1948 Willy's CJ2a Build

DanStew · Nov 17, 2016

I tried to get it to fire up tonight, but had a setback.
I scavenged the battery from my Wrangler and connected everything up. Added fuel.
First i cranked it over without spark to get the oil pressure flowing. Good news is the gauge showed pressure in the motor.
I noticed a squealing sound while cranking, after investigating i found the mechanical fan was hitting my lower radiator hose

I couldnt do anything about that tonight, so i just removed the fan to continue on.
I reconnected the coil and cranked it up after putting some gas down the throat. I cranked and cranked (which it did crank real nice) and still not fire. I looked back at the carb and notice gas everywhere. There is fuel in the filter right before the carb so the fuel pump is functioning. The fuel is coming from a port in the front of the Solex carb. It looks like there was a plug there at sometime and it was removed. I had some threaded plugs but none fit. I need to find out what was there

the gaping hole right above the mounting stud

So i am stuck there with carb, no firing it up tonight.

On the bright side my bottom cushions and covers came in. I put them on the wood pan, will staple them home after i contour the pan. Doesnt look that much mismatched from the backseat I picked up. I still need to mount the backseat. Next month i hope to order the upper cushions for the front seats

DanStew · Nov 23, 2016

I was excited to come home from work tonight and my Solex rebuild kit was sitting on the counter. It was a rather simple carb to rebuild. There was not much crud inside so it was not in bad shape, just not sure why the previous owner removed the main jet. The important item, the main jet, was in the rebuild kit so i have no more gaping holes in the carb. It is rebuilt and put back on the motor, but i did not try to start it yet. I am going to give it a try again after thanksgiving.

I did finish up my air filter project. I did not want to use the oil bath, but wanted the housing. So i gutted the housing and installed a dry filter element. That was not that hard of a project.

I know it maybe blasphemy for gutting it, but i did not want to deal with the mess.

DanStew · Nov 25, 2016

It lives another day!!!!
Video

After changing out the cruddy 6v coil

and figuring out the plug wires were all out of order I got it to start up. Ran a little rough, and it doesnt idle worth a dang, but it does live and i got something to work with now.

I dont think it was the best choice to start it up in the garage, especially with the cylinders had oil put in it prior to me turning it over. Lets hope it is just oil and other junk burning off from sitting for a long time.

97TJGUZZY · Nov 28, 2016

Nice work man, glad the carb issues were easily solved.

LR Max · Nov 28, 2016

Nice work!

I would suggest getting a color tune. That'll allow you to see if you are running rich, lean, etc and adjust from there. Did you have the choke hooked up? What RPM was it running at idle? Shoot for 1100 rpm for start up with choke, then start taking choke off, and see what happens. With it sitting there like that, I suspect choke would just need to be full on.

Also check your timing. I've had issues, and turned out my truck was 30 degrees ATDC...yeah...they don't run well like that.

DanStew · Nov 28, 2016

yeah i havnt gone through it all yet, just enough to get it started. After i heal from shoulder surgery i will get it tuned good. It has the original cable choke on it. The early motors dont time with a light, there is a little peep hole on the bellhousing about the size of a half dollar that you have to look into to see the timing marks on the flywheel. I may have to pull the motor out anyway, it has a nice oil leak at the front seal and most likely rear seal. Got to love an old sitting motor

DanStew · Jan 19, 2017

Well i had shoulder surgery the 29th of November. Finally i have been getting back into the garage to get back to work on the Jeep.
I tried to start it a few weeks ago and it would not really idle and it would real hard to keep it running.

I pulled the valve cover and found one stuck valve and antifreeze on one of the valve stems. So i hope it is a bad head gasket ad not a cracked block

I soaked all the bolts to the head and manifolds and got out the torch and heated the nuts and bolts up to remove everything. Luckily everything was able to be removed except for 2 bolts that broke but they were the exhaust bolts. so it is easy to deal with.

Everything is removed, just need to pop the head off the block, and then have to decide what needs to be done next with the valves.

DanStew · Jan 20, 2017

So i got the head off the block tonight.

I tapped the stuck valve with the bottom of my flashlight into place. Looking at everything it seems to be in rather good shape. Valves looks good, everything is just dirty. I am going to try the ATF/Acetone mixture and put it through the valve guides to clean them up and just scrub everything. Drop the oil pan to clean out the pan when i am done and replace the front crank seal. Assemble it and then see if it will run for me.

DanStew · Jan 21, 2017

I cleaned up the head and block checking for cracks. I did not find any. So that is good news. i pulled the valve keepers and the valves popped out and looked good.

The valves looked much the same. The shaft that rides in the guide is not corroded and smooth

Here are pics of the head and valve area where i had antifreeze in the valve galley and on the tappet of the intake valve. I did not see any cracks or issues

Now to start scrubbing scrubbing scrubbing the valves

LR Max · Jan 22, 2017

Do research. It looks like they've had hardened valve guides installed, but double check. Originally, lead fuel did the work, but without the lead, you'll have problem. Common issue with the rovers.

Since you've got the head off, just something to look at. Easier to fix now than later.

Otherwise you could look at lapping the valves and polishing the intake. It helps a little bit. Overall it'll still be underpowered as crap.

DanStew · Jan 22, 2017

Yeah i am not really putting and money into the motor. I cleaned it up, put the vavles back in and just finished putting head gasket and torquing it back down. All valves were opening and closing smoothly. It isnt a true restoration. If the motor is bad i will just "upgrade"

DanStew · Jan 29, 2017

Dropped the oil pan today. Found about a 1/2 inch of decades old sludge at the bottom the pan

So also found the pan was missing a total of 6 bolts in the front of the oil pan. Bottom end looked real clean though so that was a good feeling. Gonna clean the heck out of the pan. I decided that since it was just the oil pan leaking, i can get a way with not replacing the crank seal or timing cover. So that is gonna be less work

Now to get some rubber gloves and clean out the muck

DanStew · Feb 4, 2017

So i put everything back together. Filled up the fluids and go to crank it up, well had a discharged battery, was able to crank a bit before i had to recharge. Then i look under the engine and there is a pool of antifreeze

I checked my hoses for leaks, nothing and then i saw a leak down the side of the valve cover, i follow it up and it see the headgasket is leaking like mad

So now i need many drinks to take the edge off. I am a bit bummed now. I am a bit done now with this motor and i have to figure out what to do now. Part of me just wants to sell/trade the thing off. Other is just thinking about a different motor/tranny combo for it. Just in a very low place tonight. UGH!!

DanStew · Feb 5, 2017

Cranking the engine over i did not have any antifreeze shoot out of the holes. So that is a little bit reassuring. The fluid did not get in the cylinders. So i will recharge the battery again and try again to fire it up and get the temp up to see if it will seal itself up.

DanStew · Feb 28, 2017

Still fighting the Jeep. Just cant get it to run. I was getting it to "fire" and run maybe 2-3 seconds then die out.
Today i finally decided to get to the bottom of the timing. I have "timed it" to TDC using the factory marks on the flywheel.
I took a compression gauge and turned the crank until i got the real TDC.
Previous owner problem #1
The previous owner installed the flywheel 180 off.

Well the #1 spot was close to what i had, but I couldnt turn the distributer enough to make it work, i had interference with the oiling port.
With the Lhead the distributer doesnt have a "gear" on the bottom, it indexes with an offset slot to the oil pump.

I pulled the distributer to see how the oil pump is indexed.
I looked in the bore to see the oil pump slot, but there was something in there

This piece of metal was in the distributer bore. Not sure what it is, but it does not belong in there
PRevious owner problem #2
After that metal was extracted, I looked into the bore
And the oil pump was not indexed where it should have been, so i have to pull the pump and move it over a tooth or two.

That is previous owner problem #3
The oil pump was replaced at one point and the person did not index it correctly.

I looked at my distributer to see what i need to clean up on it. I oiled it, wire brushed and greased the body that goes in the engine block.
I pulled the points and hold down plate and then i see...
Previous owner problem #4
There is a missing mechanical advance spring.
This is not a problem now since i couldnt get the engine started, but it would have bugged the heck out of me in the future.

So waiting for the new springs to come in, the battery is charged and i have to get the oil pump off.
Maybe i can get the engine running soon..... crossing fingers.

DanStew · Mar 2, 2017

Finally got the oil pump off

Cleaned it up, made a new gasket and reinstalled it correctly.
I put the distributer in to see how it points and it is nice to see it pointing to where it should for cylinder #1

No i am waiting for the mechanical advance springs to arrive.
Ordered them from KaiserWillys who is about an hour from me, but of course when they sent them in the mail, they haaaaaad to go to atlanta first and then to me. So two days shipping from an hour away

highpockets · Mar 2, 2017

Hey Dan, I live 5 minites from Kaiser Willys in Aiken. If you ever need me to pick something up and bring it to the meetings I would be glad to do that.

DanStew · Apr 20, 2017

Still fighting the motor. I might be close, i found i had the incorrect bendix on the starter and it was not working well spinning the motor.
I replaced the bendix to the correct tooth count. It does seem to spin much better. It did start the first try with some starting fluid, and ran for like 4 sseconds.

I finally think i got the ignition down, i just have to continue battling on before i get the Rover to the house and this gets mothballed for a bit

DanStew · May 5, 2017

Well good things have happened. the Jeep starts every time now. The Brand new condensor i installed was bad. I threw in one from my old scout and the engine fired right up.
Smokes still but i just need to keep running it to see if i can get it to seal up.

And of course i saw some antifreeze under the Jeep. I assumed it was a loose hose clamp. Until i felt under the water pump. Yup it is time for it to die.

Yeah i am having trouble deciding which is the bad water pump

I guess the motor sis not have a hose on the water pump for a long time, i found bug stuff on the water pump impeller.

Now to work on the brakes, once they stop leaking i am ready for a test driver