Project: Tetanus Shot - 1948 Willys

[OnlyOneDR]

Wow, haven't checked in on your thread in a couple years now. If I am following this correctly, the only part you used from the Jeep you bought from me is a section of the dash where the gauges go? Mine still sits right about where you saw it three years ago. I bought more parts for it, but no actual work performed.

Nice work.

 

[YJJPWrangler]

Bringing this back to the top. Took a break from it to focus on some woodworking projects as well as house projects over the holidays. Decided to get back to it.

Exhaust is completely done. I finished welding the rest of it on Saturday and got it installed. I think I might need to add one more exhaust hanger right in front of the muffler but it looks good and everything just barely clears.

I also got the rear floor pan bolted in. It looks much better and is a lot more secure.

Still having issues with the slave/linkage. Waiting on a friend to come over and help since he has some ideas but they just had a baby so it will be a while.

@OnlyOneDR sadly yes, the original that I bought from you had a lot of rust and cancer everywhere. I still have the frame, hood, windshield, and tailgate. I'm going to try and use the hood on the current jeep though.

 

[YJJPWrangler]

Well a bit of good news/bad news.

The good news first.

@getstucksome came over this evening and we got the slave moving more or less the full stroke length. I decided to redo my slave mount after looking at hundreds of others on line. I noticed that the mount was pulling the slave down and towards the tranny. I did some quick measurements and reworked it and now the slave is operating at its full stroke length. I guess the old mount was binding it just enough to not want to operate.

Bad news, BOTH of my wilwood pull slaves are junk. They both bubble air out of the main body of the slave. The reviews on Summit were mixed. Some got good ones, others were bad.

Guess I'll give these guys a shot as they are in Mooresville

UNIVERSAL PULL SLAVE CYLINDER | Carolina Racing Supply

Same stroke length as the wilwood too.

In other news, I had to pull the top cover off the SM420 as the shift gates somehow got misaligned? Super easy to do and allows me to rework the trans tunnel to a better fit. All the gears inside the trans were nice and clean with no chipped teeth.

 

[a_kelley]

So the whole problem was the slave binding? It actuates the fork now, even though it's leaking? Congrats! I'm certain you'll remember this for the next time someone has a similar issue.

 

[R Q]

That's great news!

 

[YJJPWrangler]

So the whole problem was the slave binding? It actuates the fork now, even though it's leaking? Congrats! I'm certain you'll remember this for the next time someone has a similar issue.

Correct, the slave moves back and forth now along "most" of its full stroke. The new mount places it about 1" further away from slave and 3/4" taller. The thought occurred to me this morning that I probably blew both slaves myself by installing it on the old mount

I can see the fork push against the clutch diaphragm now but both slaves are definitely leaking air(confirmed via Windex) around the main body of the slave. Both slaves are lacking that last little bit of travel due to the leakage.

I yelled when the slave moved back and forth the first time, @getstucksome thought the slave leaked brake fluid all over me...

 

[paradisePWoffrd]

That is awesome for sure!! And here I just wrote a long overly complicated solution to a problem that didnt exist.

 

[YJJPWrangler]

So new slave is in and working properly. Doesn't leak and I'm getting a full 1" of travel out of it.

Clutch still won't disengage. I have adjusted my pedal to provide more fluid capacity but that didn't change anything. I am now thinking that I need a new clutch fork. The cast fork is supposed to provide longer travel than the stamped one(which I have). This is the cast.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/atp-za104/overview/make/chevrolet

Still should work with my T/O bearing and my pivot ball. Anybody got any ideas?

@a_kelley , @paradisePWoffrd

 

[a_kelley]

So it's maxing out the travel on the fork?

Did you verify that you could achieve release with the 2x4 and pry bar? (Turn output shaft with engine off)

 

[a_kelley]

One thought would be to move the application point towards the pivot if you aren't getting full actuation of the fork/TO that you can get manually. (Only if the fork is not bottomed out of travel)

If the fork travel is bottomed out, you'll need either a longer throwout bearing or a different fork that doesn't bottom out as soon. (This would be the case if you can't manually actuate it and achieve release)

 

[R Q]

For what it's worth we had to cut my throwout fork and bend and weld for a better angle for full movement.

 

[rockcity]

Why not use a hydraulic release bearing? That would eliminate any issues with alignment and the slaves.

 

[YJJPWrangler]

@a_kelley I can and have manually disengaged the clutch with a prybar and 2x4(engine off, transmission in 1st gear, pry the clutch fork and can spin the trans output. I don't believe the clutch fork is bottoming out. So are you saying I need to move the slave closer to the pivot point on the clutch fork? I would assume that would decrease the amount of force the slave would output on the clutch fork.

@R Q , yeah I saw where you cut and rewelded it. Your suggestion to use a pass side manifold on the drivers side is a good one but it would interfere with the steering shaft.

@rockcity, I am starting to lean that way but am new to hydraulic release bearings. I found this one.

GM Stock Clutch Hydraulic Throwout Bearing

Looks like it will work with the Sm420.

 

[a_kelley]

So are you saying I need to move the slave closer to the pivot point on the clutch fork? I would assume that would decrease the amount of force the slave would output on the clutch fork.

yes. It would increase pedal effort but increase amount of travel of the throwout bearing. That is assuming that when the clutch is fully depressed it does not move the fork as far as the 2x4 & prybar did to achieve full release. Make sense?

 

[YJJPWrangler]

Reviving this thread from the dead...

New throwout bearing should be here tonight. Plan is to drop the transmission and swap it out and then reinstall. From Pirate, a lot of those guys said my T/O bearing is from a car and recommended me to get this one.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/tmk-g1625c

Apparently there are 3-4 different types of T/O bearings for the Sm420. You have the car version(what I have, the smallest) and then you have 3 different truck versions. I picked the middle of the 3 and went with that one.

 

[YJJPWrangler]

Pretty sure I found the issue....


Bearing on the right was the original. Bearing on the left is the new one. I'm also going to be ordering a new clutch fork today as well. Hope to get it buttoned back up today/this weekend if possible. This should fix the issue. With the old bearing I was only getting about 1/8" contact on the clutch fingers. New one is a lot larger in diameter and also length.

 

[R Q]

View attachment 313937

Pretty sure I found the issue....


Bearing on the right was the original. Bearing on the left is the new one. I'm also going to be ordering a new clutch fork today as well. Hope to get it buttoned back up today/this weekend if possible. This should fix the issue. With the old bearing I was only getting about 1/8" contact on the clutch fingers. New one is a lot larger in diameter and also length.

So I'm gonna be a dick I guess, Have you solved the issue of the clutch/slave/linkage binding issue? I thought that it was the last known cause/issue?

 

[YJJPWrangler]

So I'm gonna be a dick I guess, Have you solved the issue of the clutch/slave/linkage binding issue? I thought that it was the last known cause/issue?

Dick . The slave issue has been sorted out. I redid the mount and it doesn't bind anymore from what I can tell. I installed the new T/O bearing and the new cast fork and it still doesn't shift with the slave.

On a positive note, I can actuate the fork with a prybar by hand a LOT easier now. The new T/O bearing took up all the slop of the old one. I have about 1/8" or so of free play in the fork as opposed to 1/2" with the old one.

With the slave hooked up, it is very hard to depress the pedal. I can see the slave pull the fork back but its still not enough to disengage the clutch.

So, baby steps I guess, the new setup allows me to manually engage the T/O bearing a lot easier but still having issues with the slave. I'm thinking its air in the lines or my pedal travel now.

 

[YJJPWrangler]

Well, it works

Friday, started messing with it. I measured and found I only needed 1/2" of fork travel to disengage the clutch. I was getting 1.5" of travel from the slave. So i re-bled the slave, adjusted the travel on the pedal and reinstalled the slave.

And. It. Worked.

Couldn't believe it, had to test it 100 times to make sure I was correct. The pedal is very stiff(new clutch) but thats to be expected. I reinstalled the transfer case and the driveshafts. Put it up on jackstands and tried to crank it.

It hasn't been cranked in a month or so so I had some issues getting it to start, but I eventually got it to start and I can spin all 4 tires in 4 high. While testing, I found out that a good negative battery cable is essential.

Got a new negative cable installed and also got all my brake lines parts sourced thanks to @getstucksome. Brake system is plumbed and I am in the process of bleeding it now. I still need to get a new radiator as the one I have has a hole in it but its getting close...

 

[Brownsxj]

Congratulations!

 

[R Q]

Congrats!

 

[YJJPWrangler]

I hate bleeding brakes and being covered in brake fluid. I'm running stock wagonner calipers in the front and wanted to run 78 Eldorado calipers in the rear due to the added parking brake. The fronts bled great and had great lockup but it took hours to bled the rears. I was getting consistent fluid at the rears but it would not compress the pistons. Did a lot of reading and researching and found that a lot of people had issues with the Eldorado calipers and the parking brake. Decided to ditch them and run 1980 Monte Carlo calipers(My rear disc conversion specifies either of these calipers). The Monte Carlo calipers dont have a parking brake feature so I guess I'll carry a wheel chock at some point.

Got the rears hooked up and success. I have all 4 discs locking up. However, I am going to have to replace my master. I can't remember what it came off of but I do know I bought it based on Pirates recommendations in the Willys forum.

Right now I have the front reservoir hooked up to the front and the back reservoir hooked up the rear. I know this is not the correct configuration. Right now with the brake pedal depressed, I can turn the fronts with a lot of effort and a big pry bar. I can't turn the rears at all. So I'm thinking its a volume issue. I also dont have the brake booster hooked up and I dont know if this would make it work better or not?

While its on jackstands with the tires off, I'm going to go through and clean up and mount all my brake lines plus lube everything(TREs etc). I'll be ordering a new radiator this week and should be able to drive it soon(with a 5 gal bucket for a seat...)

 

[YJJPWrangler]

Got some more done this evening. Getting back to my 1hr a night in the garage on the Willys plan. Got the rear buttoned up and the tires back on. Secured/reran all my fuel lines, brake lines, fuel pump wires etc, looks a lot better now. Got the front mostly buttoned up in terms of brake line routing but still haven't mounted the tires yet. Mounted the reservoirs for the front shocks(finally). Greased all the TRE's on the front. Going to order the radiator on Friday and I should be able to get it running well and out of the garage very soon!

Even if I'm sitting on a 5 gal bucket for a seat...

 

[YJJPWrangler]

Radiator is here and in. It's about 1/2" taller than the old one but just barely clears everything. Got the jeep running last weekend and I have great oil pressure and the temp was climbing steadily to operating temperature. I was " " this close to pulling it out but I noticed that I couldn't turn the wheels. Turns out the pump was dry. Filled it up and had a pretty good leak from the steering box and then the high pressure line blew . Got a new line made and I pulled my steering box apart and found a shredded O-ring on the adjuster plug. Replaced the O-ring and got the box back together. I guess it got shredded when I took the box apart to tap it. Should not leak at all now.

In other news, I'm picking up the DOM for the cage today from Race City Steel in Denver . Cheapest price I could find in the area

 

[YJJPWrangler]

It’s out under its own power steering and brakes! Pretty damn sketchy with a 5 gal bucket for a seat but it’s a start! Pics coming soon!