Idle hands: assorted projects

[UnderControl]

Teardown continues.

 

 

 

With the rockers out I thought I'd start pulling the chains before I remembered that access to the rear lower sprocket and guide bolts are blocked.

 

 

I had initially planned to try to a compression test on the stand so left the flex plate and backing plate on the engine. You can see the bottom of the lower sprocket access plug poking out under the backing plate.

Edited May 15, 2025 by UnderControl

[ggzilla]

what a freaky looking engine. Are those cam lobes pressed onto the shaft?

[datzenmike]

If like GM, the lobes are positioned on the 'pipe' then a slightly larger steel ball is pushed through the hole in the pipe expanding it and gripping the lobes.

[UnderControl]

9 hours ago, ggzilla said:

what a freaky looking engine.

 

I'll blame it on ze Germans. I haven't even gotten to the really weird bit of the 2 piece oil pan/main girdle/windage tray.

 

1 hour ago, datzenmike said:

If like GM, the lobes are positioned on the 'pipe' then a slightly larger steel ball is pushed through the hole in the pipe expanding it and gripping the lobes.

 

A wealth of information as always.

[UnderControl]

Threw the rockers back in and sort of kinda got a compression test done. First hole blew the diaphragm in the gauge so it wouldn't hold a number, but would still move the needle. The 5th hole blew the hose, so I'm going to say compression is fine. Got the backing plate pulled, but apparently I don't have any external torx bits so the flex plate remains for now.

 

 

I've got access to what I need for the moment so this is fine.

[UnderControl]

If this thread isn't evidence of my ADD, I don't know what is. Higher on the priority list is getting my proper truck fully mechanically sound. So before I make the shop unusable I'll go ahead and do the steering and suspension rebuild on the square body.

 

 

 

Would have been really handy to have an extra couple of wheel dollies, or to at least have remembered that I had furniture dollies in the corner. Getting the axle out with the tires on was a treat.

[UnderControl]

Continued on with disassembly. Springs, bar and pitman arm came out without any strife. Getting the bushings pressed out was exciting. But, they're out so the springs are ready for cleaning, fresh paint and bushings.

 

 

[UnderControl]

Finally found something that's decided to fight me. Weird that a spindle that hasn't been off in 40 years might be a touch rust welded to the knuckle.

 

 

[UnderControl]

Managed to get both spindles off. All of the bearings appear to be in good shape, but definitely getting replaced anyway since I'm in here. I'll need to pick up an 1-5/16" socket for the upper ball joint nuts. Hopefully the lower nuts come off without much struggle since I don't see a good way of getting an impact on them.

 

 

[datsunfreak]

8 hours ago, UnderControl said:

Hopefully the lower nuts come off without much struggle since I don't see a good way of getting an impact on them

 

 

Box end wrench and a cheater pipe. With plenty of heat applied beforehand.  😁

[UnderControl]

Yeah, also been soaking everything down with blaster for the last week or so. So far all of the hardware has come off reasonably well. The tricky bit will be not knocking it off the jack stands, or I could proactively just set it on the floor.

[datsunfreak]

4 hours ago, UnderControl said:

I could proactively just set it on the floor.

 

I would. 😁

[UnderControl]

All of the ball joint nuts came off no problem. Left the axle on the stands to test and just a light tap from the mallet on the end of a long wrench broke the lowers free and the impact zipped the uppers right off. Now I just need to get the ball joints and the steering arm separated from the knuckles. It does appear that at least the driver's side had ball joints replaced at some point since I'm pretty sure gm doesn't factory install moog components.

 

 

That steering arm is really stuck on there. While it continues to soak I went ahead and started cleaning up parts. Managed to find a 10 bolt under all that grease, dirt and rust.

 

 

[UnderControl]

At some point I probably knew that the steering arm was held on with tapered inserts. Comes off much easier when you remember that detail.

 

 

Got the steering box pulled out as well so now it's just a matter of getting everything cleaned and painted before reassembly.

[UnderControl]

Great day for some spring cleaning...and some other parts. Got several things coated with some rust converter as primer. Considering picking up some tractor paint so I can actually play with that paint gun I picked up a while back. Otherwise I'll just go through 6 cans of engine enamel.

 

 

Also ran out to the junk yard to snag an xj steering shaft that was intended to be a mostly bolt in swap to eliminate the rag joint. Apparently that only applies to the early xjs because this later version is splined on both sides vs splined on one side and double d on the other. We'll see if I decide to hack this one up to work or get another.

 

 

[UnderControl]

Getting to the point of needing to remind myself that I'm not actually restoring this thing at the moment. So, while somethings are going to be good enough I think I'll go ahead and whip up replacements for the dust shields around the spindles.

 

 

And the axle housing is 100% gud enuff to start painting.

 

 

Current plan for the steering shaft is to get the incompatible u joint knocked off and replace it with a weld on unit that has the correct double d fixing.

[UnderControl]

Got a couple coats of paint on the first side of various bits. 

 

 

Got a replacement u joint order and the incompatible one removed. May need to shorten the shaft a little, but that will have to wait until the new one comes in. 

 

 

Also knocked out the first replacement dust shield.

 

 

I'm choosing to ignore the few holes in the rotor sheilds.

[UnderControl]

Cleaning and painting fest continues. And got the other dust shield replacement made. The rotor shield on this side is a bit more swiss cheesed. May try and patch it up, but I'm not super optimistic about being able to weld to the surrounding areas.

 

 

[Rustbin]

Rust is really hard to weld, it's easier to bang another piece of metal into shape.

[UnderControl]

Yeah the holes on this one are too big to bother just trying to fill with weld. My bigger concern is how far I'll have to go to find metal that isn't so compromised that it just melts away when trying to weld in a patch piece. I'm definitely not remaking the whole thing. Brazing with silicone bronze could be an option.

 

Mostly I'm weighing how lazy I want to be about it. When the time comes to do a more proper restoration on this truck I'll go ahead and make or source full replacements or upgrade the brakes and make the original brackets/sheilds moot. 

[datsunfreak]

Rotor shields always go in the bin. 😁

[UnderControl]

^ This has been my m.o. until now. In this case they're spot welded to the caliper brackets so, either trimming or patching them will be faster/easier.

Edited May 30, 2025 by UnderControl

[datsunfreak]

😁

[Rustbin]

Around here I would suggest running with Swiss cheese rather than nothing because of the rain and crap that gets thrown up but in Texas you might be better off without one.

Throwing some black paint on them till you find/make replacements might be fine.

[UnderControl]

Dust shields will be remaining, if nothing else they held all of the dirt and debris from getting down into the parts that matter. While I have no intention of actually wheeling this truck, still have the xj for that, it will see occasional dirt and gravel use.

 

Just a couple things left to clean and paint before it can all start getting put back together. Did the the new u joint welded on after cutting down the shaft by ~1.5". Haven't bothered taking pictures of much since it's basically watching paint dry.