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The Volvo-powered Willys CJ3a

Once again, I'm speechless.
And to think you're going to take this masterpiece where there's no pavement.
Spectacular work.
 
Drivetrain is DONE! I had my neighbor stop by last night to spin tires while I marked the high spots on the driveshafts, tapped them straight and tacked them, then I welded, cleaned, painted, and installed them this morning. I was even able to find the spline boots in my parts bin.

I got the D300 re-sealed and installed yesterday.

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Here’s a process-shot I took of the driveshaft weld. I gave them heavy tacks at four spots while on the rig, then grooved the joint on the bench between the tacks. I start each weld just after the tack, then finish the welds just before the next one. This prevents the tacks from getting too soft and allowing the cooling weld to deform the tack, knocking the shaft out of plane.

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If I don’t have a honey-do list this weekend, I should be able to take it for a test drive by Sunday!
:oogle:
 
Way to raise the bar on getting stuff done, I feel like a slacker hahaha. And done really well...Looking forward to hearing about a successful test ride!
 
Love it! Love it! Love it! No way I could do anything in this thread. So cool and excellent looking work.
I had a 1994 Wrangler YJ with the 4 angry squirrels in it. I ended up getting rid of the Jeep due to the need for a new rear end and a motor rebuild. I would have loved to have put a red block Volvo engine in that thing.
 
Drivetrain is DONE! I had my neighbor stop by last night to spin tires
You what?? :omg:

while I marked the high spots on the driveshafts,
Oh, in the air. For a few split seconds, I imagined someone creating black stripes of rubber on the garage floor... :lol: That image disappeared almost instantly, but it was fun while it lasted.

What an awesome job, a cauldron of creativity and attention to detail. Must feel good to be so close to trying it out.
 
Eeeeek,

Looks like you chopped an original MB right fender! They are worth quite a bit of cash to the WW2 restorers in good shape. In contrast, I tossed a pair of CJ3A fenders in the trash last summer since I couldn’t give them away.

Your build is awesome and truly staggering.
Please keep posting.

Patrick

KDsEVyj.jpg
 
I drove it!

I had a brake issue (leak) that kept me from having brakes before dark, so I couldn’t take it out for a road test. This was basically to test steering, cooling, trans and transfer case operation.

It feels really, really good. Very psyched. These are such great little engines.

https://youtu.be/UHTa4VuF0tc
 
I ran a new brake line, hooked up the sway bar, and raised the front end another inch.

I thought I had the brakes bled, but there is still air in there, so there is some funky pulling going on under hard braking.

Don’t laugh at getting stuck... they may look gnarly, but these tires are 20 yr old bias-ply dinosaur carcasses that get stuck in their own shadows. I don’t have t-case shifters made yet, so I couldn’t just flip it into 4WD.

And I know that vibration is annoying... it must’ve been in the camera mount because I didn’t hear it while driving.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JNjgRwED_9M" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
Eeeeek,

Looks like you chopped an original MB right fender! They are worth quite a bit of cash to the WW2 restorers in good shape. In contrast, I tossed a pair of CJ3A fenders in the trash last summer since I couldn?t give them away.

Your build is awesome and truly staggering.
Please keep posting.

Patrick

KDsEVyj.jpg

Thanks!
Yeah, I didn't realize what it was back when I started chopping. It wasn?t in great shape, so no great loss.

Such a huge milestone, that had to be a very rewarding drive. Now to get her all dialed in.

It just made me realize how much more work I have ahead of me. :-(
 
I found the elusive air bubbles in the right rear line, took it out for a drive, and the brakes are FANTASTIC. On loose gravel, the rears lock up just a hair before the fronts. I think I'll try to find more aggressive front pads/less aggressive rear pads before I mess with valving. It stops on a dime with minimal effort on pavement without rear lockup.

I found a problem I'll need to address: the harmonic balancer is a mess and will need replaced. The crank pulley wobbles like crazy, and I think it is spinning inside the rubber and it's preventing me from timing the engine properly.

I threw its clothes back on for a glamour shot to see how it sits with the front lifted. Better. (Although I?ll be back in the same boat again if I put a winch up front.)

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The next day, I found the cause of my moving timing mark on the crank pulley. The key that is cast into the timing belt pulley was sheared off, and it was allowing the pulley to spin freely on the crank.

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Luckily it?s made from steel (or cast iron); I was able to build it up with weld and file it to fit.

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This explains the weird feeling I was getting through the power steering. It was working great, just slower than I felt it should have been. I was chalking it up to the large pump pulley, but the steering pump wasn?t getting full power under load. It?ll be interesting to see how it feels now.

Also, I started on relocating the pull point on the clutch pedal to be closer to the pivot, and I decided to shorten the clutch cable. The stock length works, but it gets jammed in between the engine, cage and fender, making it sorta square. It won?t lend itself to longevity.

I can turn the section that fits into the bellhousing to adjust it way in (11? shorter will be a comfortable spot), cutting the casing, and shortening the cable.

So if I have cable failure and need a replacement out in the boonies, the stock size will fit, the shorter one will just work better.

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I got this done this morning. The clutch is sooo much better. I can push the pedal with one finger now, and engagement is proportionate to the pedal travel. I took pics of the process, but I apparently didn?t save them off of the photo app, so you just get finished result pics.

I couldn?t drill the cable out of the original tip, so I made a new identical one out of a bolt. I drilled a hole all the way through it, stuck the cable through so it stuck out about 1/8?, then welded the tip to the end of the cable. I then took a center punch and peened the rest of the length of the tip to pinch the cable. It should be pretty fail-safe between the two processes.

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I raised the cable attachment point as high as I could on the pivot arm and moved the cable mount.

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Here you can see how the shortening benefited. Before, the cable was jammed in against the engine and the cage post on the left, and stuck out from under the fender. It?ll fit inside now and touches nothing but where it rests on the frame.

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I also tested the steering, and it?s notably better, but still slow. I might choose to change out that pump someday. Revving doesn't affect performance, so I?m thinking it?s a relief valve issue.

Edit: Some quick searching shows that this pump is a basic GM type 2 pump. Cheap and plentiful.

It was set to put out 820-870 psi when coupled to a rack, and ~1100 psi when coupled to a gearbox. I?ll pull it apart when I get a chance to see what kind of shims are in it. It should be as simple as removing a few shims for higher pump pressure.
 
If you’re loosing PS assist while turning the wheel, you need to increase the flow of the pump. KRC has a full line of flow control fittings for type-2 Saginaw pumps.
 
If you?re loosing PS assist while turning the wheel, you need to increase the flow of the pump. KRC has a full line of flow control fittings for type-2 Saginaw pumps.

I wouldn?t say it?s a feeling of low-flow. Steering response is the same at idle or 3k rpm. It really feels like a pressure issue. Assist is there, it?s just weak. Even when at full lock left or right, the pump doesn?t strain/sound any different, or put a strain on the engine.

It has 225k miles of unknown abuse... the pump could also just be shot.
 
The pump may be just warn out, or the bypass/pressure relief may be held open by some dirt.
Where did you get the pressure numbers for the volvo 240 pump? They seem a bit lower than what I had found. I think the greenbooks say the operating pressure is 1100-1300psi for a 240 pump.

I can say that on my shop mates trail rig: that the volvo flow control valve, when used inside of a VW TDI PS pump, didn't have enough assist for a Toyota PS box and 33" tires. We drilled out the orifice to increase the assist. Gotta have good PS steering for the diesel Samurai trail rig.
 
It?s an ?87 740 pump. I just found the numbers for the pump on GM forums for the type 2 pumps. Not Volvo specific. Everything I read said that if it came behind a rack, it was valved for lower pressure.

On a separate note, I just looked it up in my old 1979- green book and found this in the steering section. Is that pump pressure? Or am I reading it wrong? That?s really low.

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I?ll pull it apart in the morning to see what?s going on in there.
 
Besides the box vs rack, there’s the Ford rack pressure and GM rack pressures, which are 850psi and 1100psi, I think.

The pressure in the manual is really low, maybe it’s measured at idle? Does the manual mention how and when that pressure should be?

Anyways, I love the work you’ve been doing. This is one of the best fabrication/build threads in a long while.
 
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