little update... i got the rest of the frame welded up, cleaned, primed, and painted... glad to be done with that for now.
i left much of the inner portion unpainted for now, because i think i want to build one more set of plates to tie the
rectangular tube, the patch in front of it, and the factory boxing all together. and i'll be welding in motor mounts,
eventually. i also didn't paint much at the very front of the frame due to my front axle relocation... i'll be using
superlift 1" rear springs at all 4 corners.
i'm trying to figure out the best way to incorporate a winch mount, frame extensions, and a saginaw conversion all into
one tidy setup. the inside of the frame rails are approximately 2-3/4", so i figured with a 1/4" plate to serve as a
winch mount, that leaves me with 2-1/2"... trouble is, they don't make 2-1/2" tube. they DO make receiver hitch stock,
however. this is reallly heavy wall stuff, that would actually work pretty well to mount the box itself to, no need to
worry about piercing the frame and reinforcing the holes with heavy wall tubing.
i also started messing with this rear axle i picked up... the BOM says it's either a 1969 or 1970 housing with 4.89 gears.
one piece, 30 spline axle shafts... i figure this is about the best rear i can come up with, since i'll be keeping the
dana 18 transfer case.
i ordered up my springs and all related necessities to mount my axle sometime soon... and tomorrow i'll be headed to SLC
to pick up a set of wide-trac axles for my brother's CJ7. i will then rob his narrow-trac 30 for this jeep. i figure
with chromoly shafts, it should be able to handle 35s.
looks like i need to start saving up for all my adapters to get this drivetrain together... man this stuff is expensive!
i'm also having a hard time tracking down a flywheel for the buick motor... i see that AA offers one, they say it weighs
29 pounds. is it true that the original v6 CJ5s had a 75 pound flywheel? shame, i went to grab the one out at the
junkyard (where i got the axle) and someone had already robbed it, and all the associated clutch parts as well. i'd
really like to hold out for the heavy flywheel, if at all possible.
i think that i want to run a few tests on the buick before i pull it... compression/leakdown, etc. just to get an idea of
what kind of shape the motor is in. i figured that it'd be better to have a means of keeping it mobile until i know that
i'm ready to put it in between the frame rails.