Before putting the tub on the chassis, I have a small punch list of items that I need to accomplish. Some projects must get done before the tub is on while others are just easier to do (to reach those tight areas!) while the tub is separated from the chassis.
One item was a small broken bolt stuck in the bell housing for the clutch inspection cover. Yes, it would have been A LOT easier to make that repair before I attached the bell to the engine and inserted it in the chassis, but I forgot about that one! Drilling it out was fairly straight forward, however, I needed to take particular care not to get any of the steel chips into the bell housing or let the end of the bolt fall in there. For that job, I entrusted Bubba's friend, Ol' Mr. Duct Tape. And a lot of it.
Another simple task was located the five spots that the wiring harness's clips get attached to on the underside of the tub. Two of the spots had small, broken screws inhabiting the holes. I anticipated having to drill them out, as well, but when I hit them with my centering punch they graciously popped into the hat channels. I then just re-tapped the holes and screwed in the clips. Just before plopping the tub on the chassis, I will run the main harness from the light switch to the rear tail lights. It runs the length of the tub and is darn near impossible to route with the tub on the frame.
Another task I wanted to do (but could be done with the tub on) is to place the eight washers alongside the upper and lower mounts of the shock absorbers. This was a bit of a challenge since I do not have the specific issued tool for the job. There are rubber insulators around the circumference of the mounts and the washers need to compress the rubber deep enough to be able to slide cotter pins into the retaining holes. For this, I got a bit creative with my garage tools. I ended up using a large clamp, the body of a pulley puller and on occasion, a wrench socket. It was a bit time consuming since the pulley puller body was only a fraction smaller than the diameter of the washers, so it kept wanting to slip off. The other tricky part was getting washer in place by the shock mount below the battery tray. My clamp could not reach that area, so I improvised with a large oak dowel that I had in the garage. Yes, it was totally a Bubba moment in disguise!
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I used the clamp and puller to press the washer to the shock absorber bushing in order to expose the cotter pin hole.
This picture shows a successful procedure with the cotter pin in place! |
The next big endeavor I set out upon was to clean up the push-pull light switch. Sorry to digress, but I'm going to spout out a bit of jeep history, first. The push-pull light switch was standard in all of the jeeps through June (give or take a few weeks for on-hand to stock to be used at the different manufacturing plants) 1944. It was replaced with a rotary switch. I've never been inside a push-pull switch, or a rotary switch now that I think about it. My good jeep is a '45 and has the rotary, but it was in fine shape so I never had to tinker(like Nora's favorite fairy) with it.
I tried my favorite watering holes for research before opening it up, but I was a bit disappointed at the lack of research available. Anyhow, I needed to do it and I guess I had nothing to lose with this one. I just took my time and tried to think each step through. Here is what I found...
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| There is a release mechanism that sit just behind the knob that I have already removed. However, the mechanism is missing the small push button for it. I have used a very tiny screwdriver and dremel wire wheel to work on the dirt and rust that was on the top and connections. |
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| Pretty much the same picture except in better light. There is still more surface cleaning needed. |
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| There were six small hooks that needed to be pried open: four on the corners and two in the middle. A pair of pliers did the trick very easily. The top is off. The top has a second piece with it. It is a flat board that fits perfectly on all of the round, brass connections (13 dots on the underside of the top). Evidently, there were a few different manufacturers of these switches and not all are alike. Some may have a third internal crossbar. |
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| The two cross bars are just sitting on springs and fall out very easily. I used emery paper to shine up the brass connections on the crossbars, as well as the connections on the underside of the top. |
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| I pulled the tray out and did a light cleaning. Mostly in there was a bit of old grease. It took me awhile to figure out how to get the sliding tray out. I won't bore you with the failures, but in the end, I finally realized that if you slightly raise the front end, it will pop out of the notches on the back end of the rail. These notches are visible if you look close enough. |
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| The interior is clean and I have the tray set up so as not to forget how it gets assembled. The spring area was cleaned up as best as I could and the shaft was taken to the wire wheel for a shining. Before assembling, I place a few drops of dielectric grease in the bottom of the tray and in the eight notches at the bottom of the interior box for better sliding. The trickiest part of the assembly process was making sure the spring loaded crossbars stayed in position while the top was compressed. I used pliers again to compress the six hooks into place to hold the top securely to the base. |
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| I have the multi-meter connected to the circuit breaker. I am a bit suspicious of this guy and it is just based on its rusty appearance. I cleaned it up and here I am testing the lines for continuity...and it is present. |
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In this picture, I am still checking for continuity, but I have separated the points. The connection is broken. That is good. Evidently, how this circuit breaker works is if it gets too hot, the spring loaded points pull away from each other. Then, as the circuit cools, the spring returns to its closed position. But will it work when it needs to?
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My punch list is slowly dwindling. All that is left is to dump some oil in the transmission and transfer cases, front and rear axles (yes, I should've done this a long time ago!) and then I would like to fill the brake lines with fluid and bleed them from air bubbles. Again, these things can be accomplished with the tub in place, but it will be easier with it off!
Speaking of oils...I learned yesterday of good, better and harmful oils to put into one's antique gear boxes and axles. YIKES! Currently I have the wrong stuff (if I am to believe the hype) in my good jeep. I'm dumping that crud out and putting the new stuff in both jeeps. Yes, of course it costs more $$, but if it is better for the parts, then in the long run it is worth it. And if it is hype, it won't do any harm except cost a few more dollars spread out over several years. But the gist of the hype is that today's modern gear oils have elements within them that will eat away at the brass and bronze fitting inside of the transmission. Those parts are getting more difficult to source and I would prefer to have them last until Jack and Nora inherit the jeeps! For those wondering what I bought:
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| Hypoid GL-5 80-90 wt. for the axles, GL 1 90wt for the transmission/transfer case and some Dot 5 synthetic for the brakes. |
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