The rear axle is all but finished as far as painting goes. After putting the second coat on the differential cover, it’s just about time to button it all up. I’ll be putting in an order for a differential cover gasket, I’ve already purchased new fastening hardware, and the only thing I’ll need after that is some differential oil. While I’m happy to be nearing completion on the finishing of the axle, I’m slightly less happy with the way the semi-gloss POR15 dried. When I chose to purchase the semi-gloss over the gloss, I was hoping for a finish similar…
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It took two days due to the incredible heat and humidity limiting how much time I felt like spending outside, but I did get the brakes completely removed and the first coat of POR15 on a majority of the axle. I received my puller early last week, and it sure make a huge difference having an appropriately sized tool. The two that I had borrowed from my father-in-law were far too small to fit around my studs. After lubing the center screw, mounting pulling arms and center body, and getting the anvil wrench on, I went to town pounding. It only…
Comments closedSince I didn’t get my puller in time to pull the hubs this weekend, the Jeep work became more cleanup work than anything else. I finally cut off the rear tube that was maybe supposed to be a flag holder so that the frame would sit evenly while upside down on the stands. Since it was upside down, I pulled off the 4 axle bumpers from the frame. It’s an unfortunate reality that many vintage Jeep frames have extreme rust where the axle bumpers meet the frame. In what is sure to be one of the few times where I…
1 CommentAfter finding out late last night (when the temp outside finally hit a “cool” 88˚) that the puller I was able to borrow from my father in law wasn’t going to work, I was a little bummed. I’ll have to order one online in order to keep working on the axle, hopefully I’ll have it delivered before next weekend. This morning (again when the temp outside was a cool 80˚ at 7am) my dad came over to get the flywheel from his 1955 Chevy Pickup sand blasted. Since I was going to do some blasting, I think it ended up…
Comments closedIn what seemed like a near eternity between the last time I was able to work on Ike, I finally got the rear axle up on the bench to start cleaning it up. After scraping about a pound of grease and dirt from the differential housing and axle tubes, I opened up the differential cover. After talking to a local driveline shop, I decided that at least the rear end would be well within my ability level to get going again. The guy basically said that when I open the thing up, it will be pretty obvious if I need…
2 CommentsIn this case “Dropping a Greasy Deuce” may not be what you think it is.
4 CommentsToday was a pretty good Jeep work day. After the dogs so graciously woke me up nice and early, I headed out to the garage. Yesterday I got a tie rod puller from AutoZone under their Loan-a-tool program. The puller was still a bit too big, but much smaller than the one I got from Harbor Freight. It fit well enough to get the tie rod end off the driver’s side knuckle, but still didn’t seem to be able to get a good grip on the joint. Luckily, that didn’t stop me. After a little clever repositioning, I got the…
1 CommentAnd we have always been at war with Eastasia. Wow, it’s been really dead on this blog lately. It appears that the whole working so you have money to work on the Jeep has been really getting in the way of wasting hours in the garage tearing into a 60 year old Jeep. Fortunately, the big project that I’ve been working on for nearly a year at the new place of employment has finally come to a close. That means that my weekends should start becoming mine again. I’ve been on a much needed vacation from work the last few…
1 CommentIt took a little longer than I had hoped to get to this point, but I finally got the engine removed this past Saturday. After dealing with a death in the family Easter weekend, Saturday was the first real Jeep day I had. Fortunately, it was well worth the wait. After spending about an hour beating the hell out of the flywheel trying to get it to move, I called in reinforcements to help. I couldn’t keep the flywheel moving enough and still beat the back of it to keep the progress going. After a trip from my dad I…
Comments closedDue to an emergency trip to work and a family birthday dinner this evening, my available Jeep time was pretty limited. Fortunately I got enough done earlier this weekend, I was able to just take my time and get a few small items done and still feel relatively accomplished. Since I was able to get the head nuts un-stuck and the transmission and bell housing removed, I set my sights on the oil filter canister (and it’s slightly awe inspiring bubba mod bracket) and the clutch pressure plate and the drive plate. Unfortunately, the fly wheel is going to need…
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