My '69 Bronco

[hannibal61577]

Been making some more progress. Bolted the front driver fender and grille on to see how it looked:

Getting the firewall ready for insulation. I now have the insulation and a test fit shows that every hole for the clips is off in one direction or another - some more than others. All other holes and cutouts seem to be right on.

I guess the bearing was shot in the old water pump.

Ordered up another water pump and put it in:

Fixed a broken wire in this spaghetti:

Got some more stuff bolted in the engine compartment - alternator/ wiring harness, fan, fan shroud, radiator and battery

I also got the driver's door painted:

 

[hannibal61577]

Been awhile since I posted an update, did a lot of little things. I got the firewall painted and put in the insulation. Still have to glue in the top piece

I rehung my door, but don't have the guts in it yet. I'm going to buy a new set of locks and am waiting on that

The threaded holes where the door limiter strap bolts to the kick panel were boogered up so I welded some nuts in there. Should work for awhile. In addition, I did some work on the drivers floor where the seat bolts. Welded some extra holes closed

I also tore the drivers seat apart - what a pain that was. Still need to do some work on the frame and sliders. One of these days I need to buy the foam and seat covers.

I was waiting on a spot weld cutter, so I cut out the old passenger side rocker panel

Once I got my spot weld cutter, I was able to get the rest of the old one out and pop in the new one

And, the rocker panel pretty much done

 

[markperry]

Welcome, your not wasting any time! I like it!

 

[abe_froman]

Damn man. You have made some huge strides! Keep it coming.

 

[mavereq]

nice work so far. looks good man.

 

[mavereq]

what are you spraying with?

 

[Justafordguy]

Lookin great so far. Keep the pictures coming.

That's also a nice Willis. Looks like you have another old jeep project also. I'm in the middle of a frame off on a 53 right now myself.

 

[hannibal61577]

what are you spraying with?

Sorry for the very late reply, but for now, I'm just rattle canning it. Things came out really good for spray paint until I got fancy and tried to put a clear coat on. Then I got some splotches like I'd expect with spray paint. Anyway, the plan is to run it for a couple years then eventually I will take the time to spray it correctly.

That's also a nice Willis. Looks like you have another old jeep project also. I'm in the middle of a frame off on a 53 right now myself.

What kind of jeep are you working on? That spare frame sitting in the background is a '53 - used the tub from it to finish my '63.

 

[hannibal61577]

I've decided to attempt to repair my windshield frame. It will be a slow progress, but I got some done:

I sprayed the dash with a heavy duty tractor paint. Color is some sort of International off white:

I ordered the JBG fresh air vent repair kit and epoxied that on - I hope correctly:

Before:

I was finally able to get some headlight adjusters installed without breaking them, so I finally installed my grille:

And I finished up my firewall insulation, bolted in the pedals, connected up the clutch and installed the air vent:

I'll be working on the passenger fender and door next and getting the dash installed. Also will be ordering the foam and upholstery for the seats, but that will have to be over a couple of paychecks

 

[66ALRIDE]

Looking good with the rattle can job. Go ahead and spray some flat black on those pedals while you're at it. Glad to see it coming along so quickly.

 

[hannibal61577]

Looking good with the rattle can job. Go ahead and spray some flat black on those pedals while you're at it. Glad to see it coming along so quickly.

Thanks! Yeah, the rattle can paint isn't coming out too bad. You are totally right about the pedals. I took them back out and sprayed them. Much better now ;D

I also installed the dash today:

 

[Stutsmo]

Looks like you making quick work of it. Looks good!;D

 

[hannibal61577]

Looks like you making quick work of it. Looks good!;D

Thanks! I know it's not going to be perfect, but I want to get it running and be able to enjoy it a bit. Then I can do projects on it as I get time.

Made a bit more progress this weekend. I got the passenger's fender painted. Had to do a bit of body work: weld up some small tears and fix some Bondo spots.

While waiting for the paint to dry, I put some controls, switches and the instrument cluster in the dash. I was even able to install the tricky ignition switch (was already apart when I got it) I had to come inside and jump on this site to do some searching. ;D

I also installed the wiring harness under the dash. There was much cursing and gnashing of teeth But most of it's connected (after I took the photo below, of course).

 

[hannibal61577]

Well, I have the under-dash wiring harness mostly installed. I still need a new emergency flasher switch, and also need to hook up the fuel gauge switch, heater and steering column.

I've removed the old upholstery and foam from the driver's seat. Need to fix some cracks/tears in the frame and then paint. I bought the foam - still need the hog rings/ pliers.

I got the passenger fender bolted on

Then, I decided to tear down the steering column and rebuild that. A quick search on this site told me how to remove the horn button; wasn't hard after that

Cleaned and painted up the column and put in new bearings top and bottom and a new rubber boot

And last thing I did today was to put the column in place

 

[DirtDonk]

Like the paint color. I rattle-canned some Home Depot "Hunter Green" in my engine compartment and I'm gettin' to liking the color a lot. My original was more like your color.
What is it called by the way?

And is the '53 an old Navy Jeep by any chance? The high hood reminds me of the type. CJ2A maybe? Now where's that old Jeep chart I used to keep around here...

I like how you're painting up just where you've finished too. Kind of like keeping track of your progress.
But hey, with all that work, and obviously a bit of money thrown in here and there as well, I'm thinking that you should have spend your time cursing at a brand new wiring harness instead of the old one. Even if yours is in good functional shape, the time and money would be well spent installing new.
And it's not too late...

Paul

 

[hannibal61577]

Thanks Paul. The paint is Rustoleum's "Dark Hunter Green." I've been picking it up for $3.50-ish per can at Walmart.

I don't think the Willys was a military jeep. It was a hacked up trail rig when I got it. The high hood is the CJ3B - they added 4 inches to the cowl and hood to fit the new F-134 Hurricane engine under there. Began production in 1953 and was quickly overshadowed by the CJ-5 which began production in 1955.

A new wiring harness is definitely on the list, but just not right now. The next large purchase for me is a $1,000 overdrive for the Willys. After that, I need to get to rebuilding a spare engine I have sitting around for it. Since I never drove an EB before, my priority is just to get it running, drive it around a little bit to get a feel for it. Then I will figure out what projects I want to tackle

Way too many projects and not nearly enough time. ;D

 

[Justafordguy]

What kind of jeep are you working on? That spare frame sitting in the background is a '53 - used the tub from it to finish my '63.

My 53 project is an M38A1. I got the chassis finished and now need to do the body. Unfortunately it's been put on the back burner for now because I just started a complete restoration on a 1942 Ford 9N tractor.;D

 

[hannibal61577]

My 53 project is an M38A1. I got the chassis finished and now need to do the body. Unfortunately it's been put on the back burner for now because I just started a complete restoration on a 1942 Ford 9N tractor.;D

Nice! LOL - you start new projects before finishing the old ones, too? ;D

 

[hannibal61577]

Here are some updates from the past two weekends. I got the steering column fully installed now. Shifts through all gears nice and smooth.

Welded up the extra holes in the passenger floor and drilled holes for stock seats. Primed and painted the floor.

Although I put it off as long as I could, I finally got around to fixing the driver's seat frame and slide rails. Used my $25 sand blaster to get rid of some rust and welded up some broken spots. Finally sprayed the frames black.

I also restored the heater:

Here it is completed. It would be installed already, but I decided it would be better to wait until I order the new defroster ducts and put them in.

I ordered a backup light switch and installed that, so I was able to install the power brake booster.

Finally, I sanded up the hood and got a coat of primer on it.

I bought a new emergency flasher switch and the threaded part that comes through the dash broke from the switch body. Cheap junk. I'll look for a used one when I head over to the local EB graveyard ;D

 

[hannibal61577]

Got it running!

Didn't take much to get her running after I figured out a couple bone head mistakes..... like, say, coil to distributor wire needs to be connected

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTIAkv5sx3A

Now I gotta figure out which rebuild kit I need and get it done. Carb is already off the engine.