
http://www.willysjeepparts.com/Hand_Brakes.htm

Besides the more custom options, I would take a look at why your rear drums aren't working. Without knowing anything in particular about those specific drums, I do know that if there is one thing that drums in general work good as, it's parking/ emergency brakes. Your shoes inside the drum need to be properly adjusted, as does your main cable. Your brackets and levers must also be rigid so they don't flex when you're applying the brake.

Also note that drum e-brakes tend to stop better going forward than going backwards. If your brake hardware is good and everything is adjust right, but the e-brake still isn't working then I'd be looking for flex or movement in the lever and bracketry. As long as your brakes are a reasonably good match for your tires, you should be able to at least stop with them, if not lock them up. If you don't have a hand lever, I'd put one in.

My TJ's e-brake bracket was bent to about 70*, and was about ad rigid as fresh eel. That almost cost me my Jeep. Here's what I did with my TJ's bracket. Just welded on some stout angle iron. After this I never worried about my parking brake slipping in any situation, forward or back, and it would lock up the rear 33 12.50s on asphalt with plenty of lever to spare. I didn't try this much or going very fast, because at the very least, it would have put flat spots on my tires, but I did do some nice slides in the dirt at about 40 mph.

[Tomtom]

Very popular option is to upgrade to the 11" brakes that were used on the later models (post '72? CJ's). Lots of info at earlycj5 site on this. Places like R&P and Herm the OD guy sell kits, but you can also find donors around (i.e. postal jeeps). If you did all 4, you could do a traditional rear parking brake too.

I just got a set of 11" fronts that I will be installing soon on my '56. I plan to try it with the original 9" rear drums at least at first. I Also put Herms dual master kit in a few months back. It didn't do anything for pedal effort, but now if I loose a brake line I will at least have half my braking system still working. I noticed R&P now has dual master kit as well. This wasn't available when I did my conversion. There is not a lot of room in that area, and I had some issues not interfering with the bellhousing of my fhead.

FWIW, I rebuilt my original parking brake (on the back of the dana18) several years ago and it still works fine. Mine too was a greasy mess when I got it.

Here is a link to the brakes at R&P
http://shop.rp4wd.com/product/drum-kit-2

[daniel_buck]

The R&P dual MC looks like the way to go! It should bolt on, and is already setup to have a remote fill for each reservoir, filling up the factory MC is a pain, going though the little access panel in the floor board.

[Tomtom]

The R&P dual MC looks like the way to go! It should bolt on, and is already setup to have a remote fill for each reservoir, filling up the factory MC is a pain, going though the little access panel in the floor board.

I agree, I was a little bummed to see that thing pop up on the scene after I did it the old fashioned way. From the photos, it also looks like it doesn't stick out as far which will make interference with the bellhousing less likely.

BTW been enjoying watching your diesel swap. I have heard talk about doing this type of swap, but never have actually seen one. You certainly didn't waste any time jumping in. Can't wait to see how it drives!

[daniel_buck]

It arrived!! Yay The adapter plate, flywheel, motor mounts, turbo, and a bit of hardware. The last piece I'm waiting on the bell housing now! Though there's alot I can do without it though. I found someone who is going to buy my old flathead motor, so I'm going to go ahead and start getting the willys ready to remove the engine.

Yesterday was the last day I'll be driving the willys until after the swap! By coincidence, yesterday something broke in the overdrive (probably the shifter fork, which is now made out of ALUMINUM...... ) but I limped home with a crate full of parts

The guy at the shipping/receiving department at work is convinced that someone cut up a jeep and is slowly mailing it to me, piece by piece.

[Toolman]

I like the progress reports, keep going.

[daniel_buck]

Skylar came over today with his TJ, so we worked on that for a good part of the day. But I had time to remove the grill and fenders from the Willys in the evening.

[daniel_buck]

slowly, but surely making progress!

Got the radiator drained and removed, and all the wires and cables disconnected.

Man, that radiator fluid is DARK, there's some oil in there for sure, :laughing:

[inVERt'D]

When there's oil in it, you can find some little shiny floaters, and usually see tiny water droplets in the oil (if not grey or milky).

That looks like the radiator fluid that came out of my Jeep when I'd finally gotten it (ebay sale). This was after the PO went on and on about how anal he was about maintenance. I had never seen antifreeze that dark. There wasn't any oil in it, nor afterwarsd. Just old and dirty I guess.

[daniel_buck]

I've suspected the radiator fluid and oil have been mixing. every now and then I smell a sweet smell out the exhaust when it smokes.

[inVERt'D]

That may be a good indication. Oh well, a non-problem for you now.

[daniel_buck]

yea, the radiator has a new core in it (last summer) so I'll just flush it out good I guess, and re-use the radiator. No reason the rad should be bad, eh?