1970 Jeep Gladiator 1 Ton 6BT 12V Cummins Build

[Resbum]

COMPLETELY OFF TOPIC TIDBIT OF INFO

I just got asked this in another thread, so I thought I'd post my answer here, also.

Is your avatar jeep related??? I can't tell what it is.

Only Jeep related in relation to my FSJ build. That's why I chose it.

The picture was originally on a box for some sunglasses I bought. Can't remember the brand. I thought it was cool so I scanned it into my computer.

It's an atom bomb mushroom cloud coming out of the top of a guys head. Which perfectly represents how I've felt at times while fabricating my truck.

Resbum

[ross80truck]

Great idea on the turbo! I was thinking of doing the same thing on my Waggy when I get that point. I am eager to see how yours turns out. With building my rig so I can take the family in it, I know I am going to need to keep the heater and AC. Take good pictures of that turbo setup please for the rest of us.

[Resbum]

Rough fabrication of the dash mounted Gauge housing

Woo Hoo! The Danhard underdash heater came yesterday afternoon. More on that soon.

While I was waiting on the heater I did the rough fabrication on the gauge housing that will sit on top of the dashboard. I'll finish it once I have the steering wheel and seat positions finalized, so that I can position it to see all the gauges over the steering wheel.

Started out with a 2 1/2" mandrel bent exhaust piece I had and a sheet of sheetmetal of the same thickness. Cut the bend flush with one of the inside sides.


Then, cut it down the middle.


Next, clamp the sheetmeatal onto the 4" exhaust and bend it around 90 degrees


Use a cutoff wheel and cut several slits into the inside radius and work the metal so it flattens out


Starting at the bent ends, tack the sheetmetal between mandrel bent pieces, working really slowly to keep heat to almost nothing. Rarely over what hurts to touch

[Resbum]

Eventually you get to this point.


And end up with this. I'll finish it while working on the dashboard.

[lobie]

Nice

[Mudbull]

Lobie is ahead of all of us and has done his gauges. He's using the same tach I am and posted how he installed the pick up sensor in post 217 of his thread.

Resbum

Sorry to bring this back up again, but im trying to figure out how to wire my tach as well and had a quick question: Lobie has a 1st gen 6bt but from the pictures it looks like you have a 2nd gen; the second gen has a crank sensor that sends two pulses per rev. So why are you using the isspro pickup/magnets, is the dodge unit not compatable with the gauge?

[Resbum]

Sorry to bring this back up again, but im trying to figure out how to wire my tach as well and had a quick question: Lobie has a 1st gen 6bt but from the pictures it looks like you have a 2nd gen; the second gen has a crank sensor that sends two pulses per rev. So why are you using the isspro pickup/magnets, is the dodge unit not compatable with the gauge?

Yep, you're right. I posted about it in #135. Someone I know pointed it out to me. The Dodge sensor works.

I'm at the shop posting from my phone. With luck I should have pics of the wipers install posted later tonight or in the AM.

Resbum

[Resbum]

Well, I finally have something to update. It's been a long two weeks of planning, waiting on parts to arrive, and doing odds and ends. Wednesday I got 5 UPS packages and 1 FedEx package.

I got started with the new windshield wipers. I really, really like this setup from Specialty Power Windows. The switch that came with it has washer, intermittent/delay, slow and fast settings in it. The Ol' Jeep got a touch of modernization!


Robbie and Keith, at SPW, were also really into customers(me) doing mods to suit their needs. After looking at everything, taking some measurements, and a couple phone calls, I decided to use the OEM Jeep wiper transmissions with the SPW gears mounted to them.


The Jeep parts have thicker shafts, Bronz bushings, and the knurled ends were different sizes and I wanted to use the original Jeep wiper arms.


The Jeep shafts are swedged at the end to hold the knurl on, but the knurls are splined to the shaft. The first thing I did was tap a set screw into the knurl and shaft. Then I growned the swedge off. After that I cutoff off the base of the housing and trued it.


I then cut the new shaft housing off of the gear housing and made the hole the same diameter of the Jeep shaft. After that I mounted the Jeep housing to the new gear housing with counter-sunk flathead machine screws. It's important to keep the two orientated properly making sure the flat part of the Jeep housing is parrallel with the long end of the gear housing. I did that with the metal plates they're sitting on in this picture.


A note about the gears that come in this kit. They have a rockwell hardness of 45 and I destroyed 7 drill bits trying to remove them from their shafts. I finally had to go buy a pure carbide 5/16's locksmiths bit. Specialty Power windows is more than happy to sell gears that haven't been welded to shafts and they're only $4.00(mine are in the mail, but I didn't feel like waiting). In this pic you can see that the original Jeep mounting holes are barely wide enough to clear the gear, allowing you to use the original mounting points. There's a bronz washer between the knurl and the housing and a shim between the gear and the housing. I made sure they were in place and temporarily added a second shim for future clearance.


Then place the everything in a vice with the knurl resting on the vice jaw bar underneath. Push firmly down on the housing and lock the vice down. I used this jig to hold the gear clamped true to the housing and keep it from possibly warping and welded it on. At this point everything was assembled so tight the the shaft won't turn. Remove the set screw from the knurl and drive the knurl off the shaft. disassemble everything and take the extra shim off from between the gear and the housing. When reassembled with just one shim everything spins as smooth as a babies butt. A hole also has to be drilled into the other housing plate to accommodate the new weld. At this point you can clean everything up and reassemble following Specialty Power Windows instructions. They even included a installation DVD with the written instructions.

[Resbum]

This is how a housing looks when mounted.


Run the tubing for the gear drive between the housings.


This is how it looks with the dash in place. While the dash was on I finalized the location for the motor.


Install the motor and temporarily put all the mechanical parts on. When everything is permanently installed there isn't one exposed moving part. I can butt other components right up to the wiper parts and have no moving part contacts. This is a really slick system.


The white piece of sheetmetal is the top panel for the heater. All the space above it, except for the passenger side defroster duct, can now be turned into a glovebox with its door where the old speaker use to be.





Now I can finish mocking up the heater and cable controls. When I get the truck back it will be a simple matter of transferring all the hardware over to the new cab.

Resbum

[Resbum]

I was kind of tired last night when I posted and after rereading everything this AM decided to post a few more pics that show some more detail.

It was nice having two complete sets of Jeep wiper assemblies. I set the nicest individual parts aside and experimented with the others.

Resbum

OEM assemblies are swedged at both ends. Grind them off to take things apart. You can also see the splines inside the knurl on the right.


While the knurl was still in its original location I tapped the set screw into it. Here I'm experimenting. That's why the swedge is already removed.


These are the knurls and shafts I used in the conversion. Set screws, then remove the swedges. The set screws were also eventually shorted so they set all the way into the knurl.


The new gear and shaft housings with one of the shaft housings already cut off.

[JeepinPete]

At first I was thinking to myself, whats wrong with the factory wiper linkages? Then seeing your doghouse, the reason was obvious. The only thing I worry about is welding the shaft to the gear. Hard steel parts generally do not take welding very well, and that is a pretty highly stressed area. Hopefully it works out for you, because that is a very slick setup

One question, do you have a picture of the flexible gear rack that drives the gears?

[Resbum]

At first I was thinking to myself, whats wrong with the factory wiper linkages? Then seeing your doghouse, the reason was obvious. The only thing I worry about is welding the shaft to the gear. Hard steel parts generally do not take welding very well, and that is a pretty highly stressed area. Hopefully it works out for you, because that is a very slick setup

One question, do you have a picture of the flexible gear rack that drives the gears?

Yeah, me too. I wanted to make sure it was welded good. I kept the heat on a touch longer than normal and watched for good penatration. The gear actually accepted the weld stock really well. That's also why I decided not to remove the extra weld material and drilled a hole in the other gear housing plate to accommodate it. Then, as a last test, I used a small strap wrench I have on the gear, locked the shaft in place, and gave it a good twist. I figure if that didn't break it a good load of snow sitting on top of the wiper won't. Time will tell.

There's a solid core wire wrapped in a felt-like material, then a second wire spiral wrapped around all of that with spacing between the spirals. The spirals go into the valleys of the gear teeth and the felt accepts the points of the gear teeth. It's flexible enough that the directions say it can handle up to a 3 inch radius bend in the housing. For comparison, the bend you can see near the motor on my setup is about a 6 inch radius.

Robbie and Keith, at SPW, say their kit is based on some European OEM designs and that their parts will last as long as any OEM system will. After scrutinizing their system I believe them. I'm going to be shocked if I ever have a problem with the wipers.

Resbum

[budojeepr]

Wow, that wiper setup is cool. Nice work. Having seen this, I probably won't be happy with my stock setup. Ah, well...

[Resbum]

Actually, both sets of the Jeep wiper parts showed almost no wear and still turned as smooth as silk after more than 40 years. Jeep sure built 'em right back in those days.

Resbum

[Resbum]

Today I took the easy way out on prep'ing the bed. It was already degreased and pressure washed. We had a break and actually got some sunshine today so I called the media blasting place and they could squeeze me in. So I ran it down, they got the job done, and I got it back into the shop without it getting wet.

They did the whole bottom & inside, and the lowers and flares. There's one small area that I'll need to address, but everything else was surface rust.